Then there had been screaming — it had to have been her — and Kelly had come charging from nowhere, a metal pole in her hand. Kara had tried to yell out, to tell Kelly to go back, but her voice had failed her. Pole in front of her, Kelly had grabbed Kara and stepped between her and the dog. That was all Kara remembered; they’d told her later she’d passed out. Kelly had scared off the dog and dragged Kara back under the fence.

No one knew what had happened to the dog or why it had run from Kelly rather than just adding her to its list of victims. But Kara knew one thing. Her sister had saved her while Kara had been too frozen by fear to even warn Kelly away.

Without Kelly, she would never have survived.

A chilling growl snapped her back to the present. The silver dog sprang to his feet, the ginger dog still attached to his neck, but not for long. The silver dog surged to the side, yanking himself free. The two animals stood facing each other, breath escaping their mouths in rasping pants, clumps of silver hair dangling from the ginger dog’s mouth. In unison, they lowered their heads and charged forward. Their bodies collided in another swirl of fur and teeth, the pair pushing closer and closer to Kara as the silver animal overpowered the ginger one.

Scrambling to get out of their way, Kara slipped on the damp pavement, from snow or blood she couldn’t tell, sending her cell phone dancing across the lot. She watched it, her stomach clenching at the sight. No Kelly to save her and now no hope of calling anyone else.

The silver dog shoved the ginger one against the outside of the bar building, inches from Kara. With one last snarl, he pinned the smaller animal to the ground, grabbed it by the neck — then rotating his massive body, tossed the ginger dog across the parking lot.

The animal landed in a crumpled heap in the darkest part of the lot. The silver dog waited on stiff legs, his body tense, then apparently content his competition was beaten, turned his glowing eyes on Kara. Blood mingled with saliva, falling from his open jaws in a steady drip.