N.O.W

Memories

I woke up that morning, I had that dream again. Sam was lying by my bed, curled up with his tail covering his nose. I looked over the side of the bed and he lifted his muzzle and started wagging his tail. I pulled the covers back and sat up, the pain didn’t come. I placed my hand on my head and looked around confused. Somedays were worse than others, but Mom always came to check on me.

“Mom?” I asked questioningly. Sure she would have heard me. The master bedroom was right next to mine. Father once had his office up here but once I grew up and my condition didn’t change, this became my room. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and Sam moved, still wagging his tail; his tongue hanging out of his mouth in a goofy grin. Pressing my feet against the cool wooden floor, I felt strength but Sam still came to my side and nuzzled my arm. Grabbing his scruff, I stood. I didn’t tremble or fall, my gripping hand changed as I began to pet Sam’s head.

“Sam, go find Mom.”

He woofed but stayed with me. He nudged my hand harder this time. That’s when the gunfire started. I screamed and dropped to my knees, throwing my hands out to protect myself. But I wasn’t in my room anymore and Sam wasn’t with me. And I wasn’t in my body, a person stood in front of me. There was loud gunfire, it almost sounded like rockets going off but when I looked up, I saw two people locked in a fight. They were throwing fireballs at each other, but never hitting each other. There were 4 other people around me. One had longer auburn hair, another was a dark skinned male with one blue eye and one brown. There were two others but too far away to tell anything about them.

“Sam!”

I looked up and so did the person in front of me. I watched as the person grabbed a long sword from her back and turned towards me. It was me…I stood frozen as the person that looked like me run past me, joining the others.

I dropped to the floor, back in my room and looked around for Sam but he was no longer in my room.

“Sam?”

That voice echoed in my head again and I was thrown back into the fight, following the girl that looked like me. Sam was running at the back with the four other people in front of her, the auburn haired girl leading. Her sword glistening and flashing as she fought off unknown enemies that were invisible to my eyes but the blood was evidence enough. They were making their way towards a white truck and the girl leading threw open the back sliding door.

“Get in!”

Sam made sure everybody got in before her, she turned back to the battle and whistled by biting on her bottom lip. A wailing came from the other side of the battle, I could only see white blankness but she was seeing something else entirely. Her eyes widened and I saw someone grab for her shoulder, missing as she ran.

“Sam, no!”

Sam became a mark of red in my vision and pain seared through my body, the hand that hadn’t grabbed her, grabbed me and I was thrown.

I slumped against my bed, breathing heavily. I saw red on my uncovered legs and reached up to wipe at my face. Blood was leaking from my nose.

“Wha..what?”

I tried to wipe it away but more came and soon it gushed and I was drowning in it. The pain came again but it was like nothing I had ever felt before. I slammed against the wood floor and my back arched as I let out a blood curling scream. My skin threatened to rip off my bones and my bones wanted to break, all of them felt like they were going to snap from extremely pressure. I tried to reach for the closest thing when I felt fur and looked over at Sam.

“Help me….where’s mom?”

Sam tilted his head then struck, sinking his fangs into my throat. My eyes rolled back into my head until I could see no longer. And I couldn’t do anything besides listening as blood pooled underneath me and I choked on my own life.

I woke up, screaming, I thrashed and cursed and screamed. Rolling myself up in the blanket, and eventually falling off the bed. My mom was holding my hands, whispering sweet nothings, trying to bring me back. I was crying, so hard. I babbled when I looked at her, trying to tell her. Wanting so much to tell her, but I couldn’t and I cried even more. My mouth open with loud, wailing sobs. Sam was on the other side of me, l*****g my cheeks, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. It was just a dream, a nightmare. And this one I remembered. My mom didn’t want me to go to school today but once I stopped crying, she got me dressed. I wanted to go to school, I needed to get out of this house and away from that room.

I was silent at breakfast, didn’t eat and Mom didn’t try to make me. Father actually ate with us and once he was done, he cleared his throat and got up. I stared at the table, even though I wanted to thank him for his presence. He always calmed me. But instead of going back to his office, he walked over to a package on the kitchen counter and placed it in front of me.

“A present.” Then he kissed my forehead and sat back down at the dining table.

I looked at the package then slowly lifted my arms and began to weakly pull at the wrapping. It tore easily under my fingernails and revealed a red and black clip jacket with a words “Service Dog, please do not pet.”

“It’s for Sam. So you can take him to school. I already cleared it with the principal.” He waved his hand.

I picked up the jacket and glanced at Sam and back to the jacket, not fully understanding until I got to school.

Sam walked beside me, almost trotting to keep up with my pace as I ran to second period. I missed first period and the start of second because of my fit but with Sam’s leash and my books in hand, I already felt 100% better. I opened the door, quietly and Sam snuck in with me. The teacher looked at me and the dog then waved us to our seats.

“Sorry.”

I walked to my seat and put my books down, Sam settled underneath my desk without even a huff. I was so focused on trying not to kick him, that I didn’t realize Amber sitting behind me.

“Hey, girl. You got a dog, that’s awesome!”

She startled me so; that I did kick Sam but he didn’t seem to mind as he was asleep. I sighed heavily after I calmed down and Amber giggled behind me. She was probably the only person I could call friend, but she didn’t know how I was outside of school. We never hung out. And she was always out of school, because she traveled a lot with her parents but kept up with school work online. I probably hadn’t seen her in two months.

“Hey. Could you not? You made me kick Sam.”

I could hear her confusion when she asked “You named your dog after yourself?”

I didn’t even bother it with an answer as she giggled again.

“Well aren’t you a narcissist.”

I rolled my eyes and she didn’t talk after that as we listened to the lecture. Second period wasn’t my favorite and apparently Sam didn’t care much either as he started snoring lightly under my desk. I had to nudge him slightly to get him to stop. After second period, was my lunch and Amber’s, so we would have a chance to catch up properly. I deposited my books into my locker and turned to meet up with Amber but when she was running towards me, my breath caught. Her long red hair flowing out behind her and her brown, almost black eyes, she looked almost exactly like the girl from my nightmare. But that couldn’t be right. Sam didn’t seem to mind her as she bent over and rubbed his face between her hands. He had that goofy grin and his eyes closed as he enjoyed the attention, his tail wagging fiercely.

“Come on, let’s go to lunch. Unless you just want to stare off into space all day.”

I nodded and followed her after she was done playing with Sam’s face. He was right next to me, wearing his service dog jacket.

“So why does he have that jacket? You seem fine to me, Sam.”

I cleared my throat as I walked beside her. “I sometimes have seizures. I had one while you were gone and my Father got me, Sam. He was already named when I got him, so it seemed rude to try and change his name.”

Amber blinked at me and laughed. “You know that’s probably the longest sentence you’ve ever said to me. And I thought I was the talkative one.”

I blushed and grumbled “Well you’re the only one I do talk to and I haven’t seen you in two months. Maybe more than that, I’ve lost track of the days.”

Sam stood in line with us to get food but nobody else tried to touch him, except for Amber who gave him a nice pat on the head, every once in a while.

“I’m actually hurt by that statement, Sam. I’m your only friend and you can’t even keep track of the days I’ve been gone.”

“Amber, you’re always gone. It’s not like I’m always going to keep track of the days you’re gone. It just makes the fact, you are gone, a whole total reality. Helps if I don’t think about it.”

She faked hurt then looked at me, looping her other arm in mine as it was our turn to get food but turned and stood in front of me as Todd walked up. Sam started growing softly from behind both of us.

“Sorry, ladies. Mind if I cut? Amber….”

Amber hissed at him, something I’ve never seen anybody do before. “Back off, meathead. You can wait in line like everybody else.”

He laughed and tore her away from me and I reached for her gently but she was pulled out of line. And I followed with Sam like an i***t but nobody cared about the line anymore. Everybody was focused on us and I hated that. She twisted in his grip and tried to hit him as tightened my grip on Sam’s leash as he woofed under his breath.

“Get off her, Todd.”

He laughed again, harder. “That isn’t what she said last night when she flew back into town. Don’t you know? Sam, your friend and me have been getting it on for a while.”

Amber growled and was able to get a hand free and scratch him across the face, for a second I thought her nails turned to claws but maybe it was my imagination. She got away and came to stand next to me again. “Ugh, is that what you call it? Getting it on, what are you five? Oh wait, you are, because this is your dick.” She held up her pinkie finger and wiggled it at him. That’s when the whole cafeteria erupted into laughter, apparently even students who were sitting down had turned to watch the whole fiasco. Todd turned a brighter shade of red, redder than the scratch marks on his face. He could never hold his anger back and he wasn’t about to start trying on. He rushed us, but before he got close, Sam broke free of the leash and attacked. Todd slid to a stop as the husky, snarling, snapping and barking at him, rose up between us and him.

“Sam!” I held the broken leash and gripped it tightly. “Don’t bite him.” Sam stopped but didn’t take his eyes off Todd as he continued to snarl and bare his fangs. Todd put up his hands in defense.

“Whoa, okay. I didn’t mean anything. Call that thing off.”

Amber reappeared with two trays full of food and looked at me, grinning. I hadn’t even realized she walked away. I glared at Todd then whistled to Sam, who dropped his bad dog act and trotted after us, happy as could be. Leaving Todd dumbfounded and pissed. We found a table, secluded and sat down across from each other. Sam, again under our feet.

“What the hell are you doing with Todd?” I took a vicious bite of an apple.

“Relax, we didn’t do anything. That guy is creepy, I meet him at a party last night and I left when I found out his d**k was small.”

I slammed the apple on the table. “Don’t lie to me, Amber.”

She ate from a bag of chips. “I’m not lying. It’s the truth and I wouldn’t lie to you. You’re the only reason I come back to school at this godforsaken town. My dad wants me to go to school in Paris. But all those girls are stuck up bitches who think they’re cool because they can smoke. Well it’s not cool when it’s actually allowed.”

I smirked. “Just because Paris is made fun of for being smokers, I don’t think students are allowed to.”

“Well it doesn’t make it any less fun to go to school with a bunch of stuck up….”

I nodded and took another bite of the apple. “Yes, I get it.”

Amber threw the chips in the air. “Hey, let’s ditch.”

“Huh, ditch what?”

Amber laughs. “School, dummy. Let’s go have some fun.”

I shook my head. “Oh no, I can’t. I have to be here when my mom comes to pick me up.”

Amber held up a pair of keys and jiggled them in my face. “We’ll go have our fun and be back before school is over. Deal?”

I glanced under the table at Sam, who was looking at me, wagging. “What do you think?” He woofed and got up. “Well I guess that’s a yes. Let’s go.”

Sam, Amber and I walked out and up to a sky blue car but it was like nothing I had ever seen. It was small and sleek and when she opened the driver’s side, it lit up with blue lights and automatically turned on, the engine revving. Sam hopped in the squished back seat, nearly taking up all the room as the car had bucket seats and I couldn’t imagine how little Amber saw over the steering wheel. “Um…are you even licensed to drive whatever the hell this is?”

She rolled her eyes. “Ummm, duh. It was my 16th birthday present. It’s a Lotus something or other. My father knows about it. I just know it goes fast and it’s fun to drive.”

“Your dad gave you a sports car for your 16th birthday?”

She got in the car and gestured to the other side, Sam had already begun drooling from excitement, fur falling from his tail as he wagged. “I asked for something fast and beautiful. Now, get in scaredy cat.” As I got in the other side and closed the door, she revved the engine and I could feel the power of it under my seat. I buckled myself and looked back at Sam. “If we get in trouble, it’s your fault.” He barked and continued to smile and drool.

“Hang on, you crazy Sams. It’s about to get loud.”