The Shadow Hound's day out

Sammy was in his dog form laying down in the shade of a tree in the Cemetary. He then herd the familiar sound of rattling in a bowl. He got up and went to the bowls that the humans provided for him for food and water. While he was eating he noticed a waundering soul. He just gave out a small snarl meaning for it to stay away.

The soul stopped, staring at the dog before it and slowly stepping forward, speaking softly, "Have you seen my daughter? Please, I haven't seen her in so long..."

A familiar, white haired young man stepped in front of the soul, and gravely shook his head, "Mr. Mason, you're daughter isn't in here, why don't you try the park again today?"

The soul stopped it's advance, staring at the young priest for a moment before slowly nodding and walking away. The young priest shook his head, then turned to the hell hound.

"Man died in a car crash a few years ago, he's been looking for his daughter ever since. It's sad, really. So tell me, how have you been?" Thomas said, standing just outside the graveyard, as he knew how touchy Samiel was with people entering such sacred ground.

"The humans of the living would find it strange to see a man talking to a dog." Samiel said. He looked at the spirit that was just there. "What does the girl look like? How far was it. The Gravyard sould be fine for a few hours. As long as i get back before sunset." Samiel said as he hopped the fence wand waundered over to the park.

The soul stopped, looking back over to the dog, "She's a little girl, just turned eight years old, short black hair..."

The soul then started to blab on about his daughter, stopping every five minutes and repeating himself, walking further and further away from the park Thomas had told him to travel to.

"It's best not to bother Mr. Mason, Samiel. His daughter moved away last year after she graduated from high school. I tried to tell him, but he just devolved into...well, this." Thomas explained, frowning somberly as the soul eventually vanished into the air, having teleported to somewhere else in the vicinity of the town.

The priest then pulled out something akin to a blue tooth ear piece, and smiled, knowing full well that people wouldn't suspect him of talking to Samiel, so long as he wore this ear piece.

"So, how do you spend most of the day? Surely you don't hang out by the graveyard the whole day, do you?" Thomas asked, walking along with Sammy until he reached the street corner at the bottom of the hill.

"That is what I've been doing for the past 50 years. But sometimes change is a good thing. It is a shame for the soul he needs to move on. If he stays for too long something else may take him." Sammy said as he watched the soul disappier. He looked around the park, "The Cemetary is the only thing I've known."

The young man nodded, "I agree, but performing the ritual to send him to his rightful place is time consuming, and with how frequently he moves...It is very problematic, to say the least."

Thomas couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he heard of how...attached to the graveyard the hell hound had been. It would've made sense for the soul of a saint to watch guard over a graveyard or a cathedral, but a hell hound was certainly something unique.

"Well, we still have a few hours before sunset, why don't we check out the town for a little while, check up on what you've missed in the last fifty years." Thomas suggested, wondering if the guardian would even accept such an offer.

"I do not wish to intrude. But I would like to see what this world is like." Samiel said staying close to Thomas. He was unsure of the world beyond his Graveyard.

Thomas nodded, trying to think of something that he could show the hound. In reality, they could pretty much go anywhere that allowed dogs, so maybe a good walk over to the outdoor cafe would be a nice visit.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a bit peckish. Why don't we go and grab a bite to eat? Don't worry, I won't get you any dog food...I'm sure you wouldn't like it." Thomas stated, walking down the park while he made his way to the café.

"Hold on I have an idea." Sammy said as he closed his eyes and started to focuse. He had seen humans walking their dogs on a strange chain. He cast the shadow of one of them and brought it to Thomas's hand. "At least the humans will think that I belong to you. Since you wear thoses glasses they may think that you cannot see." the dog said as he started to walk slowly onward.

Thomas nodded, slowly following the dog along as he gave Samiel the directions to the café. It only took them about fifteen minutes to get there, and the café had a very Irish air to it, as all the mugs seemed to look more like massive glass pints.

Thomas sat down on a black metal chair, with leaf-like patterns sculpted out around the paper thin strands that made up the chair and table. He looked out ahead, trying to keep up with the blind man impression, and asked Samiel, "So, is there any flavor you have a preference for?"

"What do you mean flavor?" Sammy asked. he liked the way the cafe looked. It had a nice vibe to it, warm and welcoming. Even the people there were friendly.

The priest shook his head and sighed, the Hell Hound's history escaping Thomas's mind for a moment. Of course the hell hound's intellect regarding the culture of the town would be severely limited.

"Don't worry about it, I'll explain it later." Thomas said, stopping his conversation with Samiel as one of the waitresses approached and asked if there was anything he wanted to eat.

The priest nodded, "Yes, I would like some chips and a hamburger, hold the onions and ketchup if you could please?"

Thomas had no clue what onions would do to the hound's digestive tract, but surely Samiel could eat meat.

What is hamberger? It better be meat and not that lame excuse for food that the humans normally give me. the hound thought. Samiel looked around as he saw strange alters carrying food around. The sents finally came to his nose and he started to drool; they smelled so good he wanted to try one. He felt a small tug on his tail he didn't growl or yelp in pain, he merly turned and saw a small child at about 3 to 4 years of age, "Hi doggy." he said.

Thomas said nothing at the boy's approach, simply waiting till the boy said something before actually reacting. After all he was "blind", so couldn't necessarily see the boy coming, could he.

"Oh, hello there little one. I see you've met my friend Sammy. Why don't you go ahead and say "hello" sammy?" Thomas replied, smiling as the waitress brought him a cup of coffee for him to drink while he waited for his food.

Samiel made a small low howl that almost sounded like "Hello". The child laughed, "Doggy talk." he said while clapping his hands. Samiel layed there waundering of where the cild's parent was.

The priest turned his attention to the small child, barely noticing the waitress returning with their food. Thomas lowered his glasses as he looked at the lost little lamb, and asked the boy, "Tell me young one, where are your mommy and daddy? Don't you know you shouldn't talk to strangers?"

The small child put his fingure on his chin as if he was thinking, "Mommy's at sore, Daddy bye-bye."he saidto the man. Samiel's ears perked up, What does he mean by "Bye-bye"? he thought.

"Well, why didn't your mother bring you along? This isn't the kind of place for children to be running around unattended. I am sorry to hear that your father is gone child, and I'll look after you till your mother gets back, does that sound alright with you?" Thomas offered, assuming the worst in regards to the term "bye-bye". It was rough, for a boy of this youth's age to experience the death of a loved one.

"Mommy go to store. 'Stay here no leave house.' she said. I take nap woke up to a scary sound. A bad man came he was all black. I run to find mommy" the child explained. Samiel's eyes widened at the child's story. Was it a Demon? he thought.

The priest's eyebrow slanted slightly, obviously intrigued by this "bad man". The waitress, unaware of the incident, handed Thomas a bowl full of french fries and a juicy hamburger, just as he had asked. He nodded to the waitress and handed her a wad of bills, the young priest not even caring that he had just handed the woman about one hundred dollars in cash as he stood, taking a few fries and eating them before setting the hamburger in front of the hellhound.

"You don't say. Well don't worry my child, I'm a good guy, and it's my job to get that bad man out of your home. Now Sammy, I hope you can eat and walk at the same time, for leaving such a scrumptious meal as is would be simply rude." Thomas stated, disregarding the fact that he had barely even touched his half of the meal.

Samiel caught the hamburger in his mouth and quickly placed it on the ground. "Go on ahead I'll catch up with you." he said taking a bite out of the hamburger. "Mommy sys no bring stranger in house." the child said. "This thing is hott yet so good!!" Samiel howled and continued to eat.

Thomas chuckled, "Yes, and it is a good thing that you're listening to what your mother told you. I am Reverand Thomas Wells, and I work at the church here in town. Now that we are properly aquainted, I need to see if that bad man is still in your home. After all, we don't want to know what could happen if mommy came home to that big bad man, would we?"

"Ok. I tell mommy you church man. Come on." the child said pulling Thomas to get home. Samiel was still eating the hamburger. "Man this thing is good."

Thomas followed along, discretely tugging on the shadowy leash that Samiel had made to try and get the hell hound to come along. After all, he would need someone to take care of the child while he investigated the household.

"All right I'm comming." Samiel said taking the hamburger with him.As he followed Thomas and the child. The kid eventually led them to a nice house it wasn't old looking or new but it was nice. It was a two-story house with a finced in back yard, on the inside it had a large living room with the average things that you would find in a home. "So what are we looking for again?"Sammy asked as he swallowed the hamburger.