I think plays is since playing is a action and a verb
Curly was trying to be friendly to a husky dog, but the dog was vicious and began to attack her face, she was trying to protect herself, but then the pack of 30-40 dogs came and attacked her as well, killing her in the process.
using the image of darkness to imply that something bad will happen
Psychology means is the study of the mind and how somebody reacts to something so like not that many people out there study is psychology