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Though he would never admit it, especially to her, Alex knew Justin was scared, that the dreams terrified him; ever since they began, his thoughts had been tinged with despair and anguish, which forced her mind to recoil whenever they got close.
Their mind link had evolved from its earlier days, when Alex and Justin both had to be asleep for their minds to connect. Now they were linked in the waking world as well; each was a constant presence in the other's mind.
It annoyed Alex at first, simply because she had no idea how anyone could possibly think that much in one day, let alone an hour. And now her mind was opened completely to her brother, to the man she loved, without any reservations whatsoever, whereas before, Justin could only see what Alex let him see.
Which was everything, of course. It was the principle of the thing that mattered. It had been a choice before, a great trust, and it wasn't anymore.
They could feel each other's emotions; the other's joys, sorrows, pains: there were no secrets between them now. They could find each other always, no matter how far away they were.
And that was what made Alex love their mind link as well as be annoyed by it at times: It made her and Justin one, truly one, in the only way that mattered.
Which was why Justin didn't have to say he was scared. He would never need to say it, because he felt it. And because he felt it, she did too.
And though she desperately wanted to, Alex had no idea how to help him.
Justin was on his laptop, researching. There were many constants in his nightmare, and one of them was that eerie chant: "Thiess, Thiess."
He knew he'd heard the word mentioned before. Or maybe he'd read it. The point is, that he'd recognized it.
And he desperately needed something he could understand, something he could analyze.
Something stable.
But his discoveries only sent him further down into the abyss.
Typing "Thiess" into the search engine, he found sites linking to Lycanthropos, El Hombre Lobo, Loup-garou.
Werewolves, Justin thought, his heart pounding furiously. It reminded him of the time that he'd dated a werewolf, briefly. He'd almost turned into one forever. If it hadn't been for Alex...
But why would he be dreaming about werewolves?
He clicked one of the links, and began to read.
In 1692, Thiess was charged with making a pact with the Devil, in exchange for the ability to transform himself into a great wolf. He was tried, and Thiess denied this charge, claiming instead to be a 'Hound of God,' who went down into the straits of Hell to battle against demons, and the Devil himself.
Justin remembered now. He'd heard the name in his world history class, where one of his fellow classmates had written a paper on wolf myths, and tried to separate fact from superstition. It had been a splendid paper, shedding light on many diseases which may caused people to be mistaken for werewolves.
It was a chilling thought: people had been burned and beheaded and charged as satanists...because they were born with a disease.
Thiess was not sentenced to death, Justin recalled. He was charged with idolatry and lashed. Then he died. Whippings aren't exactly beneficial to an eighty year-old's health.
Justin sighed. He may now know what the name meant, but it still left the most important question unanswered: why was he having this dream?
He increased speed as the wolf came closer.
The wind howled, "Thiess, Thiess."
He turned right as the path divided. He vaulted over the fallen tree without hesitation, this time landing upright.
He came back to the cliff. Princess Russo was on the other side, urging him to hurry.
He didn't waste time. He ran. He ran so fast it was as though his feet never touched the ground. There was no fear this time, only the awareness of a purpose, and a grim determination.
His feral eyes alighted with victory as he stepped onto the bridge.
The princess seemed agitated about something. He cocked head to the side, confused. She seemed to disappear from sight at times, only to return... and disappear again.
Then he felt it, the chill that made the hairs on his neck stand up.
He turned, growling softly, to see the wolf standing on the cliff, sitting on its haunches, staring at him.
He growled louder, taunting, challenging, daring the wolf to step onto the bridge.
It did nothing, and the voice began again.
"Thiess, Thiess."
The bridge began to shake; pieces of it began to break apart and fall. He ran, the bridge breaking apart where he stepped.
"Thiess, Thiess."
The bridge broke completely; great chunks of stone rained down onto the ravine below...and he fell.
And fell.
And fell.
And fell.
"Thiess, Thiess."
"Justin!" came the scream from above.
The wolf stared for a moment or two more, then began to howl.
Alex woke with a start, her heart pounding furiously, threatening to break out of her body.
"That's never happened before..." she said softly to herself.
She searched for Justin in her mind, probed for his presence.
He wasn't there.
So she got out of bed and quickly (but quietly) made her way to his room.
He wasn't there.