Gisele's ears pricked and the fur on the middle of her back stood upright. Without any thought, the black gums snarled back from her menacing teeth. Her nostrils were assaulted with alcohol fumes and male bodies that were unwashed. Rough, loud language and raucous laughter rang from the cracked plaster walls as heavy footsteps scraped up the stairs.<br/><br/>"I tole you, Harold. If you gonna get in the club, you gots to bring in someone's ear. We don't lets no sissy man in our club." the voice grated.<br/><br/>"Jim, I just don't fancy cutting off ears. Isn't there some other way to prove myself?" the other voice whined.<br/><br/>"What do you have agin cutting off an ear? It ain't like killing someone."<br/><br/>"I ain't wanting to look at someone's eyes whilst I'm cutting"<br/><br/>Gisele stood, a growl rumbling up her throat. She understood with human understanding but couldn't communicate in any other but animal way. She straddled the inert body, praying that Jake come back to life.<br/><br/>The two derelict young men came into view.<br/><br/>"There you go, Harold. One ear, no eyes to see."<br/><br/>"Cept for that damned dog. Do you think he is gonna eat that guy?"<br/><br/>"Come on, poochie, poochie." The man withdrew a half eaten biscuit from his tattered jacket.<br/><br/>Gisele's snarl broadened as her growl deepened. Slobber pooled in long strings from her muzzle as she planted her paws more securely over Jake.<br/><br/>At a hand signal from the louder man, they split up, making it difficult for her to watch both. She did see a flash of a knife just before she bit a chunk from a hand.