We're Only Animals: Book 1

Chapter 67 - Your Mother and Mine

Thirty minutes passed before Gosha's head dipped own onto his chest, falling asleep in his armchair. Legosi pointed him out to Louis. "Look."

"Aw..."

"Want to take our shower now?"

"Yes. We can be...alone~ In there." He winked, mostly joking.

"Eheheh, the only time we'll probably see each other naked here." Legosi stood up, lifting Louis with him.

Louis sighed. "I guess I won't be able to sleep, then."

"What, you don't think you can sleep in clothes anymore?"

"It was....more of a joke than anything. Who knows."

Legosi set Louis down, walking ahead. "Follow me."

The deer did so, smiling.

They entered the wolf's room once again, gathering their pajamas up so they could change into them after the shower. Exiting once again, they walked down the hallway. Louis noticed a door on the way that had a circular hole cut in the middle. Legosi seemed to walk faster when they got to it.

"What's that about?" The herbivore asked.

"What was that?" Legosi looked over his shoulder as he opened the bathroom door at the end of the hall.

"This hole in the door..." Louis knelt down, trying to peer inside.

Legosi's ears folded back as he gripped the doorknob tightly, already feeling himself shake. "That...was my mom's room."

"I know. She's..." He looked down. "Isn't she?"

Legosi nodded, solemnly. "I can...tell you about it later...if you want."

"We're already here."

Legosi sighed. He stepped back towards Louis, opening up the door and turning on the light. The space was much like Legosi's room: frozen in time, yet upkept. Makeup and fur and skin care mixtures dotted the room, atop dressers and shelves. There wasn't much aside from that than the bed. There was a cold sadness to the room.

Next to the bed, on the nightstand, was a framed photograph of Gosha, a female wolf, and a young Legosi, all dressed up formal and posing seriously. Only the woman was smiling.

Louis looked around. "What happened?"

Legosi looked down at the bed before sitting down on it, carefully. "She killed herself. Five years ago."

Louis froze. Just...froze.

The wolf looked around the room. He had barely even been in it when she was alive. "It wasn't too long after that that I went off to Cherryton. Grandpa said it'd be a good idea to try and get into the same school as Jack to get away from this place. And then I just...didn't come back."

The deer was silent. He walked back over to the hole and kneeled once more, peering through it. "It's because she was a hybrid, wasn't it?"

Legosi watched Louis. "It was. I saw her when I was real young, but once I started elementary school, she locked herself up in this room. The only way she interacted with me was through that hole in the door. Patting my head, feeling my face. I'd give her gifts through there, hoping she'd come out one day."

Louis stared through the hole for a moment. Thoughts ran through his mind. He imagined the phantom of a female doe there, faceless, only her hands reaching through and caressing his face. She didn't speak, either. He began to tear up.

Legosi looked over to the picture on the nightstand. "That picture...that's the only time I remember seeing...her scales. The dress she wore had an open back...and it was covered. I remember thinking...they were beautiful like jewels. Just like grandpa's." He let out a staggered breath. "But she didn't feel the same."