Chương 41: Chased By Dogs

Ch. 41: Chased By Dogs The street in Boyle Heights was relatively quiet compared to the chaos unfolding a few blocks away. Spiros remembered his body before he died. How he careened toward the grizzlox like a comet. This time, he made much less impact. He squealed as he skipped along the pavement like a fleshy river stone. He slammed against a real estate agent's bus ad in a weird way that clearly meant he'd broken something. He readjusted, his immortality causing his bones to set back into place and regrow.

'Ouch," Spiros said as cracked his neck, "Curse this tiny body." He studied the street signs and from the glance of the maps he knew he was about three blocks away. Although that could take a very long time for a little guy like him. Spiros trotted forward. Cars hummed by as if nothing went on just a few miles down the road. The little pitter patter of his hooves sounded like the tiniest rain cloud just made its way down the dark boulevard. Spiros saw a figure hunched over the edges of a dumpster, eating out of it.

Spiros squined his eyes, no longer having dark vision. It was definitely something eating out of the trash.

"Squonk?" He called out. He approached and said, "Squonk is that you?" The figure's head cocked up. Sharp triangular ears that propped up. And it's maw wasn't like anything like Squonk in his beast form, which had a short compressed pudgy nose. The figure's glowing eyes locked in on Spiros and emitted a low growl. Spiros took a step back. It was a dog. Specifically, a massive doberman. The Kirin kept his vision locked on the dog as it growled and jumped off the ledge of the dumpster. It approached him.

He took another step back.

"We have an opportunity here, mutt. You have a chance of being the first dog I've ever had a good relationship with," The doberman pounced on top of him, "Oh, drat!!" Spiros turned and galloped down the street. The doberman barked with prejudice and gained on Spiros. He nipped Spiros' leg in between his teeth. The dog picked him up and shook him in the air.

"I was a god once!" Spiros yelled as he was flung from the doberman's mouth. A metal clang rang out as Spiros' body collided with the green dumpster. Once he plopped to the ground, he kicked forward and crawled under the gap under the dumpster. He was face to face with a rat on the inside. The rat's breathing was heavy. It was terrified of the doberman as the dog poked his muzzle through the gap, snarling and sniffing to keep his attention on Spiros. The dog maneuvered around the perimeter of the dumpster.

Spiros and the rat moved together, constantly trying to stay out of the clutches of the dog. Suddenly the nose receded from the bottom of the dumpster. The paws had turned around. Had the dog lost interest? Spiros turned to the rat and said, "Go look." The rat sniffed every step it made. It slowly made its way to the outside of the dumpster. Spiros followed slightly behind. The rat turned to look at Spiros, it's fully black eyes portraying just a hint of innocence. Two teeth wrapped around the rat.

The doberman crunched his jaws together on the rat's body. Spiros made a break for it.

"I'm so sorry, rat!" Spiros trekked through the cold night in the middle of the street. Gaining some distance. Once again, angry barking signaled that the dog was hot on his tail.

"Get away from me!" A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The dog maneuvered through the streets haphazardly. Cars swerved out of the way when they would see it. Spiros was losing ground quickly. The dog was now five feet away. A car that had stopped for a stop sign had begun to move again. Spiros leapt onto the license plate of the car as it rolled forward. He got his hooves onto the car's grill and poked his head over the side.

The dog's frantic pace could not keep up.

"Hah! Infernal canine!!" The dog was losing pace with the car, "Oh, what's something folksy Drake would say right now? Oh yeah, asshole!" Spiros said, laughing to himself. The dog slowly started gaining again. Spiros realized the car was slowing down. He looked behind him and saw a yellow light.

"What!?" Spiros said, "What are young doing!? No, no, no!" The car came to a complete stop. Spiros jumped up on the hood of the car. The sleek curved surface made it hard to walk steady with his hooves. He approached the front window and banged it with his antlers. It caught the driver's attention. She was a woman in her mid 40's who had not encountered a mythical beast before, but was aware there was currently an attack on the city. His draconic lips mouthed the words 'GO!" but she didn't listen.

Instead, she used the window wipers. They swiped him in the face.

"Ouch! Are you working with the dogs!?" He cried. Spiros saw her reach down to car floor and pick up a shoe in her hand. She pulled the window down again and reached out to smack him.

"Stop that! I'm a god! Surely, you recognize me? I died a few weeks ago!" The dog had caught up with them. The doberman's merciless bark caused the woman to dip her arm in, scared and pulled the windows up. It jumped up on the hood and snapped at Spiros. Spiros just narrowly avoided it as the dog went for another nip. They were both on top of the hood now. Spiros banged on the window and screamed, "Help me!" The woman was terrified.

She slammed the gas pedal in a panic and she immediately crashed into the car in front of her. The dog was jostled back onto the trunk of the other car.

"Oh, come on!" Spiros cried, "Nobody listens to me anymore!" The dog barked again as it jumped off the trunk and at Spiros. He heard the blaring of a truck horn up ahead. A man who had taken out a loan to buy an eighteen-wheeler was on a contract job from Amazon. He was behind schedule. He did not slow down and just as he red light turned green, he powered through the intersection.

"Finally some urgency." Spiros jumped off the hood and let himself get slammed by the large truck. His screams of pain were washed out by the man blasting Chappell Roan on his radio while the driver-side app gave him a warning that he would not be hired again if he could not make his deliveries in a timely manner.

Squonk watched the news while he used his massage gun on his bald head. He watched the destruction from the safety of his home, as he lounged in his underwear, eating Mexican food he'd had delivered. The news chopper hovered above the montabeest as it smashed a building to rubble with its horns. The news blared, as a man with a spray tan explained that…" Due to special circumstances, this high priority core has been given a temporary increased in bounty.

The bounty is now as high as ten thousand dollars for whomever could bring the beast down."

"Wow. Imagine bringing down a montabeest," he said as he slurped from his soda. He placed it next to six empty cups of soda all from previous nights. Squonk continued to watch the tv, but some noise kept bothering him. He turned the television down and heard patter on his bugscreen door. Squonk got up and looked through his peephole. There was nothing. He went to sit back down but there was a distinct clinking sound. Hesitantly, he opened the first door.

"Squonk! Squonk, you putrid wastrel! Let me in! I see it! I see it! I see it coming for me!"

"What!?" He cried out, "Who is it!?

"Squonk, it's me! Spiros! Your better! Or… was. Please let me in! It's coming for me!"

"What is!?"

"The nihilist!"

"A dog!?" Squonk could not hear the faint barking getting louder. He poked his head and saw it rushing toward the front door. The Kirin looked up at him expectantly.

"Uhm… can you calm the dog down first!?"

"Let me in!" Spiros was miniature but his voice boomed. Squonk scrambled to open the door and let Spiros in. The Squonk god shut the door behind him as a thud struck the wood. They could both hear the growling and scratching as Spiros caught his breath.

"Why are you here!?" Spiros caught his breath, "I…have… a favor to… But first… Do you… have any… snacks!?"