He spent a short time on the computer before he felt tired enough to get into bed. He took off his clothes, except for his shorts, and then brushed his teeth. He returned to his room, but before he got into bed, he engaged in a ritual that took him by surprise. He walked around his bed. If the space in the room had allowed, he would have walked a couple of complete circles around the bed before he settled beneath the covers. He wondered a few minutes about his circling behavior. He had seen dogs do the same. He didn't want to dwell on it. He was human again, and intended to stay that way. With the amulet transformed into a tag attached to Shaggy's collar, that goal didn't appear too difficult.
He might have pushed thoughts of the odd behaviors — snacking on a dog biscuit and circling his bed — out of the forefront of his brain, but his mind remained active as he slipped from consciousness into deep sleep. He had one of "those" dreams and was quite enjoying himself, but Jared his dream-state veered in a strange direction.
A disembodied voice questioned him. The voice sounded male, but high-pitched noises like the buzz of insects echoed in the background. "Do you miss your canine form?"
"No, are you kidding me?" Jared wanted to say, but he produced a guttural whimper. He suckled on his own dick, helping his mind shed anxiety.
The odd questioner chuckled, but the laughter felt as cold as a wintry blast of snow in the face. "Are you certain?"
Jared whimpered again and tried to get a better view of the situation, which kept getting obscured by the heavy fur that fell over his eyes. His bright red penis had emerged from the furry sheath attached to the fur of his stomach, although Jared saw only in shades of black and white.
"Who the hell are you?" Jared's angry question moved from a whimper and produced a definite series of barks.
The chilling laughter got into his ears and tickled his dreaming brain.
"Some have called me Wepwawet," the voice responded. "You know me as the occupant of the amulet."
Jared's doggy mind wanted to lick at his penis and erase the cowering, fearful feelings that threatened to overwhelm him each time the voice spoke, but he knew that the being wanted him to do that. He needed to remain as human as possible.
Wepwawet pushed aside his mind's defenses as easily as a knife slicing through butter. "Human? An interesting conceit. Do you think yourself so removed from those like this beast Shag-guy?"
Jared whimpered and tried to move, but he felt held in place in the odd way of dreams, as if an invisible hand forced him to remain motionless when he should have fled as quickly as possible.
"An interesting experiment. Which is the stronger mind: the dog who was a human and now wants to regain human form or the human who became a dog and now seeks to deny he wants to return to that form?"
"I don't want to be a dog!" Jared protested. His denial might have been more effective if not for the fact he had to bark it out.
"You simply have to prove it," countered the entity. "Who has the stronger will?"
"I do," Jared barked defiantly.
"You should hope so," the entity said. "The amulet will not deliver you another time."
Jared growled in determination, but the strange voice laughed and chilled him to the bone. He got his eyes focused on the being for a second before it simply winked out of his dream. He saw a powerfully built man wearing only a skimpy linen garment around the waist. He looked up and saw the wolfish head atop the man's shoulders. The being threw back its head and howled.
Jared felt the urge to join the chorus and began howling himself. From the pen in the backyard, another howl joined the wild chorus.
Jared woke, screaming, or perhaps howling, and his body, a human one, soaked in sweat. He noticed how offensive his own sweat smelled to a nose that seemed to have its abilities much magnified.
"It was nothing," he whispered hoarsely. "Just a bad dream."