The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 33: Chapter 33

-Oliver-
I had a weird dream that night.
At first, I was playing with a huge pack of wolves in a big forest. It was summer, so I knew it was a dream. A good dream. But then it got weird.
"Are you there?" someone asked. I almost didn't even notice that voice, so I just continued playing fetch with one of the wolves, but then I heard it again, and this time, someone replied to them.
"I'm here..."
I had no idea who the voices belonged to, or if the speakers were male or female. I looked around, and suddenly the wolves and the forest were gone. Instead, I was in an empty room. Everything around me was gray, and every corner was dark, almost black. If I looked at it long enough, it was almost like the darkness was moving. I didn't like that room at all, but when I turned around, one of the wolves was there. A black one. He was standing right next to me, looking around. He didn't like it there either.
"How are you holding up?"
I looked at the wolf, who pinned his ears up – he, too, could hear the voice.
"It can't get a good grip, so we're fine. For now..."
"I'm sorry – I'm doing the best I can... They are coming – three of us. That should be enough..."
"That's a relief... Cedric is getting really tired. He's still locked up, and there's nothing I can do to help him, but I'm not alone."
"You mean the Echo?" the voice was surprised. "Yes – I can sense him. He's gotten much stronger in the past few days, hasn't he?"
"Yeah – but something is wrong. That abomination is interested in him. I would cast him out because it's not safe for him, but I need his help. He may be just an Echo, but he's standing his ground."
"But why would it be interested in him? What on earth is going on?"
"I don't know, but wait... I don't think we're alone here..."
"Ohh, he's just phasing again – that boy is growing stronger by the–"
I was suddenly standing in the middle of a meadow. The wolf was still next to me, looking just as confused as I felt, and the voices were gone.
"That was weird," I spoke to the wolf.
The wolf let out a silent whine, looking up at me with concern in his eyes.
I was still thinking about the dream when I got to school in the morning. After spending the early hours of the morning lying awake, thinking about the words I heard, I started to consider the possibility that it wasn't a dream at all. For one, it was one hell of a dream, and two, Mrs. Bundt spoke about the same things the other day, when I overheard her phone conversation.
I mean, werewolves. If werewolves existed, then what else was there in this world?
And I still had that odd feeling I should've already known all this, but I had simply forgotten all about it. But no matter how hard I tried to think, I couldn't remember a single thing in my childhood that proved I already knew all this. I didn't remember all the details of course, but I was pretty sure I would remember talking to a supernatural being.
Unless I really had a brain tumor.
But this all was so exciting! How long had I wished that our world was filled with magic and supernatural beings? How badly had I yearned for it to be true? If this all really was the work of a brain tumor, I really didn't want to know. I wanted everything to stay like this. I wanted to chat with wolves that could reply back in their own way. I wanted to discover more about the world I lived in – fake or not.
And it all just felt like this was how it was supposed to be. This was the world I knew. This was the life I was supposed to have. Even though I just found out about the werewolves, it felt normal. Maybe one day I would know why I felt like that.
Before the classes started, I visited the toilet, and when I was washing my hands afterwards, I thought of Mrs. Bundt. I really wanted to walk up to her and ask what Echo was. She had suddenly taken a week off from work so I couldn't go to her right away. Suspicious much?
I forgot all about her, when I stepped out of the restroom. I stopped to a halt.
Tilly was standing there, right in front of me. She had an anticipating smile on her face as she peered at my pockets, sniffing the air.
"Hi, Tilly," I said, trying not to start laughing. "Is there something particular you want?"
Her eyes stopped to stare at my backpack that hung on my arm. She became completely immobile at that point. I chuckled lightly and lifted the bag – her eyes never left it – and searched a chocolate bar from one of the pockets.
"Here you go," I said, giving it to her. She took it with a big grin on her face before she turned around and ran away, holding the bar with two hands like she was worried she would lose or break it.
"That's not how I imagined werewolves..." I muttered, and turned around.
"How did you imagine them then?"
I stopped to a halt again when I saw Arch standing in front of me. He, too, was looking at my bag.
"Just please tell me it's safe for you guys to eat chocolate," I told him, while grabbing another bar from the bag.
"Hmm, let's see... Wolfsbane... Silver bullets... Decapitation... Fire... Nope, nothing about chocolate," he said, and took the chocolate from me with a smile. "We're not dogs."
"Sorry," I said apologetically, and looked around, even though I knew Jaden was as far away from me as possible. "If I give Jaden's chocolate to you, will he get it?" I asked, fishing up the third bar from my bag.
Arch took it as well. "I'm not Tilly," he said before he started walking.
"Wait," I said, and turned to look at him. He stopped as well. "What is an Echo?"
He slowly turned to look at me, and his smile turned into a frown. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know – I overheard someone talking about it, but I have no clue what it means," I told him.
"It's uh... small part of someone's soul," he spoke slowly. "Like an echo of their spirit. Hence the name. Why do you ask me?"
"It's been bothering me, and I have no one else to turn to," I explained quietly.
"So you... knew about us all along?" he asked, stepping closer to me.
"No... I just... figured it out when Jaden got shot..." I muttered. "I had no idea supernatural things existed before that."
"Oh... I must say you're taking this awfully well," he said.
"Yeah I'm kind of scaring myself right now," I chuckled.
"Hm," he uttered with a slightly impressed expression on his face. "Well – I'll take this to Jaden," he spoke, waving the chocolate bar, "and tell him to grow a set and come talk to you, okay?"
"Oh, please don't – I don't want him to freak out again," I pleaded. "He's been through a lot already."
He just stared at me for a moment with a dull look on his face. "That's not how it's –" He stopped to take a deep breath. "Never mind – I'll only give him the chocolate then."
"Thanks," I said, and watched him walk away.
So... Echo of a spirit. I had no idea what to do with that information, and since trying to figure things out was pretty pointless without real answers, I decided to pretend the dream never happened. It was giving me a headache anyway. And I was more interested in Jaden right now, since he was in the same building with me.
He wasn't happy to be at school, that was for sure. I was still making him really uneasy, but I couldn't understand why. His friends didn't seem to mind that I knew about them. Heck, they were being pretty friendly to me, so why was Jaden so upset? I always thought he was the leader figure in his little gang, but now... I wasn't so sure anymore.
Why would I make anyone uneasy? I was far from threatening! If someone yelled at me, I would start crying on the spot. I still had no idea what got into me when I told Nick to piss off. I acted like I was possessed at that moment. It was weird, really – all of a sudden, I had felt so much stronger that I wasn't even afraid of him. Not until the words had already escaped my mouth. Then I was afraid, but lucky for me, Jaden had stepped in to my aid. I still wished to know why. Well, I probably could ask Tilly or Arch, but I kind of wanted to hear it from Jaden.
If only he would talk to me... I guess I just needed to be patient. Maybe he would come see me at some point, and he'd finally give me all the answers I needed.
Yeah... I would definitely have to ask Tilly or Arch.