Michael sobbed uncontrollably, as he quickly took stock of the situation before him. The inside of the cabin began to grow cold, as the night air rushed inside. Michael began to shiver, as his internal temperature dropped dramatically. Looking out the empty door frame, he couldn’t see anything for miles.
“Not even trees” Michael thought to himself. “It’s so dark outside, that I can’t even see trees.”
The only source of light that came into the room was from the fire emanating from the bottom of the still boiling cauldron. By this point, a high pitch whistle could be heard from the cauldron. Upon hearing this, Michael gasped, as he turned to see the cauldron water begin to spill over onto the floor below.
“Oh no!” Michael thought to himself, as he braced himself from the spewing hot water.
Before it could reach him, however, the wind managed to take out the flame that boiled the cauldron. Over the course of a minute or two, the bubbling ceased, as the room grew completely still. The mist that had shrouded the room earlier had dissipated. Soon, the room was pitch black. Despite this, however, Michael could make out a few things. He saw an unconscious Sofya lying on the floor, with a pool of dried blood by her head.
“Oh no” Michael thought to himself. “What am I going to do with her? She might be dying. She may already be dead. She finally stood up to her abusive father and paid the ultimate price. Maybe she wasn’t in on this whole affair after all. Maybe she was just a victim of her father’s cruelty.”
Pausing for a moment, he looked down at Fido, whose life was leaving quickly his canine body.
“Freddy” Michael called out to him quietly, with tears rushing out from his eyes on down to his cheeks.
Fido looked up at Michael, as he let out a weak whimper.
“Freddy, are you alright?”
Fido shook his head no, as he pointed to the bullet wound in his stomach with his nose.
“Oh my god! Freddy, what are we going to do?”
Fido whined quietly, unsure of how he could respond. Before Michael knew it, the dog slowly closed his eyes.
“Freddy no! Freddy don’t do that!”
Fido’s eyes drew completely shut, as his breathing stopped soon after. He laid still on the floor, seemingly deceased.
“Freddy” Michael gasped out, as his breath interfered with his ability to speak. “Freddy, wake up.”
Michael shook Fido’s corpse, but there was no response. He tried to feel around the dog’s fur, but found there was no pulse.
“Oh my God. Freddy is dead.”
Michael began to hysterically sob, as he looked at the corpse of what was once Fido, who was, in actuality, his boyfriend, Freddy Benson.
“Freddy” Michael called out to him quietly, in tears. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that I let this happen to you. I’m so sorry that I made you go into that fucking stupid magic shop and take the fucking ring. I know you didn’t want to and I, selfishly, made you do it. It doesn’t matter what transpired afterwards. If it wasn’t for my foolish actions, none of this would have ever happened. And to top it all off, you sacrificed yourself for me, Freddy. You gave your life so that I could live. You shouldn’t have done that. If anything, I should be the one bleeding on the floor in death. I deserve it for how much of an asshole I’ve been.”
Michael sobbed some more, before he continued quietly speaking.
“I thought we would move out of our parents houses and shack up together. I thought we’d start a life together, just you and I. A family. I thought we’d start a family. I thought we’d grow old together. Now, all that’s left is the corpse of the dog the I made you turn into as a result of my selfish, stupid actions.”
Michael couldn’t speak for a moment, as his breath and hysterical crying choked him into silence. Fighting through tears, Michael quietly spoke again.
“I don’t know if this is really goodbye, but maybe, by some magic, I can save you. From now on, I promise that, if you come back to me, I will let you have your way more often. Not because I give a shit about what other people think of us or me, but because I want you to be happy. You’ve done so much for me, Freddy, including giving your life to save mine. I owe you that and so much more. I promise to let you off the leash. I promise to let you be with your friends more often and not be so possessive of you. I promise to be a better boyfriend to you. I promise to say I love you all the time. Please Freddy. Please. By some miracle, please wake up.”
A silence fell over the room for a moment, as Michael looked at the corpse of Fido. He began to think that his prayers were useless, before he could feel a chill in the air. It was colder than the nippiness of the night air that had washed over him before. Silently, a light began to shine in the room, as it made its way over to the corpse of Fido. Michael looked up, as it began to take possession of the dog’s body.
As if by magic, Fido was lifted up into the air and began to mutate. Instead of merging back into his skin, the fur fell off of Fido’s body, as human flesh stuck out prominently. His canine teeth fell out and his snout flew off into the night sky. His body shed its doggy features, as an aura, the spirit of Fido, barked happily and flew up into the starry night sky. Before him in the air once more, was Freddy, naked with noticeable cuts and bruises, along with a bullet wound in his stomach.
The wounds began to magically heal, as the skin folds melded together. The bullet popped out of Freddy’s stomach, as the wound was stitched back together. When it was all over, the light put a naked Freddy back onto the floor and fled out the empty door frame into the night sky. Michael paused for a moment, as he stared at his naked lover. Freddy seemed so peaceful with his eyes closed and laid in his birthday suit before him. It seemed that he had been healed, but there was still no other sign of life. He wasn’t breathing and Michael couldn’t feel a pulse.
“Freddy” Michael quietly called to him. “Freddy wake up. Please. Please wake up.”
Freddy’s body laid motionless, as Michael sobbed hysterically.
“Please Freddy. Please wake up. I love you and I don’t want to lose you. Please.”
In an instant, Michael could feel a pulse, as Freddy’s breathing resumed. A second later, Freddy began to rouse himself awake. Michael looked at him excitedly, as his boyfriend's eyes fluttered open. Wiping a tear from his eye, Michael smiled when Freddy looked up at him. Freddy beamed proudly in Michael’s arms.
“Hi Michael” Freddy said quietly. “Are you ok?”
“Freddy” Michael exclaimed, as he hugged his boyfriend.
The two boys passionately made out on the floor. Michael got on top of him and fell into a deep make out session. After a minute of intense kissing filled with lust, Michael looked into Freddy’s eyes.
“Freddy” he said quietly. “You’re alright.”
“I think so” Freddy replied quietly.
“You were dead. I thought I had lost you forever.”
“Was I?”
“Yes, Freddy. You stopped breathing and you had no pulse.”
Freddy looked at Michael nervously and then stared at his dick. It had begun to fill up, as his erection waved into Michael’s crotch.
“Is the spell broken?” Freddy asked. “Is the dog finally out of me?”
“I think so” Michael answered quietly.
Freddy kissed Michael, as they shared their joy and sorrow through their intimate connection.
"I love you, Freddy" Michael whispered to him. "I love you so much. I promise to say it more often from now on."
"I love you too, Michael" Freddy replied in a whisper. "I'll always be there to protect you. I promise. I'd be willing to give my life again to save you if I had to. I love so much."
"Don't say that."
Michael shushed Freddy, as they resumed their intense kissing. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Michael pushed Freddy off of him and began to stand up.
“Come on, Freddy” he called to him. “Let’s go home.”
Michael extended his hand to help Freddy stand up. Freddy began to shake, as Michael helped steady him onto his feet. When he was securely upright, Freddy quietly called to Michael.
“Michael?” he asked. “Do you have any clothes?”
“No, Freddy” Michael replied. “The wizard just dragged us out here. I didn’t get to take anything with me.”
“It’s just cold outside” Freddy replied, as he began to shiver. “Maybe there’s a jacket in here somewhere.”
Michael looked at Freddy, as his boyfriend surveyed the room.
“I can’t really see that much in here” Freddy noted. “It’s too dark.”
Michael thought for a moment, before he made an offer to Freddy.
“Would you like to wear my clothes?”
Freddy looked at his lover, as he saw tears rolling down Michael’s face. Although he appreciated the offer, Michael kind of smelled badly and his pajamas were probably rank by this point.
“It’s fine, Michael” Freddy declined.
“But Freddy” Michael replied. “You gave your life for me. It’s the least I can do to repay you. It’s…”
Freddy went in for a kiss to silence Michael.
“It’s alright” he insisted, as he drew back and looked at him reassuringly. “I’ll live. Besides, it’s the last time I’ll ever have to do this.”
“I hope so” Michael mumbled quietly.
As the boys made their way out of the house, Freddy noticed Sofya lying unconscious on the floor.
“Don’t you think we should help her?” Freddy asked Michael, as he nudged him to look at Sofya’s body. “She did put herself on the line for us. It’s the least we can do to repay her.”
“I don’t see how we can help her here” Michael replied. “We should try to get to a phone so we can call for an ambulance. I don’t have my cell phone on me, so we have to hope one of the nearby neighbors has a land line.”
"What happened to it?"
"I must have dropped it on the...I guess you could call it the flight over here."
Freddy paused for a moment, before he nodded in approval.
“I guess you’re right” he replied reluctantly. “I just hope someone can get to her in time.”
As they walked out of the cabin, they could see a shining light charging towards them. Freaking out, Freddy and Michael jumped to the side, as the vehicle stopped short before them. When they composed themselves, the two boys saw two men step out of the vehicle rolling a stretcher. Taking it into the cabin, the men proceeded to load Sofya’s bloody body onto it and took her into their van.
“Wish that shitty police officer would have done this for Freddy” Michael mumbled to himself.
Before the men drove off, one of them called out to Freddy.
“Young man!” he exclaimed. “Do you need some clothes?”
Freddy looked down at his naked body and then back up at the man in the van.
“Sure” he replied happily, as he moved to cover his crotch. “That would be great, thanks.”
The man rummaged through the back of the van, before tossing a one piece outfit to Freddy. When Freddy caught it, the van lit up and then disappeared into the night sky.
“Why couldn’t that officer have offered to bring an ambulance for Freddy?” Michael mumbled to himself, as Freddy put on the one piece suit.
“Doesn’t matter” Freddy replied upon hearing him, as he zipped it the outfit. “At least I have something to wear now.”
Michael turned nervously, not expecting that Freddy had heard that comment. To ease the tension, Freddy kissed Michael on the lips and grabbed his hand.
“Let’s go home” Freddy said quietly. “It’s getting late.”
Michael nodded, as the two lovers made their way into the dark and quiet woods.
“Are you sure you know your way back? Michael asked hesitantly.
“We’ll figure it out” Freddy replied reassuringly.
Michael nodded and began to walk hand in hand with his lover. Though Freddy’s senses weren’t as strong as they were when he was a dog, he hoped that his memory would get them home safely. The boys quietly made their way into the dark woods, as they were bound for their respective homes.
Finally……