A LOST CANINE, IT'S OWNER

~LAUREN~

A closer look at the picture Emily sent confirmed to Lauren all that she already knew about.

It wasn't an ordinary canine and didn't belong to normal people. Simply put, it belonged only to specific people, judging by the length, curves and the razor sharpness of it.

Only a sourdre de sang had canine this sharp. Her boss had been right all along.

The tooth In Emily's possession spelt danger. But how could she bring herself to tell Emily that?

Clenching and unclenching her fist, she wondered about the possibility of it. This world was really a small place, a merry go round type.

So far as Lauren was willing to let on, the owner of that tooth was going to search for it until he found it. And that was an easy task, especially if it was in the hands of someone as naive and innocent as Emily.

Reaching for her phone, she dialed Emily's number.

"You've got some information for me?" Emily picked up.

"Jesus! Emily, where did you find that thing?" Lauren said, a hint of disturbance in her tone.

"I told you already. It was brought in this morning, from a crime scene. Did you find anything?" Emily replied.

"I really didn't look much. Emily-

"Tell me what you found out. You're not a dentist, I know. I just wanted to know what you think before I start working on it. And also, I have one more patient to attend to. He's a kid, with tooth decay. He's been screaming since, can you hear him over the receiver?"

"Emily, that's not the point. Can you not have anything to do with this particular case?" Lauren asked.

"Why are you so worked up about it? It's just a tooth. Singular for teeth." Emily pointed out.

"That's not just a tooth." Lauren bit down on her tongue contemplatively, "Emily-

"You can tell me, okay? When I saw it , I almost immediately knew it was a dog's, but I felt something off. Like, something I couldn't actually place my hands on. Like this morning, when I worked in my office, I felt something really odd about it. But I shrugged it off. I shouldn't get worked up about something like that."

"Emily that's not a dog's tooth either it's not even an animal's, or maybe, not the type of animal you would like to think it is."

"Since when did you know more about teeth than I do? Do you practice dentistry secretly or in your past life?" Emily joked, Lauren was really taking her request seriously.

"Emily, you can't joke about this. Get as far as away from that thing as you can, better still, can you trash it? Like trash it somewhere void of life?"

Emily scoffed. "Okay seriously, you're beginning to make me scared. "What's going on?"

"I really can't say, but if you're right about the tooth being from a crime scene bearing similarities to the one we watch on the news, then you really need to stay as far away from it as you can. The owner is going to come after you for it." Lauren pointed out, trying to sound as frank as she could.

"Well, isn't that a good thing? It would mean we're a step away from solving a murder case."

Lauren sighed. There was nothing she would say that would make Emily take her seriously.

She had a similar experience to this some years back and it wasn't a funny encounter.

"Emily, you can't work on that and you can't be at your work till past 6pm. You need to come home before six." Lauren said, and added meekly after a while, "Please."

"All this for a tooth?" Emily sighed. "Why?"

"Promise me you'll be home before six?"

"I can't promise you, but I'll try. I have a ton of workload to attend to. I have research, which you're making a big fuss about. I know you're worried because of my health." Emily smiled

Lauren sighed. Emily was an incredibly stubborn lady, when her mind was bent on something. And this was one of those occasions.

"Just be safe okay? And if you're the last person in the building, make sure to lock all the doors after the last person leaves." Lauren listed a series of rules as fast as she could before Emily ended the call on her.

"You worry too much Lauren, but okay mummy, I have your security tips at the tip of my fingers. I'll make sure to practice with them. Okay?" She promised, "Can I go now?"

"One more thing, Emily." Lauren said hastily, "If you're still in the office till past seven or eight, and it's extremely dark, and someone comes knocking or says can I come in, don't, okay?"

"Lauren! That would be so rude." Emily giggled. "What if it's a really bad emergency? I'm a doctor, and it's against our rules."

"Better still bang the doors in their face and make sure you leave the lights on." Lauren carried on like Emily hadn't just spoken.

"You're so serious about this?" Emily asked, grabbing a folder from her table. "Is there anything going on that I don't know?"

"Not really. I think I might have seen something similar to that tooth somewhere. I can't really remember." Lauren replied.

"In your dreams?" Emily asked, the sound from her heels told Lauren she was moving positions. "Oh my god!" Emily suddenly said.

"What's wrong? Do you have an attack? Are you okay? Emily?!"

"Calm down girl, it's not an emergency, I'm fine. I suddenly remembered a dream I had two nights ago." Emily replied

Lauren sighed In relief. "You remembered a dream you had two nights ago and screamed like that." Lauren shook her head, "What? Someone you saw in your dreams materialized to you?"

"No, if you put it that way." Emily said, a deflation in her tone, "It was a really scary dream. I saw a man, and In that dream, he was asking about his tooth from me."

Lauren took a pause, inhaling and exhaling sharply. You could visibly see the paleness of her skin,as she yelled away from the receiver.

"Lauren?" Emily sounded visibly shaken. You could hear the fear and alarm in her voice.

"Emily, you're not safe. Just do as I've instructed okay? I'll find a way to help you."

"Do I call the police?" She asked.

"They're totally useless in this case." Lauren replied, "Just go about your normal business. Do everything like you would on a normal day."

"Sure."

"I'll see you later." Lauren replied, dropping the call.

There really was only one person she could call in this case and call him she did.

The first two calls went straight to voicemail. "Damn it Roman, pick up your phone!! She yelled.

"I never thought I'd hear you call me by my name." The person on the other end picked up on the third ring. "What's the occasion, secretary, you barely ever call."

"I'm emailing you a picture right away, and I think you might be interested after all this time." Lauren sounded anxious, "And whether or not you're interested, you really have to get involved anyway."

"Wow. You really have some nerve." The receiver said sarcastically.

"It's a matter of life and death, sir." Lauren replied meekly, "You really have to do something, Mr. Roman Vladimir."