Chapter thirty: Dreamscape
Chase didn't seem to notice the doors at all, even though his ears slightly twitched. But the way he'd curled up on his right side, he stared at the floor with his ears laid back and his tail tucked close to his body.
"Tough break?" Chase jumped and sat up to twist his head around to look at them.
"*gasp!*.. *sigh*..geez.. Boomer.. When did you become a master of sneaking up on a pup? I-" and at this moment, he noticed who stood just beyond him. "Ryder! Umm.. I..uh.. this isn't what you think I- when did you-"
"You're not in trouble, Chase.." Ryder told him, waving him off as he approached; his eyes remaining soft and meaningful. "We're just checking in.."
"I'm fine.." the pup responded, resuming his earlier position, immediately reserving himself. "I just need to sleep it off."
"But will you?" Boomerang asked, coming closer so he was right above Chase's head with the pup's back facing him, and he leaned in closer over the top of the young shepherd's head.
Chase's eyes blinked up toward him, but he made no other moves as his eyes hit the ground once again. And he said nothing for lack of knowing what to say.
Ryder's hand stroked his head gently and he realized that he was now knelt beside him; but he still didn't move or speak.
The boy could feel the anxiety dripping off of the pup, by how his body still seemed to vibrate and he eased his hand down to his neck and pressed it into the snug fold where his cheek pressed to his shoulder because of his scrunched posture.
"You need to wire down for the night.. We can talk about it tomorrow if you want.." Ryder said finally.
"I.. don't think I can go out there right now.." Chase hesitated to say. "Can I.. sleep with you?"
Ryder shifted his leg toward him slightly to make his one-legged kneel more stable for him, as he thought for a moment.
"Sure." The boy said.
With this release, Chase woodenly stood up with the twitching of an ear and he entered into the elevator and went up. Ryder and Boomer watched him before looking at each other once again.
xxxx
"Eh,.. don't worry, Ryder,.." Boomer was saying as they came back out of the Lookout. "Once the adrenaline wears off he'll be able to process it through in no time." And though he was trying to remain positive, some could tell he was also trying to stay hopeful himself.
"How.. is he?" Melody asked nervously.
"He's still a little shook up, but.. he'll be ok." Ryder replied simply. "He opted to sleep up with me tonight.. which might actually be a good idea for now."
"He's not going out of his head about this, is he?" CiCi wondered.
"Not yet,.. but I think we might have to get him to calm down, so he can de-stress. But we'll see how he sleeps and go from there ok?"
"Ok, Ryder." A few pups sighed. "Goodnight, Ryder."
"Goodnight, pups." Ryder replied, as his pups started to scatter to lay down.
"Hey Ryder." The boy looked just in time to see a stuffy and a blanket come at him and he caught them blindly. Opening his eyes, he realized he had Chase's blanket in one hand and Officer Bear in the other.
"He's probably gonna need it tonight." Chester finished.
"Thanks, Chess." The boy smiled. "Goodnight."
"Night.." the German Shepherd responded, sliding into Chase's pup house and curling up.
After a brief look around at all his pups settling down, he headed inside to find all the PUP Pals and huskies snuggled up and already on their way to sleep. Boomerang wandered over to join them and gave the boy a nod to shut the lights off, then he turned and gazed up, preparing himself as he entered the elevator to join his police pup.
When he arrived, Chase was huddled up on a beanbag facing away from him again. And he just had the sense that he was still awake, and when he heard a sniff he definitely knew.
"Oh, Chase.." Ryder sighed, coming over to practically crawl over top of the pup to wrap an arm around him, without moving him as he broke down into his paws.
"It's ok to be scared by that.." the boy told him. "It probably was, anyone would be."
"I- I- I wasn't in control!" Chase sniffed. "I- I'm not used to not being in control.. And I-.. I couldn't stop him!.."
"Shhh.. it's ok.." Ryder soothed letting the pup resume crying while he held him tightly. "Ned wasn't trying to scare you.. He just wanted to help.."
"B-by getting us killed? W-what a way to- help.." Chase's jerky sobs at times sounded like they were choking him. But he knew they were just very strong and held a lot of emotion.
"You should let him know how you feel.." Ryder told him softly. "So he knows how much his actions affect others."
"I- I- I'm not ready to face him yet." Chase snuffed, turning his head slightly away from Ryder.
"I'm not saying right away.." Ryder reasoned. "But I do think you should eventually. He needs to know.. So he can grow.." Chase was silent now, even the occasional shaky inhale would soon become silent again.
"I'll.. try.." he said finally.
"That's all I ask," Ryder said, reaching a hand over to the pup's shoulder. "Now, come on,.. let's get some sleep."
Chase looked up as Ryder left him and he pulled out his really thick sleeping mattress and began to set it out on the floor. And as he began to get up and lay on it, Chase quickly turned his body to hurry over and ease in between the boy's arms. Who obliged to hold him tightly, as he pulled the pup's blanket over him and eased Officer Bear in next to him. As Chase snuggled down Ryder's hand came over to hold him close, and even through his blanket he could feel the race of the pup's heart. Hoping that it wouldn't stifle his ability to sleep, preferably through the night, as he himself began to drift off.
XXXX
The blue flurry of starlights blurred into focus as he emerged into it. It was like one moment he was in complete calm darkness and then suddenly snatched away. Arriving at the final destination was what could be described as the most anxiety inducing megatropolis known to man or pup.
He stared up at the various levels of spotty lights, following the visible lines of tracks that guided each bubble of light along its own path. He could watch them shift and change tracks while some moved too fast to even see. And the way we viewed them defined a four way intersection in front of him and though he didn't recognize this, the headlights that appeared behind him did and he leapt out of the way so it could rattle by. Rocky's ultimate vehicle, bathed in the same golden light plowed away as he recovered himself. And he stared after it for only a moment before noticing another vehicle drive by him.
"Don't worry, bro, I got this." A golden Chester told him as he led a line of cars by him.
'What is going on?' he wondered internally, almost hearing it echo around him like he'd said it out loud.
Skye flew by, carrying something on her hook and disappeared among the distant lights. Chase looked to his left and RoboDog barked as he skittered up, spun around, and scurried away.
"I gotta be losing it." He thought walking forward while still watching after the robot pup. But hitting something he immediately looked up.
And when he did the scene abruptly darkened, the light around his own police cruiser was now red, even though the cruiser itself was now black. A cackling, almost crazy sounding laugh rang out and he shot to attention as a megaphone retracted back into the pup pack of the pup in the driver seat. Chase shrunk back as he slowly backed away, dreading to see a version of himself in that seat, but was horrified and even a little confused by who he saw instead!
The gray face and green eyes, which he usually envisioned a friendly smile on, bore red eyes and a crooked grin.
"Chase, hey buddy! Your outfit needs an upgrade. Why didn't you let me use your gear before? Oh wait.. you wouldn't let me.." The tilt of the husky's head almost made his eyes look crossed and made his fur stand on end. His blood ran cold, yet he could feel his heart pound. He took a couple more steps back before turning and running away hoping he was fast enough to get away from him.
Suddenly the sound of Ned's voice blasted from the megaphone, coming behind him.
"What's wrong Chase? Don't you want your stuff back? Besides, how can you leave when I got four legs of my own.."
The engine roared as the car started, and the 'brrrr' sound along with 'tit tit' of the tires could only mean one thing.
"Say, how about I take your car out for a spin? Hahahahaha!" Ned's voice exclaimed before the police car lit up and drove towards the German Shepherd pup.
Chase peered back to find his cruiser beelining it straight for him with a stunning accuracy which made him shout..
"No way!" And he tried desperately to run faster. Ned's cackle came again, as he started to swerve around like he was purposefully doing so. And Chase made the awful mistake of stopping, turning his body in time to brace for impact as the headlights whited everything out!..
xxxx
"No!" Chase's head shot up and though he felt a slight amount of weight from his bruised head it was much less than it used to be. However, he looked around as he realized where he was, and was even relieved that Ryder was still fast asleep beside him. So even though he really didn't wanna close his eyes again, he laid his head back down and tried to focus on sleep, trying and hoping to will himself not to wander into the trap of the dream world for a second time.
XXXX
The sunlight outside creeped inside and the group began to rouse. Rayla stretched, while others yawned. Even the huskies among them started to stir by this time.
"What time is it? Feels earlier," Snowflake asked, as she yawned and stretched.
"It can't be that early.." Tiny figured. "I mean, I usually wake up around the same time everyday.. I don't know about the rest of you."
"Nope, that's just anyone who maintains a schedule." Rayla replied in a somewhat military fashion.
"At least the sun is up!" Brian pointed out.
"So it can't be early," Skyler mentioned, possessing quite a bit of spunk for just having awakened herself. "The sun comes up sooner in the winter because it gets darker sooner in the evening.. So ergo.. Since it looks like the sun has been up for a little while, it means it's not that early."
"Good morning, everyone." Melody said politely.
"Good morning.." Rocky and Zuma greeted as they entered the Lookout with a couple other pups.
"Why do I feel tired still? Oh yeah, adrenaline." Ned commented as he remembered yesterday's events.
"Because that's what happens when you overload your system with too much excitement." Chester monotoned, when he came stumbling in and plopping down on a nearby pillow.
"Appropriate, but.. I feel really bad about yesterday. I wouldn't blame Chase if he put me in jail, and threw away the key!" Ned said sadly as his ears folded back. "I'd even take a box of coal for Christmas if it made Chase happy."
"I'm sure he's not that mean.." Rayla figured. "Or even that mad.. I'm sure he's cooled down even a little bit by now."
"I sure hope so.." Kylie sighed, shrinking down a little, "I was almost scared just watching him.."
"Yeah,.. I don't think I've ever seen him that steamed." Tiny commented, eerily. "Yeesh."
"You sure? Chase has always seemed annoyed with me," Ned mentioned.
"Annoyed, yes.." Rayla shrugged. "To the point of hating you?.. Which is what you described?.. Not likely.."
"I don't think he's even got it in him to hate anybody.." Chester mentioned.
"Except maybe people like Mrs. CorDan." Tiny supposed.
"I think he was more afraid of her than he hated her." Skyler recalled.
"Hatred comes in different shades, guys." CiCi monotoned, suspiciously. "But whatever color it is, I don't think it's Chase."
"Agreed," the four huskies said with relief.
"So do we have breakfast or what?" Melody asked.
"Sure, let's go check in with everybody else so we can get this ball rolling." Chester decided, taking charge much like how Chase would. "We still got that plane crash wreckage to clean up after all."
"Exactly," Melody said with a deadpan expression.
The group headed outside just as several other bodies were stirring. And all of them came out to meet the pups, who were already awake.
"*yawn* how was everyone's night?" Rocky wondered drowsily.
"A lot shorter than I would've liked after our little late night escapade." Chester mentioned. "How about you guys?"
"I could've done with a few more hours." Tiny sighed. "But the mental alarm clock in my brain woke me up on time this morning.. And I couldn't resist it to sleep in."
"Could have gotten a few more hours," Brian confessed.
"I was okay, but kept tossing and turning," Snowflake said before yawning.
"I slept fine," Melody replied in a slight upbeat tone.
"I struggled. I thought Chase might rip me to pieces while sleeping," Ned answered before shuddering.
"He's not a crazy psychopath." Chester shrugged. "Or sociopath or.. whatever it is they call murderous maniacs. Plus I'm pretty sure he conked out again once the adrenaline wore off. He's probably still sound asleep."
"Okay," Ned responded before yawning.
"You know,.. I do wish we would've gotten more sleep though.." Marshall mentioned, rubbing an eye. "Whether Chase did or not is obviously important. But if we're supposed to be clearing that plane crash site and possibly even rebuilding what was busted.. I would think we should get as much rest as we can so we can do our jobs well. And even just a little more sleep would have been better."
"Hopefully, we're not too sleepy to do our jobs." Rocky mentioned. "I wonder how the copilot is doing."
"Yeah. He's back at the hospital," Brian added.
"Hopefully he's not too hurt and will be able to go home soon." Kylie thought softly, just the thought of how injured he'd been was disheartening.
"Yeah. So, breakfast or what?" Melody repeated.
"Oh yeah,.." Chester remembered, "let's go."
Then heading into the Lookout the pups began to figure out what they wanted to do.
Sup you guys, happy 4th of July! Hope the holiday that the Freedom Day of our great country finds you well! And I hope you guys have time to enjoy at least some of the activities associated with the day!
Something to mention, though, before commenting on this new chapter, is that we will be taking a week off from posting. My partner BlueWolfBat is gonna be on vacation this weekend with an unknown duration so.. To preserve our progress we will NOT be posting next week but the following week. Then we will resume the weekly schedule as normal.
Now for the chapter, which was the winding down part of probably the craziest scene we've ever done, mainly courtesy of my partner-in-crime at the moment. And that nightmare scene was rather epic I have to say. Discovery writing through dream/void/vision scenarios is probably one of my favorite parts of writing! There's so much you can do, so much that can happen, and more often than not.. So much can surprise you even as the writer! I think that might just be the greatest part of it in fact! ;) =D
Either way it's been a fun ride and I can't wait for you to see what's next. Also for once.. Hey, we're not leaving you on a major cliffy this time! LOL! XD So with that,.. Happy 4th and we'll see you next time! Thx!
