Ralph led Nick through the large dining hall and down a dimly lit hallway. They passed an empty pantry and a kitchen that looked unoccupied and passed onto a wide, screened-in back porch. Nick let out a gasp when he saw what filled the back yard. The yard was circled by a high stone wall and filled with rabbit cages. Rabbit cages of every shape and size imaginable were scattered all over the Mansions back half-acre.

"What do you think?" Ralph said, raising his arms to encompass the sight before them, not realizing the shocking view that he was about to see.

"Wow," Nick said.

"Wow?" Ralph echoed, "Wow! Is that all you can say? Wow!"

"Well...,"

"There are over 500 rabbits out there! Breeding like mad and getting nice and plump! And all you can say is 'Wow'?"

"Ralph...,"

"I am sorry," Ralph said, turning to face his younger brother, "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Ralph...," Nick said again.

"What the...?" he started as he followed Nick's gaze. "Jesus!" he said, releasing the latch on the screen door and bolting out into the yard.

Nick just stood in the door and stared in amazement at the carnage in front of them. Everywhere he looked, dismembered rabbits were scattered. The cages were broken or ripped open, and blood covered the yard. Nick reluctantly followed Ralph out into that yard.

"Damn!" Ralph said from across the yard.

"What is it?" Nick shouted, running to join him. 

Ralph was squatting beside a large wire pen with one of it's sides ripped open.

 "What the hell happened here?" Nick said as he came up beside Ralph.

"That Bastard!" Ralph said under his breath.

"What?" Nick said, confused.

"It's Bob," Ralph said, pointing to the far corner of the pen.

"Bob?" Nick said, following Ralph's hand, "Damn!"

Both stared at the discarded shell on the pen. "That's why he killed Snowball," Ralph said.

"What?" Nick said, not taking his eyes of the dried husk.

"Bob killed Snowball this morning and then disappeared." Ralph said, standing and turning away from the pen.

"He killed Snowball? I don't understand," Nick said.

"He killed Snowball, and he attacked Fluff..."

"Fluff? Ya mean Herbie's little pet?"

"Yeah," Ralph said, heading back towards the house, "and I think that he will go after Herbie's little friend next."

Confused by Ralph's statement and shocked with his surroundings, Nick silently watched Ralph make the back door and disappear into the house.

Nick slipped his neglected headphones back on and started the tape. Walking to the house to Babylon A.D.'s "Desperate", he tried not to notice the bloodied cages cluttering the yard or breath the air heavy with gore.

He stopped long enough at the back door to lock it, pulling an old travel chest in front of it for good measure. He walked through the kitchen, startled at first by the cabinet's contents--countless boxes of rabbit food--that were scattered across the floor.

"Damn it, Ralph," he said under his breath, the words lost in the scratchy voice ringing through the headphones.

The dining room was the same. The heavy oak chairs were knocked over and the table sat at an odd angle. The faded Persian tapestry that hung on the far wall lay on a lump on the floor where a thrown chair had brought it down.

Nick passed through the living room quickly, ignoring the mess, and quickly took the stairs. "Ralph," he called, moving up the stairs, "Ralph, where in the hell are you?"

He made the second-floor landing and stopped when he caught sight of the tank, almost empty and in disarray. He didn't notice that the music he was listening to switched from the bluesy rock of Babylon A.D. to the hard-driving ballad "Finale" by Anthrax. He called to Ralph again and was rewarded with a response from the third floor. He took the steps three at a time and hit the top, scanning the floor for Ralph.

"In here," came Ralph's voice from a far door.