The Mouse and The Wolf | Gay BxB |

22. Battle Cry

"There's what?" she asked, taking a few steps closer to me.

"There's... this... guy..." I managed to spit out, but I was too scared to continue. Jack would kill me and everyone else if I told her. He would hurt them, rip them apart while I was watching. These walls would turn red from blood... The fog grew thicker around us, and I could hardly breathe anymore. I heard screams... The kids... Mrs. Bundt and the rest of the caretakers... screaming in horror as they died...

I heard something else as well. Something... really weird. A voice... of a woman... Like a...a... battle cry?

"Ollie?" Mrs. Bundt was suddenly standing in front of me, holding me up on my feet.

And it was all gone. No blood, no fog, no Jack. Just Mrs. Bundt and I, standing in the kitchen. I looked up at her, and then around us, but nothing was out of the ordinary.

"It's fine, Oliver – everything is all right," Mrs. Bundt spoke soothingly. "You don't have to tell me. It's all right."

I nodded and let her hug me. I was panting and soaked in sweat, and the terrible images I had just now were flooding my head. Dead... everyone...

"Just take a deep breath, all right?"

I looked at Mrs. Bundt, and for a moment I thought... I thought I saw something behind her. A blue, radiant light. But when I pulled back to see it better, it was gone.

"Maybe you should go lie down?"

I looked at Mrs. Bundt again. She was sad and worried and... angry?

"No... I'm... fine...." I muttered.

I was still scared and shaken and out of my mind, but I started feeling better already. The terrible images were disappearing, and I was calming down. I wasn't alone. It was strange perhaps, but I felt like I was being embraced, like someone was standing right behind me, but this time, it wasn't Jack.

I could almost hear a wolf, howling somewhere close by.

I turned to look out of the window, but my wolf wasn't anywhere near us. For a moment, I thought about telling Mrs. Bundt that I had gone completely mad. I saw things and heard things and my only friend was a wolf who probably didn't even exist outside my head. And now I was sure I wasn't alone, that someone was standing right next to me.

"You should go lie down," Mrs. Bundt said as if she had heard my thoughts.

She was probably right. I had a terrible headache, and I was in desperate need of being left alone right now. The rest of the kids were still in the living room, so I could get a bit of sleep before they would come upstairs.

I let Mrs. Bundt walk me up to our room, and once I was in my bed, under big blankets, she sat down next to me.

"Everything will be better when you wake up. I promise," she said, and I felt her hand on my shoulder. "Just close your eyes..."

I felt her hand moving up and down my arm, and I started feeling drowsy. I wanted to ask what she was thinking about. I freaked out right in front of her after all, and I was a special case already. Maybe they would send me to a mental hospital. Part of me wanted it. If I was locked up Jack wouldn't be able to get to me, and maybe I wouldn't need to live in this constant fear.

"Take a few, deep breaths for me," Mrs. Bundt said quietly, and I did as I was told. "Good... Everything will be all right when you wake up. You'll see..."

I really wished she was right.

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