Eyes of the Serpent

"Ma\'am, sir. Welcome to Killer K9 Corps. I am your corps server, Captain Jeremy Fletcher. What can I help you with?" spoke a steely-voiced man, dressed in obviously fake combats and imitation camouflage. The guy had come out of nowhere, and had even taken Remmy by surprise. The whole area looked rather like a prison; high, steel fences topped with barbed wire on the exterior, followed by cement walls on the interior, and a walk-through security gate between the parking lot and the facility. Even more unsettling was the lack of barking, as both had expected to hear. The decor was a poor attempt at looking like a military base, and the employees were a bit over the top. But, it was a sales gimmick - and they had to use something in order to sell their over priced puppied.



"Yes, we are interested in buying one of your dogs." Josie began, her eyes wandering over to the large steel door marked \'Small Canines\'. Next to it, to be expected. was \'Medium Canines\'; then, was \'Large Canines\'. After that was the door that made her head tilt a little. \'Extra Large Canines\'. She wondered what they defined as an \'Extra Large\'.



"Okay. What is the purpose of the animal, ma\'am?" the man in his forties asked.



"Uhhh...Protection?" she replied. How could he be so silly? Why else would you buy an expensive, fully trained military dog?



"Clearly. I mean, what kind of protection? The correct dog for transportation security is not the correct dog for burglary prevention, ma\'am. Just like you wouldn\'t buy a volkswagen to haul a trailer." Remmy frowned; he didn\'t like this guy\'s attitude. Not everyone knew how this business worked.



"Basic, well-rounded protection. Strong, but fast too. I need a dog that can stay at home and protect us, but can come with us and protect us no matter where we are. It can\'t eat like a horse, either. I guess, whatever you think fits."



"Follow me." he replied quickly, and led them towards the Medium Canine door. "I have very few of these guys left, but I think they are the best choice for a well-rounded service dog." Josie replied with a faint \'mhm\' as her eyes fell to the first cage they walked past. All of the Rottweilers within were sitting quietly; not barking, not moving about, and not really doing anything at all. "Those," the man spoke up, noticing Josie\'s wandering glance. "Are bred for hunting, and home protection. They\'re all brute strength, and don\'t have much in the way of brains. Not the greatest for all-around protection. However, these," he stopped in front of the next cage, a few spots down, and put a hand on the cell-like door. The three Dobermans within stood immediately at attention. "Are the perfect all-around protection dogs. They will attack anyone that comes close enough to you, unless you tell them otherwise. The command for that is \'friend\'."



The moment the word fell out of his mouth, all three of the dogs laid down, and relaxed completely. "Conversely, if you want to make them attack, the word is T-A-R-G-E-T. If you are going to the store with the same name, I highly recommend you give it a nickname, such as T-store or Bullseye, otherwise you will have a chaotic scene on your hands, the dog will be put down, and you\'ll be fined by police. Now as you can see, we have two males and a female; the female is not for sale, she is our bitch at the moment, and is carrying puppies. However we have two styles; the one on the right there near the front is named Grimms. At ten months, he is docked and pinned, and has been fixed. The one beside him is Merlin; he is pinned, but not docked, and is also not fixed and open for breeding. Merlin is our better male, is ten months, and has had no issues with training whatsoever. He is a fine candidate, and the dog I recommend to you, at $2049 even. Will that suit your interests?"



Remmy\'s eyes flew open. Two grand? He knew Jean\'s card barely had the space, but how were they going to pay THAT bill off? "May I also mention, that price includes house, collar, lead, three bags of our specially formulated K9 corps food, and a lifetime of veterinary insurance coverage, valued at well over ten thousand dollars for a healthy dog."



"Remmy, we need this dog, and it\'s not like its not worth the cost." Josie spoke up, looking down at the long-tailed puppy. "He\'s cute."



"We only breed the blackest males, ma\'am." the wanna-be captain put in, earning himself an irritated glance from Remmy.



"I know. It\'s just, two grand.....Alright, here\'s the card...Merlin it is." he grumbled, passing the piece of plastic to the man. It honestly surprised him that none of the dogs were barking at him as if he were some evil killer. Not one of them had even whimpered at him.



"Thank you. I will be right back with a payment receipt. I might add that general commands will in fact work with Merlin; just make sure you are talking to him as you would talk to a child that is not listening to you. Be calm, but assertive. If you need help, consult our guide." with that, the man walked off, credit card in hand. He vanished around a corner, before either of them could follow.



"I hope for his sake he comes back with that, and we don\'t find weird charges on the bill..." Remmy muttered, casting his eyes back at the dogs, who were almost completely ignoring him. "And them - why aren\'t they going nuts? No dog has ever NOT gone ballistic at me."



"I\'m why!" a voice from behind them announced. Remmy\'s heart stopped for a moment, and whirled about on his heels. Josie perked a brow, and turned slowly to look. A man in his mid twenties smiled at them. He was heavy set, but not in a fat way; he certainly had a beer gut started, but most of him was muscle. He was short; Five foot five at the most, and around a hundred and ninety pounds. He was very keg-like, and had sharp black eyes, with matching black hair. He looked falsely soft; almost dangerous, like he was hiding something. He was in with a bunch of Akita, brushing their fur.



"Ken." Remmy spoke, not a note of interest or surprise in his voice. "I\'m overwhelmed to see you." the sarcasm was almost visible.



"Yeah! I decided to get away from the family a while, you know?" Ken said, glancing over to Josie a couple times.



"You don\'t say."



"I do say! It\'s getting a little hostile over there, you know? Mom and Dad always bustin\' my ass for...killing the squirrels. They just get in to everything and ruin it all, you know? Damn squirrels. Mom and Dad told me to...go get a real job; yeah, so here I am."



"Squirrels have as much right to live as dogs or bats do..." Remmy replied. Josie cast them a confused, sideways glance, which was ignored.



"But as I was saying. When I first got here, none of these little pups in here liked me. Not a one! They weren\'t even sure why. I almost got canned. That is, until they figured out they just didn\'t like my energy. Too dominant, too full of beer, you see? So they trained \'em that I wasn\'t no danger, that I wasn\'t gonna hurt \'em. Now not one of \'em think my energy is a bad thing, they think it means friend and master. So anyone like us, with a big personality, they know not to be scared."



"Sometimes, it\'s a good thing to know exactly who those people are though. But I guess I can see them coming, if the dog doesn\'t tense up at a stranger."



"Yeah, exactly. Like a silent radar, you got it. Gotta look out for \'em, not many of \'em are as well trained as us, right dog?" Ken stood up, and offered his hand through the bars to Josie. "Hey honey, I\'m Kenneth Carrot. Sweet to meet such a pretty little--"



"Enough." Remmy interrupted, taking Josie\'s hand before she could reach out. "She\'s not on the market." Ken\'s entire cocky-go-happy expression washed from his face, and a look of cautiousness entered it.



"Alright, my bad, no harm done. Thought she might be a girly type friend, my mistake...." he said, putting his hands up in a surrender position. "Or a squirrel..." he muttered, under his breath. Remmy\'s eyes thinned, grateful that Josie didn\'t seem to have heard the comment.



"I said, that\'s enough." Remmy growled, a dark tone in his voice. "I have no fear telling \'Mom and Dad\' that you\'re out here, babysitting house pets, hunting squirrels that aren\'t anywhere near home. Say another word, and I\'ll have you running from the country with your tail between your legs. Come on Josie; lets try and find Jean\'s credit card."



"No need, I\'m on my way..." Ken said, rather quickly, as he paled a little. Without another word, he slipped through an unlocked staff door within the Akita cage. Once the lock clicked shut, Remmy released his own pent-up tension in a faint growl.



"Remmy, what on earth was THAT all about?" Josie asked, a very confused expression on her face. "I didn\'t understand a WORD of that!" he turned to her with a burdened expression.



"That was Ken Carrot, better known as Heavyfoot. He\'s one of us. He\'s out here hunting squirrels. Squirrel is code for a non-were that knows too much, the ones we\'re supposed to try and turn in to one of us. The hunters and unfortunate ones that find us are called Squirrels. We have a love/hate relationship with them; they could cost us our existence if it fails, and yet, we need them to propagate our numbers. Ones like Heavyfoot believe that the Squirrels are a threat, are useless, and must be eradicated. Unfortunately, he also believes the pure ones, the weres with perfect DNA, should be forced to sleep with anyone that also has perfect DNA, and as frequently as possible, no matter what; even if it kills them. Fortunately for us, he ranks way below what I do, so he has to listen. Sometimes I have to put him in his place. Thing is, if it\'s true that the Alphas kicked them out, then there\'s trouble brewing back home, and they might risk calling a meeting. He used to be security; they just don\'t get irritated and throw out those guys. For now, he doesn\'t think you\'re a Squirrel, that you\'re just a human I\'m playing with, and I want to keep it that way. You\'re under the radar. I\'ll explain more about that later; for now, the guy\'s coming back."



As if on queue, the man rounded the corner again, carrying a stack of papers, and a large dog carrier.



"Sorry that took so long," he spoke up. "Usually that only takes a few seconds, but I had to sign some papers for the next shipment of food going out to subscribers. Here\'s your receipt and informational contract." he said, handing Remmy the papers. On top of it was Jean\'s credit card. "If you just want to head out front, I will bring the dog. We can\'t have anyone present when we open the gates, in case they see you as a threat. We can\'t have that happen. There are supplies waiting to be loaded in to your vehicle, if you\'d like to inspect them."



Josie nodded, and walked back past the Rottweilers, through the door she\'d come in, followed closely by Remmy. Near the security gate were a few boxes; one large, the other two a little smaller. The larger likely contained the dog house, while the others probably had the food, and other things.



"I guess I\'ll start loading..." Remmy spoke, glancing around carefully, in case Ken was around. Josie nodded again, and decided that meant she was supposed to wait for their new puppy. As Remmy stepped towards the boxes, a pair of employees dressed in combats as well approached him. After a short, inaudible conversation, Remmy led them through the gate and into the parking lot, after they picked up a box each. Josie shrugged to herself. They were paying a lot of money; that kind of service was to be expected.



After a long moment, the original employee that had taken charge of their sale emerged from the door she had, and was carrying the dog carrier. It was clearly containing Merlin. "Alright, here we are. Just show me to your car, and off you go." Josie nodded, something she seemed to be doing a lot of today, and led the way through the gate, towards the car. The other employees were loading the last, large box into the rear of the car, and the dog crate was loaded finally beside it. "When you get home, don\'t let Merlin out right away. Let him see his surroundings in his crate for about an hour. Then, let the door unlock, but don\'t open it right away. Tell him \'Friend\' as sternly as you can without sounding angry, and let him inspect the house. He will listen to you, as you let him out telling him \'Friend\'. Make sure you read the guide we gave you, and have a good day."



Finally, without asking anything more, the men vanished. Josie grinned; she finally owned a dog of her own.



"Let\'s go home. I can\'t wait to show Jean our new puppy; and, I bet you can\'t wait to tell her about us." Remmy said nothing, but reddened deeply, and got into the car.