Dark Wolfe

7- Why not Snoopy?

(Song of the chapter: 'Lovely' - Billie Eilish & Khalid)

I stood in a hospital room, staring at the prone figure lying on the bed. It was a little boy, probably eight or nine years old.

Wires protruded from almost every inch of his skin. His lips were blue-tinged despite the oxygen mask attached to his face. A heart monitor showed off a thready and unsteady pulse, and a high-pitched sound went off whenever it was close to flatlining.

I'd visited this scene almost a thousand times in my dreams, yet my heart still clenched at the sounds of his pitiful, irregular heartbeat.

He wasn't gonna make it, I knew. Not without a special kind of treatment.

Treatment from the same person who'd put him in there.

IF YOU DECIDE TO GO, JUST KNOW THAT YOU WON'T BE GOING ALONE. 

My brother's words filled the room, hauntingly devastating in the sincerity of their promise.

My throat bobbed as I continued to stare at the kid. This wasn't real, this didn't happen.

I stayed, so he'd left him alone.

I knew all this, yet my brain still liked to give me this reminder. Of what was at stake.

Of why I couldn't just kill myself.

The body on the bed changed and suddenly it was a little girl with pigtails who lay there, fighting for her life. Then another boy, this time with different colored hair and freckles. The figures kept changing features and gender until it shifted back to the little boy once more.

IT WOULD BE MY OWN FORM OF JUSTICE, HURTING THOSE THAT HURT YOU SO BADLY WHILE YOU WERE ALIVE.

I'LL SHOW THEM WHAT IT MEANS TO LOVE SOMEONE WHO'S CONSTANTLY FIGHTING TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY DESPITE ALL THE ODDS, THEN HAVE THEM JUST GIVE UP ONE DAY.

My throat bobbed. No. This was NOT real, this was NOT happening.

Time to wake up.

Nothing. I continued staring at the little boy, dread filling my every pore. Then, before my eyes, his skin shriveled and started to decay.

My eyes widened. This hadn't happened in any of my previous nightmares.

His face gradually crumpled in on itself, and an odor permeated from the body. I got a whiff of it before I reflexively covered my nose.

It smelled like...pizza...

_

"Jasper, knock it off."

I slowly rose to consciousness, hearing the sound of Rhys's voice bounce around the room. I lay very still for several seconds, regaining my bearings.

"What? This is going to work," I heard the redhead whine. The smell of pizza was oddly very potent.

"She'll wake up and then she'll bite your head off," I heard what sounded like Brandon speaking.

"Pfft, no she wouldn't," Jasper bristled.

He was very close, probably right by my side. With my eyes still closed, I switched on my wolfie senses and perused the air.

Yes, he was right beside me, and the smell of mozzarella cheese was coming from right above my head.

The dimwit was holding a slice of pizza above my nose.

"I'm sure she's actually really nice, and was just cranky earlier because she was hungry. Once she's had pizza, she'll be happy. Pizza makes everyone happy."