Chapter 5 already!!! I wish I had some reviews, but I get that this franchise doesn't get as much attention as others. Anyway, in this chapter, Charlie and Itchy grab Oaklyn from her house and they (meaning Charlie) drag her out to go find the 'little monster.' Enjoy!
Fur dripping with rainwater, Charlie finally got up the path to Oaklyn's place, with Itchy, who was obviously nervous about being out in this weather, clinging anxiously to Charlie's tail.
Charlie spotted the hole dug under the wooden fence, a very short distance out of the city, grabbing Itchy and shoving him in first. "Come-... on!" he grunted, shoving him deep into the mud and to the other side.
"Agh!! Short legs, boss!" Itchy cried, wiggling out the other side. Upon reaching the other side himself, Charlie pushed himself out with his back paws and huffed, cringing at the mud soaking into his belly. He shivered. "Ooh. Cold. Ok, Itchy..." He stood up, rubbing his other foreleg briefly to get a mud splatter off, "let's go in, huh?"
Charlie wasted no time in trotting up to Oaklyn's house, but Itchy jumped up and stopped him. "Wait, boss! Do we really have to wake her up...? She didn't take you-... um, gettin' plowed over with a car too well..."
Charlie looked down for a second. "Well... Snowflake's in for a surprise when she sees me, then!" Itchy cringed. "Are you sure?" Charlie laughed. "Relax, pal. She might get all emotional, 'cause, y'know, she's a chick, but it'll be fine! She'll be so happy to see me, anyhow. Now let's go."
He pushed past Itchy, slipping inside without even knocking. Itchy followed him, but much more hesitantly.
Charlie squinted; it was really hard to see in here. All the lights were off, and of course Itchy bumped into his back leg, which startled both of them. "Ahh!" Itchy yelled. Charlie, who'd just jumped, quickly slapped his paw over Itchy's mouth. "Itchy! Be quiet!!" he whispered, glaring at him and walking down the dark hallway to where he knew her bedroom was.
The door was wide open, like she didn't even bother to close it (why would she?) and Oaklyn herself was lying in her dog bed, asleep. Charlie, noticing the tear stains on her white cheeks, lowered his ears a little. He didn't want her to feel bad.
Making his way over, Charlie slowly put a paw on the Pomeranian's shoulder, shaking her. "Hey... Snowflake! Oaklyn! C'mon, sweetheart, wake up!"
Stirring, Oaklyn inhaled deeply. She lifted her head, and instantly her blue eyes went huge. To Charlie's shock, she jumped up, horrified, and opened her mouth to scream. "No-!"
Charlie immediately tackled her, desperate to keep her quiet and not thinking about what he was doing.
She lay flat on her back, still in her bed, with Charlie on top of her. (XD oh dear god) Charlie, suddenly hot with embarrassment, got off of her immediately, but he still put his paw over her mouth and held her in place, sitting her up.
Itchy stayed in the doorway, also surprised, and Charlie, glad neither of them could see how red he'd turned, very slowly and cautiously took his paw away, holding them both upright to show her he wouldn't do that again. Struggling for words, he finally said, "Uhhhh... hey, Snowflake!" It was a raspy whisper.
Oaklyn just stared at him. Her eyes were still so wide Charlie thought they'd pop out. "I-I... uh- I'm alive, Snowflake! Ah heh... do, uh, you wanna come with us...?" He tried not to think about the fact that his ears were burning with embarrassment, which was very, very unusual for him.
Finally, Oaklyn asked, "Am... I-... I'm dreaming!!" She grabbed Charlie's paw and slapped herself across the face with it, and a shocked Charlie pulled it away quickly as Oaklyn sat straight again. "Wh-... what the...? No, I..."
Charlie sighed, trying to calm down. "Listen. I know, I was- um... uhhhh... well, I- seemed dead, but I'm not. I'm here! And, uh, Itchy and I are gonna go see the little monster Carface has in his basement! And-... I-I think you should come with us!"
At this point, Itchy walked up behind Charlie as well. "Yeah, uhhhh... you should, Oaklyn! Come and see the monster!!" Itchy waggled his fingers in front of her face, being waaaaay too- well, just... odd.
Charlie smacked the back of his head. "Shut up. Annnnyway, uh, I think you should come with. Besides, I gotta get revenge on Carface, anyway, and-"
Oaklyn stopped him. "Wait-wait-wait. Monster? Carface's basement? Carface in general? Nope. Hard pass," she said, lying down to relax again. Charlie frowned. "Well, why not?"
"It's after hours, Charlie. I don't wanna get caught in there. You know Carface."
Charlie scoffed. "Puh. Do I ever..." he muttered, angrily pouting. "Huh?"
"Ah, nothin'. C'mon, let's go."
It took a little more convincing, but Charlie and Itchy managed to drag Oaklyn out of her house and all the way to the casino.
He pushed Itchy in the air vent first, who tried to resist against it. Charlie shoved him in anyway, of course, and Itchy whimpered a few times, sliding to the side of the vent's wall. Getting his hips caught on the plastic cover, Charlie grunted and strained until he got in. Oaklyn followed him, too, but she sneezed when Charlie's tail accidentally drifted across her muzzle.
Charlie cast her a sharp glare. "Shhh!"
Oaklyn looked at him, rolling her eyes. "Boss, I just know we're both gonna die!" Itchy whispered, backing up a little. "Oh, shut up," Charlie whispered back, pushing Itchy much farther in. Oaklyn followed reluctantly, shaking her head.
"Now, let's see here..." Charlie whispered, looking around, but Itchy immediately began to scratch himself. Frustrated, Charlie whipped around and pinned him against the wall of the vent. Oaklyn stared, surprised. "Stop it! Stop it, will you quit that? I have had it with you, Itchy," Charlie growled, letting him go and turning around to look inside an air duct.
Itchy rolled over and got up. Oaklyn snuck over beside him and peeked in. Itchy grumbled. "Ooh! Right here!!" he whispered, and Charlie turned back to look in. "Looklooklooklook! See? See??? The monster!"Charlie was excited. He really does have a monster in his basement!
Oaklyn crouched beside Charlie to see. "I never even knew about this," she whispered, "and Carface is always after me. You know why." Charlie smirked. "Yeah, I do."
"Ok! Now let's go home! Who knows what it eats!!" Itchy whispered, beginning to raise him voice fearfully at the end of his plea. Charlie, grumpy because of Itchy's fear, ducked down and grabbed his tail as he tried to scramble away. "Y-haaaaaa! Someone's got me-!!!!" Itchy cried, but Charlie pulled him out from under him and held him up, still by the tail, with one paw. "I got ya by the tail!" he whispered harshly. Itchy wiggled. "WHY DON'T YA TELL SOMEBODY YOU WERE GONNA DO THAT?!"
Charlie looked at him like a judge would. "Y'know, it's not worth it, bein' with you. It's not."
Dropping the dachshund, who sat up, Charlie looked at him smugly. "Your hands are cold, too!" Itchy complained, rubbing his cheek where Charlie had held him up. Oaklyn rolled her eyes. "You guys are being really loud!" she whispered. Charlie ignored her, grabbing Itchy and hauling him back over to the vent. "There! There. Now, there... is your monster."
A heap of multi-colored blankets had started to move, but it had a winter hat on top; the hat was lifted off by a little girl with black hair and very blue eyes. "Well, I'll be!" Itchy said, and they both smiled down at her, while Oaklyn kind of just stared, surprised. "He keeps a kid down here?! Jeez! I knew he was a jerk, but I-"
The door up the stairs clanged. Down the metal stairs came Carface and Killer, and Charlie gasped and ducked backward. Oaklyn went silent, hiding back by Charlie's side.
Carface puffed a cigar as he walked over to the little girl. Her sweet voice asked him, "Mr. Carface, can I go outside today?" Carface blew smoke out of his mouth. "Sure you can, little girl... but first you talk to the rat." Inside a small cage on the barrel the child was sitting by, a gray-brown rat hissed at Carface, who blew smoke at it. "Y'know, boss, I think Mighty Morris is gonna win the race!" Killer put in, but the smoke puffed up in his face. His entire body turned green. "Hmmph! Boss, that cigar!" he choked out, coughing a few times.
The child gently moved her hand in the stroked the rat's fur. "Hi, Mr. Longtail... how are you today?" The rat made little sounds of a reply. "Fine, thank you. Will you be in the race tonight?" The rat made more sounds, and the girl looked surprised. "A sore foot? You shouldn't run!"
"And Twizzle has a cold? She should drink soup!"
"And Squad Car has the flu? Oh, my..."
Carface growled warningly. "Hurry it up. Hurry it up!" he demanded, swinging his fist. "I'm sorry," the child whispered, looking back at the little rodent. "So who do you think will win?"
Charlie listened intently, looking down through the bars. Then a lightbulb over his head made him peek up.
"Oh, I see! The Spotted Gray!"
Carface nodded, hopping down. "Killer."
"Ah huh?"
"Shift the odds on the Spotted Gray and feed the kid," he ordered, beginning to walk back upstairs. "Oh, boss, do I have to?" Killer asked, but his answer was more smoke blowing into his face. He coughed. "Oh, boy, where did ya buy that thing?"
He coughed more before following Carface upstairs. "But, Mr. Carface! You said I could go outside today!" the little girl called, but she went ignored, and the door slammed closed. She put her head down and walked over to her bed, sitting in front of it and starting to cry.
Charlie, meanwhile, had his head in his paws, tongue hanging out. "Charlie?" Itchy asked. "A little girl who talks to animals..." Charlie murmured, clicking his tongue a few times; then his eyes turned huge with dollar signs. "Imagine that!"
He stuck his arm between the bars to unlock it. "Boss, I think we-"
"Don't. I'll do the thinkin'," Charlie said, unlocking the vent cover and hopping out. "Charlie! What are you doing?!" Oaklyn demanded, but Charlie didn't listen. He was on top of one of the many crates. "Poor child!" he whispered, looking down at the girl. "We'll kidnap her."
"Kidnap??" Itchy echoed, shocked. Charlie immediately corrected himself. "Ah, I- rescue her."
Oaklyn just sat there, completely surprised. "Charlie...?" Itchy whispered, "but boss!"
Making his way down, Charlie turned his head around. "Itchy, button up!" Then he turned around. "Uh, little girl!" The child gasped, crawling away to hide behind a few cords. "Excuse me..."
Charlie hopped down onto the cement floor, and unsurely Itchy followed him. Oaklyn sat on the top crate, watching warily for Carface to come back for some reason. "I understand that you're bein' held here against your will," Charlie said, sitting down for a moment. "Let me introduce myself. Sit!"
The girl shoved the cords out of her face and came over to sit on a metal bucket in front of Charlie, curious. "I am Charlie B. Barkin, and this is my associate, Itchiford... 'Itchy,' Dachshund. Mr. Itchy to you." Itchy waved reluctantly. "How'dya do?"
Charlie stood up to waltz over to the girl's bed. "And... it strikes me... that this is not the kinda place for you, am I right?" Oaklyn rolled her eyes. "Oh brother..."
"Oh, well-" the child started, but Charlie stopped her, hopping up onto her bed and grabbing her belongings to stuff them into a purple bag. "Well! Let us take you away from all this! Where are your parents?" The girl looked away sadly. "I'm an orphan..."
Charlie gasped, lifting up Itchy's ear and whispering, "she's an orphan! She doesn't have any parents!" He turned back to the little girl. "That settles it! Y'know, you're gonna stay with Itchy."
Oaklyn, by now, was very slowly coming down as well. She stayed up on the crates, not fully coming down. Charlie!!
"Me?!" Itchy asked, looking at Charlie anxiously. "Yeah." Charlie grabbed at a sheet. "What's your name, little girl?"
"Anne Ma-" she started, but stopped when she saw Charlie grab Itchy. "No! No, boss. She can't stay with me-!" Charlie began to tie Itchy to the bag around his belly. "This has gone too far! I'm gettin' outta here!" Charlie rolled his eyes. "Oh, alright." Then he slung Itchy and the bag over his shoulder and onto the floor. "You have no compassion-!"
"Oomph!!" Itchy grunted, landing on his belly with the bag on top of him. Oaklyn came down and dragged Itchy to his feet. Charlie grinned, hopping down and putting himself between the child's legs so she was on his back. "She'll stay with me."
The girl held onto Charlie's neck as he began to hop back up onto the crates. "Anne Marie!" she said. "Huh?"
"You asked my name; my name is Anne Marie!" Charlie grinned. "Yeah, sure... but, I mean, you'd like that, Anne Marie, livin' with me?" He gently pushed her into the vent as Oaklyn followed, uncertain, and Itchy tried as well. "You're gonna love my place! Canopy bed, under the stars, open hearth, three square meals a day, radio, heater, white walls... I live in a cab! ...low mileage, of course!" Charlie added, laughing as he followed Anne Marie out. Oaklyn hopped in too, but she waiting for Itchy to come up as well. He tried, but the bag got caught on the vent cover, and it swung him to the side.
"Ooh!" He growled, flailing his legs and finally getting back on the crates. Oaklyn grabbed his paw and hauled him up and in. "Huh- thanks," Itchy wheezed, moving past her. "Itchy, do you think Charlie knows what he's doing? I mean-... he just kidnapped a kid from Carface's basement!" Itchy sighed. "I dunno... but I hope so. But, uh... Charlie'd better be careful... I don't wanna get killed by a cigar-chompin' pitbull!"
Now a little nervous about the whole situation, Oaklyn just followed Charlie, Itchy, and Anne Marie out. She just really hopes Carface wouldn't find out Charlie was alive...
Thanks for reading Chapter 5, guys! Hope you've enjoyed so far!
