Author's Note:
It's been almost 4 years to the day. Frankly, I never thought I'd update this story again.
But, some guy on here named Pokealec1999 convinced me otherwise.
And I'm glad he did. I wouldn't have done it without him. Thank you.
Please enjoy!
CHAPTER 7:
INVISIBLE
Bolt found himself standing in the middle of his own backyard.
He wondered how he had gotten home so fast. Was there another lightning storm that sent him back?
He studied his surroundings, and it was clear as day… he WAS in fact back home. And it confused him, even scared him a little. It just didn't make sense.
He cautiously walked up to the back door. His ears were drooping. He very much hoped Penny would still remember him.
As he walked inside through the doggy door, he saw the place was entirely, and uncharacteristically clean.
Too clean… almost like… nobody even lived there anymore.
He heard a voice. It was a male voice, low and distinguished.
He went towards it. Up the stairs and into Penny's room where it was coming from. He wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe an uncle of Penny's had come to visit.
What he found was NOT her uncle. It startled him. It made his blood boil as a menacing growl vibrated in his throat.
It was the green eyed man!
He was just standing there in the doorway, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. "Oh, Bolt… don't you ever learn?"
Bolt barked, but it seemed to have no super forceful effect. "Where is PENNY? What did you do with her?"
"Wretched Canine. Why do you think I would tell YOU where she is?"
"Hey, Calico." A familiar voice called out. It was Mittens. He saw the cat appear from behind the green eyed man's ankle. She looked at Bolt with a sneer. "Well, well. Look who FINALLY decided to come home." Her tone was sarcastic and rude.
Bolt's ears drooped. He realized it must've been MONTHS since his mysterious disappearance. Months of wondering where he was, and leaving Penny all alone.
"Mittens, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to leave like that. I'm... sorry."
The cat shook her head and leaped up into Calico's arms. He allowed her to climb onto his shoulder. They both stared down at Bolt like he was worthless. "I have a new master now, Bolt. I live to serve the green eyed man."
Bolt's heart filled with sudden outrageous anger as he found himself lunging at the green eyed man with all his might, knocking him down onto his back. Mittens ran the opposite direction as soon as she hit the ground.
Bolt bit and tore and scratched at the man until he stopped moving.
There was no blood... but the limp body he was standing on looked torn up like an old stuffed animal.
Bolt's stomach churned and he turned away. He couldn't look at what he had done.
"Bolt?"
His ears perked up. He cast his gaze upward and saw Penny. She had been reading a book this whole time and must not have noticed the green eyed man. "Bolt, why did you kill him? I thought we agreed you would NEVER kill anybody."
Bolt's head was spinning. He wasn't sure what was going on. Nothing was making sense.
Just when he started to question the reality he was in, it all started to disappear into blackness.
J
Everything around him changed drastically as he suddenly SNAPPED awake. He felt someone kick him in the ribs. That same someone face-planted the cement floor next to him. Apparently the person had tripped over Bolt. "What the CRAP!" They shouted.
But they didn't say "crap".
Bolt looked around and saw that he was back at the train station. He was knocked unconscious from a blow to the head. Someone must've not seen him from his invisibility to the world, and tripped over him.
"For F***'s sake!" The stranger said as he was standing back up. He looked directly at Bolt, wondering what tripped him, but saw nothing whatsoever. He then shook his head and walked on.
Bolt was in a public place, surrounded by hundreds of people, it was bound to happen.
He sat up and sighed with drooped ears. There was no sign of Brad anywhere. He must've boarded the train.
Oddly enough, a small part of Bolt... sort of felt relieved at this point. Like he was free from babysitting that depressed little kid.
"No." He spoke to himself. "Stop thinking like that, Bolty." He rubbed his head with his paw, trying to soothe the headache he had.
Suddenly his ears picked up a signal. It was strange. He wasn't sure why he heard it, it was too far away to be heard, but he heard it none the less.
It was a voice. One he recognized from his recent past.
"Brad's… father?" He whispered to himself.
Bolt stood groggily to his fours and roamed around a little. The voice seemed to be coming from a nearby parking lot. It grew stronger and stronger until he could hear it clear as day.
"... sure he was here? You saw him?" Brad's father's voice asked.
The man who chased Brad responded.
"Yes! I tried to reason with him, but he didn't know who I was. He got on the train heading west. And then something I couldn't see just ATTACKED me out of nowhere..." The man trailed off. "Never mind… that… that last part didn't happen. I'm not crazy…"
Finally, Bolt saw them as they came into view.
Both of Brad's parents were standing in the parking lot, talking to the man who chased Brad to the train station. It seems that the parents knew this man. Like he was an old friend of theirs.
"Thank you." The mother said. "You can go home now. I'm sorry about the trouble. Wyatt is probably worried about you."
"Ha!" The man said. "Wyatt is worried about his own father? Like that'll ever happen."
Brad's father put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Thank you for finding him. We'll board the next train. I certainly hope he's okay."
"Let's go, Jack." His wife said. "The train arrives in a few minutes."
As they parted ways from the other man, Bolt felt a little bit guilty now for attacking the guy. But... then again, he wasn't sure of the man's intentions and he thought he was going to hurt Bradly.
Bolt took a few steps forward, until he was stepping in the snow. Brad's parents were coming his direction, but he knew they wouldn't see him so he kept walking.
The mother suddenly gasped, clutching her husband's arm. "What's that!" She shouted.
Bolt stopped in his tracks. She was looking RIGHT at him! Did she see him?
"What is it, Claire?"
"Those pawprints appeared out of thin air. I SAW it!"
Bolt's heart lifted. He put his paw down in front of the other and slowly walked towards Brad's parents. In the process, more paw prints were created.
Jack's eyes grew wide in astonishment. "Incredible!" He said… as he crouched down and reached out an arm.
His wife swatted his arm away. "Are you insane! We don't know what this could be!"
"If there's something here, Claire, it's walking right towards us. We're already victimized." He chuckled at himself.
Bolt's ears drooped as he carefully came forward. Jack's hand was reaching out to Bolt as the paw-prints got closer to their feet. Bolt was just about to touch his head to Jack's palm, to allow him to feel that he was real, but just before it happened Claire swung her purse through the air and immediately felt the impact of Bolt's head. He whimpered.
"CLAIRE!" Jack shouted. "There's something here! You probably just injured it!"
Claire has a delayed scream and fell to her knees. "What the hell…" She was out of breath, having a difficult time wrapping her head around the situation. She started shaking her head sobbing.
Finally Jack felt it… Bolt's head was THERE… not visibly... but it WAS there…
"Woooow..." Jack spoke breathlessly.
He couldn't believe it. There's a DOG here. An invisible dog!
Bolt allowed Brad's father to cup his gloved hands around his head as he started petting down Bolt's neck and back. He then rubbed the side of Bolt's head gently to soothe the spot where his wife so ferociously smacked him moments ago. "It's okay... " Jack said, to both Bolt and Claire. "It won't hurt us."
Bolt felt his eyes start to water. This was the FIRST time anybody had given him any affection since he lost Penny. Bradly was never affectionate towards Bolt.
Bolt came in closer and rubbed his head against the man's chest, soaking in the tenderness of the moment.
FINALLY... for the first time in what must have been MONTHS... Bolt was receiving acknowledgment from somebody else in the real world. He never thought that could happen, since nobody else could see him other than Brad.
Jack smiled as he nestled Bolt's invisible head against his chest, running his hand through his fur. "I think the dog likes me, Claire."
Claire took several moments before she too, mustered the courage to reach over and feel for herself.
Indeed... there was invisible dog flesh and fur under her hand. She pulled it away, dumbstruck. She was too shocked to speak. She opened her mouth but couldn't say anything other than... "This... can't be happening."
Just then, the sound of a train was getting very close. They both knew they had to hurry to reach it in time. As they started walking Jack looked back to see if there were paw-prints still following them.
Clear as day, there were.
He smirked. "I suppose the ghost dog is coming too."
Claire sighed. "This is gonna be the worst train ride ever."
Bolt barked to see if they could hear him.
Unfortunately they didn't respond or look back, they just kept walking.
Bolt sighed. They can't hear him after all...
More and more, Bolt struggled to understand the complexity of his existence in this world.
J
Brad sat on that train for a long time. Too scared to move.
He didn't want to speak to anybody, because he wasn't sure he could trust them. Everybody around him felt like the enemy. And now, being separated from Bolt, he felt like he lost the only friend he had in this world.
He felt lost… alone… and scared. Not to mention, hungry, But with no money because of losing his backpack.
"Excuse me." Someone spoke, making him jump. He looked up at the stranger that spoke to him. "Are you okay?"
It was another kid, probably 15 years old. Only 6 years older than he was. Brad cleared his throat and wiped away a tear from his face. "Yeah… I'm fine."
"Mind if I sit next to you? The train is pretty full."
Brad nodded, then turned his head away to roll his eyes without the kid seeing. He sat down next to Brad and took his phone out. Probably was texting somebody.
And just like that… Brad was alone again. He had a feeling that kid didn't care about how he was doing. He just cared about finding an open seat on the train, and using his phone. He probably just wanted to make sure the kid he sat next to wasn't emotionally unstable to the point of randomly assaulting him.
Brad stared out the window as he watched the city pass him by. His heart sank deeper and deeper the more he wondered about things. Why he was the only one who could see Bolt… or why he's even out here in the first place.
He felt lost…
Hopelessly lost.
He owed a lot of people in his life an apology for one thing or another, especially Wyatt, his fourth grade friend… who… he wondered was even still his friend or not after what happened.
He even memorized the kid's phone number. He would call him over and over some days just to talk about the randomest things.
The kid's phone next to him *dinged* with a message notification. Brad turned to look.
Then, his own brain did a *ding*.
He got an idea. But, he had to ask to borrow the kid's phone.
It took Bradly several minutes to muster the courage to ask, and just before he was about to the train stopped and the kid stood up. It was now or never.
"Wait!" Brad shouted, standing up. "Can I… borrow your phone for just a second?"
The kid cocked an eyebrow at Brad. "Is this your stop. I gotta get going."
Brad hesitated, then nodded. "Yes."
The kid shrugged and handed Brad his phone. "Well, hurry up, okay?"
Brad nodded again as he walked out the train doors and he sat on the nearest bench dialing the number for Wyatt's house. The 15 year old stood nearby waiting for Brad to finish using his phone.
It started ringing and Brad put it up to his ear. After only 2 rings, there was an answer.
"Hello?"
It was Wyatt's older sister. "Hey, is Wyatt there?"
"Who's this?" She asked.
"His best friend in the world." Brad said, then wondered why he said that just after saying it.
"Hang on a sec… WYATT, GET YOUR BUTT UP HERE! PHONE'S FOR YOU!"
There was a pause… it was about 20 seconds until Wyatt picked up the phone.
"George?" Brad heard on the other end.
Brad's heart sank… George was another kid in fourth grade, and by the sound of it, Wyatt probably called his house number more than Brad's nowadays.
Brad has officially been replaced as Wyatt's best friend.
"Hello?" Wyatt's voice said.
Brad realized he wasn't saying anything. "S-sorry…" He spoke… "This is… um… Brad."
There was an awkward silence… Brad thought that Wyatt was gonna hang up, but instead he heard Wyatt say, "Okay… um… why did you call?"
Brad's voice trembled a little. "I just… wanted to say… I'm… sorry… about what happened."
"Oh." Wyatt responded.
This was turning out to be a very awkward phone call…
"I'm sorry too." Wyatt said. "My dad says you ran away or something, but I didn't believe it."
Brad thought for a moment, and decided to say it. "Yeah, I did runaway."
"Why?" Wyatt asked on the other end.
Brad thought about it for a moment. "I… don't know."
"Well, are you coming back?"
The 15 year old kid tapped Brad's shoulder. "Hey, would you hurry up? I gotta be somewhere."
Brad sighed. "I don't know." He said again into the phone.
"You should come back. I think your parents are worried…" There was a sound in the distance on Wyatt's end, like a door closing. "Dad!" Wyatt yelled. "What happened to your neck!?"
"Oh, it's fine. Just someone's dog."
"Are you gonna get rabies?"
"No... "
Brad suddenly knew where he recognized that man's voice. It was the SAME guy who chased him and Bolt an hour ago!
Brad's heart suddenly started racing and without thinking, he hung up the phone. He didn't even mean to, it just happened. When he took it from his ear, the 15 year old was quick to snatch it from Brad's hand. He walked away without saying anything.
And just like that… Brad was once again… alone.
J
"He hung up on me." Wyatt said.
"Who did?" His father asked, rubbing his neck.
"Brad."
His dad's eyebrows raised. "Huh."
Wyatt put the phone down. "Do you think he's in trouble?" Wyatt asked.
"I'm sure his parents are going to find him. Me… I need a nice hot shower and a nap." Wyatt's dad went to the restroom and closed the door.
Wyatt wasn't sure what to think. If it's true that Brad was out in the city by himself in the cold winter, it's very possible that he could die.
Hopefully his parents find him. It would be nice to be friends again like they used to be.
As Wyatt was thinking about all of this, he un-paused the video he was watching moments before the phone rang.
It just so happened that the movie was "Bolt".
J
The little house was quiet. It had been very quiet since the day Bolt disappeared.
It was a Saturday morning, and Penny didn't have to wake up for school. So, she stayed in bed until noon, staring longingly at a picture of her and Bolt on her nightstand. It was a rare picture in which Bolt was actually looking at the camera, and smiling. It was by far her favorite picture.
She heard the TV in the other room. Rhino would always turn on the television in the morning. She never understood why that hamster was SO insanely obsessed with TV, but he was currently watching the weather channel. Which is strange, because usually he doesn't watch the weather channel.
"We haven't had a good rainfall in sometime, but it looks like next week is gonna be wet."
"That's right, Larry. Wet, AND loud. We have a pretty big thunderstorm heading our way, probably tonight. People are saying it might be ever bigger than the last one we had."
Penny's heart skipped a beat. She sat up in her bed and ran into the other room where the TV was playing. She saw that nobody was in the room watching the television. The room was empty.
The weather channel was talking about the SAME storm that took Bolt away! It was one of the largest storms they've had in years.
And by the sound of it, there was ANOTHER one on it's way.
For the first time in forever (No 'Frozen' puns intended) Penny had a spark of hope inside of her.
She had a strong feeling about it this time.
This storm might help her find Bolt!
Thank You For Reading!
