As Michael was eating his meal, he noticed a spike in the audio signal from Sofya’s father’s bedroom for the first time. There was always a low hum on the audio feed, but this was the first time he saw it spike so dramatically. Moving his cursor over to the signal, Michael clicked on it to listen to the noises coming from the wizard's bedroom.
In Sofya’s father’s bedroom, the wizard looked around at his dreary, dark sleeping quarters and began to internally seethe. Standing motionless for a moment, the wizard held up the two rings and began to speak aloud.
“My daughter is getting too close to learning the truth. Already, she’s been bugging me about these rings more than in previous times in the past. Although I would have loved for her to forget those memories all together, as long as they were in my possession, I didn’t want to have to keep explaining their origins to her. That will be over soon. Hopefully….”
The wizard opened a closet in his bedroom and found a small, black box with a skull cover. Opening it, he placed the two rings inside and removed his hands, before the box closed itself on its own.
“Perfect” the wizard said aloud, not realizing that he was being spied on remotely. “Now that should solve the problem of my daughter taking the rings that don’t belong to her. By placing them in this skull box, it will insure that only I am able to access them from now on. If she tries to take it again, the box will bite her fingers off. That is, if she ever finds out they are in here.”
The wizard moved from the closet to close the door and then sit on his bed. Michael, overhearing where the new hiding spot was, began to worry.
“Oh no” he thought to himself. “Now that the rings have been locked up in some magical box, it’s going to be a lot harder to get access to them again. Hopefully, the magical authorities have a way to remove the protection spell off of it so it can go back to the museum where it rightfully belongs.”
Sitting on his bed, the wizard began to speak his thoughts aloud.
“Time is of the essence in this pathetic, small town. My daughter is already starting to attract suspicion from the other kids at school. That’s a lot faster than it has happened in other places we’ve been to. And unlike in those other areas, I’ve only come here to claim one item. The missing Ruggeri ring. The one that was stolen from me in the battle of Sicily. I have waited so long to get it back, so when I sensed a homing spell drawing me to it, I almost thought it was a trick. I had to do a lot of careful analysis to make sure I wasn’t being lured into a trap. I may still be lured into some sort of trap by being here, but at least I know that the ring is actually in this town somewhere and that some classmate of Sofya’s has possession of it. And contrary to what she says, it’s not Daniel.”
Michael gulped, surprised that the wizard had so easily called his daughter’s bluff.
“That dog communicated with her somehow and told her not to tell me who actually possessed the ring. Maybe it’s that boy Michael.”
Michael gulped again, listening in on pins and needles from his chair in his bedroom.
“When was he over at our house? Thursday….”
The wizard paused for a moment, before he continued saying his thoughts out loud.
“Wait a second. It’s not possible for him to have been over on Thursday. That’s when Sofya has those girls over. It had to be just last night. It was, wasn’t it? God, it feels like so long ago and yet only a day has passed. Anyways, I think my plan for retrieving the ring is solid. I’ll go over to pay Daniel a visit, just to confirm that he does not actually have the ring and then I'll go over to that boy Michael’s to see if he really has the ring.”
Another gulp passed through Michael’s mouth, knowing he’d need to risk infuriating his father and breaking out of the house tomorrow at some point during the day. The sooner he could get to Sofya’s house when he left, the better. However, he wasn’t sure when he could do it and how, especially if his dad purposely tried to block the door from his attempted escape.
“And another thing” he further thought to himself. “Should I warn Daniel that he’s going to face trouble tomorrow?”
Michael thought it over, but then decided against it.
“First of all, he’s a jerk. He doesn't deserve the warning. And secondly, even if I did manage to reach him somehow, it’s doubtful he’d even answer my messages. And in the offhanded chance that he did reply to me, he’d want to know how I knew he was at Sofya’s today and that could cause some unnecessary problems. Best not to chance it.”
Feeling anxious about his decision, Michael continued to listen in to Sofya’s father saying his thoughts out loud.
“I still need to determine when to dispose of the dog" her father said aloud. "I’d like to get rid of it as soon as I get the ring, but it may be necessary to keep him alive, at least until I can hack into the ring’s magical energy source and tamper with it. I need to make absolutely sure that it will be bonded to me and not to whomever currently possess it. I’ll keep it with Sofya for now, but once I reclaim the stolen ring, I’ll need to take her and another boy away to perform the spell.”
“Spell?” Michael thought to himself. “What spell?”
Before the wizard could answer that question, he heard a knock on the door.
“Daddy” Sofya called to him from the other side.
Sofya had been laying down on the couch in the living room, upset at her father’s scolding of her and concerned by his odd behavior tonight. It reminded her too much of Michael, which drove her crazy. While she liked petting Fido, who seemed to be giving her extra affection this evening, she couldn’t get him to communicate with her again with his thoughts. He seemed to be ignoring her attempts to reach him and she wondered why that was. Having given up trying at a certain point, Sofya wanted to talk to her father and try to work things out between them. Unfortunately for her, he was in no much mood for a conversation like that.
“Sofya” her father called back to her. “I’m not in the mood to talk right now.”
“But daddy, I really want to talk about what’s wrong. Please talk to me.”
“No Sofya. Go away now.”
“But daddy….”
“Sofya!” her father boomed. “When I say I don’t wish to talk right now, I mean it! Go to your room and leave me alone!”
Sofya could be heard sobbing from the other side of the door. When she composed herself slightly, she spoke again.
“Daddy, I just feel like something is amiss here. Even though I’m only 17, I can’t shake the feeling that I may be older than that….or that I’m wiser than my years. You always treat me like a child or a harlot and those days are coming to an end.”
“You are a child, Sofya. And you're a slut, a teenage one at that. And until you are an adult, I have control over what you do in this house.”
“But daddy…”
“No buts.”
“Daddy, you won’t let me have social media. You won’t let me keep in touch with friends I’ve left behind. You won’t let me just be a normal teenager for once. I can’t live like this anymore. You’re hiding something from me and I want to know what it is. Some dates you’ve mentioned for certain events don’t add up and I’m starting to think you aren’t telling me the truth about what you really do for a living and who you really are.”
Sofya’s father sat silently in the bed. His control over was loosening. He needed to find the ring fast so he could work his magic over her to regain full control. He would not allow her to stumble upon the truth of who she was by accident. Her attempts to seek out the truth needed to stop and fast. Hopefully, he’d regain possession of the ring by tomorrow, so he could begin working on the spell as soon as possible. He didn’t have a lot of time, it seemed. If he didn’t act soon, Sofya could start to find out what was really going on.
“Sofya, I don’t wish to have this conversation anymore. Go to bed.”
“But daddy….”
“Go to bed!!!!” his voice boomed.
Sofya sobbed, as she made her way to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. She fell into her bed and began to cry uncontrollably. It wasn’t fair, in her estimation. Her father was hiding things from her and she had the right to know what it was. Her age just didn’t make sense. She knew too much about sex. She knew specific details about historical events as if she had personally lived through them. Something wasn’t adding up. Those things, the creepy house, the mysterious rings and now the talking dog were becoming impossible to rationally explain. She wanted to know what was really going on. Someone needed to tell her, in her estimation. She had a right to know.
In the middle of ruminating in her thoughts, Sofya heard a rasp and some whining from the other end of her door. It was Fido. He had overheard her confrontation with her father and he began to feel sorry for her.
“Aw man” Freddy thought to himself, as he laid at the foot of her door. “Maybe the reason she acts all aggressive and harsh to people is because she’s had such a difficult life. I wish I could help her somehow. Maybe I can try to cheer her up.”
Despite his ill feelings towards her behavior to him and others, Freddy thought it was the gentlemanly thing to do in this situation to keep Sofya company. He kept pawing at her door until he heard her get up to open it.
“Fido?” Sofya asked, as she stared at him on the floor.
Fido barked twice to signal his affirmation.
“Fido, why won’t you talk to me? You spoke to me earlier tonight and now you’re completely ignoring me. Why won’t you speak to me again?”
Fido looked at her quizzically. Although Freddy had thought to communicate with her telepathically, he was afraid that she’d try to pry him for information that she wasn’t entitled to. He was also afraid that she’s find out he was really Freddy Benson and attempt to mate with him again. He’d rather not chance it. Better to keep quiet and go back to acting like a normal dog.
“Well, will you at least nod your head yes and no so I don’t have to keep hearing you bark?”
Fido thought for a moment and then nodded to agree.
“Good boy. Come in.”
Fido trotted into the room, as she closed the door behind him. Sofya went to sit on the bed, as the dog sat at the foot of it. Sofya looked down at him and began to talk to him.
“You know, it’d be much easier if you just spoke to me like a human being. Maybe you forgot how to do it or don’t want to, but I think it’d be easier to communicate with you if you would speak to me.”
Fido shook his head no.
“So you are ignoring my attempts to speak with you telepathically.”
Fido nodded his head yes.
“Ugh!” Sofya groaned.
Fido whimpered, as he walked over to the door.
“Wait” Sofya called to him.
Fido turned around to look up at her sitting on the bed.
“You didn’t eat your dinner tonight. Did you not like it?”
Fido barked once and nodded in approval.
“Would you like some real food, boy?”
Fido barked twice and nodded, happily wagging his tail.
“Figured as much. Come on boy. Let’s go back to the kitchen.”
Sofya got up from the bed and went to leave her room. Fido followed her down to the kitchen, where she found some carrots in the fridge and put it to his snout.
“It’s not much” Sofya said to Fido. “But it’s something.”
Fido sniffed the carrot and then began to bite into it with his powerful teeth. Devouring it quickly, Sofya fed him a few more before she closed the refrigerator and brought him back upstairs.
“Not the most filling meal ever” Freddy thought to himself. “But it will suffice, I guess. Certainly much better than even dog food.”
When Sofya and Fido got back into her room, she laid on the bed, as Fido watched her from the floor.
“Fido?” she called down to him.
Fido looked up at her curiously.
“Would you come sit in the bed with me, please?”
Fido shook his head no.
“Come on, Fido. I’m really lonely right now and I need company. Please.”
Fido hesitated, not wanting to fall into her seductive advances. As hard as Freddy thought to keep himself firmly put on the floor, Fido won out, as the dog hopped up and got onto the bed next to Sofya. He laid down, as Sofya got herself under the covers.
“You know, Fido” she said to him quietly “my life kind of sucks. I’ve never had any real friends before. Every time I feel like I’ve made some, I have to leave them and I never see them again. I’ll be 18 soon. Soon, I’ll have emancipation from my father. Then, I’ll be able to go to college, get a job and live a normal life for once. Even though my father has never settled down roots anywhere, that’s what I plan to do when I turn 18 and get out from under his authority.”
Fido looked at her empathically, with his big, puppy dog eyes staring at her closely.
“For once” she continued “I’d like to have some certainty and stability in my life. I’ve never had a dog before. At least, not that I can remember. You're such a good boy. Maybe I'll be able to keep you."
"That's not happening" Freddy thought to himself. "I'm not a dog and the only person for me is Michael."
"Even though you bit at that boy Daniel’s arm" Sofya said to Fido "I admit, he did come across as kind of a jerk.”
Fido happily panted upon hearing her say this.
“And” she went on to say “you are a very loyal dog. Even though Michael can’t keep you, you are so protective of him. The way you begged me to cover for him is so admirable.”
Freddy was happy that he could help Michael out of the pinch they got themselves into. Even though it would only be a temporary solution, it could provide precious time for him to collect any information he needed and pin down the wizard's crimes. He was glad that Sofya covered for him, knowing that she did not like his boyfriend. Hopefully, Sofya would live the life she always wanted when he and Michael had the wizard apprehended.
“It makes me think” Sofya added “that maybe Michael has some redeeming qualities after all.”
Fido, after a pause, decided not to react to this backhanded compliment about his boyfriend.
“Fido” she called to him, with a sadness in her voice.
Fido nodded at her.
“Will you stay in the bed with me tonight? I need company.”
Fido hesitated, unsure of what to do. He was afraid of popping a boner and ejaculating in her presence. If he turned back into Freddy again, a naked Freddy at that, he was in big trouble. However, considering how sad she was, he didn’t think she would engage in any funny business. So, against his better judgement, Fido nodded and laid down next to Sofya to nod off to sleep.
“Thank you, Fido” Sofya said quietly.
Sofya kissed Fido on the head before she drifted off to sleep. The two of them were about have one of the most dangerous days of their lives starting in the morning. Though their current day was finished, a certain someone, who had been listening to much of the evenings proceedings, was not ready to sleep yet.
When Michael heard the nosies in Sofya's house go quiet on his computer, he….