A week later, the car was packed to the point of exploding with bags of luggage, toothbrushes and combs, and a certain miserable Hellhound that was trying to disappear into the mounds of stuff. He was wearing his old training collar and leash and was making him itch like nuts.

Scorch scratched himself with his hind leg, trying to get under the collar where it was irritated, right when they went over a pothole. He yelped as he fell to the floor and went to get up when they hit another, throwing him back to the ground.

The potholes continued and Scorch finally gave up trying to sit back on the seat and resorted to glaring murderously at Valkyrie who, in turn, wasn't paying attention.

Finally they arrived and Valkyrie ended up literally dragging him out of the car and to the doorstep. Since her parents had said that he was 'her dog,' they had her go up alone and Scorch wasted no time in begging.

"Please let me stay with someone else, anyone else! I'll even go with Madame Mist and not chase her Spider Pet! Just please!" Scorch continued to dig in his heels and lean back, trying to delay his doom.

Valkyrie ignored him.

"Please!" He shut up though as the door opened to reveal a rail thin woman with a hooked nose and a distasteful expression that didn't even dim as she smiled down at them.

"Ah, Stephanie," she said. "So good to see you," Scorch knew that was a lie. "And this must be your dog, it's quite big. What's his name?"

"It's a he, and his name is Scorch," Valkyrie replied icily.

"Suits him," Beryl ignored the jibe. "And what breed is he?"

"German Shepard mixed with Husky and St. Bernard, with a hint of wolf."

Beryl's eyes widened. "Wolf?"

"Only a little bit, from the Husky side."

Beryl sniffed. "Well I hope he is trained."

Valkyrie laughed. "Of course he is! I wouldn't be giving him to you if he wasn't. After all I don't want him dragging you down the sidewalk when you take him for walks and making yourself look bad in front of everyone."

Her Aunt's gaze wasn't amused. "I was planning to have Fergus do the walking."

"Then I don't want him to get hurt and have to on workers comp. again do we."

Beryl gave a stiff nod. "Don't you have a plane to catch?"

Valkyrie smiled, "Of course." She shoved Scorch's leash into her Aunt's hands then ran back to the car waving. As they drove away, Scorch saw Valkyrie mouth, 'Good luck,' at him.

Scorch's whimper was cut off by Beryl yanking the leash so hard it made him gag. "Gaak!"

"Quiet down Scorch, you may get away with stuff with my niece but you aren't going to be getting away with anything here."

'Meep,' was all he could think of.

She dragged him down the hall and into the living room, a man, Fergus, reclined on the couch watching TV. When they came into the room he lifted his head and as soon as his eyes rested on Scorch, widened. "What the- Is that a DOG?!"

Scorch rolled his eyes, he had been through this so many times before…

First:

"What kind of dog is HE?!"

Then:

"How can a dog even GET that big?!"

And finally:

"Do you think he's a supernatural creature?"

Scorch blinked, 'Okay that was a new one.'

Beryl snorted, "Where would you ever get such a preposterous idea? Of course he's not a supernatural creature, that's just stupid."

Fergus narrowed his eyes at Scorch, "Isn't it Stephanie's dog though?"

"Yes, and they are going to the Villa in France so they left their dog here."

"How long will they be gone?"

"Ten days."

Fergus sighed and went back to watching TV. Beryl yanked Scorch into the kitchen then turned to face him.

"First, Scorch, we need to establish some rules here," she said, looking down her nose at him. "Rule number one, you are not allowed at the table or around any of the food. I don't want any of your dog germs contaminating my food. Next, you are to sleep on the floor, not the bed. You will get your required amount of food when the rest of us eat but you won't be getting any extras or table scraps. Understood?"

Scorch looked at her.

Beryl sighed, "What am I doing? Talking to a dog that doesn't understand a word I say."

Scorch whined and cocked his head.

She snorted, "Fine, I'll let you go." She leaned down and unclipped the leash and he went exploring.

'Man,' he thought to himself. 'I now know how Valkyrie feels every time she has to visit.'

Scorch checked all the rooms, not being impressed with any of them.

Two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and a few random closets was his final total.

"What is that?"

"I think it's a dog."

"It can't be, it's too big."

"Maybe it's a wolf."

"What would a wolf be doing in our house Carol?"

"Maybe looking for something to eat."

"We don't even live near the woods."

Scorch turned and came face to face with the Toxic Twins. Carol and Crystal were just how Valkyrie described them, Carol was heavy while Crystal was straight as a stick.

Scorch whined and wagged his tail, trying to show he wasn't going to show them harm.

The twins looked at him for a few moments then Crystal spoke, "Mom, why is there a wolf in the house?"

"That's not a wolf Crystal, that's Stephanie's dog."

The twins stared at Scorch like he was made of solid gold then drug them into a bedroom, shutting the door behind them. The room had cream walls and a laminated floor with two beds, one on opposite sides on the room. Two dressers made up one wall and a desk and make-up table with a full length mirror was on the wall with a window.

Scorch looked at the two girls who began to talk excitedly to each other.

"Do you think Stephanie put a spell on her dog?" Crystal whispered.

"Do you think he talks?"

"Maybe he's a magic dog."

They looked at him again and Scorch whined, ears flattening against his head. They were looking at him weirdly and it made him uncomfortable.

"It's okay," Carol said. "We know about magic, so you can talk to us if you want to."

Scorch looked at one then the other then back again.

"Oh, okay."

The girls squealed, "Oh my gosh! He actually does talk!" Carol shrieked.

"Do you think he does anything else?" Crystal whispered excitedly.

"Let's talk to him a bit more."

They once again looked at him expectantly.

"What's your name?" Carol asked.

"Scorch," Scorch said slowly.

"Do you have a code name like Valkyrie?" Crystal said.

"No, just Scorch."

"Did Stephanie put a spell on you so that you could talk?"

"No, I was born this way."

"Can you do magic too?"

"Um, sort of."

They gasped. "Show us," Carol said.

"Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"Can you make fire? Can you make the shadows do what you want?"

Scorch once again looked at them one at a time. "Want me to possess one of you?"