The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

-Oliver-
It was really dark around me. I had no idea where I was. I couldn't feel anything around me. I was in bed, right? So why couldn't I feel the bed under me? Or was I standing? I tried to move, but I couldn't feel the floor under my feet. Like I wasn't walking at all, but I was walking... right?
I was getting really scared really fast. I wasn't in the cabin anymore. I couldn't hear anyone around me. I felt like I was suffocating when a thought occurred to me. Maybe we were attacked, and I was now possessed! Was this how it felt like? Being possessed?
"Jaden!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, but the voice came out muffled, like I was in deep water. "Jaden!"
A small spot of light appeared in front of me, so I started running towards it. I still couldn't tell if I was moving at all, but the spot grew bigger, larger, and soon, I could see what was in it.
It was... a puddle? When I got closer, I could see grass surrounding it. A small rock formation behind it. There was no trace of snow anywhere. The colors were weird, like my vision was clouded with the thinnest mist. Like I was watching a video with some kind of filter on it. The puddle and the ground around it were bathed in the brightest sunlight.
Once I reached it, I hesitated for a moment, before I stepped onto the ground. The darkness suddenly vanished, and I saw a mighty forest around me. I could feel a warm, gentle wind on my skin. I looked around, and stepped away from the puddle, feeling more confused than ever before.
And suddenly I could feel something cold against my hand. I yelped and jumped away, but when I looked down, I saw a black wolf looking up at me.
"Jesus, you scared the crap out of me," I breathed out, and scratched him behind his ear. "How did we get here? Wherever this is..."
Wolfie let out a quiet whine and turned around to look at the puddle. I followed his example and jumped again, when I saw a small child playing with the water.
"Hello," I said quietly, but the child didn't move. He couldn't have been older than seven or eight.
I looked at Wolfie, who was still staring at the child.
"I guess this is a dream. I think I'm not supposed to be here," I said quietly, looking around again. Now I could spot a few wooden houses in the distance. "I'm doing something weird again, aren't I?"
Was I in the spirit realm? Last time I had a dream like this, I heard a voice – Natalie's voice – saying that I was phasing.
"Yikes..." I chuckled. "I don't know how to get out," I explained, when Wolfie looked up at me.
"Hey, runt!"
The child in front of my jumped up on his feet by the sound of that voice. I turned to look at the rock formation, and saw three boys standing on top of it. They were around ten or eleven years old, and much bigger than the one by the puddle.
"Leave me alone," the first child said quietly, starting to back away from the puddle. Now I could see a small, wooden boat in his hands.
"What you got there?" the biggest of the kids laughed, jumping down into the puddle, splashing water on the smaller boy. The boy turned around and tried to run, but the big kid grabbed the boat from him.
"Hey! Stop that!" I said and tried to get the boat back from him, but my hand went right through him. That was a freaky moment, but the boy didn't even notice me. To him, I wasn't there.
"Cool boat," the kid said, dropping it on the ground. "It's such a shame it's broken," he added, and stomped hard on it.
The smaller child only stared at it without even blinking, but I could feel his pain.
"What on earth is going on?" I muttered, feeling powerless and frustrated that I couldn't do anything to help the boy.
"Is the little runt about to cry? Go cry to your daddy. He'll get you a new one," the big kid laughed, but it faded away when the smaller one didn't react. "Are you stupid? What a retard! He doesn't even know how to speak!"
The other two laughed harder, but the small child still didn't react. So... the big kid grabbed him by his arm and pushed him hard into the puddle. I felt so horrible watching it. I wish there was a way for me to stop it from happening.
The small kid sat up, his clothes soaked with the muddy water, and looked up at his bully who snorted loudly.
"You don't deserve to be the Alpha," the big kid spat. "I hope you die."
I felt like suffocating when I realized it. I looked down at Wolfie, who hadn't moved an inch.
"This is your dream," I whispered. I knelt down and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry."
Wolfie didn't do anything, so once I managed to get a grip of myself, I turned to look at the young boy. Jaden. He stood up when the bullies were gone. He went to get his broken boat before he started walking slowly, keeping his head down.
Wolfie tried to take a step after him, so I let go. I followed the wolf when he followed the child, and I had a horrible feeling inside me. Wolfie was being so cold and distant that it broke my heart, but I knew what the reason was.
This dream wasn't over yet.
My heart was heavy when I followed the two versions of Jaden to one of the houses. I stopped to watch Jaden open the door. There still weren't any emotions on his face. Wolfie and I followed him in just in time before he closed the door again.
"Jaden? Why are you home so soon?" I heard a woman's voice, and only a second later, she appeared into the entrance hall. I assumed she was Jaden's mother – she had short, black hair and green eyes, just like the child version of Jaden.
"It was boring," Jaden muttered, and tried to climb the stairs, when his mother stopped him.
"Did you break your gift already?" she spoke, taking the broken boat from him. "Jaden..." she sighed when she studied the carnage the bully had done.
"It wasn't me," Jaden said. "It was Paulie – he always breaks and steals my stuff! I hate him!"
His mom sighed again and kneeled down in front of him. "Honey – you can't say such things. You're going to be the Alpha one day. I know you two don't get along, but you know that's just because he's new to the pack. His family has been through a lot."
"But he's not leaving me alone," Jaden muttered quietly.
"I'll talk to his mother, okay?" she said, and gave him a smile. "And I'll get you a new toy, how's that?"
Jaden looked at her for a moment before he nodded. "Okay..."
"That's my boy," the woman said, and hugged him. "Everything will be all right."
And suddenly I was in the darkness again. I couldn't see or hear or feel anything, but this time I didn't get scared by it. I looked around for a moment, but I didn't see anything.
"Jaden?" I called his name, and a spot of light appeared on my right.
I started walking towards it, wondering if I was doing the right thing by being there, but since I had no idea how to get out of this dream, I continued forward. The spot grew bigger as I got closer, but all I could see was a tall spruce like it was under a spotlight. I stepped out of the darkness and looked around when it vanished, revealing another part of the same forest. I turned around once, and Wolfie appeared by my feet. He was still being quiet. He didn't even look up at me. Instead, he was staring behind the spruce, so I turned to see what he was looking at.
My heart sank when I saw that kid, Paulie, again. This time he had five other kids with him, and two of them looked a few years older than him.
"I know you're in here, runt!" Paulie yelled angrily. "Where's your mommy now, huh?"
I looked around as well, and finally spotted Jaden hiding behind a tree close by. I could feel his fear and misery... I wished I could've done something to help him.
"Why are you hiding, pussy? You're such a wuss! No wonder everyone hates you! No one wants you to be the Alpha!"
This couldn't be a dream. I realized it just now. What I was witnessing had to be one of Jaden's memories, and it broke my heart.
I was once again surrounded by darkness. I had to wait for a moment for my emotions to ease up before I could call Jaden again.
"J-Jaden?" I spoke his name, not knowing if I wanted to see what happened next.
This time, I was surrounded by three bright spots. I felt so bad when I started walking towards the one on my left. I stopped by it, but didn't step in it. I looked at it like I was looking through a window, and soon, I saw Jaden. This time, he was standing in a corner of a room that was filled with people.
"He creeps me out," someone muttered. I couldn't see the woman who spoke. "There must be something wrong with him – the other kids are afraid of him..."
"Did you hear about that new kid, Paulie? The kids said Jaden was making up lies about him..."
"Poor boy – Paulie's been through a lot already..."
The room went dark in front of me, so I continued my way to the next one. I saw Jaden's house in the light, and stopped to stare at it. I didn't know if I had to go in it to see the memory, but when I hesitated, I saw Jaden stepping out of it.
"Try not to get in trouble this time," I could hear his mother's voice coming from inside.
"Okay..." Jaden muttered almost too quietly for me to hear. I watched him walk around the house, and then sit down just behind the corner. I couldn't quite see what he was holding, but it looked like a small doll.
I don't know how long I stayed there, watching this sad, lonely boy playing by himself. Nothing else happened, but it still broke my heart. Soon, the light faded away, leaving me feeling emptier than the darkness around me.
It took me a while to walk up to the last spot of light. I didn't know how much I could handle. Was this really Jaden's life? Even I couldn't complain because I grew up in a house full of friends and caretakers.
I stopped to look at the light. It was nothing but a spot of ground, and when nothing happened, I stepped on it. I was immediately surrounded by the same forest as before. Wolfie appeared by my feet, and I closed my eyes. Then, I heard noises, so I opened them again and saw the same group of kids, led by Paulie, running after Jaden. They caught up with him easily and pushed him onto the ground. I stepped forward, meaning to stop them before I remembered I couldn't do that. Not in here. All I could was watch the helpless child getting kicked in the stomach.
"Just because you're the Alpha's son doesn't mean you're better than us! You're a loser! A runt! No one likes you!" Paulie yelled at him.
"Leave me alone!" Jaden replied, and I had to look away when he got kicked again.
"Why don't you go cry to your mommy?" Paulie laughed.
Wolfie didn't move a muscle at my feet. He watched the scene quietly. I was already crying, when I looked back at the horridness of this memory. Jaden got beaten up and was left to lie on the ground. I wanted to go pick him up and protect him from the world. He didn't deserve any of this.
I walked to him and kneeled down next to him. He was staring at the sky, crying silently. I tried to touch him, but my hand went straight through him. He had to be in a lot of pain... He was so scared... So lonely...
I waited beside him until he stopped crying. He wiped away his tears and sat up, moving his limbs carefully. The bruises and scratches on his skin healed slowly, leaving no evidence behind.
"That is why no one believes you," I whispered, when he stood up.
I didn't move when Jaden started walking towards his home. Wolfie followed him silently, but I was getting emotionally drained. I just wanted to go back to real life and hug Jaden tightly. I wanted to protect him and see him smile and be happy. I wanted him to know I believed him. I wanted to let him know I would be by his side as long as he would let me.
I hurried to on my feet and ran after them. I caught up with Jaden when he was opening the door to his house, so I moved quickly to get in before he closed it.
"Jaden! Why are you home already?" his mother walked to the entrance hall. "You should spend more time outside. You're always hiding in your room!"
"I don't want to be outside," Jaden said.
"But you won't be making any friends!" his mom exclaimed.
"I don't want any friends," Jaden replied, and started walking upstairs.
"You're going to need friends if you want to become the Alpha," his mother said, following him.
"I don't want any friends! They're stupid and I hate them!" Jaden said angrily, and this time I could feel real hate in him. Hate and sadness.
"You don't mean that!"
"Yes, I do! I don't even want to be the Alpha!" Jaden said, and turned to look at his mother.
"You don't have a choice," his mom said. "You were born to be the Alpha!"
"Then I wish I was never born!" Jaden yelled, and ran up the stairs. A second later, I could hear him slam a door shut.
And everything turned dark around me once again.