A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Episcopal Witch; her emails helped me see where "Cave Canem" should go after the third chapter.
Disclaimer: The cute werewolf, his sexy flatmate, and their entire world belong to J.K. Rowling.
Cave CanemChapter Four: Nightmares
Caged. Trapped. The wolf wanted to break free. To run free. To hunt. Hunger. Desire. The wolf wanted to feel his teeth sink into human flesh and tear it free. To taste human blood as it pooled on his tongue and slid warmly down his throat. He tore at his shoulder in frustration. The flesh and blood were warm, but they didn't quench the desire.
A soft sound, the scuff of leather on hard-packed earth. The wolf's sharp ears swiveled toward the sound a moment before the muzzle followed. The wolf stood still, listening for another sound, scenting the air. The scent of his own blood filled the air, but below were other scents: wood, dust, mildew. The usual scents of the room, not the scent of the possible prey. But the sound, leather scuffing the hard-packed earth of the tunnel, repeated. Prey.
The wolf clawed at the trapdoor in the floor. He needed to get to the tunnel, to the prey. He could hear footfalls clearly now, coming closer. Human footfalls. Prey. His claws caught the edge of the wood and pulled the trapdoor up. It slipped off his claws and fell back with a dusty puff of air. It had only been ajar for a moment, but a new scent filled his nose. Human. Prey.
The wolf clawed at the trapdoor more frantically. Where was the dog? The dog would set him free. The dog would push the door open from below. The dog would hunt with him.
His claws caught the edge again. He pulled up as he twisted his body around and squeezed his muzzle into the opening. As he wriggled forward, forcing his head and then his shoulders under the door, he heard a new sound. He froze and listened. More footfalls. Faster. Running toward him. The scent of another human filled his nose. The wolf jerked forward sending the weight of the trapdoor off his shoulders and crashing to the floor.
The wolf struggled to squeeze through the opening. A shout. Words he couldn't understand. Should he understand? The wolf dropped down to the tunnel floor in a crouch. The humans ran. The wolf pursued. His nose filled with the scent of humans, his paws pounded the dirt floor, the distance between hunter and prey disappeared. This is what every night should be.
A dim light ahead. He couldn't let the humans reach the light. The wolf leapt at the nearer human. Claws dug into the human's back as the wolf's weight drove him to the ground. A pair of glasses on the ground were trampled under his paw as his teeth sank into human flesh, and warm blood spurt onto his muzzle and into his mouth.
Remus awoke drenched in cold sweat. His heart pounded—adrenaline from the hunt. He licked his bottom lip as if imagining blood to be there still—then, realizing what he was doing, he angrily wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.
Four nights in his own bed since the night he had almost killed Brian—and possibly Sirius—and he'd had this nightmare every night. It was a familiar one. He had been tortured by it many, many times in the months following the night he almost killed James and Severus. Eventually, he'd been haunted by it less frequently. Now it was back, just the same as before. No, not quite the same. Three years ago, the ending of the dream varied. Sometimes he killed James. Sometimes he killed Severus. Sometimes they escaped. This time, every dream ended the same.
Remus looked at the softly glowing clock on the bedside table. "Almost five o'clock. Might as well stay awake. Rather not risk another nightmare. Reading will work. Get lost in a book." Remus brought forth a flame on the candle on the bedside table. He frowned at the sight of The Quarterly Journal of the Royal Society for the Design of Wards and Protective Spells beside the candlestick. "Too dry," Remus thought, "easier to get lost in fiction." Unfortunately, the novel he was currently reading, The Crystal Cave, was out in the main room. It was a Muggle novel about Merlin, and the magic in it was, of course, inaccurate, but Remus was enjoying the story of the resourceful young Merlin.
He grabbed an old pair of sweatpants out of the bottom drawer of the dresser. The early morning chill ruled out prowling around the flat in boxers and a t-shirt. He left his room quietly, careful not to wake Sirius—Sirius was not a morning person. Nor was Remus for that matter, at least not normally.
Remus was quite surprised, therefore, to see Sirius in the kitchen. Sirius seemed just as surprised to see Remus. He stood staring at Remus, a mug raised halfway to his mouth. For a moment, he had the slightly guilty look of a child caught stealing a biscuit before dinner. Then he grinned at Remus.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
"No," Remus replied as he took a seat on a stool at the kitchen counter. "Had a nightmare. You?"
"Nightmare," Sirius replied matter-of-factly as he poured a mug of coffee for Remus. "What was yours about?"
"You don't want to know." Remus accepted the mug gratefully. Ordinarily, he preferred tea, but somehow, this morning called for coffee.
"Do you want something to eat? We have—"
"NO!" Remus replied too quickly and too sharply. "After that dream, I couldn't eat anything without choking on it." Seeing the startled look on Sirius's face, he smiled apologetically. "Thanks, but the coffee's fine."
"Suit yourself." Sirius drank the last of his coffee. "Just don't expect me to offer again when I get back."
"Where are you off to at five in the morning?"
"Thought I'd go for a run as long as I'm up." Sirius paused at the door to the hallway and looked back at Remus. "You don't want to come, do you? The more, the merrier."
"Actually, a run is exactly what I need," Remus thought, but he had noted the way Sirius had worded the question—he didn't really want Remus to go with him. "No thanks, Sirius. I think I'll read for awhile."
Sirius gave a wave and was gone. Remus stared down into the dark depths of the coffee. "No, Sirius," Remus spoke aloud although alone, "you don't want to know that the wolf is furious at James for denying him prey, again, and is dreaming of killing him."
Remus slipped off the stool, flicked off the kitchen light, and crossed to the window that looked out onto the dark street below. "And Sirius? If you want me to believe you're going out running, wear sneakers instead of boots."
* * * * *
Sirius followed Remus and Charlotte Stirling through the empty Muggle house.
"The Ministry said that Eddie could transform here at home as long we set up silencing charms and a moon ward," Charlotte explained to the two young wizards. "Will you set them up?"
"Of course," Remus replied. Charlotte opened a door in the kitchen and Sirius followed Remus down the creaking wooden stairs into the cellar. At the base of the stairs, they discovered themselves in a brick-walled room with a vaulted ceiling. Eddie was waiting, calmer and more confident than the last time they had met. Sirius turned around and saw the silver lined door, and in the doorway, not Charlotte, but Gwen.
"The full moon will be rising soon," she said with the smile Sirius had once loved. "Good-bye, Sirius." She closed and locked the door.
As he heard the key turn, Sirius knew, without even attempting it, that he could not transform into Padfoot. He turned back to Remus and Eddie and saw them both watching him calmly.
"Help me, Remus. I can't remember how to transform."
Remus smiled. "Don't worry, Sirius. I'll take care of you." Remus drew close to his friend and whispered in his ear, "I'll kill you quickly so you won't feel any pain."
Sirius stared at the dim light leaking around the edges of the window blinds, getting his bearings. He was unsure if he had realized it was all a dream in the moment just before or just after he awoke. "Stupid dream," he muttered angrily. He rolled over and punched his pillow, trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep again. "It's no use," Sirius admitted as he threw back the covers. "Quarter of five. By the time I get back to sleep, I'll need to get up for work anyway."
"Lumos," he whispered as he touched the wand on his bedside table, then he dressed in the faint wandlight. "As long as I'm awake, I know exactly what I want to go do."
Sirius brought his wand with him as he silently made his way to the kitchen. It was only after he flicked on the overhead electric light, "Too bright," that he extinguished the light of his wand and tucked it in the large pocket in the front of his dark blue sweatshirt. "Coffee—need coffee."
It took only a minute to prepare; Sirius was too impatient to brew coffee without magic speeding things up. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as he filled a mug and brought it to his lips. The rich, warm aroma banished the cobwebs of sleep from his mind. "Bye-bye, bad dream," he thought as he took the first sip.
He was about to take another sip when Remus walked into the room, running his fingers through his messy brown hair. "Oh damn, I woke up, Moony. No, he looks surprised to see me, so couldn't have heard me." "Couldn't sleep either?"
"No. Had a nightmare. You?"
"Nightmare." "Moony looks like he needs coffee as much as I do," Sirius thought as he grabbed a second mug out of a cabinet.
"What was yours about?" Sirius immediately regretted asking the question. "Idiot. Now he might ask about mine. Oh, I just dreamed that you were about to kill me."
"You don't want to know," Remus replied, and Sirius suspected that his friend was right.
"Time to change the subject," Sirius thought. "Do you want something to eat? We have—"
"NO!"
"Whoa—where did that come from?"
Remus smiled and glanced down at the mug between his palms. "Thanks, but the coffee's fine."
"Suit yourself. Just don't expect me to offer again when I get back." Sirius headed for the door. He was getting anxious to be on his way.
"Where are you going at five in the morning?"
"Thought I'd go for a run as long as I'm up. You don't want to come, do you?" Sirius realized that sounded a bit rude, so he quickly added, "The more, the merrier."
"No thanks, Sirius. I think I'll read for awhile."
Sirius smiled as he left the flat and hurried out of the building. He had feared for a moment that Remus would choose to accompany him. Ordinarily, he'd enjoy going for a run with his friend, especially since Moony and Padfoot had been denied their opportunity to run together under the full moon this month. However, this morning it would mean a change in his plans. Remus would never approve of Sirius taking the risk he was about to take, at least not without a good reason.
A young man with black hair turned the corner at the end of the street, and a large dog with black fur emerged on the other side. Padfoot headed for the park and reveled in the simple joy of running free.
A/N: If this has gotten you in the mood to read some good "Remus's friends are starting to mistrust him" angst, may I humbly recommend "Stag Night" by CLS. Wow! But in the meantime, onward to Chapter Five! Please!