"Hope you know the consequences of what you are about to do young man." Irka said to her son. "Those Veline's can be rather vicious at times."
"He has assured he has complete control of them." Master Vile replied.
The sun had not yet broken over the horizon, the sky had lightened though from a black to a purple color and the stars had disappeared overhead, an acid rain had fallen the night before for a short short while but it looked rather dry out now. It was quiet out, not even a Desert Owl hooted or a Coyote bayed, Irka wrapped her blanket around her a bit tighter. Her husband, when the alarm had gone off and he had gotten up an hour earlier, had ordered that she either wear a bath robe or have a blanket around herself after he had seen that it was just under 40 degrees out. Rita and Dara Dara stood nearby, wrapped in their own blankets. Rito, Triskull and Master Vile were without blankets.
A grating sound made her look at the coil that was around their ship, the coil was what carried their supplies and there was also a spacious area for the Veline's that her husband had gone and got a few months ago when he had gone back to restock their supplies on Gamma-Vile. She hadn't much liked the idea of him bringing the hunting canines, she supported all of her husbands actions but this one, and him actually buying the canines, had scared her to death. KurukVile had trained the Veline's the minute they had been dropped in their crates on their front stoop as pups, they did obey his every command and that had calmed her down some about them. As she watched her husband walk from the ship, six leashes in his hand, the sun finally poked out, casting its glow on the Earth.
"Alright son," KurukVile said as walked forward. "here are the hounds."
"Good hunting canines!" Master Vile approved fully of the fearsome creatures. "Now in order for them to get into the shield they must be masked. Here, have them drink this."
KurukVile caught the jar in his hand, he had just to look at its green liquid innards to know what it was. He was reluctant to give his Veline's the potion, he put it off by ordering one of his servants to bring him six bowls. It wasn't so much that he couldn't control the beasts that he owned, they obeyed his every command and he was damn proud of that, for such brutes they knew who their master was. When the bowls came he handed the leashes to the servant, the Veline's snarled at the servant and the leashes were near dropped which made KurukVile snap at the servant to hold onto the leashes. He quickly emptied the jar's contents into the bowls then placed them down in front of the Veline's, a silver whistle jingled from his wrist which made the Veline's snap at attention. When he backed away the canines drank their drink, soon after they were engulfed in a green glow and shrank three times smaller than what they were.
"These horrid beasts are ready to go." KurukVile said.
"Good, lets go." Master Vile turned and went to Ayut Hazem who was tied up next to a pole "By high noon I shall have my daughter-mate."
Angel had decided to head to the park with the rangers for breakfast, it was Saturday, no school was in session and everyone was feeling a bit uptight, it had been Jason's idea to go to the park for breakfast and everyone had agreed it was a good idea. A good time for a change of scenery. The park, that morning, was empty except for three couples who were picnicking. The grasses of the park were wet with dew and the sky above had lightened considerably, it was now eight in the morning and the sun was up heating the ground below. It would get to a hot eighty-six that day, the weatherman had forecast. Billy spread a tablecloth over the picnic table while Kat and Aisha took out the food from the basket. Angel and Tommy were standing facing the shield, Adam and Jason were seated at the picnic table getting ready to eat.
"The food's gonna run off before you two have a chance to eat." Adam called from his place at the picnic table.
"Come and get it." Kat called, she took a seat at the table.
Angel knew she looked tense, the muscle in her shoulders were bunched up as was the muscle in her legs. She had no idea what was wrong that morning, all she knew was that when she had woke up she had felt the intense sensation of doom fall over her. There was the usual line of monsters are the shield, they were still attacking and not getting through. She had checked the news, nothing had come up to tell her there was something going on in the world that was alarming. Gasha was acting nervous in his stall, even when she had gone up to his he had acted nervous and that had not helped matters. When the suggestion had been made about breakfast in the park she had been reluctant, something had told her not to go, but she had found her mouth working fast and here she was. Standing up, looking at the shield and wondering what it was that had her so uptight, she had to take just one look at Tommy, standing to her left, to know that he felt and thought the same thing. He was just as uptight as she was. When Adam, Kat and Aisha all yelled at her and Tommy to come eat breakfast they jumped and turned around, their eyes wide and their breath coming in startled gasps.
"Yes... yes we're coming." Angel found her voice. She and Tommy walked up to the table as if they were robots.
"You two look as if you have seen a ghost." Kat said when she looked at their faces.
"Ya'll feel like there might be something up today?" Tommy asked. "I mean, I feel as if something will happened. Something bad."
"Daaaaah you two just had a bad nights sleep." Billy waved his hand. "Have a pancake and relax."
Although Tommy ate and felt better, Angel just toyed with her food. She would occasionally look at the shield and become lost in thought before she'd feel someone flick her shoulder and bring her back to reality. She did manage to choke down half of a pancake before she stood up. She excused herself and walked off, she went behind the hill and stopped short. The monster line was still there but there was a break in the line. The three couples were still there and it seemed that they were pointing at something. She walked forward slow until she had reached the first couple, a young African-American couple who looked barely out of their teens.
"Did you see the monsters move when them dogs came?" the man asked.
"What dogs?" Angel asked.
"Looked like Great Danes." the man replied.
"No, have to be Wolf Dogs." the woman spoke up. "They had hair. All over their bodies."
"The monsters moved for a pair of dogs?" Angel mused aloud. "Odd."
"Not a pair." the man said. "A pack, I saw six of them."
An elderly couple walked back behind the hill and disappeared, Angel went with them but she didn't disappear behind the hill she stopped and turned back around. The young couple was walking forward, it seemed they were curious and Angel worried about them. The other couple, a man and woman in their thirties, was also walking forward, they were pointing at something. So enthused with the two couples Angel never saw Tommy walk up behind her. When he placed his hand on her shoulder she jumped.
"Why so nervous?" Tommy asked. "I'm your friend, remember?"
"They say a pack of dogs that looked like Wolf Dogs came into the shield." Angel pointed at the two couples. "Said that the monsters moved back when they came."
"There was a pack of wild dogs near here." Tommy said. "Probably that is what they saw."
A scream made Angel and Tommy look down the hill, both of the couples that had stayed in the small flat area of the park were running forward. Behind them was a pack of large, black and white dogs. As Angel watched, the lead Wolf Dog leaped into the air, knocking the young African-American man off of his feet. The Wolf Dog snapped at the man, who was shrieking in fear, with a howl Angel ran forward. When she was five feet from the wild dog she threw an air punch, it sent the Wolf Dog flying into the air. The man leaped up to his feet and tore by her.
When Kat and Aisha ran over the hill to find out what was going on they were met with a hideous sight. Angel and Tommy were surrounded, Angel was throwing a melee of attacks at some ferocious dogs that had black and white fur. As they watched, one of the dogs leaped into the air and clamped down on Angel's arm. Angel screamed and grabbed the dog's lower jaws with her free hand and pulled down, when the dog released her arm she kicked him back. Another dog leaped onto her back and dug his teeth into her shoulders, she screamed and punched her hand back, sending a fire punch which made the Wolf Dog fall back crying. She flailed her arms about, making a fire ring, then she shoved her arms forward and the fire ring went out with such power that the Wolf Dog's flew through the air. As soon as the wild dogs were disabled Angel and Tommy ran up the hill to Kat and Aisha. Billy, Adam and Jason ran up just as a loud howl was heard.
"Those wild dogs are not the wild dogs that run around the desert!" Tommy exclaimed. "They have too much hair and are too strong to be them."
Kat was about to ask what was going on when she saw six dogs running at them, their mouths were open with their pearly white and sharp teeth showing, the dog in front's tongue was lolling out of its mouth. Angel turned around and started running, the others followed as quickly as they could behind her. Angel had driven them to the park in her Gamma WTXZ and they were racing towards it. She had the skeleton key was in her hand, she pressed the button and the door swung open. It seemed that all at once they all jumped in. Angel slammed the door shut and wrestled into the drivers seat. She didn't bother buckling her seat belt, she just popped the clutch in and drove. When the pack of dogs struck the vehicle it felt almost like they had been hit by an elephant, the vehicle even acted as if it was going to turn over on its side but luckily Angel had her foot to the floor and they zoomed forward.
"Got to ge to the police." Angel said back. "Warn them, get the animal control here to take care of the situation and..."
"Uh, Angel." Adam pulled on the sleeve of Angel's shirt. "You'd better take a look before you call in the animal control."
Angel turned her head slightly, she looked through the mirror then with a yell she slammed her foot into the brake. The Gamma WTXZ came to a screeching halt, the drivers side door was flung up and Angel jumped out before the vehicle came to a complete stop. The rangers piled up behind her, their mouth's were agape in horror. Standing behind them by a mile were six of the most gruesome, fearsome and ugly creatures they had ever seen. They didn't notice that the Gamma WTXZ had left skid marks about six inches deep in the street and they were so consumed by the sight of the hideous animals in front of them that they never saw Master Vile and his father, KurukVile, ride up on their horses to the front of the shield.
The beasts that stood a mile from them were as ugly as they were fearsome, they stood a full four feet at the shoulder and were a dull gray in color with no hair at all on their bodies. Their shoulders were huge and muscled, four of the animals had knots on their shoulders while the other two were smooth. From their shoulders back to their hindquarters they were slender, their hindquarters were strongly muscled and ended in some big and sharp clawed toes as did their front feet. They had thin and bony tails. It was the heads of the beasts that had Angel and the ranger's attentions, the heads were horrible looking! The heads were a full thirty-six inches from side to side and stretched twenty-four inches back, the teeth jutted out and were huge and serrated. When on of the creatures opened its mouth Angel saw a blue-black tongue. The beasts had tiny green eyes.
"Uhm... I think you guys should get inside the vehicle." Angel said. "I'll be pretty busy."
Kat was about to say no when one of the beasts, the one in the front, leaped forward. The animals closed the distance between the rangers and Angel and them in nothing flat. Kat found herself being squashed underneath one, she wrapped her hands around the teeth and kicked her feet up into the animals stomach. A swipe of fire made the beast get off of her, it acted as if the blast had not effected it at all. Jason grabbed Kat by the arm and pulled her into the vehicle, he swung the door closed behind him.
Angel was in a predicament, the rangers had jumped back into her vehicle and locked the door leaving her outside. She was surrounded by the animals, she was backed up against a building. When one of the beasts would lunge forward she'd throw a fire-ball at it, to her surprise the beast only shook its head. She was about to throw another fire-ball at the beast when the beast on her side leaped at her. It clamped its jaws around her arm and she felt her bones snap, she swung her unbroken arm and an air blast moved the animal off. Seeing that that ability had worked she used it several more times until the animals had backed off allowing her to run from the side of the building to the park.
Kat threw the door open on the Gamma WTXZ and ran out, the others trudged after her calling for her to stop. She had seen the beast clamp down on Angel's arm and she had heard Angel scream out in pain, she could also see the trail of blood that was Angel's. She was just over the hill when Jason grabbed her, she struggled in his arms but could see clearly what was going on down in the small flat area of the park. Angel was again surrounded, she was in a Cave Bear form and was fighting on three legs. As Kat watched, Angel rose up on her hind legs and swiped at a beast that had leaped at her. The beast was flung in the air, it collided with a tree which was near snapped in two by its weight. Another creature followed soon after, both of the animals never moved again, their backs had been broken.
It was now four beasts, Angel had been able to kill two while in her Cave Bear form but she wouldn't be able to keep the form up for long. One of the beasts had sliced into her stomach while another had slashed her thigh. She swung her uninjured paw at a beast that ran at her and broke its jaw, that took all the energy in her Cave Bear form. She suddenly was engulfed in a pink energy, an energetic wind came from her that drove the beasts off a few feet. They came back strong when she stood before them, a bloody mess, in her true form. The beast with the broken jaw lunged at her, intending to cut into her with its claws and she swung her unbroken arm, a fire tornado came from her hand which drove the beast at the shield. She never saw the sparks or the explosion as the beast struck the shield, but she did hear the shield downpowering.
"Oh no!" Angel looked up as she watched the shield around Angel Grove suddenly disappear.
The three remaining beasts lunged at once and it near caught Angel unprepared. She made a fire ring around herself then shot it forward. He made all of the beasts fly ten feet in the air, when they collided with the ground they made small craters, two of the creatures got up and ran at her while the third stood on only three legs, the fourth leg horribly broken. Angel ran as fast as she could, her broken arm held tightly against her chest by her unbroken arm. She ran up the hill then she tore across the picnicking area, screaming at the top of her lungs. When she reached the Gamma WTXZ she didn't stop, she grabbed the handle and ripped the door up. The rangers were inside, all huddled in a ball in one corner, when they saw her jump in they gasped. Angel slammed the door shut behind her and locked it tight, she did the same to the passenger door as well. When the two remaining beasts slammed into the vehicle it, again, felt like it was going to flip over onto its back.
"What are those things?" Kat asked.
"Th- the shield is down..." Angel gasped. "A-A-Angel Grove is open to the monsters now."
"I'm willing to bet those beasts out there are from your father." Adam said.
There was a grating sound then the sound of glass breaking, Angel got into the drivers seat and popped the clutch in, with her good hand she drove the vehicle a few feet before, suddenly, the vehicle stopped. She tried again and again to get it to turn over, revving the motor as much as she could, but all it did was sputter. A bounce made her look up, one of the beasts was on the hood of her car. She stared into the creatures tiny green eyes then pulled back when it lunged at the windshield which shattered into a million pieces. The creature thrust its ugly head into the now windshieldless vehicle and snapped its jaws about. Angel was able to force the seat down so that she was on her back, when she got the chance she shot her hand forward. With the key to the vehicle she jabbed the animals right eye out, eye liquid and light green colored blood dripped onto her. The animal pulled back when a high whistle rang through the air.
"Angel... you okay?" Kat asked. She and the rangers had been screaming silently throughout the attack, each were scared to death. Angel gasped for breath then slid herself back from the drivers seat.
"Well I have a bad bite to the shoulder, my arm is bitten badly and broken, my thigh is cut open, my stomach is sliced open." Angel said through gasps. "Guess you can say it cannot get worse than this eh?"
As if in answer, the passenger side door was ripped up so furiously that it flew into the air and landed a few feet from the vehicle. The beast that had tried to get in through the windshieldless windshield shoved its head in through the opening and started slashing its mouth from side to side. Kat and Aisha screamed, Adam and Tommy grabbed Angel and pulled her in closer, Angel was quiet but she had a look on her face that showed how terrified she was. The animal was able to get its head into the side of the Gamma WTXZ and was heading in further when Angel swung her arm, a trail of gasoline came from underneath the seats, she swung it once then sent it flying at the animal. As soon as the gasoline struck the animal Angel shot a fire blast at it, the animal exploded in flames and howled in pain. It fought to get out of the vehicle but its head prevented it from doing so. After five minutes of struggling the animal, still aflame, dropped dead. Angel grabbed the drivers side door's handle and ripped it up. She and the rangers leaped out of the vehicle and started running, Angel again had her arm tightly pressed against her chest with her unbroken arm.
"I need to get the shield back up!" Angel screamed. "Angel Grove is a sitting duck without that shield!"
"Angel I suggest you forget about the shield and worry about your father!" Adam yelled.
Angel heard the hooves before she saw her father, he was pumping Ayut Hazem hard with his legs to get him to top speed, the stallion was wet but not lathered. Angel turned and went towards the city, the others running behind her calling her name and asking her what she was doing. The other beast was racing behind them, Adam was closest but he was beating the beast and was far from its jaws. They tore down the main street into the city, turned and took a side street which led to the water tower. When they saw the tower they knew what Angel was doing. Despite her injuries, when Angel saw the water tower she put on a fresh burst of speed and reached the ladder first. She stepped to the side and practically threw each of the rangers up the ladder before she started to go up herself. With only one arm, she made slow progress. When the beast that had been running behind the rangers slammed into the ladder she was sure that it was over but the ladder held tight and she kept going, she thought she had felt something tear at her shirt but she didn't check to find out. One rung, one step, one rung, one step, a slow progress but she made it to the top and near collapsed from exhaustion.
They were all drenched in sweat, Kat and Aisha were also drenched in tears, but mostly everyone was drenched in fear. They were all gasping for breath, Angel's wounds had bled more, she was a bloody mess from her shoulder on down, the only area that she had no wounds on was her chest. When she sat up Kat shrieked, Tommy tore his shirt from his back and tied it around Angel, the beast might not have gotten them but it had slashed at Angel's back, there were five deep marks from its claws on her back that were bleeding profusely. A howl below made Billy look down, Master Vile was below them, he was dismounting and from looks of it the beast that had chased them was snarling at him. A whistle made him look up, he saw KurukVile, Master Vile's father and Angel's grandfather, ride up on a gigantic gray horse. KurukVile had his hand to his mouth, at first Billy couldn't figure out what was happening then he heard another whistle and pulled back to the tower's side.
"Them beasts are not your fathers!" he said. "They're your damn grandfather's!"
"Watch you're language young man!" Angel snarled.
The ladder shook, it wasn't a typical shake from something tearing it off but a shake from someone climbing it. Tommy looked down and saw to his horror that Master Vile was climbing up. KurukVile had ridden up, the lone beast was on its hindquarters getting a pet and it looked as if Angel's grandfather was giving him something to eat. Tommy looked at the connections on the ladder, it would take some work but he could have the ladder loose from the tower and Master Vile wouldn't be able to climb up it. He pulled his head back and sat near Angel, who's breathing had returned to normal.
"Jason, we have a problem." Tommy said.
"As if we are not having enough of a problem." Jason chuckled.
"Bones in arm, I command you." Angel started a charm. "Amend, fuse your break, repair the breaks in the bone."
Angel moved her arm, it wasn't broken anymore, her charm had worked. She stood up and looked over the lip of the tower, her father was, indeed, climbing the ladder and was half way up it. She looked back at the water tower, it was full of water and would be useful if she needed to use it to attack. She positioned her hands but then she lowered them, having had a better idea. She shot her left leg forward, her right leg was behind her nearly touching the tower's boards, the water shot from the tower then flowed down to the ground, freezing while doing so. She didn't waste any time in explaining, she simply jumped onto the frozen water-ramp and slid down it. The rangers stared in shock then followed, once everyone was on the ground they started running. They heard a whistle and then they heard the beast pounding in chase, it was snarling and sounded angry. There was a chain link fence up ahead, a thick chain link fence which was held down by concrete, they all ran to it. Angel leaped onto the fence first and started climbing, the others followed. The rangers had already swung to the other side and where climbing down when the beast slammed into the fence, Angel was in the process of swinging her leg over the top, she had gotten caught in the fence by her shirt and had had to stop to tear it loose. With the force of the beast slamming into the fence Angel lost balance, her feet slipped and she fell, her groin collided with the fence top and she gasped in pain. Luckily when she fell she did so on the rangers side, her jeans in the groin region had bloodied up.
"This is a part of town that is deserted right?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, it's the deserted warehouse district." Tommy replied. "No one comes here."
"Shield going up."
Angel stood up, fresh blood was dripping down her pant legs making it look like she had stripes on her jeans. She twirled around once then threw her hands down, a red shield formed itself around Angel Grove, it crashed down with a thud two miles from them. With Angel Grove having the shield back around itself and with the people inside Angel Grove safe now, Angel turned back to the beast. The beast was on the other side of the fence, it looked as if it had no idea what a chain link fence was and was sniffing it then pulling away in fear. A whistle was heard and they saw KurukVile round the corner, the beast turned its head and looked at Angel's grandfather questioning. Angel saw the silver whistle in her grandfather's hand, he blew it twice more then shouted for the beast to go get them. She felt great anger towards her grandfather, all of the wounds on her body and the fear she had felt that morning was all because of him and his damn beasts.
"You stupid beast!" Angel shrieked. "Earth dogs can climb fences like this, some even can jump it yet you just sniff and tremble."
"Angel, you crazy?" Kat asked.
"Your owner must have decided to forgo the chain climbing and jumping, poor thing." Angel continued. "Just goes to show you how idiotic my grandfather is ha!"
Tommy and Jason looked at each other, Adam and Billy did the same. Kat and Aisha walked forward and tried to get Angel to turn around. KurukVile's fiery red eyes were glowing brilliantly, angrily. He had a snarl on his face which made him look even more deadly and dangerous. As soon as a hand was placed on Angel's shoulder Angel turned around, she rubbed her rear on the chain link fence, all the while calling out stupid stupid beastie. The beast lunged and was able to grab the seat of her pants but its teeth were too big to get into the chain link fence. Angel turned around and continued her cat calls then she turned on her grandfather.
"Hey granddad!" Angel called out. "How's aunt Dara Dara and uncle Triskull these days? Has Triskull's horn grown back or is it still a stub like your cock?"
"Angel! Stop!" Aisha screamed, she grabbed Angel around the waist.
"Has Dara Dara gotten better or does she still reek of camp breath?" Angel continued.
"Tommy! Help!" Aisha screamed. "Angel's gone insane!"
"Don't blame her, I would too." Tommy said, he was backed up against a building.
"How about Rito Revolto, granddad!" Angel shrieked at the top of her voice. "Did you decide to feed his bones to these wretched beasts of yours or did you eat him? You're breath is enough to make me think the latter!"
Tommy ran forward and wrapped Angel up in his arms, he carried her around the corner with the others following. All the while Angel had been berating her grandfather, the left side of his face had glowed bright red with his fiery red eyes glowing brighter with every word she shouted. After the last comment she had made he had pulled his horse back and had been in the process of turning him around. As soon as Angel was away from her grandfather she was fine, she calmed down. Tommy placed her down and they started trotting on down the alley. Behind them they heard a loud thud and a series of clicks, none of the rangers or Angel needed to know what had happened. KurukVile had jumped his horse over the chain link fence, they had no idea if the beast was with him but they knew that Angel's grandfather was now after them.
The temper gauge had gone up, he knew it and so did his sole surviving Veline who now refused to come near him. His temper had been rising all throughout the whole ordeal, the second he had seen the first of his Veline's being killed he had felt it rise. He had not expected his granddaughter to kill his Veline hounds, yes he had expected her to get hurt some but not as much as she had been and with the death of five of his six Veline's on top of it and then Angel insulting him with her cat-calls had made his meter almost burst. He had turned his horse and rode off, his surviving Veline following, then he had turned and with a swift kick had sent his horse off. His horse had cleared the fence as if it was nothing, the Veline hound though slid to a stop and was whining on the other side, wanting to be over with him. He decided to save the hound. He had, before the mornings events, had ten of the hounds and had allowed his son to use six of them which left only four remaining in the kennels on the coil of his ship. He had seen the shield go up and he didn't much care about it, all he cared about was taking care of the problem at hand. Getting his granddaughter, tying her up then carrying her back to his ship where he and his son, Vile, would discipline her without mercy. She had done enough, this last defiance was the last straw. As soon as his horse was on the other side of the fence he kicked him into a hard run, he was only vaguely aware that Master Vile had turned Ayut Hazem and was nearing the fence at a dead run.
"I hear him!" Kat screamed. "He cleared the fence with that horse of his. He's coming!"
"Fire escape!" Angel yelled. "Go up a fire escape!"
Angel didn't wait for them to respond, she turned and ran up the closest fire escape to her. The rangers turned their heads to see KurukVile running at them on his horse, his large legs pumping the sides of the horse with every stride the horse took. He leaped from his horse effortlessly and landed in front of them. Tommy, Jason and Adam slid to a stop then turned left, Aisha, Billy and Kat followed him. As much as they hated to do it, they hid behind a trash dumpster. KurukVile looked at them then ran at the fire escape. He jumped four steps, tripped once then got to his feet and continued up. The fire escape was unstable, it was going this way and that, Angel was three flights above him and would periodically look down to see what was coming up.
"Up shit creek without a paddle!" she thought frantically.
She reached the top of the fire escape, there was a window but that was all, no doors in which to bust into. With her grandfather closing in she hunched her shoulders forward and jumped through the glass of the window. Shards of glass went into the wound on her shoulder, she didn't stop to get them out, she kept running. She slammed her shoulder into the door ahead and ran out into the hallway. She was on the top level, there was a door that went to the ceiling and she took it. She had no more gone up the first ten steps when the sound of more glass breaking and a grunt made her turn. Her grandfather was in the building with her. Turning, she ran up the steps, taking three and sometimes four at a time. She reached the door to the ceiling and flung it open, as soon as she was out she slammed it shut. There was a chain to the side and she grabbed it, she tied it around the doorknob then connected it to a pile of bricks. With that done she started running until she near ran off of the side of the building. She was forced to stop and it was then that her grandfather ran into the door behind her that she had chained shut. The brick pile shattered into a billion pieces of pebble and the chain's links broke, the door was torn from its hinges.
"No where else for you to go Girl!" KurukVile snarled at her.
Angel's eyes went all over the place, looking for a place to go to. A place to escape, a place for her to get away from her grandfather who was walking towards her, his legs bent and ready to propel him forward at any minute, his arms splayed out ready to grab her should he get close. The fire escape was below her, and a dumpster was directly below full of black plastic garbage bags. She decided that the dumpster was the best bet, it would at least be a soft landing and not one of steel and unsteadiness. She turned and ran the few steps to the edge of the top of the building, she felt her grandfather's fingers grab and tear the collar of her shirt but she leaped at the right moment. Gravity took hold and she fell, screaming, down to the dumpster below. It seemed like a long time before she slammed into the dumpster, it was a hard hit but the bags had cushioned the fall well. She pulled herself from the dumpster and started running, fast!
"How in the world can it get any worse than this!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
As if in answer, her father suddenly appeared from around a corner. He had dismounted obviously and it looked as if he had been waiting for her. She slid to a stop and turned to go back. The last thing she remembered was feeling pain, a great pain in her neck, then her legs failed her. She collapsed, still running, on the sticky alley asphalt. With her arms she grabbed when she could, her vision was failing her now. It was blurring up, she could barely see anything. By the time she had reached the dumpster she crawled blindly. When her hand landed on a shoe she looked up, she wished she could see but she had a feeling that if she could she would have looked up into the hideous face of her grandfather. She felt another pain, this one on her spine, which made her head drop to the ground. She breathed heavily for a few minutes then her breathing calmed until, finally, she was sleeping.