Follow Through

Dr.Doolitle

No"Keanu don't be an i***t!" My less than ideal plea fell on deaf (crazy!) ears and he kept walking directly in the path of the hulking eyesore.I desperately wanted to go after him but my feet were frozen in place,such was the overwhelming power of my fear.Something hit me and stuck to the back of my neck and I whirled around, reflexively reaching for the offended spot.My fingers came into contact with something hard yet slightly flexible at the same time that my eyes registered a now earless Nazir Hound that lay a few feet away from me.

Oh please God no.

My feet started to do a little anxious dance,as they would if I really needed to pee,while I removed the object (be a twig,or a stone,or even a glob of mud, please God) and slowly brought it around to my face.God must have thought it would be funnier for him if he ignored my fervent prayer since the thing dangling from my index finger and thumb was indeed the severed,grey,half rotted ear of the fallen hound.

Needless to say,I hurled it away and shreiked like a scared little girl,flashing my fingers and wishing desperately for soap.

"Judah!"

"Jude!"

Ulrik and Keanu yelled my name simultaneously,turning to find the cause of my fright and seeing nothing but me making yuk sounds.I wipe my hand on my gown-a little demon grissle won't make it any filthier-and look at them sheepishly, "something fell on me,sorry." Ulrik only had time for an annoyed eye roll before he dove back into the fracass.Keanu,meanwhile was once more caught up in a Mexican stand off,this time with two particularly large devil dogs.He was dwarfed by them and I knew he had to be petrified because he was as white as a sheet.Still he stood tall and unflinching,as if daring them to come at him.

If he was shaking a little in his mocasin boots,who could blame him? He gets points for having balls, even though I doubt he could have found them right then. The atrociously ugly things were standing,facing him,and would probably be glaring at him if they had eyes.

Though I think the huge,empty,glowing sockets were far more effective in loosening bowels and scaring people to death than mere eyes would be.I should probably try to talk Keanu down before he came back from looneyville and used his pants as a toilet.

"Keen, what are you doing? Come here." No response.Not even a "shoo",much less a glance in my direction.I was about to take a step towards him when he spoke.

"Don't.If you move it'll divert their attention and I'm barely holding on as it is."

"Keen, you're scaring me,what are you talking about? Let's just-"

"Judah,silence." Ulrik was now beside me,leaving a pile of dismembered appendages and clumps of cartilage in his wake.It was gory enough to give pause to my rampaging stomach.

"Did you have to be so....messy? And how come none of that got on you? I mean-" I was once again rudely interrupted.

"Shush! Look" He inclined his head to Keanu who was less than ten feet away.His skin was dewy with perspiration and the cords in his neck were drawn taut.His hands were fisted and he was staring intensely at the Nazir hounds,leaning forward unconsciously.Slowly he crouched and the hellish things followed suit.He raised his right hand and they raised their right paws.

"What the mango?" I breathed,unable to look away,incapable of movement.

"There are no mangoes Judah! Are you daft?" Ulrik whispered in frustration at my side.I waved him away and didn't spare him a glance.My explaination would no doubt only confuse the issue further and besides,watching Keanu go all puppet master on these huge,hideous beasts was much more compelling than arguing semantics with Tree Bear,as fun as that is.I watched in fascination as he pointed his index finger downward and twirled it,then pointed in the direction we had come.To my utter astonishment,the hounds turned in unison and walked away,then began running when Keanu used his palms to push the air infront of him.

"Incredible," mumbled Ulrik, apparently as impressed as I was.

When they were out of sight,Keanu took two stumbling steps toward us then slumped forward,going down to rest on his haunches.I was beside him in a heart beat,with Ulrik using his staff to light the way behind me.I cupped Keanu's damp face in my hands,felt his sweat and had to fight the urge to yank my hands away and gag.

I did wish for soap again though.

In my head of course.

"Hey,are you alright?"

His eyes were closed but fluttered open,the green around his irises almost gone,drowning in molten gold.The beauty of them caused my stomach to clench.And not in hunger,which was a pretty extraordinary feat.

"Jude,I'm sweating," He tried to smile cheekily but it came off tired instead.

"I'm trying to ignore that at the moment," I pointed out.

"I bet you're itching for a wet wipe right now,"

I rolled my eyes and removed my hands,falling back on my calves from my kneeling position, surreptitiously wiping them in my gown.

"And soap,tap water and sanitizer."

"Sweat is normal Judah,"

"It's disgusting,and that's why I don't do it," I countered,poking him in the knee.

"You dont sweat because the only work out you get is when you're jumping to put jeans on." Another tiny smile that just highlighted how pasty his completion was.He looked worn out.

"Keen,what was that? Are you ok?" The glimmer of a smile faded and he struggled to get up.He'd have fallen flat on his face if Ulrik hadn't been quick enough to support him.

"I'm fine," he said while he pushed Ulrik away and stood wobbly on his own.

I looked at him deadpan.

"You're wobbling like a bowl of jello."

"Another food reference,Ms.Bishop? What a surprise," I ignored Ulrik and planted my feet infront of my almost transparent best friend and put on my best 'don't mess with me face'.

Which made him grin.

Which made me try even harder.

Which made him grin some more and pat me on the head.

So I stepped on his toes.

"What just happened?" I asked as Ulrik shook his head and began waving his glowing stick around,presumably making sure we weren't about to be ambushed by some more ungodly creature.

"Dammit Jude!" Keanu's cried out,while hopping on one leg.Huh,pain is a pretty good energy booster,who knew?

"I just saved your skinny a*s and you show your appreciation by stomping on my feet!"

"When these squats start kicking in you'll eat your words."

He looked at me skeptically.

"You're doing squats?"

"I will, eventually! Now talk."

He sighed and stopped hopping but shook out his foot,as if trying to shake out the ache.He flopped on the ground and sat,as if standing were too much of an effort.

"I found a connection with those things.It's like I could see the animals that they were and I....."

I raised a brow and moved my hand in the universal gesture of 'continue'.

He got up and started to pace,energized once more.

"I spoke to them alright!" He paused to look at me and I know he was checking to see if I was laughing at him but I'm not the same person I was yesterday. That Judah would have laughed him to scorn then driven him to the nearest mental institution. For all I know now,Santa Clause,the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny were having a tea party around the corner.These thoughts flitted around in my head as he continued.

"They were almost completely absorbed by this...." He extended his arm and grasped at the air as if he was trying to grab the word from the atmosphere,"darkness.It was this deep dark,evil thing that was trying to smother them." He stopped pacing and came to stand infront of me and took my hands in his.His eyes shone with fervor.

"Judah, there's barely anything left of them in there.It was so hard to hold on to the roots that remained,and use it to control the physical body.It wanted to pull me into the darkness too,I could feel it clamoring for my soul." His eyes searched mine and I could see just how much of a toll what he did had taken on him.

"Keen,it's ok," I give his hands a little squeeze and his shoulders slumped a bit with relief at the confirmation that he wasn't bonkers.

"You did good.We're ok."

"Indeed.You performed admirably," Ulrik intoned,clamping a heavy hand on Keanu's shoulder.

I wanted to shoot fire up his arse.

"Hey! I flew,buried a tribe of panthers under rocks I pulled up from the ground with my MIND,saved your a*s and I didn't even get a lousy 'nice job'!" I pulled my hands from Keanu's and poked Ulrik's barky chest.He looked at me lazily.

"Take care to remove your finger," he took it from his chest himself and turned his back to us.

"Grrr,you're such a jerk Ulrik." I kicked at a piece of hound leg, momentarily forgetting my disgust in my fury.

Keanu clamped his hand on my shoulder and whirled me around to face him.It lacked his usual force but I guess talking to dead animal souls that live in undead demon bodies will do that to you.

"What do you mean you flew?" He asked,a bit of color returning to his cheeks though his face still looked drawn.

"Oh, I'm basically Jean Grey now." I replied absently.My mind was fully invested in conjuring the many ways to debark an Ulrik.

The oblivious victim in question was busy doing his weird little dance and chanting like a stoned hippie.

Man how I wish I had my phone.He'd be a YouTube sensation.

His voice rose and the conversation about my newfound abilities was put on the back burner.

"With fading strength and an earnest plea,open wide and come forth for me.Guide us to the haven we seek,as I will so mote it be." Ulrik made a wide sweeping gesture with his staff and the night was lit with blinding purple.Keanu and I covered our eyes instinctively.We opened them when the glare faded and before us was an oval portal that swirled black and red.Ulrik already had one foot in and was gesturing at us to follow.I glanced at Keanu and he was frozen in place,his mouth gaping open.I would have dragged him in if Ulrik hadn't beaten me to the punch,stepping back out to grab us both and plummeted us headfirst into black oblivion.