"No…"
How was it possible? How could she be out of prison? So soon?!
The one silver lining to Hunter's current bleak situation was the hope that he would probably never have to see his terrifying great aunt again. Yet somehow, beyond all reason, she was somehow back. Her team of cutthroat lawyers were more ruthless and overpaid than he thought.
Like a sharply dressed skeleton, the old woman seemed to glide over to his bedside. Had her face not been completely covered he would have seen the menace in her smirk.
"My dear, dear boy! So this is where you've been this entire time," she said with thinly veiled contempt. "Why, you've had me worried to near death."
Hunter recoiled away from her, very nearly falling off his bed again. Luckily Delilah was there to stop his fall. She quickly placed herself between the boy and the old woman, bearing her teeth in deep contempt of her own.
The panicked child stumbled away further until his back hit a wall. "G-get away from me!" He cried.
"Now, now," Cruella cooed. "Is that any way to greet me?"
Delilah let out a warning growl, but Cruella completely ignored the dog. She didn't even seem to notice Delilah was in the room at all. Her fixation on the Dalmatian clan had temporarily subsided, with her current goal of making her traitorous, ingrate of a nephew pay taking center stage instead.
She reached a clawed hand out towards him, her eye twitching madly behind her dark glasses. With no other option, Delilah thought she would have no choice but to bite her skeletal arm, but luckily Doctor Dave placing a hand on the old woman's bony shoulder stopped her in her tracks.
"Excuse me!" He demanded. "I'm sorry, but just who are you, madame?!"
Cruella managed to compose herself. As much as she wanted to grab the little brat and drag him screaming out of the hospital by his scalp, she at least still had the sense to realize that a scene like that would probably look a bit… questionable, to say the least.
She had already spent an ungodly amount of time in courtrooms during the last few miserable months weaseling herself out of jail time. She wasn't about to do so again this soon.
Clearing her throat, she turned to the doctor and proceeded to show off her acting chops. She knew that one semester of theater back in college would come in handy some day.
"Why my good man," she feigned distress. "Has the boy not told you about me?"
Dave looked the woman up and down, not knowing what to make of this strange, mysterious figure before him. He couldn't even get a proper look at her face. It was completely hidden behind layers of expensive looking silk scarfs.
"He's told me that his supposed legal guardian was criminally neglectful," he began sternly. "—and that they have disowned him. The boy was found wandering the streets alone, nearly starved."
Cruella once again feigned the phoniest of phony gasps. "Oh the poor thing! How positively ghastly!"
Before Dave could speak further, she took hold of his hand and began to vigorously shake it. "I cannot thank you enough for finding him before heaven knows what could have happened to him! Truly, darling, you're an absolute saint!"
Dave's anger very quickly turned to confusion. "I— I, what?"
The woman released his hand and made a flourishingly over-the-top gesture towards the still trembling boy on the other side of the hospital room. "Allow me to explain. This poor little dear is my grandnephew. And well, you see... he's completely mad."
Hunter momentarily snapped out of his frightened stupor and gave her a look of complete outrage. "What?! No I'm not!"
"Utterly bonkers," she continued, paying his outburst no mind. "A crazed, nonsense spouting loon."
She placed a hand upon her forehead dramatically. "The poor thing. I'm afraid insanity commonly runs in the de Vil family. I had hoped that he would be spared, but alas! His mind couldn't be more gone. It's just tragic! He's been in my care his entire life, safe within a mental institution."
"That's not true!" Hunter shouted again, teeth clenched in anger.
The woman shook her head in mock sympathy. "Now, now, child. Don't cause a scene. You've already troubled the doctor enough. Now get your things and come along. We'll be sure to keep you under tighter security this time around."
Upon those words, she gave a snap of her long fingers. It summoned two large, burly men dressed entirely in white. They burst into the room pushing a stretcher with leather straps, and Hunter immediately knew it was meant for him.
Once again he was overcome with fear, pressing further back against the wall in panic. "NO! NO!" he screamed.
Delilah gasped as well, absolutely horrified. She remained stubbornly glued to the spot, not daring to budge from her place in front of the helpless young human. Thankfully Dave spoke up again.
"Now just wait a moment!" He placed himself between the child and dog duo and the old women and her henchmen, hands firmly on his hips. "How can I be certain that what you claim is true? I can't just let you take this boy without any proof!"
Cruella rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Ah, but of course. How silly of me!"
Digging into her purse, she promptly produced a thick stack of paperwork and practically slapped Dave in the chest with it.
The befuddled man looked it over thoroughly. As he did his brow creased in deep distress. Much to his dismay, it appeared the woman was right. According to the documents in his hands, she truly was Hunter's legal guardian.
Dave looked over at the boy, a deep frown growing on his face. As much as it pained him to admit it, all of this had planted serious doubt in his mind. All he had to go on thus far was simply what Hunter had told him. And to be frank, it was pretty clear that Hunter was far from sound of mind. How could he be sure his accusations weren't indeed the result of delusion?
Cruella gave a callus smirk from behind her face coverings. She already had this fool wrapped tightly around her finger. It was all too easy.
She may have lost her coat, but at the very least she would show her nephew what the cost of defying her was. She was going to make sure he'd be locked up and isolated forever. And she would instruct that the boy be kept so deeply medicated, on the hour by the hour, that he would never again be able to tell another soul about his less than savory upbringing.
The two men began to approach again, and Hunter flew into full blown hysterics. Before the men could grab him, he lunged towards Doctor Dave and took hold of his coat with shaking hands.
"NO, PLEASE! YOU CAN'T LET HER TAKE ME! SHE'S LYING!" the boy cried in desperation, grasping the coat harder with every plea. "She hasn't taken care of me! IT'S ALL A LIE!"
As Hunter begged, Delilah caught sight of Cruella reaching back down into her purse. A sinister look flashed across her hidden face as her elongated fingers tightly grasped an unknown object. Delilah couldn't see it, but she could hear it clear as day. The high pitched squeak of a dog toy rang out in the room, causing Hunter's cries to immediately cut off mid-sentence.
The boy's eyes went blank. His grasp on the doctor's coat loosened and his expression went slack.
"Oh no," Delilah breathed aloud to herself. His dog side had been triggered once again. He dropped down to the floor, back on all fours, and began barking madly, completely gone to the world around him.
The men in white, who up until this point had remained emotionless and detached while carrying out their job, couldn't help but look disturbed by the kid's sudden bizarre behavior.
Dave, aghast, knelt down and took Hunter by the shoulders, trying to snap him back to reality, but every bark and woof was all the more incriminating.
"You see, doctor. He rambles off complete nonsense and then gets like this," Cruella said. "Please, you must let me take him right away! He'll be placed in a much better home this time. One with round the clock supervision. The finest money can buy! Truly, it's for his own good."
Hunter barked again, his eyes unfocused and his tongue dangling out of his mouth. The poor boy truly was crazy, Dave thought. What else could he do but let his legal caretaker and her attendants take him off to a proper facility?
He gave Hunter one last mournful look.
Then, with a heavy heart, the man reluctantly let go of the boy's shoulders and stepped aside.
Cruella fought back the urge to let out a heinous laugh. She'd done it. She'd won.
Delilah stood there mortified, watching the chilling scene play out. This couldn't be happening. It was just too horrid a fate, even for a de Vil.
No.
No, not a de Vil.
Finally, after all this time, Delilah no longer saw a de Vil at all when she looked at the boy. Instead she at last saw him for what he was. Another one of that deranged witch's victims, and so help her, she would not stand idly by and let her get her spidery hands on this helpless pup.
"Hunter!" She shouted, grabbing his attention. She shot out in front of him and raced toward the door.
"RUN!"
Upon her command, he obediently took off behind her. Dave, the attendants and a furious Cruella barely had time to react before the duo were both clear out of the room and sprinting into the hall.
They dodged other doctors, as well as nurses, stretchers and a slew of other hospital equipment in their frantic dash. Delilah cast a look behind her to make sure Hunter was still following. Thankfully he was, so Delilah picked up the pace.
"Catch him, you idiots!" She heard Cruella scream in the growing distance. "Don't let him get away!"
The child and dog continued to run, not caring at all about the hectic scene they were causing as staff began to clamor after them. Onlooking patients shouted in confusion as they were nearly knocked over by the chaos.
Delilah winced as she heard what was surely something terribly expensive falling and clattering to the ground, but she had no time to worry about the cost of damages now. She had to get herself and Hunter out of there as fast as possible.
They reached the automatic doors of the exit and vaulted right through them. Upon being out in the daylight, Hunter momentarily grew distracted like an excited puppy, but Delilah once again shouted a command at him, bringing him back to attention.
"Keep running! Follow me!"
The older dog took off again, the mad little boy wearing a hospital gown and running on all fours following close behind. What a peculiar sight they were.
Dave, and well as Cruella and her men came darting out of the hospital soon after in a clumsy heap. A large crack now graced Cruella's expensive sunglasses, and one of her heels had also broken off during her mad dash after her nephew. But much to her fury, the insolent little brat had once again escaped her.
She threw her head back and screamed in frustration, her heavy makeup cracking beneath her face coverings.
Yet Delilah and Hunter kept on running. They practically flew across London, panting heavily as the adrenaline began to wane.
There was only one place Delilah could think to go, but she dreaded it greatly.
If only she had had time to actually form a plan instead of recklessly acting without thinking.
As her legs finally began to slow from exhaustion, she reluctantly made her way into her own familiar street, and finally, her home.
She dove straight into the doggie door, but heard an strange bonk immediately follow. She poked her head back out the hatch only to find Hunter unceremoniously lying in front of it, dazed and now sporting a large bump on his head.
Of course, Delilah quickly realized. The door obviously wasn't going to open to anyone other than her and her family.
Having no time to waste, she dug her teeth into the disoriented boy's hospital gown's collar and awkwardly dragged his battered body through the hatch. It was certainly a struggle, but she managed to get him inside.
As soon as they were in, she locked the entrance tight and fell back against a wall to try and catch her breath. Good gracias, that had been an ordeal. …and unfortunately, it was far from over.
The young boy groaned, slowly coming to while rubbing his head. He pulled himself up into a sit and shook off the last of his dizziness. "Ugh… wha.. what happened…?"
Seemed the bonk on his head had brought him back to his senses. Whether this was a good thing or not, Delilah had yet to determine.
"…mum?" Came a voice from the other room. "Mum, is that you?"
Oh dear.
Definitely a bad thing.
In came Dylan and Dawkins, blissfully unaware and unprepared for the sight that awaited them. Upon taking one look at the familiar, not-so-welcome face of their former adversary, the two pups blinked slowly before the realization set in.
The brothers broke out into high pitched screams, prompting a confused Hunter to do the same.
Delilah desperately tried to quiet them, but their screams quickly summoned the rest of the Dalmatian clan, and panic soon swept over the household.
Argh.
Delilah pulled on her ears in dread. What in dog's name had she done?
"I— I can't—I just— what on EARTH were you thinking?!"
Doug, now home as well and very much distressed, paced back and forth before his wife as they stood in the hall right beneath the ladder to the attic.
"I wasn't!" Delilah replied, equally distressed. "I didn't have time to!"
"How could you bring him here?! Of all places?!"
"I know, I know! But I couldn't just leave him," Delilah countered in exasperation. "If you'd been there you would understand."
Doug groaned and ran a paw down his face. "Well what do we do now? We can't keep him here! Think of the pups— they'll be terrified!"
"No we won't!" a tiny voice spoke up.
Delilah and Doug turned to see Dee Dee poking her head out from around the corner, an excited smile spreading across her face. "We're glad Mister Funny Face is here! Can we keep him? Can we, can we, can we?"
The pup was suddenly pulled back, yanked hard by her tail by one of her elder siblings. There was shushing, indicating that quite a number of other pups were there eavesdropping alongside her.
The two parents sighed.
"Perhaps we'd best take this conversation elsewhere," Delilah whispered. Doug gave a tired nod of his head, and the two made their way up into the attic.
There, huddled in a corner with his knees pulled up to his chest, sat a quivering Hunter de Vil, still shaken by the events that had taken place earlier at the hospital.
Delilah approached him slowly, wincing a bit as she struggled to find what to say.
"Are you all right?"
Hunter didn't look up. His face remained buried in his knees. "W-what am I doing here? She's going to find me! …and now your family will be in danger again too!"
Delilah and Doug both gulped.
He was right.
The entire family was once again at risk.
Since the incident they had upped the house's security. Iron bars currently barricaded every window, and the recent purchase of a new generator, as well as at least a year's worth of stored away water and kibble, would keep them all comfortable in case of another siege.
But still, they knew they couldn't just hide away forever.
"It's going to be all right," Delilah tried to assure their unexpected house guest. "We'll think of something. …but for the time being we want you to stay here."
The young boy raised his head, showing off his mascara drenched face. "N-no, I can't!"
"You will."
"B-but—!" Hunter tried to argue.
Just as she'd done back at the hospital, Delilah found herself going right back into stern nursing dog mode. "It's not a suggestion, it's an order. Now hush."
Hunter's lip began to quiver, but he relented.
The mother dog then softened her tone, casting him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I just want to help you."
Hunter stared back with eyes full of utter confusion and guilt.
"But why?!"
Delilah was quiet for a moment. She turned to look at Doug, who despite being so wary before, had also appeared to soften a bit. That darn old parental side of him was getting the best of him now that he got a good look at the pitiful little human pup.
Plus, after everything Delilah had told him, he knew in his heart that he would have done the same.
Slowly, the two dogs stepped closer to the child, ears and tails low in sympathy.
Delilah placed a gentle paw on his knee.
"…because it's the right thing." she said. Very simply and very earnestly.