Lemon sniffed and recoiled at the mixed smell of dirt, rotten milk, old furniture, and bad food entering her nostrils. She looked in horror at the piles of dirty garbage and trashbags, and the large hills of gunk and junk that towered over them.

She then looked over the sign, which read, in big red letters, City Dump.

Lemon didn't want to go in there at all. She didn't even like taking out the garbage in her own home.

But her phones were in there. She had seen just a few moments ago as the dump truck rolled into the entrance to this kingdom of trash, and heard in terror as it dumped its pile somewhere deeper in the facility, burying her phones somewhere where she might never find it.

Lemon scrunched her face, plugging her nose, but then, after a moment, unplugged it and put on her best face of determination. Nothing's gonna stop me from getting my music back, even if it does get me down in the dumps!

So, with that, she bravely walked into the dump, unknowing of what lurked ahead.

The dump looked much scarier to Lemon as she hiked through it. The sun had set sometime ago, leaving the hills of garbage with a menacing-looking darkness about them which shook Lemon to the core.

scrunch! Lemon heard scrunching and crackling from behind, and turned around to see what was going on.

Crackle, Crackle! Lemon's heart began to beat faster. Her hands began to clam up.

Scrunch, crackle, scrunch, crackle!  Lemon looked to see a semi-big pile of newspapers a few feet from her. They mpoved and contorted as they made the terrifying noise. Lemon began to shake and sweat.

Crackle, crackle, scrunch, scrunch, crackle, crackle, SCRUNCH, SCRUNCH! CRACKLE! Lemon felt like she was drowning in water. Her clothes began to leak from sweat as her mouth tried to scream but couldn't. She shut her eyes and braced herself.

Then, to Lemon's surprise, the noise died down. She opened her eyes, and sighed as a small black kitten walked out of the pile of newspapers, scrunching them up as it did, and rubbed itself against Lemon's legs.

Lemon dropped to her knees, petting the kitten with a smile. Awwww, man! Can't believe I was being such a scaredy-cat about this little guy! She booped its nose with her finger, giggling as it jumped and rubbed its face against hers.

But then Lemon saw the cat's face start to frown. The cat then backed up slowly, then scampered away a moment later.

Lemon scratched her head, thinking what got his tongue, when she looked at the ground below her.

She noticed her shadow had multiplied.

She turned around and found herself staring at hideous, slanted eyes in the darkness. One pair, yellow, near the ground, another, a ghostly white, above her height, and a final one, a gruesome green, in the middle.

Lemon began to think like the cat and started to back away herself. Her ears picked up a quiet, hoarse noise, almost like a laugh, like one that Gollum from Lord of the Rings would bellow out. And with every second of this pretentious amusement, getting closer and closer with the eyes, her heartbeat got faster and louder.

Despite the force of fear closing in on her, quite literally, she managed to choke out, "Wh-wh-who are you?"

The eyes had stopped suddenly. Then, the green eyes walked closer till they were only a few feet from Lemon, whose nose picked up a very bad smell, like a dog that hadn't been bathed in weeks.

"We," said a gruff voice, like an old demon's voice, "are the predators. And you, girl, are our prey." More ungodly giggling was heard, along with slight murmuring and whispers.

Her then were blinded for a moment as the eyes were flashed by the flashlight in his hand. Lemon could now see a  grey, muzzled-like face to go with those green eyes. She noticed his pointed ears twitch as he scratched his black-haired head.

"I'm...your....prey?"

"Yeessssssssss," Green-Eye whispered, "to the Diamond Dogs!"

Lemon's eyes were flashed again as two new faces appeared to go with the other eyes. The tall, white eyes had the same grey muzzleface, only lighter, rounder, and with red hair. The small yellow eyes shared Green-Eye's black hair, but had browner skin and smaller face features.

Lemon straightened herself up, but still kept her arms around herself. "The Diamond Dogs?"

Small-And-Yellow spoke up this time. "Yessssss, our little prey. The Diamond Dogssss."

"Filthy Guardians and Keepers of this Dump," Big-White said immediately. Filthy was right, Lemon thought, her fingers urging to plug her nose from that animal stench.

"This is where we live," Green-Eye said, waving his arm to the trashhills to emphasize his words, "And only us live. Anyone else,"-he stared into Lemon's face, which sent another chill into her soul-"is merely our prey."

"And prisoner, yess, yess," Small added,

"That is, if Prey does what it is told by us Dogs," Big piped up.

Green looked back at Big. "Fido! I, Rover the leader, wanted to say that!'

"Oh, but why must you, Rover the leader?" Small asked, "Does what is said by who matter?"

"Yes, it does, Spot!" Rover paused, pointing to the reader, "especially in fiction, where what character says and does may change whole story!" He looked back at the reader. "Right, fiction reader?"

"No it doesn't, reader! Don't answer him, reader! BE QUIET, READER!" Spot shouted, jumping in front of his leader, who shot a dirty look in his direction.

"Enough! That is not important as of moment!" He turned back to Lemon, with her eyebrow raised at this confusing team. He bared his big teeth at her, returning to his demon whisper. "What matters now is showing the prey who is top dog!"

"Ha! I see what you did there!" Fido piped in, an open smile on his face.

"Not now, Fido!"

The somewhat literally-named Dogs advanced more towards Lemon. Lemon gulped, sweating and trying to think as her distance between her and the group. She stepped on a crushed can, and slipped, her red dress getting covered in dust and dirt.

As she tried to get up, she noticed a large crane up above. Then, just like that, an idea appeared.

She jumped onto her feet and began to run up the big garbage hill near the crane hook. The Dogs looked up in horror as she ran.

"Hey!" Rover shouted. "This isn't supposed to happen! The villains are supposed to win and capture you right now!"

"Maybe this is one of those stories where the hero fights back!" Fido retorted.

"Don't say that! You're gonna give the readers ideas!"

Lemon smiled down at the as she jumped and grabbed the hook, swinging over them like Tarzan over the jungle.

"Sorry, boys!" she shouted. "I had fun swinging by, but I gotta find my headphones!"

She then smiled the biggest smile as she saw her headphones on the next biggest hill, sitting right on top, waiting for her to grab it.

She jumped onto the hill, giggling in anticipation. She began to run up the hill, her phones getting closer and closer. She laughed some more as she wanted to her sweet tunes again. Her hands were only a mere foot away-

"Ha!"

The phones were grabbed off the top, but not by Lemon's hand. She saw with wide eyes as the Dogs laughed, Rover holding her phones in his slimy, hairy hands.

"You dirty thiefs!" Lemon shouted out. "How did you get up here so fast?!"

"Simple, prey girl! uh-" Rover stopped, frowning and putting his hand on his head as he tried to think. He turned to his cronies. "How did we get up here so fast?"

"You got me, boss!" Fido pointed down the hill, where barbed wire, sharp rocks, and prickly plants resided. "This part of hill look impossible to climb, let alone climb fast!"

"Yes!" Spot added, scratching his head. "By all odds, it doesn't make sense!"

"Oh, ok," Rover responded, "at least we get our prey!" He giggled in anticipation in his thought of victory.

Lemon, her face red, grabbed the phones in his hand. "Gimme my phones!"

"Never!"

"Please!"

"No!"

"Why?!?"

"Because this scene requires conflict!"

Lemon, her face showing the best of her determination, used up the last of her strength as she pulled on her phones. The leader of the Dogs did so in return, managing to turn the scuffle around 180 degrees.

Then, the scuffle ended with a big slip of the hand.

Lemon started to fall from the hill, holding her phones in her hand.

Her dress was then suddenly grabbed by slimy paws as the Dogs looked down on her in anger.

"Give me those phones! Be our prisoner!" The Dogs shouted.

Lemon looked back in pure mixed fear and anger. "Never!"

Then, using her free hand, she pushed Rover off using the last of her strength.

She looked down as she fell towards the ground.

At least I have my precious! She shed a tear, having finally gotten her phones back.

She began to shout in joy, "My precious!" repeatedly as her distance between her and doom decreased quickly.

However, her head, along with her whole body, became wet as she splashed into the ocean.

She swam back up and surfaced, coughing up water as she wiped off her face. She looked at the water she currently floated in.

"Water?" she continued to look with a raised eyebrow, until sudden realization hit her. Then, she smiled. "Oh yeah! The dump is right next to the ocean!"

She began to laugh in relief, knowing she could continue to live, and now with her headphones in her-

Wait a minute. She looked at her hands, only to find both empty!

She began to look around again, her face contorted in horror and fear. Then, her eyes befell on a nearby rock. There, she found a seagull, cawing at her as he poked at the phones wrapped around his neck.

"THIS AGAIN?!?" Lemon facepalmed. "Oh, well, at least I can live to chase you again!"

"Have fun with that!" Lemon heard that phrase up above. She glanced above, and saw the dogs guffawing at her down below. She then noticed in pure surprise and disgust at what they held in their hands: her red dress from the Corner, and her beach bikini from a while ago.

"At least we got something from you!" Rover shouted out, shouting out gloating laughter.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday, naked prey girl!" Fido shouted as well, chuckling along with Rover's merriment.

Lemon began to cover herself, but then looked as the seagull began to fly away.

"Aw, nuts!" She began to swim towards the gull, hoping her body wasn't too visible.

Darn hormonal writers!