The night was cold and his body was shaking with exhaustion and hunger, but he had to carry on moving. If he could not reach the shelter of his alley-way by midnight then the street-sweepers would come after him, and he was petrified of the great whirring machines that patrolled the streets of one of Germany's biggest dock-based cities, and he did not want to run into any of the wandering dogs that were often patrolling their patches of ground. But for the little terrier type creature, his fate was sealed when he brushed too close to a dustbin, and the metal can rattled near the wall of the building he was passing, and the beast in the alleyway was woken up…..

It was all over the streets and written about in the newspapers the next morning, some unfortunate dustman had found the mess and been savaged by the monster. But though he had been perfectly healthy, and there had been no signs of rabies or harmful bacteria within the bitten areas, the humans were at a state of unrest. Though the attack had been close to the docks where there were several stray dogs and indeed many guard dogs left to run without a chain, there were still families within that region, and they did not want to have any child mauled. But with no clear idea of what the beast had been the humans found themselves deciding on harsher laws and methods for controlling dogs. But though only one human had been hurt, it was the dog community that was shaken the most.

It was a little German Spitz, Klein Spitz, that was the most worried by the event, as the killing had happened close to her family's home, and there had been more then one stray dog torn to pieces. She was called Jofrid, and she was a sweet and playful little bitch that was adored by her mistress and the three young daughters of the household. Even the elder teenage master liked her, though he was less inclined to show it, and often called her silly things in public but then apologised when he was out of ear-shot. Even the stern working master, who always worked and came back home tired, hungry, and a little aggressive, found it soothing to cuddle against her plush wolfish fur. But though Jofrid was indeed a cunning little lady at the best of times, she was not the only dog in her road with fears, amongst these other dogs were four dogs that lived in the clean neighbourhood in various kinds of housing. It was with these dogs that she had arranged a meeting at the nearest park at about five in the evening, when they were all usually walked through it, and in secure areas were let off the leads.

At a quarter to five, Jofrid stepped out of the kitchen after having a drink and pitter-pattered on her tiny little toes toward the front room of the small house to sit at the feet of the mother and whine up at her. This immediately got her a few cuddles and sweet words, plus a few hugs and hard pats from the little girls, but it was not what she had intended. Like most dogs, Jofrid found that getting the right message to her owners was a little difficult, and so she needed to improvise. Though a polite young lady and very clean, Jofrid knew the key to being taken out for a walk, as a small dog she did not need too much to eat and so only ever needed a trip about twice a day. Therefore, she began to sniff at a patch on the rug she had once soiled as a little puppy and then she began to traced around it with her nose, walking in circles and shifting her legs about like she needed the toilet.

Ten minutes later, almost five o'clock, she had done her business and had paced to the little pens in the large green park where dogs were allowed off the lead and could not escape. Immediately she chose the pen where there were her four fellows were waiting. They were all pedigree dogs, well-fed, happy, and to be frank, spoilt dogs with contented and bored lives. In all their time on their street they had never encountered any other dogs save the occasional wanderer, and often then had only needed to bark to chase off the intruder. But with an odd, large, hairy, beast wandering around their neighbourhood, the humans were getting a little more anxious to get back in before dusk and the dogs were also nervous.

"I never saw or heard anything myself, just heard the mistress complaining about a messy street when she get home from the salon this morning." Whined Saxona in a smug tone. She was a three-year-old and posh grey-coloured standard poodle that had originally come from Munich, but had moved with her mistress after a messy relationship had gone wrong. She was a very posh animal, and often got bored of talking to Jofrid and the others after five minutes, but today they assumed she might stay longer. Even so her comment was snorted at by a Weimaraner bitch.

"Your mistress always complains at mess, I'm surprised she's ever willing to even take you out for a walk, you're so picky! But I did not hear anything last night, just a few panicked cats jumping the back-garden fence. It woke me and my husband up!" Fania growled softly. She was a pedigree show-dog and had one best in breed twice and for the past three years of showing she had moved from winning best puppy to best bitch. She was not as pompous as Saxona, if only because she obeyed her husband's rule and her owners were quite tough dog-lovers. In fact her mate, another Weimaraner named Jarman, was a proper working dog, though he only worked when the masters took them on holiday into Bavaria or to the Black Forest. She did not take the nonsense of animals she felt were foolish, and often Saxona and her would get a little too rowdy for their owner's comfort. But it was a different dog that interrupted before any harsh words could escape the poodle bitch.

"That's what I heard, but I get scared of cats and I hid in my bed with the blanket over my head. I even wet myself, I was so nervous. Then this morning one of the neighbour's rabbits told me that there was a monster roaming the docklands!" Whined Baxter, a dark tri-coloured coloured Deustche Bracke, or German Hound, that had been the runt in his litter and sold off as a pet. He was a timid and nervous dog that feared everything and was very lazy too. But his master's wife adored him and their young son even tried to ride him! But his comment was retorted by all three bitches, who each held a nasty bark when they were annoyed by him.

"Shut up you useless creature! We all know you're too scared to look at your own shadow!" They all growled, and the nervous dog tried to hunch up into his front paws as though he were trying to switch his head with his tail. But this was all shrugged by the bigger dog among them, a large liver roan wire-haired pointer, Hamlet, who had no interest or fear about this. He was old now, the pet of a restaurant owner at the end of their road, and he was contented, having travelled much and seen many strange beasts. His opinion was a calm one, and he spoke wisely.

"Overall, it has only harmed one human and killed three dogs, all of them terrier-like strays. It does not matter to us then what this creature could be. From what I heard it sounds like a large Alsatian cross-breed that was dumped near the docklands. It only attacked the human because it got scared, and no one found it when they searched this morning. The beast has probably moved on." He whined softly, and his words soothed the other four dogs. As the big pointer lay down to allow his owner to step in and attach the lead, the others felt compelled to do the same. For they had no wish to make Hamlet stay awake longer then he needed to.

But as they settled down and one human went to step to the side of the older dog, the humans all paused nervously. They had better vision then the dogs when they were not occupied, and all of them had spotted something large stepping toward them on a lead. The dogs did not turn, understanding that their owners would be anxious continuously because of the threat. But it was when the approaching animal spoke to them as it was given permission to sit, that they leapt in surprise and then crouched in submission.

"This creature is not to be scoffed at so easily, sir, it seems to have brains enough to avoid the humans in day-time." The creature growled softly, though its voice was distorted.

The other dogs turned and looked to the massive form of a Rottweiler, at least, the past two generations of his breeding had been Rottweilers, but there were no pedigree papers to match this, and he did not need them. This dog, they had only seen once of twice before, but heard about from their owners. He was called Kerberus, and he was a Schutzhund, a trained attack dog. The humans were afraid of him, but most of all they were afraid of his owner, a tall and broad German with dark eyes and cruel expression upon his face. Around this human everyone felt submissive, even his piers and superiors, but that was what his job needed. After all, if prisoners could not respect you as you paced through the large fortress-like structure, what good would you be as a prison warden?

"He'll probably show up after midnight and kill again, if he's still hungry. But if you like, I'll tell you if I see him tomorrow, about this time." Kerberus growled through a large brown muzzle that looked like it was made of leather. Unlike most basket muzzles, his was softer so that he could still manipulate his jaws around an attacker, it was painted yellow too. He wore a harness with warning triangles that marked him as a Schutzhund, after all, he had to be muzzled by law. But the owner did not want to linger long, and he was lead away, leaving the five pets to stare at him while they were strapped to their leads and owners, afraid of what tonight might bring...