Chapter 2 – hellfire and bubble bath

I didn't open my eyes again, not even when the car stopped. I heard sounds. Metal clicking and moving. The car moved forward again for a few feet and then stopped rumbling altogether. Doors creaked open and then closed. Paper rustled. The smell of cooked meat got the tip of my tail wagging again.

The demon lifted me up and carried me. I stayed limp. I kept my eyes closed to whatever was going to happen next.

Where ever this was didn't smell like Hell. No sulfur stench. The air was warm. I mean comfortable warm, not hellish warm. It was dry too. We were out of the rain. Another rustle of paper and the good food smell faded out. We walked a little further and the demon put me down. This surface was smooth and slick. It was cool against my foot pads. My legs slipped out from underneath me and I collapsed onto my belly again.

Well, this was it then.

I waited for my death.

And I waited.

Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes just enough to see.

I was in a small pit. At least that's what I thought it was at first. The walls were slick. The color was light blue. I saw a silver metal ring in front of me at the bottom and something silver and shiny above that. For a moment I didn't recognize any of this. Then it hit me.

I was in a tub. A bathtub.

Well. This must be some new demon thing topside. It was easier I guess. He could put me out of my misery in the tub and just wash the blood away down the drain, the walls and the floor.

I glanced up. The Knight took off his wet brown jacket and hung it up on a hook on the door. He turned to the sink and picked up a white plastic bottle. He saw me looking at him and his eyes softened. I didn't like that.

The demon reached up and grabbed the long silver hose that hung on the wall above the faucet. He knelt down beside me with the bottle in his other hand.

This was it. I closed my eyes.

The next thing I felt was warm water. All over me. Some of the water went into my nose. I jerked my head up. My eyes went big as saucers as I sneezed and struggled to my feet.

"Easy now. Easy."

I glared at him. What kind of sick, twisted thing was this? I didn't need any more water. I was soaked to the bone already.

He laid the hose down over the edge of the tub. Then he flipped open the cap on the bottle and squirted something out onto my fur. The stuff from the bottle smelled like flowers. He massaged the liquid into my wet fur with his fingertips. I turned my head. Saw bubbles and white suds all over my body.

"Dude, you reek."

I whined, low and deep in my throat. I couldn't help it. He was giving me a bath? A bath? This was embarrassing. I used to take pride in keeping myself clean.

"You were out there a long time. I can see your ribs." He rubbed the shampoo all over into my fur as he talked. "Living on the streets is tough. I've been there." I didn't know whether he was saying those things just to hear himself talk. I couldn't imagine a Knight of Hell wandering around lost out there.

His hands never stopped moving. I relaxed so much I stared into space. Everything was a blur. I didn't close up inside myself. It wasn't like that. For the first time in a long while being touched didn't hurt. I drifted off. I imagined myself snuggled up to my mom as she nuzzled me with her nose. "I love you, sweetie."

When his hands touched my face I didn't react. He rubbed the shampoo all over, under my jaw and muzzle, up the bridge of my nose, between my eyes and my ears. Dirt and grime loosened and fell off. Warm water flowed over my body. I came back to myself just as the demon stood up with the hose in his hand. He leaned over and turned the water off. I shook myself off from head to tail. It's a dog thing, all right? Water flew everywhere.

"Yeah, I knew that was coming." Was he laughing at me? Sounded like he was but I wasn't sure. He turned and pulled a big orange bath towel off a rack nearby. He put the towel over me from my head to my butt. I couldn't see.

That's when things went bad.

Something thumped between my eyes. A boot heel.

"Bad dog!"

My head rocked back.

"You stupid mutt!"

I jerked to the side again and I heard myself moan words out loud.

"Stop hitting me."

I couldn't see anything except orange and red. They kicked me over and over again and they wouldn't stop.

"I'll...I'll be a good boy. Please..."

They just wouldn't stop.

"STOP IT! STOP HURTING ME!"

My body temperature flared up. The air filled with black ash in a heartbeat. The towel burned up and I was completely dry. I skittered backwards until my butt hit the back of the tub. My paws slipped and slid on the slick wet bottom. I raised my head. My tail bushed out as I bared my teeth.

I was a bad dog. I wanted to hurt them all back.

The Knight jerked his hands back so fast he was a blur. His fingertips turned red and raw but then healed up in an eye blink.

I shook my head. The yelling and the blows echoed inside my skull and then faded away. This was a memory. He hadn't hurt me. But having that towel over my head triggered the badness. My body and my mind couldn't tell the difference.

We stared at each other for a long moment. He looked angry. He was going to start yelling. He was going to hit me. Hurt me. Demons and humans don't like bad dogs. They lie with their eyes. They can make their eyes look soft and harmless. But not their hands. Their hands move, they ball up into fists. I can always tell when they're ready to hit.

"Who did this to you?" The funny sounding growl in his voice deepened.

Damn. I didn't just think about that memory, I screamed it out loud enough so that the demon saw what happened inside my head. And he heard what I said out loud. The feelings that flowed out of him were all mixed up together. Anger and sadness. That felt weird to me. He was mad at the ones who hurt me. He felt sad for me.

I don't know why.

I hung my head. I couldn't answer. The walls inside me came up again. When he didn't hit or scream at me my hindquarters shook and I thumped down onto my ass. Why was he being so nice to me? When was he going to hit me?

Another long moment of silence, then he sighed. "Well, I never liked that towel anyway."

I stared at my feet.

"I'm not gonna hit you. And I'm not gonna hurt you. Not now, not ever, y'hear me?"

I didn't believe him. They lie with their voices too.

"Bath time's over. Can you walk?"

I didn't answer.

"Okay then. I'll carry you."

I didn't struggle as he picked me up and walked out the bathroom.

We were in a house all along. There was a stairway leading upstairs on the left. I saw other rooms. Furniture. Pictures on the walls. At the end of the hallway was the living room. A big screen tv sat in the corner, near the window.

I wanted to wiggle out of his arms and jump down to the floor but I didn't. I knew he'd stop me if I did, so I willed myself to stay still. I wanted to run away. Houses are bad. Closed in places full of loud voices, pain and fear. The street wasn't much better but at least there it was wide open. I could always run.

The Knight laid me down on a couch. A big brown one. It felt comfortable. Soft.

I slid down on my belly again.

He frowned at me. "Please don't nuke my couch. I really really like this couch. Be good, okay?"

I didn't move until he walked out of the room.

My legs wobbled as I stood up and jumped down to the floor. The fur on my body stood out straight and painful. I didn't like being out in the open like that, trapped inside a house. I could have smashed through the front door and run away. I don't know why I didn't. Instead I ran around the corner of the couch. My belly scraped the floor.

The space between the couch and the wall was big enough for me to fit.

Good place. Safe place.

I pushed my head into the corner and closed my eyes.

TBC Monday: The cheeseburgers of angst