voice ended abruptly as she fell to the floor in a faint.

The monster stood over her for a moment, then it reached down and picked
up her body in its blood splattered-arms.

It turned for a moment, holding the girl, and shot a hate-filled glance
at Trent's limp figure.

Then it moved swiftly across the room and out into the hall.

And the baying of the Great Dane sounded angrily in Fred Trent's ears ...

* * * * *

With a superhuman effort Fred Trent forced the numbness from his body
and moved slowly to his feet. A horror gripped him that brought a new
strength to his body, flooded it.

He stepped over the body of Fenwick, forcing his eyes away from the
grisly sight of it as he dashed to the hallway.

"Joan--_Joan_!"

The girl's name came hoarsely from his lips as he ran into the hall and
stared at the open door of the house. He ran to the door and out into
the night.

His eyes stared wildly into the darkness, searching the street. But he
saw nothing but his parked car at the curb. The monster had vanished.
And with him, the unconscious girl.

A hopeless despair welled up inside Trent at that moment. For he knew he
could never hope to find the creature now. And by the time help came it
would be too late. They would find Joan's mangled body ...

The baying of the Great Dane rang in his ears then. The huge dog's howls
of rage thundered in his ears and he heard the hound crash its great
body against the closed door at the end of the hall, striving to get
through.

And then a cry of hope left Trent's lips. He turned and ran back into
the house. He grabbed the long leash from its wall hook beside the rear
door and then he swung the door partway open.

"Brutus! Quiet, Brutus!"

The head of the Great Dane struggled through the partly opened door, a
snarl of rage welling from the huge dog's mouth as Trent shouted at it.

Then he slipped the leash into its metal ring around the neck of the dog
and pulled the door open.

The animal rushed into the hall, nearly tearing the leash from Fred
Trent's hands as it lunged forward.

The dog paused beside the open door of the consultation room where the
body of Fenwick lay dead and still on the floor. The animal lifted its
muzzle and sniffed the air. A howl of anguished rage left it then and
Trent knew that the dog sensed its master had been murdered. And then it
caught the scent of the monster, the thing that had caused its wild rage