She arrived at the front of the academy and the sun was shining high in the sky. At the top of the stairs stood Michael, as if expecting someone. Annabelle ran up to him. "What took you so long?" whined Michael. "We're due for soul collection tonight and guess what!" "What?" asked Annabelle. "We're collecting in the same place!" exclaimed Michael. "Are you sure that you're not stalking me?" said Annabelle as they walked up to the main entrance. Suddenly there was a bark behind them. They turned around to see a white ball of fluff leap out from the portal and come bounding towards them. "What the...?" exclaimed Michael as the ball knocked him over and started licking his face. It was Bruno.

"Who invited the face-licker?" asked Michael as he pried the dog off his chest and stood up. "That's strange." she said. "Technically no living thing should be able to find the portal let alone pass through it without the guidance of a reaper." She picked him up and held him up to her face. "Bruno, how in hell did you use the portal?" "Seriously?" sighed Michael. "You named it Bruno?" "Well he acts like a Bruno." mumbled Annabelle. "How the hell does something act like a Bruno?" exclaimed Michael. "I don't know! Stop asking so many questions!" yelled Annabelle as she put Bruno back down. He looked at Michael and growled. "I think you got on his bad side!" giggled Annabelle. "Haha, very funny!" said Michael. He took out his task book. "Well are we going to go do these jobs or not? I'm due to collect the soul of a young man who committed suicide at seven o'clock tonight. Just what I need, another recruit to look after."

Annabelle took out her task book as well and looked under her name. She was due to collect the soul of a horse at seven thirty. "Can we bring Bruno?" she asked Michael. He rolled his eyes. "I'll regret saying yes but I'll be in more trouble if I say no." he sighed. Annabelle squealed and hugged Michael. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Michael!" She let go and picked up Bruno. "C'mon Bruno let's go!" she exclaimed as she ran towards the portal that lead to London. Michael trudged along behind her. "What are friends for?" he mumbled.

It was six-forty when they arrived in London. They jumped onto the nearest roof and surveyed the area. The city was deserted and all was quite. "Well isn't this a calm night." sighed Michael as he went to wrap his arm around Annabelle. Bruno barked at him and jumped from Annabelle's arms in an attempt to bite him. Michael took a step back. "Who does this dog think he is?" he exclaimed. "It's like he's your boyfriend or something!" "Maybe he just wants to protect me from stalkers like you!" smirked Annabelle as she bent down to stroke him. "What's that supposed to mean?" exclaimed Michael. Annabelle rolled her eyes. Suddenly there was a loud smash followed by a scream. "Well that's my cue." sighed Michael as he prepared to leap towards a roof a few meters away. "Wait!" exclaimed Annabelle. Michael turned and looked at her. "Let me guess, you want to come?" he said. Annabelle nodded and picked up Bruno. "And you want to bring Bruno?" She nodded again. "You're getting quite good at this guessing game!" she giggled as they leapt towards the next roof together.

They arrived at the place where the scream was heard to find a man lying on the ground, blood leaking from his head. Annabelle and Michael jumped down from the nearest rooftop and gracefully landed on the ground. Annabelle set down Bruno who instantly trotted towards the dying man. He started to sniff him. "Bruno get back here now!" Annabelle hissed. Bruno whined and reluctantly returned to his master's side. "Keep that dog away from the human!" Michael whispered coarsely. Annabelle picked up Bruno and held onto him tightly. Michael made his way to the man while Annabelle stayed behind with Bruno. The man and Michael exchanged a few words, but nothing special. A few minutes later Michael reached behind his back and pulled out his death scythe, a red katana. Suddenly he stabbed the katana into the man's torso releasing the cinematic records. Usually a soul would fight to stay in the living world and would attempt to kill anyone who tried to stop it. But this man's soul slowly slithered its way into Michael's death scythe, it wanted to be collected. It didn't take long for the soul to be completely absorbed so by seven o'clock the task was complete. The man was finally dead but they knew they would soon meet with him again.

Michael slid the katana back into its holder and made his way back to Annabelle who was holding Bruno. She looked surprised when she saw Michael standing next to her. "Well that was fast." she exclaimed. "Why was it so quick?" Michael opened his task book. "It says here that his name was Richard Kainzly." he answered. "It also says he was violently abused by his father since he was a child. Over the years this ultimately lead him to depression and alcohol addiction. His wife left him for another man and took their two children with her." "Sounds like he had a rough life." sighed Annabelle. "That's why his soul was happy to be taken away from him." "Well I for one am happy that I didn't have to work so hard today." grinned Michael. Annabelle playfully punched him. "You're so lazy!" she giggled. She looked at the Big Ben clock. "Well I better get going!" She started walking away but stopped. "Are you coming or will it just be me and Bruno tonight?" she smirked. "Fine, okay." sighed Michael. "Wait for me!"

They were walking towards the city stables when there was a loud bang! Annabelle looked at Michael. "Go on!" he said. "I'll take care of your boyfriend!" "He's not my boyfriend. He's my dog!" she exclaimed as she handed Bruno to him. "Bruno I need you to stay with Michael okay?" she whispered to the puppy. "I know he's stupid and kind of an ass but I want you to stay safe." "Hey, I heard that you know!" exclaimed Michael as he held Bruno tight. Annabelle kissed the dog's head and leapt off towards the stable.

When she got to the stables she saw a white horse lying on the pavement. She ran up to it and wrapped her arms around its neck. "Horses are such magnificent beasts." she said. "Why anyone would want to kill a fine specimen like you is beyond thought." She stood back up and scanned its body to find a bullet hole in its chest. She examined the wound to find that it had just nicked the left side of the horse's heart. She reached behind her back and pulled out her scythe. The horses breathing quickened at the sight of it. She gripped the end of the scythe and lifted it high into the air. "May your excellence live on in the afterlife!" she said as she plunged the blade into the horse's side. Just like the dog in her previous job its soul unfolded before her. She skillfully lead the soul into her scythe until there was no sign of it left. She placed her scythe back into its holder and bent down to the horse's head where she kissed its forehead and closed its eyes. The hands on the Big Ben clock struck seven-thirty.

She turned to walk back to Michael when she saw something sticking out of the window of the nearest building. She squinted to try to make out what it was and gasped when she realized. She tried to turn away but it was too late. One by one more of the cylinder shaped things started appearing out of all the windows around her until she was surrounded. They were rifles. "Michael!" she screamed as the shots were fired. She waited for the pain, but it did not come. She opened her eyes to see Bruno curled around her. Something was different. No longer was he the large puppy that she bought from the pet-shop. Now he was an enormous dog the height of an small house and his eyes glowed bright red with rage. His collar was glowing bright white and his massive teeth were bared. The bullets had somehow bounced off him and had fallen to the ground. The men hesitated for a while before reloading their guns and aiming for Bruno. Bruno let out a long howl before blasting the building with fire that ruptured from his mouth. The men screamed in agony as they were slowly burned to ashes along with the building. Bruno lifted Annabelle onto his back where she gripped onto the scruffy mane of fur around his neck. Then he leaped and sprinted through the street not stopping to look back. Annabelle started to cry as she realized that she could have been killed if it wasn't for him.

It only took a few minutes for Bruno to reach the stream near Annabelle's house where he carefully lied down and let her off his back. Annabelle was in tears as she hugged his enormous face. "Oh Bruno, what happened to you!" she cried. Never before had she witnessed a beast only mentioned in legends and mythology before. A beast that once it had chosen its master it would protect them with its own life until the day it dies. A truly magnificent creature. A demon-hound. Suddenly Annabelle's head started to pound and she began to feel dizzy. She lost her balance and fell to the ground, smashing her head onto a rock. She reached out to the dog but her arm slumped back to the ground. "Bruno..." she whispered as a red liquid flowed onto the grass in front of her and the world around her turned swirling black.