REX [WattyAwards2015]

chapter xv :: the messenger

Jack was quiet during the whole car ride to the library. The flurring billboard signs and the rushing white and yellow lines were the only things that distracted him from thinking of a plan. He feared the thought of the "harmless" black dog in his lap reading his mind, worming through the caverns of his secrets and fears, leaving nothing to privacy.

"What's going on, Jack?" Nigel asked in steady voice. He looked over at his friend once or twice with a worried furrow in his brow. "Everything's going to be all right, okay?"

Jack couldn't help but scoff. The assurance of hope coming from the poor person who had to sacrifice his soul for some Godforsaken reason was comedic. "Are you having any more visions or anything like that?"

Nigel shrugged and slowed down at a red light. "No. I'm thinking of Archer, though, my step-sister? Is that what she is?"

"You wouldn't happen to have her number?" Jack remembered Rex telling him about Archer's involvement.

"No. My dad might. But I doubt it. She hardly looked like someone who's dying to make new friends."

"This might sound crazy," Jack began, "but, does the dog ever talk to you?"

Nigel turned off the highway and headed down a main street towards the library. "Erm, not that I know of. A voice does talk to me. But, I like to think it's my concious." He laughed in attempt to lighten the mood, but it only created more tension. "Listen, I'm trying to make sense of all of this, too. In fact, I don't want to believe this is all real. But, it's strange..."

"What's strange?"

Nigel's chewed on his next words, trying to figure out how to say them without having to explain them twice. "Well, it's like this. I want to think I'm dreaming, but when I smell the gasoline from the car and feel the sun heating my skin, I remember that I'm alive and this is all happening. This is it, Jack. We're living a bloody nightmare and there's no waking up."

Jack's eyes widened for a moment, lifting his brown brows in an arch. "Wow, that's not intense at all. It's funny. I've always wanted to be in an adventure. But now that I'm in one, it's not that exciting."

In that solid tone of a seasoned, wise adult, Nigel replied with a slow nod, "It will be when you tell it one day."

The rest of the ride was quiet and filled with unanswered questions. Both Jack and Nigel wanted to talk to one another for the sake of having a conversation, but there wasn't anything to talk about. And if there was, it would be about the dog.

"You can talk if you want." The dog growled in Jack's head. "It's the thinking you should be careful about. In fact, it's better to talk because your brain will have some trouble keeping up with your tongue."

Sighing, Jack broke through the silence in a higher voice than he had inticipated. "So, I called Brittany."

Nigel's face wrinkled in that boyish smile, and his eyes squinted with happiness. "There you go, mate. What you two talk about?"

"Well, she wants to help us. She's meeting us at the library."

"Good. What is she going to do?"

"I'm not sure. But I feel like she could help us with research and stuff. Girls are good at that."

"Or, you're just rubbish at researching."

Jack knew Nigel was joking, but he was somewhat right. He had to have Nigel help him with his research papers and anything requiring intense knowledge on a subject that seemed just as pointless as pretending to know the constellations in the sky.

At last, Nigel pulled into the parking lot and parked under a tree. "What do we do with the dog? Tie it out front?"

"I'm not staying in the car."

Jack lightly smacked the puppy on the back of the neck.

"Why did you hit him?" Nigel said, surprised again at the animal-lover's change of behaviour.

"That wasn't hitting him. That was a corrective smack. Anyway, we can't leave him in the car, it's too hot."

"Well, we can't bring him in, either. The last I checked, only service dogs can go in. He hasn't gotten a vest."

"You humans are so complicated. Centuries ago, dogs were brought along like gold. Now, we're just objects to look at."

"Stop your complaining," Jack directed in a stern voice, his eyes glaring at the dog.

Nigel's eyebrow rose suspiciously and he rolled his tongue inside his mouth. "Right. Now we're talking to the dog? Or, is the dog speaking to you? Is that why you asked me that question earlier? Are you two...communicating?

"Tell him the the truth."

"Yes, we are. And he's telling me not to leave him outside. But we can't bring him in."

"Look to your right."

Like a good soldier following orders without second thoughts, Jack turned his head in the given direction and saw a girl leaning up against the brick wall outside of the library entrance. She had a ballcap turned backwards and light brown wavy hair. She had a small smirk across her delicate face.

Nigel's eyes soon found the girl as well and his face lit up for a moment. "What is she doing here?"

"Remember what I said, Jack. Only you and Archer know you've been chosen. Right now, it's all coincidence to Nigel and Brittany."

"I feel very left out," Nigel said, leaning a bent arm on the top of the car. "Can you tell me what she's doing here and what the bloody mutt is saying to you?"

Having never been a liar, Jack struggled to make up a story. He knew Nigel would see through him. "Rex said he thinks it's funny she's here because she has a solution."

"She seems to always have one at the right time. She also said Rex was hers."

Jack looked down at the dog, cueing him to reply.

"I left that part out, didn't I? Sorry about that. To make a long story short, Archer has been my carrier. She left me out on Liberty Street for Nigel to find. She's known about this for years. We've been partners long before we met you. But, she's not a leader, and you are. Hence, her duty was to find someone to carry about the rest of the plan."

"That's why she's the messenger, right?"

Completely frustrated and confused, Nigel struck the car and sternly called out to Jack, "Messenger? Who's the messenger? Is she?"

"He's catching on. Change the subject...you or Archer!"

With those words, Archer walked forward like a trained actress to hit her mark. Nigel's attentions were changed immediately and his eyes were on the girl.

"What's up, boys?" Archer asked as she casually stroked the puppy's head. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about not being able to bring the pup in, so, I have a solution." Smiling a cheeky grin, she pulled out a canvas vest from inside her jacket and waved it in front of Nigel's face. "I used to raise service dogs. Lifted this one. It should be his size."

Jack stared at the girl in disbelief. "You stole a service dog uniform?"

She shushed him quickly. "Shut it. You should thank me. Who is she?"

The boys looked over their shoulders and saw a pretty blonde girl approaching them. Jack's heart leapt, and he wasn't sure why.

"That's Brittany Foster," Nigel explained. "She works at the vet's. She's here to help."

"Cool," Archer said. "The more the merrier, I suppose."

"Since when did you join?" Nigel snapped.

"Just now. Don't worry, you know you need me, too." She clicked her tongue and led the three into the library.