Note: This post has been included in one of the new Chapter drafts, please refer to the Index for the current draft of the story.

Please note, this is currently a very rough draft from NaNoWriMo 2007. There will be spelling and grammatical errors afoot as well as flat out bad writing, info dumps, plot holes, flat out contradictions, and uneven characterization and pacing. (Content is also subject to constant change as I take an editing chainsaw to the story.)

“Hey!” Sebastian’s expression changed from annoyance to good cheer as soon as he saw who it was at the door.

“Hey.” Jon ducked inside as soon at the door was open far enough, Todd following behind with an overly dramatic eye roll.

“What’s up?” Sebastian closed the door (with one last glare towards the room with the stereo with speakers that went to 11) and made a grab for his textbooks before Todd sat on them. “you look sorta freaked.”

“I am sorta freaked,” Jon collapsed into the futon that served as both bed, couch, and textbook repository. “I’m being chased by ghost dogs!” Which was overly dramatic, if only to avoid the fact that it did sort of demand some sort of drama. It wasn’t every day a person got chased by a pack of otherworldly canine. Not that they had been chasing him, per say, but it was rather stalker-ish of them.

“Ghost dogs?” Sebastian looked over at Todd who shrugged and fished a soda out of the mini-fridge next to the other futon. “You’re kidding, right?”

Jon just gave him an annoyed look.

“Okay, maybe you’re not.” Sebastian grabbed the computer chair (which was the only other thing clean enough to sit on). “So?”

Jon ran down the story again, this time trying to make himself sound a little less crazy. He really wasn’t sure it had worked.

“I think he’s nuts.” Todd was halfway through one of Sebastian’s random architectural magazines randomly flipping pages.

“But they haven’t done anything?” Sebastian was looking less impressed, which means Jon might have gotten the level of ‘crazy’ vs. ‘understandably concerned’ right this time.

“Well, guess not, but it’s still creepy.” Jon finished off the soda and though about getting another one, but the futon was comfy and he’d had enough movement for one day. “I mean, they could.” He waved the can in a general ‘great doom is upon us all’ motion.

“Mmm,” Sebastian turned to his computer, rescuing the keyboard out from under something that looked like a scale model of the downtown library. or at least a good 40% of it. Jon took the moment to wonder if he could build anything that small while Sebastian puttered about on Wikipedia. He’d more or less decided that he couldn’t when Sebastian make a sort of aha noise.

“What?”

“Per the combined brainpower of the internet… they don’t exist. At least none of the dogs in here match.” He pushed back from the desk and rescued a bag of half-full Doritos from under the futon. “I’ve got black dogs and fairy hounds and divine dogs, and nothing that matches your pack of mutts.” He made an unhappy noise at the staleness of the Doritos. “If it helps, I don’t think they’re out to kill you.”

“And you got this from..?”

“Well, you’ve seen them, what, three times now? And it’s not like they’ve done anything but be creepy.”