Okay, so I'm back after how long? I don't even know anymore. I want to let you guys all know that I don't have a regular computer or even a phone to work on at the moment so updates will probably be quite spaced out. I hate computer problems, but I'll try my best to update my stories the best I can. DX I'm gonna have to ask you to please have patience. That's all I can say. :( Oh and I changed my name to supworld-iss-tiger. Yup. That's me. ^_^

Reviews:

LonelySkeleton01: Thanks so much. :) Yeah. The poor pooch.

Guest: I really love getting reviews telling me to update my stories because it shows people are enjoying them. :D However, if you read my author's note above, I have computer issues I need to work out at the moment. Please just hold on there, my friend. DX Hopefully you'll enjoy this next chapter. ;)

WARNINGS: SWEARING, MENTIONS OF MATURE THEME (extremely small mention), RACISM, MENTIONS OF ANIMAL ABUSE, PTSD

SHOUT OUT!
I own Alice Hammel and all others you do no recognize as PJO or HoO characters.


~Leo's POV~

Leo was glad to be alone. Like, actually alone. This had pretty much been the only time since arriving at his new foster home that he could have time to himself. There wasn't anyone knocking on his door asking if he was hungry, no one wondering if he was interested in helping in the garden (honestly, he was asked that), and no one constantly telling him stories about people he didn't know. Right now, he was focused on spending quality time with him and him alone. Maybe he could even pretend he was just waiting for his friends to get back from a short shopping spree.

Today was just as nice as the day they enjoyed their time in Manhattan. The zoo had been a blast that afternoon. It was great seeing the awe-struck expression on his girlfriend's face, Calypso's eyes widening at the different animals, mainly the wild cats. Now that feels like such a long time ago. In reality, it had only been last Saturday but so much has happened since then.

He kicked a pebble on the sidewalk and it bounced away, settling in the middle of the road. A car passed over top of it only a second later, throwing the pebble the rest of the way until it reached the other side.

Leo had no idea where he was walking to, but he thought he would take advantage of being left on his own by wandering through his new neighborhood. He didn't like being stuck in that old, creaky house with nothing to do. Apparently, today was the day Alice was helping out in the animal shelter. She'd left him a note on the counter at eight o'clock in the morning to tell him she would be home by one. That was the best thing happening for him at the moment. He was on his own to do whatever he wanted. He wasn't sure how many chances he'd have to do that for a while, especially with school starting tomorrow.

Ugh. School. Just the mention of the name made his stomach weak. He wasn't sure which he was more scared about: the students or the teachers. How many students in this high school were told about him? How many would accept him? From Alice's mouth, she'd said they were always so accepting of new students. Something told him she didn't know what she was talking about. People weren't that nice. If he was lucky, maybe they would share a quick smile here and there, but it would all be fake. And the teachers? Like he told Alice, he had never liked any of his teachers, for more than one reason. This English teacher those new kids were talking about was already stressing him out. He had to be the world's worst essay writer.

Don't think about it, he told himself. That's not until tomorrow. Worry about right now.

Leo passed a couple kids playing on the their front lawn, both girls. They danced a couple dolls around in the grass and talked with one another, pretending their toys were alive. He remembered those days - when he was a kid with nothing to trouble him. He would sit in their little living room with his car collection which consisted of a total of five cars while Mamá would be sitting at the kitchen table dealing with paperwork from the shop. He remembered pushing his cars across the floor, making them crash into each other like every small boy child did. He loved those toys and he took extra care of them. Because Mamá told him they didn't have a lot of money, he treasured everything he owned. Man. When he thought about it, he and Mamá really were poor. If he remembered right, they even visited a few soup kitchens. At first, being his small innocent self, he'd thought they were restaurants, but now that he was older, he wasn't so sure.

Waiting for a couple cars to pass, Leo waved at the third waiting for him and quickly crossed the street. Maybe he'd treat himself to a slushy or something at one of the corner stores he saw the other day. It wasn't too far away and he had some spare cash in his tool belt that, today, was strapped around his waist. A chocolate bar sounded good too. Yeah. He'd do that.

Rounding another corner, he hoped he knew how to get back to the house. It shouldn't be that difficult though. Just as Alice told him, he was hoping the spare key was still under the rock in her garden. He'd locked the house before leaving like any person with a brain would. He didn't know when he'd be back, but there was still the possibility Alice could be there when he got back. For her sake, he wrote his own note saying he was out for a walk, just to ensure her he wasn't running off or something, though he would have liked to. For his friends though, he'd keep his word... right now, anyway.

It wasn't difficult to find the place he was looking for. The O'l Corner Store was right where he'd thought it would be. Crossing the nearly empty parking lot, he opened the door, causing a small jingle to sound overhead, and walked in. He felt the eyes of a bored cashier watch him as he made his way to the back of the store where the slushy machines were. Just a little off-putting.

Leo grabbed a medium sized cup from the dispenser and tapped his fingers against the side. This place didn't have very many choices. One, two... six flavors, one of which was empty. Really? Come on. What's the point of only having a handful of flavors?

Despite his disappointment, he went ahead and started filling his cup a quarter full with orange Fanta.

A short while later, he heard the jingle from the door again. He snapped his lid on and grabbed a straw just as four teenage guys came wandering to the slushy machines as well. They pushed each other around and laughed with their skateboards tucked under their arms and pretty much made a bunch of noise. They reminded him of the group Mr. Thompson was complaining about making a ruckus on their street a few months ago. It almost made him laugh.

Leo took a sip of his slushy and searched the shelves for something to snack on. While looking, he couldn't help overhearing what the guys were talking about. It was apparently about some girl.

"Were you there when that happened?" one of the guys asked.

"You bet," one of the taller teens said. He wore a backwards green cap as if it would somehow make him look cooler. "That chick is a seriously light drinker."

"Yeah, but one hell of a bad ass when sober. Trust me, she judo-flipped someone from the wrestling team a few months ago."

"Nah. You're lying."

"No, it's true!"

"Yeah? Prove it."

"What, you want me to show you some kind of video?"

The green-capped guy smiled. "Dude, I would love to see some video proof."

"I didn't have my phone with me."

"Yup. He's lying."

"Ah, leave him alone," a buffer guy with blond hair cut in. "Maybe he'll talk her into showing us later, huh? He's got a talent for sweet-talking the ladies. He'll show us then."

A chubby guy elbowed him in the arm. "I'll be waiting."

"Leave me alone," the first guy muttered with a hint of a smirk.

They talked a bit more, fooling around as they got their slushies while Leo tried to find what he was in the mood for. He wasn't really paying much attention to them, but at one point, he noticed from the corner of his eye the buffer guy nudge one of his friends and point at him with a smirk. He whispered something to his friends and they all chuckled in response.

Shit.

"Hey!" the stranger called out.

Leo pretended he didn't hear him.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Taking another sip of his slushy, he reluctantly looked up at them. "Hm?"

He reached out and made a show of trying to get something out of the empty slushy machine, his cup sitting underneath the spout. "Yo, I think this thing is broken. Do you think you can fix it?"

Leo raised his eyebrow. Honestly, these guys have no originality. "The machine is empty," he told him lamely.

"Oh," the guy nodded as if he didn't already know that. "Well, can you fill it then? You are the repair guy, aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, different reasons, mainly that tool belt 'round your waist."

Different reasons? "Doesn't mean I work here," he muttered with annoyance.

The guy laughed. "Dude, why else would you be wearing a tool belt? Come here a second, will you?"

"Nah. I'm good here," he smiled and took another sip.

The four of them began edging a little closer in response to his refusal.

"What? I'm not going to do anything," the buff guy stated, clearly the leader. "I just wanna talk."

Leo motioned his slushy to the machines they were once at. "You can talk to me from there. You've got a big enough mouth."

A flash of anger was visible on his face for a second before turning back to his snide, asshole grin. "Hey, no need to be rude. We just want to get to know you. We haven't seen you around before. You new?"

"How would you be able to tell whether I'm new or not? Yonkers is a big enough place."

He shrugged, getting closer with every step. "I know a lot of people in this area. You immigrated?"

"What?"

The teens behind the one questioning Leo began snickering without even bothering to hide it.

"You know," Blondie explained. "Starting a new life in the States? Crossed the border? Oh, don't tell me you jumped it!"

Leo was feeling himself heat up with anger. "I'll have you know I was born here in the US."

"Ah," he grinned with a row of perfect white teeth. Too bad they weren't that dangerous shiny white he saw from Dylan the day of the Grand Canyon field trip. Then he'd have a legit reason to smash his face in. "I see. So your family immigrated."

"Why does that matter?" he found himself asking with heat to his question. Literally. He felt his hands melting the contents in his cup.

"Hey, no hard feelings, okay? Just a question."

An unnecessary question.

"Here, let me introduce myself," he said with an extended hand. "The name's Isaac Newman."

"Isaac Newton?" Leo snickered.

"Ha, ha," he rolled his eyes, clearly trying to hide his annoyance. "I didn't name myself."

Regretting making any kind of contact with the guy, Leo shook his hand and waited. Isaac seemed pleased he accepted it.

"Behind me are my good buds Oliver, Jack, and Nicholas." They all waved from the sidelines. "What about you? What's your name?"

Leo debated giving it to them. He wasn't sure what they were up to. Instead, he thought it safer to lie. "Sam Lopez."

"Nice to meet to you, Sam. Whatcha doing around here? You got anywhere to be?"

"Why do you care? I'm here to cool off same as you."

Isaac nodded with his bottom lip sticking out. "Fair enough. Hey, listen. We're meeting up with a few guys at the skate park on the other side of town. You should come and check it out. You got a skateboard?"

"No. I'm good though. You guys go ahead. I've got other places to be."

"You sure?" he asked with a look meant to pressure him into coming. "There will be a bunch of hot chicks there. I'm sure there will be someone there you'll get along with." He ended that statement with a wink and Leo wanted to roll his eyes.

"No, really. I'm good. I've already got a girlfriend, so I'll leave you desperate guys to them. Maybe there will be someone there you'll get along with," he backfired with a snide grin of his own.

However shrewd they thought the comeback was, they laughed at him anyway.

"Oh, listen to you, huh?" Isaac smirked. "You've got an attitude! I like that. Say, answer a question then."

"What?" Leo muttered.

"Why do you got a tool belt if you don't work here? You got a job somewhere else?"

"No."

"No? Then why the tool belt?"

"He doesn't even have anything in it," one of the guys called out with a snicker. "What a nerd."

"Dude!" Isaac laughed too. "Is that true? That's weird. Let me look at it for a second."

Leo stepped back as soon as Isaac reached his hand out. "I didn't say there wasn't anything in it."

"You don't have to," he pointed. "You can see there's nothing in there! Why are you wearing a tool belt with nothing in it?"

"Why do you wear you head when you have nothing in it?" he fought back.

Again, they all raised their voices with surprise. Isaac only raised his eyebrow with a small chuckle this time though, clearly meaning Leo was getting to him. He wasn't laughing anymore. "You know what? Keep you tool belt. I was a little pushy asking for it anyway."

"Yeah. Thanks," Leo smirked knowing he got the upper hand that time.

Isaac looked at his guys behind him with an unreadable expression and then came back to Leo. "Sure. Listen, we gotta go. Maybe we'll catch up with you later. You come here often?"

"No," he answered with the same grin. "I jumped the border."

"Yeah. Right," he muttered with a half grin, obviously not happy with how the conversation was ending. "I'll see you around," and he and his gang walked off to pay for their slushies.

Making sure they were out of sight when they exited, Leo shook his head and grabbed a Butterfingers from the shelf. Sometimes people were complete jerks, whether they tried to be or not. One thing was for sure though, Leo hoped to never run into those guys again. He was lucky enough to push them off, but it doesn't always end like that. And honestly, throwing racist jokes in there? He really went that low? Asshole.

Leo placed his items on the counter and grabbed a ten dollar bill from his tool belt.

"You okay, kid?" the guy behind the counter asked ringing up his snacks.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm actually pretty used to it. It's fine."

"You sure?"

He nodded and handed him the money. "Here. Keep the change," and he grabbed his things, leaving the man and his small business behind. Honestly, if the guy was so worried about him, why didn't he just step in? Well, Leo was glad he didn't because that would have been hella embarrassing on his part, but the man just stood there. People who have hope in humanity seriously need to rethink what they're dealing with.

For a while Leo walked on, drinking his slushy and finishing off his chocolate bar. Once again, he had no idea where he was going. His plan was to continue down one of the main drags and hopefully find somewhere interesting to visit, preferably with a better experience than at the corner store. The street had several other small businesses such as second-hand clothing stores, an antiques shop, a gas station, and a toy store. Stopping, he decided to check out some antiques. Who knows? Maybe he'd find something cool to tinker with. He spent a good while in there, checking out the odds and ends, trying to see what he could do with them. He even passed by an ancient violin that had been around for presumably one hundred years. Whether that was true or not, he didn't really know. He left it on it's display anyway and moved on to the next thing. An hour later, he came back with an old music box. It was rusted and in pretty bad shape, but he thought it would be neat to fix it up and maybe give it to Calypso... whenever he'd get to see her that is. She would probably freak out about it making music simply by turning a handle. He needed to be there for that.

And then he was back on the streets. It was only twelve thirty at the moment, half-an-hour until Alice finished her volunteer work at the shelter. At this point, she might make it home before him since she drove. Leo had no idea how far the shelter was from where he was located, but it, too, was somewhere in the area. Part of him was curious to see what kinds of animals they had there. Probably the basic cats and dogs. Should he bother making a quick visit? Really, there wasn't much for him to do anyway. And if he got there at the right time, maybe he could catch a ride back to the house with Alice once she was off. It was so unlike him to actually search out his foster parent, but he was slowly running out of ideas on how to keep himself entertained in this part of the city. Without a car, his limits were resorted to the nearby shops and business, which didn't offer very much. He was getting bored.

With the plan in place, he began looking out for the animal shelter, crossing streets, rounding corners, and striding past other civilians. On the way he passed a guitarist playing for money on the streets, his guitar case open for people walking by with only a few small coins scattering the bottom. Digging in his tool belt, Leo grabbed a twenty and dropped it in for him. He received a very pleased grin and a nod from the run-down man with appreciation for his kindness. Leo returned it and kept walking. He knew only too well what it was like to be begging for money. Every cent was a blessing and it was hard finding people generous enough to share or who trusted the person begging to be a legit homeless person.

Finally, after a solid fifteen minutes, Leo managed to find the animal shelter. It was a small building with a big, blue, paw-printed sign advertising the shelter to the ongoing traffic. In the parking lot, Leo spotted Alice's black Sedan placed in the reserved parking for staff situated at the side of the building.

Leo sighed and made his way up to the doors. They were automatic and so they opened immediately when the sensors noticed him. Entering, he saw no one sat at the front desk. He looked from side to side only to find animal posters on the walls and separate doorways leading to different parts of the building, the left clearly leading to the dog kennels. A sign was posted on the door with a dog pointing to the left. The same kind of poster was hanging on the door to the right except it was a cat pointing the opposite direction. Walking up to the desk he found a bell on the counter. He rang it twice and raised his chin to see if he could get a glimpse of someone working in the back room through the window above the counter. Didn't look like anyone was there. Still, he sat for a few minutes to see what would happen. After another minute, he rang it again and waited. Nope. No one. Great service. Waiting for a while, his ADHD managed to take control of him. Finding a pen on the counter, he grabbed it and started fiddling. He clicked it over and over again, waiting. He flipped it up and down and spun it around in his fingers, hoping someone was around to notice him.

Or maybe he didn't want that. He didn't know. What was he doing here again? Was he actually that bored - that desperate - that he actually came all the way down here to see the one person he didn't want to be around? Here he was, standing in a stupid animal shelter after telling Alice he preferred being around tools and machines. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe it was a good thing no one was at the desk to meet him. Maybe he should just go back to the house.

Just as he was about to leave, a cheery voice suddenly came from the left. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't able to get to you quick enough. Thank you for waiting."

Leo turned quickly to the woman who just came out from the dog kennels. She was a short lady not anywhere over her thirties, her hair cut in a brown pixie cut. A black ring piercing was attached to her nose.

"I-I... I..." he stuttered, taken off guard. "Hi," he said lamely.

Making her way to the desk, she smiled at him. "What can I do for you? Are you in search of a new companion today?"

"Uh... no. No, I'm not." Crap. What was he here for? "I was just, uh... um..."

She continued to grin at him though there was a hint of confusion hidden underneath.

"I was... Well, I was just walking by and... I thought maybe I'd... uh..."

"Are you searching for a volunteer opportunity?" she suggest politely. "We're always in need of new volunteers. Would you like to fill in one of our forms?"

He shook his head and set the pen he was still holding down. "No, no, it's okay. I wasn't looking for any work or anything."

"Oh, alright," she nodded. Taking a second to study him, she lifted the corner of her mouth a little more. "Would you maybe like to have a look around at the animals we have here? I could maybe give you a little tour of the place. Is that something you'd be interested in?"

Still not knowing what he was doing here, he looked around at his surroundings. He didn't even know what he was looking for. "Uh... Sure. Yeah."

What? A tour? You're asking for a tour? Leo almost wanted to smash his head against a wall. Of all the things... Why was he here?

"Alright then," the woman smiled. "Right this way. We'll start off in the feline section if that's alright with you."

Fantastic. Because cats interest me so much. Nonetheless, Leo followed her, not wanting to look like more of an idiot than he already came across as.

Through the door on their right, Leo was led into a room lined with cubical prisons holding numerous cats. Most of them were asleep, however the odd one was watching them silently from the corners of their cages, possibly thinking of a way to attack. One of those was a humongous fatty with paws that didn't even look like they could support his weight. The only way that thing could damage anyone was if he fell on their heads. He'd break their necks.

"This is our feline kennels," the woman told him. "We house twenty-three cats at the moment. On a regular basis, we usually bring in two or three cats a week into this place while the average of cats adopted sit around one to two a week. It's a nice balance since we need room for the next little guys coming in."

Leo stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed inwardly. The cats continued to stare.

"Of course, to know the situations these poor creatures are coming from, it's good to know we can help them. So far, we've found permanent homes for 384 cats in the years we've been open."

Talking more about the animals, Leo pretended to be interested. Really though, he was thinking of a way he could get out of here. He didn't want to be rude and randomly say he had to run. He felt kinda stuck in this scenario. He continued to listen and followed her around the back rooms, the whole time dreading coming here. She showed him the rooms where they play with the cats, where they groom them, and where they take care of their health. She explained a lot of different things about how to take care of the homeless animals which Leo didn't really know before.

Eventually, they finished in the feline section.

"And here we have our dog kennels," she went on, leading him into the left wing of the building. "The dogs don't seem to leave quite as fast as the cats and we seem to bring more and more in. Some of the poor dears often come to us in rather poor conditions, but after a little care and a bit of lovin', they are brought back to normal."

Leo now walked down a hallway filled with dogs divided into their own little area. A glass door closed them off from the hallway but still gave the dogs something to look at. At the sight of him, several dogs hopped to their feet with wagging tails and excited barks. Some even jumped up on the glass, their claws clicking against it. Leo smiled a little when their noses left wet spots on the doors.

"We try our very best to show these dogs off and our visitors seem to really love them. However, the rates at which new dogs are brought in are quicker then any coming out. At one point, we've even had to turn some away to other kennels due to how full we were." She shook her head as she watched Leo touch his fingers against the glass in response to an excited dog. "It's sad how many strays we find."

Leo's small grin fell a little as he took his hand away.

All of a sudden, from the end of the hallway where another door was, came Alice with her hands full with a tub of dog dishes. She pushed the door open with her back and began walking down the isle of dogs when she looked up and froze.

"Leo! Dear, what are you doing here?" she smiled with surprise.

Once more, Leo wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say. "Oh, uh... I was just... I left you a note at the house because... I..." He pointed his thumb behind him where the other lady was. "She was just giving me a tour."

Smooth. Real smooth, you idiot. Might as well go die in a hole.

Somehow, a knowing sympathetic smile came to her face. "There wasn't much happening back at the house was there?"

He shrugged, almost embarrassed to admit it.

"That's understandable. I'm sorry I had to leave you on your own. You see, it's a weekly tradition for me. Every Sunday I volunteer."

"It's fine," Leo told her truthfully. "I went out for a walk anyway. Stopped at the corner store and antique shop for a little bit."

She readjusted the tub on her hip. "Well I'm glad you found something to do. Have you finished your tour?"

"We were just finishing up," the woman who had been showing him around cut in. "If you want, I'll deal with those dishes and you can pick up from where we left off. You're pretty much at the end of your shift."

"Thank you, Mary," Alice nodded while handing the tub to her friend. "That would be nice."

Mary then passed by and left them on their own, leaving through the door she and Leo had just entered.

Leo looked back at Alice who was standing with a pleased grin. "So, what has she all shown you so far? Have you seen the cat kennels?"

"Yeah." Thank the gods he didn't have to go through that again. "She was just telling me about the dogs."

"Oh, well I suppose that's a good place to pick up from." She turned to face one of the dogs on the other side of the glass. "This dog here?" she started. "This is a Chow Chow. His name is Bear, mainly because his breed looks like a giant teddy bear. He's been here the longest but is one of the friendliest dogs here. Isn't that right?" she asked the dog, Bear wagging his tail in response.

Leo allowed himself a small smile.

"This girl over here," Alice went on, "is a Golden Retriever. She's been here a little while as well. Her name is Daisy. Poor thing. She came here with a bad limp and matted fur. Not really sure why someone just let her go. She's a beautiful dog -"

Alice was cut off by a loud yelp coming from the back room. She spun around almost immediately and walked over to the window on the door to see what the cause of it was.

"What is it?" Leo asked, not sure why she looked so concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Oh dear," she muttered under her breath. Looking back at him, her kind smile was replaced by a worried frown. "We brought in a dog this morning. He's in pretty bad shape."

"Why? What happened?"

"We don't really know," and she turned back to see what was happening on the other side of the door. "Here," she said and opened it. "I'll let you come back here for a minute."

Following her in, he stayed close behind with curiosity of what was going on.

Once they passed the door, they walked into a large room with separate kennels for either smaller dogs and larger ones. Along the back wall directly across from the door they came through was a long counter with sinks and cupboards and drawers for whatever they needed. In the center of the room, was a large table where several men and a woman stood, all wearing the same scrubs Alice and Mary were wearing, signifying they, too, worked at this shelter. It was then that he realized what they were standing over.

Lying on the table was a boxer, it's body trembling with either fear or pain, maybe both. It was whimpering weakly even without being touched. The people stood there talking with one another, not knowing what to do with him.

A man looked up and spotted Leo. "Hey, what are you doing back here? This is for staff only."

"No, no," Alice quickly interfered. "He's with me. What's going on? How's he holding up?"

"He seems to be getting worse by the minute. We've taken tests, but there isn't anything we've found that could cause him to act out the way he is."

"Well he's obviously in a lot of pain. Isn't there any way we can give him morphine?"

"We've already given him two doses today. It's not making much difference."

"Well isn't there anything else we can do? Are you certain he doesn't have any broken bones?"

Leo stared at the dog lying on the table. One of the workers reached out and began stroking the animal with a tender touch, making sure not to harm it any more. Leo couldn't lift his eyes off of it. It was in so much pain and the whimpering was constant.

"Aren't there any more tests to take?" Alice continued to ask, now standing with the rest of them. "Maybe it has to do with a blood clot."

"Alice, we've tried everything we could have thought of. This dog is suffering..."

They talked on, their voices gradually seeming more and more distant. Leo's ears began to ring and he could feel his heart starting to pound.

The dog. It was just lying there, whimpering. Every once in a while, it would jerk abruptly as if feeling a new wave of pain. A sudden image flashed before him. It was filled with blood; blood from another dog. It's brown fur was coated in the dark red as it's unmoving body lie on the ground. Even the leaves took on the color of the overpouring liquid running down the dog's body. The struggles it had made against the tight rope around its neck, confining him to only a small area around the tree, had left deep cuts in his flesh. However, that was not the cause of the amount of blood loss this creature had suffered. Leo knew it was him that was the cause. Both his hands were covered in his blood. It was by his own hands that this dog died.

Leo vaguely registered himself slowly backing away from the dog lying there, washed over by horror and guilt. There was so much blood.

Voices cut in and out of his muffled hearing, but he didn't know who they belonged to. "There isn't anything a person... to do... We're... have to... him down. He's suffering."

"Isn't... another way?"

"He can't... Alice... Have... put him down..."

And then there were yelps. Gods. Oh gods. They echoed in his ears as if they were the only thing he could hear. He remembered listening to those distinct pitches, those cries, knowing he was the one to cause them.

Don't stop now, she yelled from behind him. I'm not about to finish it for you!

The glint of the knife was now hidden under a mask of blood. It made the handle slippery and hard to grasp. Still, he remembered jabbing hard, not even knowing where it was puncturing because of tears blocking his vision. He stabbed over and over, sobbing and hating himself more than anything. Bruno yelped every time the knife made contact with him which only made it harder.

All of a sudden, Leo felt two hands grasp his shoulders. He shouted with surprise and tried yanking them off. They only held on tighter.

"Leo..." the muffled voice cried. "... alright... for the best..."

All it took was for him to spot her blonde hair.

Miss Teresa. She's got him.

"No!" he heard himself yell out as he continued to try to pull out of her grip. "NO! Let me go! Let me go! Please!"

"Leo, honey, you... calm down. Everything... be fine. Take deep breaths."

"Why did you make me do it?" he pushed against her and freed himself. "I didn't want to! He was my best friend! W-why did you make me?"

His back hit against something, stopping him from backing up any more.

"The dog... too much pain. We have to put him down... better that way."

"He was my best friend," he heard himself sob. Wait. He was crying?

"... know this dog?" Miss Teresa's distant voice asked with a surprising amount of sympathy. "How... you... what happened... him?"

He felt her grip his arms again and he tensed up. "Please! Don't! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He didn't want to be punished again. Miss Teresa's punishments were always so cruel.

"... not doing... Take deep breaths," she urged him. "Deep breaths."

Despite his want to resist, he stopped struggling. Something about her seemed different then all the other times, and so he dared to listen.

"Again. Deep breaths."

With every inhale, he found his breathing was being brought back under control. He didn't even realize he had been breathing quickly in the first place. Maybe that's why he was feeling slightly lightheaded. Eventually, with her coaxing him to continue taking control of himself, he noticed his ears had stopped ringing and the world didn't seem as fuzzy. In fact, once he relaxed himself enough, he realized the woman standing in front of him wasn't even Miss Teresa.

It was Alice. She was staring at him with a look of worry on her face, her hands still holding onto his shoulders. She was still talking.

"There you go. Are you feeling better? Can you hear me now?"

Slowly, finally aware of the others standing nearby watching this whole scene, he nodded, his eyes glued to hers.

"Good," she nearly whispered. "Do you need a glass of water?"

Leo shook his head.

After studying him for a minute, she let her hands drop back to her sides. "Would you like me to drive you back home?"

He felt something running down his face. Wiping it away, he realized it was a tear. Embarrassed, he quickly wiped the rest of his face with his hands and sniffed. He didn't bring his gaze back to her or anyone else in the room. He simply nodded and walked out the door, waiting for her to follow.

What the hell?


Quite the day for Leo, huh? Let's see how he'll hold up next chapter. Of course though, you'd have to be patient and wait for it to come out. Computer problems, remember? DX

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading. :) Look out for chapter 10 and don't forget to review!

~supworld-issa-tiger~