Jen hadn't been laying there long when the carers and trainers began bringing the dogs in for the night. Most of them stopped to say hi to her, speaking in baby voices and reaching in to pet her as if she were really just another dog. Many of the actual dogs stopped to sniff at her, a little confused as to why she was where they usually were. Once all the dogs were secured in their cages a carer wheeled a large metal cart in and began dishing out food into the bowls. Soon the kennel was filled with the sounds of many dogs happily munching away. Jen looked out as the cart went past but the carer simply shook her head.
"Your food is coming. It takes a bit longer because it has to come from the kitchens instead of the storeroom."
Jen settled back again but didn't have to wait long before another, smaller cart was pushed in by a girl she hadn't met yet. The girl was dressed differently from the other employees. They all wore the branded polo shirts and khakis that Jen had come to recognize as the uniform. This girl still wore the polo, but she had on a knee-length skirt in place of the pants. Her hair was also much longer than the others and flowed down her back in waves of fiery red instead of being tied up in a ponytail or bun. She parked her cart in front of Jen's cage and introduced herself.
"Hi Jen!" She said in a bubbly voice. "My name is Mina! I'm the kitchen assistant and overnight carer for the bitch wing! I'll be the one preparing your meals and making sure you behave after Ms. Lockehart leaves for the day. I really hope we can get along!"
Jen didn't know how to respond to this. She knew not to talk, Mina might report her to Amelia if she did. Mina just smiled down at her and pulled a container from her cart. When she opened the lid several of the nearby dogs lifted their noses from their own bowls to sniff the air. After a moment Jen could also smell it over the general scent of dog that permeated the place. It smelled like meatloaf.
"You're a lucky one!" Mina chirped, "You get wet food!"
She took a spoon and scooped the contents of the container into Jen's bowl. Jen pushed herself up and crawled over to inspect it. It wasn't meat loaf, at least not any meatloaf that she had seen before. It looked more like a paste made of meat with bits of vegetable mixed in. She looked up at Mina again. Mina just kept smiling at her, there was an odd look in her eye that made Jen shiver. Jen was about to reach out and scoop up a sample on her finger when she remembered what Amelia had said about eating like the other dogs. With a resigned sigh, she lowered her head and took a bite. It wasn't half bad. It tasted richer than meatloaf, like a good steak or roast only extremely tender. The vegetable bits were perfectly cooked and blended right into the rest of the mix seamlessly. She took a few more bites before looking back up at Mina.
Mina was still standing there, staring as if she was in a trance. Her smile had taken on a slight manic quality. Jen silently wondered if the girl was alright. She didn't look much older than Jen herself and several years younger than the rest of the employees she had met. Unnerved by the stare, she went back to eating her dinner. Mina gave her a second helping when she had almost emptied the bowl and encouraged her to lick the bowl clean when she had finished that. After Jen had obliged, the food was good after all, she picked up the empty bowl and replaced it with a clean one that had dry cereal in it.
"In case you get hungry tonight." She said with an exaggerated wink.
Mina packed up the cart and began pushing it towards the door.
"I'll be checking in periodically throughout the night." she called over her shoulder. "So you can let me know if there is anything you need."
When she reached the door to the kennel she turned and blew a kiss back at Jen.
"Good night cutie!"
Jen just stared at the door after she had left. There was definitely something not right with that girl. Deciding it was a problem for later, she turned back to the bowl and sampled the cereal. It was rather bland and dried her mouth out. She took a long drink of water to wash down the few mouthfuls she could manage and then decided to call it a night. She crawled back to her bed and flopped down again, wiggling around a bit to make herself more comfortable. After a few minutes the lights dimmed and the noises of the kennel began to quiet down as the dogs, her fellow students, settled down to sleep for the night. As she lay there the anxiety from earlier crept back in again.
'You need to remember!' screamed the small voice at the back of her mind.
'Remember what?' she asked herself. 'What did I forget?'
'I don't know!' the voice replied. 'I can't remember either! But we have to remember before something terrible happens!'
This was going nowhere. Jen pushed the thought back down again and started taking deep slow breaths to calm the anxiety. What she needed was sleep. It had been a long and stressful day. She focused more on her breathing, counting out her breaths. Soon she was fast asleep.
---
She awoke some time later. It was still dark in the kennel, she could tell that through her eyelids. Around her were the soft snuffling snores of the dogs as they slept. Something had woken her up though. She focused. Someone was watching her, she could feel it. There was also another noise, different from the animal ones around her. Very carefully she cracked her eyes open just a sliver, and had to fight hard to keep them from flying wide open.
In the dim light of the kennel she could see a person right outside the bars. The dim nightlight that permeated the room glinted off of long red tresses. It was Mina. She had placed a chair in the walkway and was sitting in it, staring at Jen. The shocking part was that she had her skirt hiked up around her hips. Jen could clearly make out a thick orange bush around Mina's hands, which were rubbing frantically at her cunt. Her panties were around one ankle and Jen could see something glistening in the crotch. Mina let out a soft moan and Jen looked back at her hands. She was fingering herself with one hand while the other rubbed at her clit which was poking up out of the dense red thatch. Her fingers were covered in her juices and practically shone despite the low light.
Jen didn't know how long she lay there watching this girl masturbate. It felt like it could have been hours. Eventually Mina curled up and let out a subdued grunt. She held that position, shivering in obvious pleasure as she came. When she had recovered she sat there, breathing heavily for few minutes, before pulling her panties back on. She stood up and let her skirt fall back into place, hiding most of the evidence of what she had done. The rest she licked off her fingers. After wiping the saliva off on her skirt she grabbed the chair and quietly carried it out of the kennel.
Jen lay there, unsure what to make of what she had just witnessed. She almost wanted to write it off as a weird dream, but the unmistakable smell of girlcum hung in the air. It was barely noticeable under the ever-present scent of dog, but it was still definitely there. Jen was too tired to parse all of this. She needed more sleep. She closed her eyes and within moments was out again.