The Experimental Dogcatcher

Chapter 12

It was about twenty minutes after lunch when they found him.

Jay saw him first, crumpled on the ground in front of the log where he first learned he could trust Dude. Trust in general. 

"Oh my- Carlos! Carlos, buddy, can you hear me?" Jay was kneeling over his head now, hands tapping his face. He glanced up for a moment to call Evie and Mal over, the rest of the search party.

In any other situation, it would have startled the rest of the group that Evie threw herself to her knees, inevitably soiling the pristine lower half of her outfit. But not here, not now. Not when she was throwing herself down next to her best friend who needed her.

The princess's hands gently roamed any exposed skin, searching for injury. Her eyes narrowed in confusion when she found nothing.

"He's not hurt."

 But Jay was far from convinced, dark eyes flicking over Carlos's limp form.

"Then why is he passed out like this?"

"I'm going to kill that insolent welp."

It was Mal. She strode up to the huddled trio, Evie scooting over a bit to make way for leather boots to stand next to her. Jay blinked up at her, face twisting in further puzzlement.

"What?"

"Don't you feel it?" The young fairy was glaring straight through Carlos, drowned in her own thoughts. Her hands were clenched so hard at her sides Evie knew her nails bit the skin.

"Carlos is drained. His aura is barley there."

"Mal, not all of us know fancy magic stuff-" Jay began, irritably.

"I see it."

Evie was staring at Carlos's chest weakly pumping air. 

"His soul is supposed to be much brighter than this, right?"

Mal could barley refrain from growling out her response. "Yes. Much, much brighter."

She kneeled, placing a hand on the unconscious boy's chest. Her eyes blazed green.

"I'll give him some of my energy, but he's still going to be pretty out of it. This is just enough to wake him up."

With that, threads of green mist swirled from her splayed fingers, seeping through the black and red jacket.

Carlos's eyes fluttered open with a low groan. Jay grinned and helped him sit up.

"Holy crap, it worked! Carlos, hey man."

Mal snorted indignantly. "Of course it worked! I was like the only one who actually knew what was going on in the first place, thank you very much."

Evie plastered a pleasant smile on her face, ignoring the argument she knew was coming between her two friends. 

"Carlos?" She prodded gently, taking his hand in her own. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

Said teenager pulled the other hand over his forehead, swaying a bit.

"Holy hounds.....what......w-what happened?"

Upon that question, Mal yanked herself from debating with Jay to kneel down by Carlos. She was silent for a moment, worrying her lip, worrying her words. Her words were uncharacteristically soft when she finally let them tumble from her mouth.

"....She singled you out."

Carlos went rigid. He stared at Mal, eyes screaming fifty emotions at once. Denial and fear won dominance. He barley felt Evie give his fingers a supportive squeeze.

The only emotion Mal displayed in her eyes, though, was honesty.

"Mal, no-"

"Yes. I'm....I'm sorry, Carlos. She took what she wanted and left. She must have saw you had more energy than any of us, and seduced you into a trap. Magic users do it all the time, my mother has countless stories."

Evie's brows knitted together. "But Mal, you're half fairy, aren't you more powerful than...."

"I have a lot of MAGICAL energy," She clarified. "Not energy-energy. And even if she wanted to suck something out of me, she probably felt right off the bat I'm not easily messed with."

Carlos's lip quivered, holding back the tears with everything he had.

"But....b-but I thought.... "

"You thought wrong." It wasn't an accusation, it was a correction. A correction just as much for Carlos as it was for her.

"And so did we."