The man looked out the shack as the sun slowly inched it's way up the horizon, marking the dawning of a new day. This day was much like any other, destined to be hot, destined to be arid, and destined to be dangerous. Danger was a perennial constant in his life, for without danger little could exist that would matter. Only with danger were thing put into perspective, it made on really think about their prerogatives. When one was in danger, they thought more carefully about what was more important to them, and then they make the decision that they could never have made otherwise.

     His decisions had all been carefully plotted out, his mistakes few, one he suffered for, though he hid it well; some would say too well, but they were also in danger, in danger from him; or so they liked to believe. His course was set, he had no recourse but to make his selections soon, before they came into too much understanding. Things were being discovered, he knew, they had found his number after all, how dare they!

     Of course they couldn't stop him, though they were making his life more difficult, getting in and out of Barken had never been a problem. He knew where they would be headed shortly, a little shack out at the south eastern corner of Barken. This little shack was a monitoring station for the water tower, and of course it was low maintenance, so the likelihood of anybody being in here was slim. Of course, the shack was full of machinery, and there were many places where he shouldn't step, of course who else but he would know that?

     Ted woke the next morning practically jumping out of bed. He had thought and thought, deliberating over the facts of the case before he finally thought himself to sleep. It was a bright morning, the sun having already been up for at least an hour. Looking at the clock it was just after seven. He was so excited at what he thought might present itself as a solution, that he skipped a shower and breakfast that morning, just putting on the same clothes he had the day before, and rushing over to the police station.

     They had decided to break up for the night, after trying several times to call their murderer. The phone of course was still busy, which he saw frustrated both Will and Joey the most. The others all figured it was useless, and left for the night after it was obvious that they weren't going to get anything else done. Ted and Will had talked it over, catching up on recent events for a little while, Will himself admitting he was new to the case. Will told him that he intended to hand the position of leadership back to Davis as soon as he got out of the hospital on the sixth.

     It was now the fifth. Five days until October the tenth, when whatever ceremony he had planned would take place.

     When he reached the police station, he found the Rick, Joe and Jenny were already there. Jenny was sitting quietly behind her desk in the reception area. She greeted him warmly, and motioned for him to enter the office, where Joe and Rick were discussing something in subdued tones. Their conversation ended as the slightly anxious Ted walked in.

     "Hello Obermeyer." Rick said as he walked in, looking about the place.

     "I need some maps." Ted told them, cutting straight to the chase.

     "What maps?" Joe asked, cradling his cast in his other arm. Ted could see that already people had signed it, including Rick.

     "I need the map of Barken which has the pentagram drawn into it, and I need a map of the surrounding area, Barken, Cherry, the whole thing." Ted told them.

     "Let me get you one." Rick walked over to the file cabinet, and rifled through it, looking for a map of the surrounding area. He then pulled something out, and unfolded it, and it showed a smaller detail of Barken, and up in one corner was a detail of Cherry, while the rest was the area surrounding the two.

     "What do you need those for?" Joe asked.

     "I have an idea, I'll be in my room at the hotel figuring these things out." Ted replied.

     "Well good luck." Rick called after him.

     Ted left the office, and returned quickly to his hotel room. As he was entering it, he saw Will step out of his, all dressed and clean shaven. Will saw him, and looked him over, "You look like you never changed?"

     "I didn't, I've got an idea, I just need some time to myself to flesh it out." Ted replied.

     "What are you thinking?" Will asked.

     "Our killer might have left a roadmap to find him in the way he positioned the bodies."

     Will raised an eyebrow at that one, "Really? And I take it you are going to be an amateur cartographer?"

     "Something like that, I'll let you all know if I figure anything out." Ted slipped into his room.

     "Well, just don't go and do something stupid." Will cautioned him.

     "You know me." Ted insisted.

     "Yeah, I do." Will returned, and then left Ted alone to his devices.

     Nathan returned inside from his morning ride, glad to get out of the rain that had started up while he had been out there. Stepping inside, he took his boots off, no need to track mud in, and walked up to take a shower to clean himself off. It was these days that just made working here so interesting, it made it nearly impossible to get anything done. Plus at this time of year the rain was biting, nearly freezing. In another month or so, it would be snow.

     As he trudged upstairs, he noticed Ginger, their sheep dog, licking herself all over. This was not an uncommon sight in a house with five dogs, what was unusually was that there seemed to be something unexpected. He looked at her genitalia, and noticed that it was quite shrunken. That was odd, he would never had expected her to leave her heat so soon. After all, the males had been kept outside the whole time, the only way would have been if....

     Will arrived in the police station to find that only Joe and Rick were there. He said hi to them, and then looking in on the prisoners, he saw that they were all quite tuckered out, not moving much at all. Returning back to the other two he asked, "Have they been fed since the incident?"

     "Who?" Rick asked.

     "The prisoners?" Will asked.

     "Not to my knowledge." Rick added. "Randy dealt with that."

     "Where is Randy by the way?" Will asked.

     "Not here." Joe said. "He's probably taking care of his father."

     Will nodded. He did not know the sorrow of having a family member killed, but he knew that it must be terrible. His parents were still alive, and they knew little eof his activities. He suspected they would have a coronary if they knew half of the things he had had to do to solve a case.

     "Well, we should feed them." Will remarked.

     "I'll call Mrs. Brumfield, and she'll prepare something and bring it over." Rick picked up the phone, and dialled. Will gripped Joe and pulled him away.

     "Joe, why do you think that our killer somehow knew exactly where you'd all be that night. What do you suspect he has done?"

     "I figured he just watched as we set it up, he could have been disguised as anybody."

     Will nodded. "There are just so many things we have yet to know. I still feel as if we have only the icing on the cake. What could he possibly be trying to do with some dark ritual? We have to find this out."

     "I don't know what we can do, but hope that Obermeyer comes up with something."

     "He seemed quiet ecstatic with his latest theory, thought maybe he could tell us where the guy is from where he's placing the bodies." Will reported.

     "Anything at this point would make me happy." Joe told him calmly, the look of obvious hatred easily visible to him.

     They both turned when they heard the phone ring. Rick was just as surprised, and he moved to pick it up, but Will beat him to the receiver. "This is Bryant speaking."

     "Oh, Bryant, that's right, I remember hearing about you." the voice on the other end said. Will gripped the phone tightly, his face gone completely white. He put the receiver down, and put it on speaker phone.

     "So I take it you're not busy any more." Will said, backing away from the phone. Both Joe and Rick looked at Will, and then at each other, and then to the phone. It was him. The killer had called.

     "Hardly, I have my work cut out for me, just wanted to call and let you know I cared about you all." the voice replied.

     "Oh, then this is all for us?" Will came back, twisting the killers call sign to his advantage.

     "Not remotely. I am doing nothing for you, nothing for Davis, nothing for anybody among the Barken police force. This is all I can say to you, my line is operational, you may call me as you please, you may ask me whatever you wish."

     "What's the catch?" Joe asked.

     "Three." came the reply.

     "Three, what's that supposed to mean?" Joe barked back.

     "You may only call me three times. Like Aladin had only three wishes, you only have three calls. This is just a warning, I figured that you all might want to know something, and I knew it was rude of me to leave my phone off the hook."

     "What are you planning to do? What ritual is this?" Will asked.

     "Ah ah ah...." the voice called back, quite patronizing this time. "No questions now, if you want to ask me a question, you have to use a call. If that's your only question, I don't think it would be a good idea to call now, I intend to raise several other questions for you, ta ta for now." and then the line went dead.

     Rick turned the phone off, and looked at Will who was holding his head in his hands, "You want to call him back?"

     "No not now. I want to find out first what Ted has discovered.", he then grunted is displeasure and walked out of the room, mumbling something to himself. Rick looked at Joe, who caught the look.

     "Oh great, not now." Joe said, before leaving Rick to himself in the office, as he headed after Will.

     Ted finished drawing on the maps, and he looked at what he'd accomplished. He had taken the original star in Barken, transcribed it over to the larger map which had both Barken and Cherry on it, and had then redrawn the original star to scale on the new map, placing Barken as the south-eastern corner. The place he knew it to be was marked for him, he had to get over there.

     He picked up his phone, and called the police station. The line was busy. Putting his cell-phone back, he looked at the maps again. It wouldn't hurt if he headed there now would it, not really, after all he could take care of himself. He'd tell Mrs. Brumfield on the way out of course where he was going. Just in case, he circled the places he knew to be pivotal in this entire affair, and left the room, the location fixed in his mind.

     Heading downstairs, he discovered that there was nobody there. "Mrs. Brumfield?" he called out, but got no response. He looked into a kitchen. He caught the smell of dog food immediately, and saw that there were several open cans, along with a bag of dog kibbles sitting on the counter. Where had she gone?

     There was nothing left for it though, he'd call them and tell them what he'd find. He strapped on his pistol, just in case things got a little hairy, he was not going to be unprepared. He then left the hotel, and got in his car. It was a new model, truck as he liked trucks, and it was good for travelling in the desert. With the location set in his mind, he left the town of Barken, intent on solving this mystery.

     Will was sitting in the reception area of the police station holding his head in his hands. He'd been developing this head ache for the last few days, and now it seemed as if he were about to explode. He'd taken some medicine, but it had hardly seemed to abate the headaches progress. He'd always been prone to head aches, but he was usually good at hiding it, but not any more, now he just felt plain awful about it. Jenny glanced at him when he sat down, a look of concern spread across her face, but she continued typing.

     Joe walked in shortly afterward, and he sat across from Will. "Hey, Will, you feeling all right?"

     "Just a head ache." Will leaned back, resting his head against the wall.

     Joe gritted his teeth, he suspected that it was more than a head ache, much more, though he hoped that Will would understand. He really hated the fact that this had to be happening now. "I think it might be more than just a head ache."

     Will popped an eye open, looking at Joe very curiously. "What are you saying?"

     "I think you might be nearing your first change." Joe said, which made Will look at him even closer. "You have spent nearly two total weeks here in Barken, it was bound to happen some time."

     Will held up a hand, it was still a hand he thought. "I don't want to hear that. How long before, if this is what you claim it to be, how long before I'll be able to change back?"

     "Who knows, days, hours, never can tell. It all depends on the person." Joe replied, much to Will's dissatisfaction.

     "Good gawgh." Will clutched at his throat for a moment, as he felt it about to bulge.

     "Yeah you're changing." Joe surmised standing up. "Quick take your clothes off, don't want to rip them up."

     Will complied, feeling as if he was about to burst at the seems. He saw that Jenny had turned to face away, much to his amusement, and that Rick had come to see what was going on, and that another was entering in on something that he presumably didn't really want to watch.

     Joey never thought he would see what he saw just then. Here he was minding his own business, entering the police station, to see if there were any news about whether anybody was killed the previous night, and what does he find. He finds peepshow. Will Bryant was undressing himself, while Joe and Rick watched. His jaw nearly dropped, and he looked to Will for explanation, however when he saw Will's face, he got all the explanation he ever needed. Even before he finished undressing, already his face was starting to bulge forwards.

     With the last of his clothes on the floor before him, Will reflected on the entire situation. He could feel his bones and skin flowing all over him and inside him. It was a unique experience he had to admit, one that was not entirely without it's own punishments. He felt himself drawing inward at some points, like his hands, and his chest, and at others he felt his body push outwards, like at the base of his spine and his face. Having an audience watch him transform, to finally become as they were was not what he preferred to have happen, ye before them now he was officially declaring that Barken would always be a home to him, for it had made him a resident by giving him a dog's body. Now more than ever he would fight in it's interests, secure its needs, and fulfil its desires. Now he was going to be more than a man, but a dog-man, a creature that is both dog and man, yet at the same time neither of them.

     "My goodness." Joey exclaimed, a part of him happy now that Will suffered a similar fate as he did. "He's a Sheep Dog!"

     "For who knows how long." Joe added, looking at the remade Will Bryant, who was inspecting himself as well, and looking up at each of them, his eyes not pathetic as Joey would have expected them to be - his had been when he had changed, hoping that those around him did not hold it against him, what Julie did do of course was much worse - but instead his eyes held a fierce determination, one that told them all, this was not going to stop him. They knew from that moment on, all of them, that Will was indeed going to solve this case.

     Ted knew that he had reached the location when he saw it. It looked to be an abandoned warehouse, but this made little sense, as it was built out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a ravine to keep it from being visible to any casual observers, and well camouflages if you weren't looking for it. From Ted's vantage point, it was clearly visible. The tire tracks leading towards it from this point on didn't help either. Ted stepped out of his truck, looked overhead, it was about midday, and most likely the killer would probably be about, so it would be safe to enter.

     Ted still pulled his pistol out, as he approached the building, noticing that the front two doors opened outwards, and they looked relatively used, in fact quite recently. He also knew that something was up, as his enhanced smelling told him that there was something in that building that did not smell savoury. He also picked up the scents of certain chemical powders, and interesting supposed magical devices.

     Ted slowly opened the door till it was slightly ajar, then he slipped in. It was very dark inside the building, except for the lamps which were placed at either side of another set of double doors in front of him. He was obviously in a foyer, and as he looked around, he could see that to either side were sets of broken timbers, and crumbling wood. To the one side looked to be the remnants of a confession booth. Ted crept around there, making sure to keep his pistol aimed in front of him. There was a definite stagnant fragrance about the place that made him slightly ill, but he forged ahead.

     The figure rose from the dark, and looked through the cracks into the foyer. Before him moved a figure, a figure carrying a pistol. What could he possibly be doing here, that intruder. He must be dealt with, there was no other recourse, but first, his reason for being here must be made clear.

     Ted reached with a bit of trepidation at the inner doors, but he found them to be light, and he didn't hear any movement from within, so swung it open. Stepping inside, he noticed that the only light came from a lamp that was held suspended in the centre of the chamber; the light coming from the inside of the parapet was too to illuminate the room much. It was a large chamber, with a high ceiling, form which the lamp was held suspended. It was held at such an angle that only the centre floor was illuminated, and the walls were kept in inky blackness. Along those walls was a parapet, which he could see circled the entire room. He noticed a staircase at the end that led up to the upper level. He could see a few doors along the parapet, all equally space, none on the wall behind him though.

     What most intrigued him though was what was on the floor. The floor was very smooth, and it was obvious that it was redone just recently, and probably for the occasion that the killer had in mind. There traced out in clear detail was the pentagram, with the secondary stars at each spire. At every point on the stars, there laid on top of them the skin of a dog, each placed so that the head was pointing at the south eastern corner. He felt a bit of vindication for guessing it's significance, for that was the origin of the doubling. The lines of the pentagram were done over three times, and that was certainly odd.

     Looking over the entire figure, he saw that there were certain items placed inside the centre of the pentagram. At the very centre he saw a knife decorated with certain symbols. Outwards from that was a bottle of wine, most certainly the Chardonnay, several masks over which lay dog-hair, and a few other knick knacks which put everything in perspective for him. He sat there stunned, a smile creeping across his face. He couldn't believe this, this was simply an impressive design, and he now fathomed it's purpose.

     He's just looking so far. Is he going to do anything else? Must be careful, cannot disturb the pentagram, it might effect the ritual. What's that he's pulling out, a phone! He must not alert anyone!

     Will was still trying out his new legs, all for of them, when suddenly they heard the phone ringing in Davis's office. They all dashed over there, Will lopping in, tripping, getting up again, and finally putting his paws on top of the desk as he watched Rick put it on speaker phone.

     "This is Sheriff Davis's office, Rick White speaking." Rick called back.

     "This is Ted, I've found it. Tell Will I found it!" Ted called back excitedly.

     Will's ears perked up, and he reflexively barked, obviously trying to say something, but forgetting he no longer had the vocal chords to do so.

     "What have you found, Ted?" Dr. Vermiclin asked.

     "I found his pentagram, where he's going to perform his ritual. I'm here now, this thing is so screwed up, you'll never believe what it's going to do." Ted called back excitedly.

     Will then barked frantically, which then subsided into whining, as his tail found itself between his legs. Rick looked at Will, knowing just what he wanted. "Ted, get out of there now, Will doesn't want you there."

     "Sure, I'll be back." Ted called back. "I'll show you where it is when I get there, it's so ingenious, it right in the middle of.....Of SHIT!" the suddenly the phone went dead.

     "Ted?" Joe called out, and he was joined by the others. "TED?!?" he called louder, but the connection was gone.

     They all looked at each other as Rick put the phone back. A deathly silence filled the room, only to be broken by the mournful whining of Will Bryant.