Rob was dead.
Rob ... was ... dead.
RJ was propelled through the rest of the night in a daze, unable to remember anything clearly as he tried so hard not to grasp the fact that their friend would never be able to become human again. Rob's death ran over and over in RJ's mind; the raccoon kept seeing images that flashed in front of his eyes again and again...
...Hammy running over to Rob, sobbing and crying, begging the wolf to wake up...
...The van speeding away, rounding a corner with a squeal of tires, never looking back...
...The shocked and horrified reactions of the rest of the family when RJ and Hammy came back through the hedge carrying Rob's unmoving body...
...Hammy sitting alone, away from the others, not talking to anyone...
...The rest of the Hedgies seeing it, refusing to believe it, unwilling to believe it, then finally breaking down in tears...
...And through it all, RJ saw Rob's lifeless face, his eyes opened and glazed, his body not moving.
The Hedgies hadn't been able to bring themselves to bury Rob. Not yet. They had closed his eyes and laid him on a blanket in a clearing nearby, none of them able to face the wolf. They had also bandaged the wound on Rob's chest, but even when it stopped bleeding he showed no signs of stirring. With his eyes closed, it looked as if the wolf were just sleeping, but RJ knew it was a sleep from which he would never awaken.
Their friend's life had been cut so short so soon, and RJ knew that Rob's parents would never know what had happened to him.
Who could have done this? RJ thought, his eyes glistening. The raccoon had seated himself in the family's "home" area, away from the rest of the Hedgies. As he sat there, alone, his head filled with "if only"s: If only we had taken a different route. If only we hadn't run into that wall. If only Rob had been able to get out of there... RJ buried his face in his hands and let the sorrow wash over him.
It rained all through the night. Lightning flashed across the sky, thunder rumbled into the distance, and the water came down in torrents, never letting up. RJ barely noticed the rain drenching his fur, drenching the clearing, drenching everything in his little home area — the car seat, the universal remote, his bag, the umbrella that he had offered Rob but that the wolf had been unable to use...
RJ was exhausted. But he couldn't sleep, not now. How could he sleep after all that had happened? How could he face the nightmares that came so easily when he was unconscious, after going through one in real life? Slowly he laid down on the wet grass, shivering, but unwilling to fall asleep. He could only think of Rob's open eyes, and their glazed, lifeless look ... RJ laid there for a long time, not even aware of gradually, finally, drifting off into unconsciousness...
..."Let's see ..." said Rob, running a paw over the vending machine's controls. "We want ... A5."
He keyed in the code with a claw and stood back. Below, he, RJ and Hammy watched in anticipation as the bag of Spuddies (new Pizza flavor) began to unwind from the coil, dipping towards them.
And ... it got stuck.
"What the —" Rob swore and slammed a paw into the machine, with no effect. "Does this vending machine not like animals or something? Just because I keep turning into a wolf doesn't mean I don't have an appetite, dang it!"
"Rob, calm down," said Hammy reassuringly. "I mean, it's not like it's the end of the world or anything, right?"
"No, I will not calm down!" shouted Rob, now almost in hysterics. "My life is spinning out of control and I can't do anything about it! I don't like it! I can't even control a bag of chips, for crying out loud!"
RJ stared up at the unmoving Spuddies and sighed. Frustrated, he banged the slot on the machine, trying to get it to relinquish the chips. RJ ignored the strange sense of deja vu he was beginning to feel, and tried again. Behind him, Rob sat down and put his head in his front paws, taking deep breaths.
"Sorry, Hammy," he said after awhile. "I just ... I don't ... I want my life back."
The squirrel put a sympathetic paw on Rob's shoulder, saying, "We'll get it back with you, Rob. Don't worry."
"Yeah," came a voice in front of them. "But in the meantime, can I have a little help?"
Hammy and Rob stared: RJ had jammed himself into the vending machine slot, and was now totally stuck inside the machine. The raccoon tried to pull on the slot from the inside, with no such luck; the door would not open. RJ pressed his paws against the glass separating him from the now-panicked Hammy and considered his options.
Unfortunately, as RJ heard a new voice from beside them, he realized all of his options were bad. Very bad.
"Well, well, well," came an all-too-familiar chuckle. Rob and Hammy whirled around; standing behind them was a tall, shadowy figure. Vincent the bear stepped into the light and his fur shined brightly as he smirked. RJ quailed from inside the vending machine as the bear leaned down right in front of him. Only a thin pane of glass separated Vincent from the frightened raccoon. The bear's heavy breathing made a slight mist on the glass, in which RJ could see his own panicked reflection.
"Looks like you can't get yourself out of this one, RJ," Vincent said, leering. "At least, not if I can do this."
And to RJ's horror, the bear reached into his bag, which was lying beside the vending machine, and drew out a roll of duct tape. RJ struggled frantically, but before he could blink Vincent had pulled the tape across the slot, shutting it firmly.
"I reckon you've got five minutes before you run out of air," said Vincent, tossing the tape aside. "Now then, who're your little friends?"
"HAMMY! ROB!" shouted RJ through the glass. "Run! RUN!"
"Not until we get you out of there!" shouted Hammy, zipping forward toward the machine. Rob, meanwhile, gave a fierce snarl and leaped for Vincent, his powerful jaws snapping around the bear's shoulder. Vincent howled and fell with a huge THUD, wrestling furiously with the growling wolf.
Hammy took advantage of this distraction to begin pulling the duct tape off the slot. RJ leaned forward in anticipation, expecting it to come undone any minute; Hammy hadn't gotten more than halfway through, however, when Vincent reached out with a paw and sideswiped the squirrel. Hammy flew twenty feet away, hit the cement hard and did not get up again.
"NO!" shouted RJ, banging against the glass in a futile effort. Seeing this, Rob had jumped off Vincent and ran toward Hammy; the wolf now stood protectively in front of the squirrel as Vincent went after the two of them in a rage. Rob snarled and leaped for the bear again; the two of them struggled for a minute before Rob sunk his teeth firmly into Vincent's neck. Vincent howled in pain and rage and, with almighty strength, dug his claws into Rob, flinging the wolf off of him.
Rob sailed toward the machine and smashed into the glass, breaking it. RJ yelled as he fell out of the machine and felt the shattered glass cut him all over. His shoulders — his neck — his arms — his feet — all of them soon had bloody scratches all over them as RJ slammed into the ground.
Panting, the raccoon sat up to find Rob's face inches from his own. The wolf's eyes had a glazed, haunted look. "I'm sorry, RJ," he said weakly ... and closed his eyes forever.
"No —" RJ gasped, looking around him, first at Hammy, then at Rob. "No, this can't be happening! PLEASE! NO!"
"Oh, it's happening, RJ," came Vincent's triumphant laugh. The bear had stood up again, his confidence back; he laughed triumphantly as he stared down at RJ. "And guess what?"
RJ lowered his head, eyes brimming, unable to take it. Vincent reached down and forced RJ's head up so that he and the bear were eye to eye. When Vincent spoke, his last sentence was in a hoarse, satisfied whisper.
"The rest of your family's next."
"No," RJ whispered, tossing in his sleep. "No. No. NO! Hurt ME, not them! ME!"
A snapping sound came from somewhere in front of him, and RJ whipped his head up with a gasp, waking suddenly. Willing his heartbeat to slow, he squinted into the darkness. All was calm for a moment ... and then out from the gloom of the rain emerged Hammy, his fur disheveled and soaked. Wordlessly, miserably, the squirrel stepped forward, and RJ enfolded him in a hug. The two of them stayed like that for a long time as the rain poured down around them. RJ didn't say anything, simply letting Hammy sob into his shoulder.
Finally Hammy stepped away, wiping his eyes. RJ placed a paw on his shoulder. "Hammy," he said, and his voice shook. "Hammy, I ... I know how you feel."
"No you don't." The squirrel's reply was so unexpected, so cold, that it stung RJ, and he withdrew his paw from Hammy's shoulder. "You have no idea how I feel, RJ."
"What are you saying?" the raccoon whispered, hurt. "Of course I do. Rob was my friend too, you know."
"There's — there's more to it than that, all right?" Hammy said, trembling slightly. "There's a lot more. You — you don't know what I'm going through."
"What do you mean?"
"I — I — I can't tell you," Hammy choked, shifting uncomfortably. "You — you wouldn't understand."
"Hammy, you're my best friend. What isn't there to understand?"
"A lot, all right?" Hammy burst out, stepping backward. RJ reached out a paw toward him, but Hammy continued backing away. "Just leave me alone!" the squirrel shouted angrily, and he immediately disappeared in a blur.
"Hammy!" RJ shouted after him, and took off running too. RJ knew there was no hope of catching up with Hammy, but he knew that his best bet would be to meet the squirrel where he stopped running. With that in mind, he dashed along the Hedge, following the ruffling leaves in pursuit of Hammy.
RJ splashed through puddles of water and dodged the drenched leaves as he tried desperately to find the squirrel so close to his heart. I need to find him. It's bad enough losing Rob. I can't lose him too. RJ increased his speed and continued running, dodging a stray branch that stuck out of the Hedge.
Suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the clearing, and RJ saw his own shadow eerily illuminated within the puddles of water before it disappeared into darkness. But something else had been revealed with the light: RJ saw Hammy scuttling up a nearby tree. The squirrel dashed quickly up the trunk, and then the leaves and branches obscured him from view.
"Hammy!" RJ shouted, looking up at the tree. The squirrel couldn't hear him over the howl of rain and wind. "Get down from there!"
RJ, spinning on his heel and looking up again, saw Hammy leap out on a branch jutting far above the tree; the squirrel shook himself off and then slowly stood up, barely noticing the rain pouring all around him. Quickly RJ scurried up the tree trunk toward Hammy.
The sound of the storm faded away amid the pounding in RJ's ears. Time slowed down as he leaped off the trunk onto the branch where Hammy stood. RJ was running towards the squirrel — the sky was lit with flashes of lightning — the rain poured down heavily on RJ, drenching his fur — he knew what was about to happen — he could feel the electricity tingling in the air — Hammy was facing outward — suddenly he turned around — his eyes widened as he saw RJ hurrying towards him —
And RJ shoved Hammy out of the way; the squirrel tumbled down to the soft grass, unhurt, and spun around in horror, looking back up at the raccoon. RJ barely had time to lift his head when a searing pain shot through his body as the lightning struck him. The electricity coursed through him, drowning out his scream; the light pulsated around his body with infinite, merciless energy. Hammy cried out in horror below him as RJ's body stiffened and he fell; the ground rushed up to meet him and everything went black as he slammed into it...
He was falling, falling, falling into a pit of blackness, the forest around him vanishing into the dark. Streaks of color shot upward as RJ plummeted through the inky void. Gradually the blackness around him faded into a twisted rainbow of reds, oranges and yellows — and RJ saw, drifting toward him through the void, a familiar-looking wolf, smiling serenely.
"Rob?" said RJ uncertainly. "Is that you?"
"Sure is," grinned the wolf, as he continued walking towards the falling raccoon.
"What — how — am — am I dreaming?" RJ asked, dazed. He hoped he wasn't, as his dreams certainly hadn't been good ones lately.
"Not dreaming," said Rob, "not exactly. You're going to be reliving your past."
"What — no — I don't want to relive it!" said RJ, panicking, holding his hands to his head.
"Oh, I think you do, RJ," said Rob seriously, "and I think you'll find you're a better person for having done so."
"I've blocked out the past!" said RJ, struggling. "I don't want to remember it! Why should I? Give me one good reason!"
"Because," said Rob, smiling again, "you don't exactly have a choice."
"Oh yes I do," said RJ angrily, and he pinched himself.
Nothing happened. He was still drifting through the whirl of colors, Rob still standing in front of him. "Wake up, RJ," the raccoon yelled, pinching himself again, "wake up! WAKE UP!"
"Sorry, RJ," said Rob sympathetically, "but you won't be waking up for awhile. Getting struck by lightning really takes it out of a guy."
"Wake — up..." RJ muttered, still pinching his arm in a futile effort.
"Let's go back a few years," said Rob, "and see what things were like for you then. They're better than you remember."
"I don't remember anything," RJ muttered, blinking.
"Oh, you will, RJ," smiled Rob, "you will."
And Rob faded away; the color surrounding RJ vanished into darkness, and RJ knew no more...