PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XXIX Part VI

Hesitantly, she walked with her paws folded and headed back into the library. She silently prayed that the occasional voice she had heard down the hall would somehow come to her aid.

The old hinges rattled shut before Patches clicked the lock closed and stood behind Luna. "What a good dog you are!" he said, praising her before limping around the dog's back, almost obsessively peering over her shoulder to try and get a glimpse of her sullen face. "Shame I don't have any treats, but maybe you'd like some headpats?" he teased, face glowing with sadistic glee.

"Why did you force me to do that..." she asked, avoiding eye contact with her 'friend' and reminding herself that she might just be able to fix all of this if she really tried.

"Oh Luna," Patches giggled, then darkened his tone. "You know why." He paused, then looked to the side in thought. "Actually, Olive might have some treats on them..." another stoppage in his thoughts, "But, that's neither here nor there."

She felt like she was about to retch. "Can we just... sit down now?"

"Ehh.. maybe," he said, placing his left paw over Luna's shoulder and leaning in over her right. "Though, a magical thing happened when you were away..." she could hear his grin as he whispered into her ear, and felt his heartbeat pressing up against her back, sucking the warmth from her body. "Get out here, Olive."

Luna saw something quiver from behind a bookshelf, then the scared, crumpled form of the red mutt peered at Luna and Patches, tears running down their cheeks. "P-Patches, I... I'll talk w-with you, please-"

"Olive!" Patches interrupted, "You know Luna, don't you? A dear friend of mine, and president of the literature club."

Luna looked at Olive with fear. She mouthed for the dog to run, for them to do anything. She shut her eyes when it became too much, and mumbled prayer.

"She was minding her own business when *you* decided to let loose a lovely little snore- quite inconsiderate. You made Luna stop her work and then, she found us..." he shifted her around, pressing himself harder up against her and wrapping his left arm around her collar now. "She didn't need to get involved in all of this, but you forced her to. This is all your fault Olive. She hates you, you should beg like a good dog! Maybe she'll forgive you if you do!"

"What?!" Luna murmured as she opened her eyes, confused at the escalation taking place. Patches had the voice of a madman, and he was so uncomfortably close that she was starting to shiver. "O-Olive, it's okay, just do what he wants."

"P-Patchie, please, I promise I'll l-listen! I'm sorry!" Olive begged, tears continuing to run down their rosy cheeks. "Please don't hurt her!"

Patches strengthened his grip on Luna, causing her to jolt as she began to realize what was happening. "You think your begging will keep her alive, Olive?" Patches spat, "You could've stopped this ages ago, but now all you can do is beg for your 'friends' to forgive you for what you did to them!"

"What?!" Luna yelled, "But you said you wouldn't hurt me if I did what you asked!"

Breathlessly, Patches mocked her with a laugh, his throat dry and wheezy. "And where's the fun in that?! You'll just go to her and make up- you should die like this, so she thinks you truly hate her!" Punctuating his words was a cackle and the raising of his wand.

Patches threw up his elation as Luna slammed her elbow into his chest, hitting something hard and causing the dalmatian to double over breathlessly before she scrambled for something on the nearby desk. Olive clasped their mouth with their paws in shock, then shouted a scream of terror at the ensuing fight.

"Y-You f-f-f-" Patches hissed out, clutching at his bruised rib as Luna reared back, leatherbound book in paw, before bringing down the hastily improvised weapon onto Patches' head.

The spine of the book connected with a heavy thwack, squarely smashing the dalmatian over the top of his skull and nearly sending the book tumbling out of her loose grip. The desperate strike made Patches gasp, then groan as a quick flick of his wand brought forth a protective barrier, giving him time to stumble backwards as he blinked away the stunning attack.

"No! Patches!" Olive yelled, moving to try and stop the dalmatian from doing whatever he might've done had he had more time.

"Olive!" Luna lept forward, grasping them by their arm and tugging them away from the dalmatian just as he began to get back his wits and turn around. Hyperventilating, Luna dropped her 'weapon' and bolted for the door. Tugging the mutt along like a ragdoll, she ignored their breathy exclamations of surprise as they nearly slammed themselves into the large red door leading to the main hall.

"Olive," Patches demanded, clutching at his new bruise with a paw and leveling his other at Luna- pointing the wand at her and the mutt. "Get away from her, puppy."

The red dog looked from Luna and towards Patches, eyes wide and mouth agape with indecision. Their cute eyebrows were furrowed in fear, and tears stopped running from their ducts as they thought of what to say, or what to do.

With a click, the door came open, soon swinging wildly into the room as Luna threw it aside and yanked Olive forward. "W-Wait!" they protested, turning towards Luna as both dogs were rushed out of the room. The moment of awkward movement afforded by Olive's fidgeting granted a small opening.

Patches snarled at the disobedience he surely believed himself deserving of. Whipping the wand forward, and trying to aim for Luna's head or chest, he found himself still off-balance by the blow to his head, and silently hoped the attack wouldn't hit the mutt obscuring his sight to the poodle.

A searing heat flashed in the room alongside a grey light, and Luna's whole body was shocked by a sudden pain in her right leg, causing her to yelp out in pain and practically throw herself through to the other side of the open doorway.

She could feel warmth radiating from her leg, but most of the pain was numbed by the adrenaline rushing through her body. The dog gasped over and over again as she scrambled away from the library and deeper into the school, still grasping Olive's arm. "Someone! Help!" she screamed, all thought put towards her instinctual self-preservation.

Patches grasped at his swollen rib, not bothering to check the thing's awful state. "You stupid mutt! Do you not think?!" He paused to well up phlegm, spitting it onto the floor. "It could've just been her! Now..."

He gestured with the wand, stretching out his body and trying to ignore the searing pain in his leg. He staggered outside, wiping his face of the tears that came involuntarily with the agony only now leaving his chest. He pushed aside the open door, grasping at his chest and letting his eye wince open. At his feet was a splatter of blood, followed by a thin trail of it that wobbled about before becoming stable on the right side wall, leading down to the bend in the hall that led deeper into the school.

Patches forced a smile. "You know what? Silver lining; witness or no, it'll be a fun exercise to clean this school up."