PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter VI Part IV

"Oh, come now, don't struggle. You know if I wanted you dead you'd be dead." Patches rested his arms on his knees as he squatted. Brownie tried awkwardly kicking him in the crotch several times but eventually tired under Patches' smiling gaze. "You know, we should probably hurry this up before she gets back. How about you stop that annoying kicking and tell your best buddy what Coco's number is, hmm?"

"Hah... You look like shit..." she muttered defiantly. It wasn't untrue, Patches had looked the worst he ever had and felt even worse than his drooped tail, baggy eyes, and slow movement might suggest.

"And you look like a rabbit!" he said in a cheery voice, raising a paw to quickly flick her sliced ear, making the greater part of it flap and wobble. Brownie grit her teeth in pain, still staring at him defiantly. "So cute! Oh, but rabbits have two floppy ears... let's fix that, shall we?"

Patches brought a paw to her head, tightly gripping her hair and getting ready to slice her other ear while Brownie kicked and struggled. "No! Wait! Stop!"

Patches held firmly onto the base of Brownie's hair as the blade began slowly slicing through the firm, left side part of the corgi's ear, replicating what her other looked like. As blood slowly leaked from the capillaries in the appendage, she yelped out in pain.

When he was done, Patches giggled and gripped her hair harder, shaking her head around and watching the two ears flop about with a sadistic smile plastered on his face.

"A shame Halloween's passed. Oh well, I suppose there's Easter to look forward to." He let go of her hair and gave her a moment to recover as more of the red fluid flowed down from her head onto her school uniform.

Beginning to get weak from the blood loss, Brownie could only groan and whimper as Patches continued to taunt her.

"Wow. You hear that? The sound of you not talking? That's what humility sounds like," Patches said, gleeful.

"C-COCO!!" she managed to yell, starting to recover from her injuries. "PLEASE!! SOMEONE; HELP ME!!"

Outside, Dell could hear the yells but was too afraid to enter into the room just yet, still feeling ill from what she had seen earlier. It didn't cross her mind that the corgi could just be about to die, only that she didn't want to involve herself in any more violence for the time being. Still, the feeling of leaving another dog to be tortured by a certified maniac made her heart sink with disbelief and empathy. She reminded herself that this was just the world she lived in- it was always this bad and always would be; fleeting moments of happiness were just born from her ignoring the truth of it all.

"Oh!? That's right, you haven't seen my place have you?" he said, gesturing widely around the room, "I find it quite comfy; out in the boonies, noise insulated walls, no way you'll be heard..." He smirked. "So, let's hear less of that useless screaming and discuss something more substantial."

Patches brought a paw to his muzzle, scratching at the bottom. "How about you tell my friend what Coco's number is? I'm sure that'd be far more interesting to hear!"

Brownie continued to stare defiantly at Patches, but there was undoubtedly fear in her eyes. Despite the usual joy Patches got from the emotional buffet Brownie was offering, he felt a pang of empathy for the dog. Patches understood just how terrifying being alone could be, especially when surrounded by people who only want to hurt you.

"... Brownie, please. Don't make this harder on yourself. I'd love to torture you all day, but I have other things to take care of."

He felt hesitation born from the lingering feeling that Brownie was a fun dog to be around. He rather fondly remembered teasing her in Home Ec and wondered what a friendship between the two would have been like if things had gone better; he never appreciated pranks, but he probably could if he was the one committing them.