Freddy, Michael, Chris, Tom and the dog that was the mayor panted heavily, hoping to catch their breaths. Not only were they overwhelmed with all of what had transpired that night, they were extremely exhausted. They were sleep deprived, physically worn out and emotionally overstimulated. All of them knew they could not pass out just yet, but they'd need time to recover from all that had transpired.
Freddy held Michael in his arms, smiling in relief. He did his best to soothe the pain of his crying husband. When the wizard had struck him with the lightning bolt as Buddy, he really believed it was the end. A sharp pain surged through him, before he felt himself black out. Before his soul began to depart his body, however, he could feel himself come back into his own skin. When he woke up, he was in Michael’s loving arms.
Freddy was relieved to be alive, but cursed himself for his previous actions. He cursed himself for risking his life to save Sofya. He cursed himself for not being able to save Sofya, after she had made such a tremendous sacrifice to save theirs. He cursed himself for acting impulsively in a dangerous moment, threatening to leave his husband behind. He had made many mistakes in this war, but there were some things Freddy was certain of in that moment.
“The curse is finally over” he thought to himself. “I’m in Michael’s arms again. We seem to have defeated the wizard, at least for now. Chris is ok, as is Tom. The mayor has become a dog. The war is finally over.”
Letting some tears roll down his cheek, Michael was relieved that his husband was alive. He felt angry at himself for not stopping Freddy when he charged at the mayor. He was relieved that the curse seemed to have claimed another victim, freeing his husband of its wicked magic. He was grateful for Chris’ heroism and the sacrifice Sofya had made to save their lives.
“However” he thought to himself “I almost died back there, twice. The wizard nearly killed me with his electrical zap. His more powerful blast cracked through my shield. I thought I was a goner twice tonight. I’m just so thankful to be alive. Maybe my father was looking out for me, like he said he would before he died. I have so much to live for. I didn’t want to have to leave so soon."
Yet, in spite of his thankfulness, a darker thought occurred in his head.
“If this has been the end of Freddy, then I had hoped it would be the end for me too. I know it’d be hard to leave Evan behind, but I couldn’t live without my husband. If he was taken from me and then I wasn’t taken with him, I’d probably commit suicide someday. Even though I said I’d be happy with Chris as my partner, the truth is, I don’t think I could really love anybody else.”
Tom sat stoically, looking up at the ash raining down from the ceiling. He had a difficult time processing things, due to his fatigue and tiredness. What he did think about in that moment was the closure his dog, Buddy, gave to him.
“He wasn’t stolen from me after all” Tom thought to himself. “He was killed by some fucking god awful bear. I wish I hadn’t let him out of my sight that day, but the past is the past. At least we got to say goodbye and now I’m going to have a litter of puppies. Maybe I’ll grow to love them, the way I loved Buddy.”
Experiencing being a dog for the first time was the mayor. In spite of Marley’s constant warnings, the mayor had read the inscription on the ring one too many times. When the curse was finally broken from Freddy, its magic transferred to the villainous leader of the town instead. He was having a hard time adjusting to being on all fours and being held by another human being.
“Son of a bitch” he thought to himself, as he licked the ash that fell onto his face. “I can’t believe I’m a dog. I should have listened to Marley and not read that incantation so many times. Now, I’m stuck on all fours, with no way back to being myself again. I have to try to find a way to get myself out of here.”
The Cane Corso dog the mayor became tried to escape Chris’ naked grasp. His efforts were unsuccessful, as Chris held onto him tighter. Sitting with tears rolling down onto his bearded face, he cried over the many mistakes he felt he made during this war against the wizard and the mayor.
“I let my boss down” he thought to himself. “I should have taken the wizard’s blast in his place. I can’t believe I almost let him get killed like that, without even trying to intervene to stop him. I will never forgive myself for that nearly consequential mistake. I would have failed in my duties if he hadn’t woken up. I couldn’t show my face to Michael after that. I would have failed him and his husband.
“The person I failed most tonight was Sofya. Sofya is gone. I should have tried harder to save her, before the blast took place. She did so much for me and for all of us. She helped us defeat the wizard in a crucial way. She gave me ultra powered gorilla limbs, that proved critical to defeating the mayor’s army. She sacrificed her life to save ours. She probably brought that magical army in to save us as well.
“She did so much for us, but I couldn’t save her when she needed me most. I could have carried her body over to where we sat. Maybe those soldiers would have protected her, if they spotted her in my arms. If they had put her in a shield, perhaps they could have brought her with them and revived her, the way Freddy was revived. Instead, I left her in the pile of bodies that disintegrated into ashes and let her down.
“Instead of saving her, someone who actually deserved it, I saved this fucking dog that the mayor became. I should have let that asshole perish in the blast, along with the rest of his cronies. He would have deserved it, more than anyone else. Yet, because of my compassion, I saved him and let Sofya die in his place. Not only did I let her die, but…”
Chris began to tear up, as he pulled at the dog’s fur below him. The dog let out a yelp, as his fur was pinched tightly.
“I let down my unborn child. We’ll never known if Sofya was carrying my offspring. I’ll have to live with that uncertainty for the rest of my life. I’ll always wonder if she would have brought my child into this world. I will have to live with that pain, the pain of the unknown and what could have been, everyday for the rest of my life. I made so many mistakes tonight, that I question my right to call myself a man. If Freddy hadn’t lived, then I couldn’t have lived myself. As a man, a good, honest, decent man, I couldn’t handle the shame I would have felt for such an inexcusable failure in performing my duties.”
The five of them continued to catch their breaths, before they heard a rumbling occur outside.
“What was that?!” Michael snapped, as he quickly got up and looked to the entrance in fear.
During the blast, the two knocked out police officers felt the ground shake below them. They heard the muffled explosion, which caused them to slowly stir awake.
“Man” one of the officers said to themselves, as they tenderly rubbed their head. “That was some spell that bitch cast on us.”
“Tell me about it” the other officer replied. “What the hell even happened? Were we dreaming just now?”
The police officers took a few minutes to arouse themselves awake. When they finally found the strength to stand up, they groaned loudly as they did so.
“Ow” the first officer groaned. “Man, that spell did a real number on my head and my back.”
“Man” the second officer said “I can’t do this shit anymore. I’m getting too old. My poor body can’t take this anymore.”
The police officers looked around at the cars parked in front of the warehouse. The lights, which had been on earlier in the night, were shut off, due to the auto shut off feature installed in most cars.
“They didn’t turn the lights back on” the first officer noted.
“Doesn’t matter” the second officer replied. “Daylight is starting to break in anyway.”
The officers looked up into the sky. The fog that had completely covered the sky that night was gone. With the clearest of skies, the dawn of morning began to make its way over the horizon.
“What a long night.”
“Tell me about it…hey, wait a second.”
The second officer motioned to the first one to look inside the warehouse.
“What happened in there? Did they take out the commie?”
“I don’t know. Let’s go in and find out.”
As the officers began to make their way into the warehouse, Freddy and Michael began to panic inside.
“We have to get out of here” Michael said nervously.
“Hold up” Chris replied, as he stood up to survey the warehouse. “We can’t risk being detected now. We don’t have Sofya’s magic to protect us anymore. We need to find a way to sneak out of here.”
The dog’s ears perked up, as he heard the foot steps of police officers approaching. Happily, he barked in their direction.
“My men!” the mayor thought to himself, as the dog tried to run over to the door.
“No!” Chris exclaimed, before he saw the Ruggeri ring on his finger glow.
In an instant, the ring zapped the dog, who let out a yip, before he fell to the floor. The ring then summoned up a muzzle over his mouth and a collar, attached to a leash placed into Chris’ hands.
“Hide!” Michael exclaimed.
Freddy and Tom quickly got up and ran with Michael and Chris. The dog was dragged by Chris on his leash, as they all hid in the shadows. Peering over the door, they saw the police officers Sofya had knocked out earlier enter the warehouse.
“Hmmm” the first officer said. “There’s nobody here.”
As they used a flashlight to survey the warehouse, Chris signaled the five of them to head over to the exit. Sneaking over quietly, they waited until the officers had their backs turned and were a safe distance away, before they quietly approached to the door. Carefully, Chris opened the exit and led everybody outside. Before they could be detected, he quietly closed the door behind him.
The officers continued to survey the warehouse floor, which began to give them the creeps.
“Where did everybody go?” the second officer asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe they all just left."
"Couldn't be. Why would their cars still be parked outside?"
"They chased after him? Maybe they killed the commie already and they just have to make their way back here.”
“Possibly, but all I see in here is dust...and lots of it.”
The officers noticed the falling ash landing on their uniforms. If they had witnessed the battles that took place earlier in the night, they would have known that these were the ashes of the magical soldiers. They had bravely sacrificed their lives to stop the wizard in his tracks. On their feet were the ashes of their former colleagues, who had paid a grave price for aiding the mayor by enlisting in his army. Looking over towards the back of the warehouse, they noticed the fallen piece of concrete, that surprisingly had withstood the blast.
“That’s odd” the first officer said, as he bent down and turned over the broken piece of concrete on the floor.
Underneath it was the only clue that anyone had ever been in the warehouse that night.
“Blood” he noted, as he watched it drip onto the concrete floor. “Somebody got hurt.”
“Whose blood do you think it is?” the second officer asked.
“Don’t know, but I have the strangest feeling that somebody died here tonight. We should call the other officers and declare this warehouse an active crime scene.”
“Let’s call the commander first, so we can get approval for that action.”
“Ok.”
The first officer dialed the commander’s number on his communication device, but found that the line was off the hook.
“That’s not good” he noted.
“What?” the second officer asked curiously.
“The line is disconnected.”
“That’s not good.”
The first officer tried calling Peter McDonough, the mayor’s advisor to the police and several other officers, but all of their lines were disconnected.
“I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s call the officers who weren’t in the warehouse tonight.”
“The ones in the hospital?”
“No. The ones who are still active duty. They should be entering their shifts right about now.”
While the officers called for backup in the warehouse, Freddy and Chris began to shiver in the cold, morning air. They were both naked and exposed, dashing through the woods to head back to the cars. The fog that had shrouded the sky and ground earlier had dissipated, giving them a clear view of their vehicles parked behind some trees.
“Sofya was right after all” Chris noted, as they ran towards the cars. “This wasn’t the best place to park our cars.”
Slowing to a brisk pace, the four of them and the dog soon arrived at the parked cars. The dog resisted Chris’ tugs on his leash, but was forced to go with them anyway.
“No!” the mayor thought to himself, as the dog aggressively turned its head. “I want to go back to my officers!”
“Easy boy” Chris said, tugging on the dog's leash harshly in response. “You’re not going back there.”
“Besides” Michael added with a chuckle “even if you ran up to those officers, all they’d think you were was some mangy mutt. They’d send you to the pound and then you’d be adopted by somebody else.”
“No!” the mayor thought to himself, as the horror of his situation hit him in that moment.
“You should be fortunate that people like me helped make those shelters more humane” Freddy said with a smile. “If we hadn’t fought when we did, then they’d put you to death, instead of finding you a loving home.”
“Of course” Michael spat out “death is what you deserved and still deserve.”
The dog whimpered in his muzzle, as Chris let out a sniffle. Before Chris could cry out in tears, they reached the parked cars.
“Here we are” Chris said. “Uh….”
“I’ll unlock them” Michael said, as he used his communication device from his pocket to unlock both of the cars.
“Thanks.”
The four of them stood around, with neither one of them making the first move.
“Well?” Michael asked impatiently.
“Uh” Chris replied. “I’m too tired to drive right now. Can someone else take us home?”
“I’ll drive my car” Michael said. “Freddy come with me.”
“Ok” Freddy replied, as he kissed his husband on the lips, before they got into his car together.
“Tom?” Chris asked.
“What?” Tom replied with a sad tone in his voice.
“Would you mind driving me back to Freddy’s place, please?”
“Sure, just….”
Tom paused for a moment, before he let out a shriek. Nervously, Chris covered his mouth, trying to calm him down. When Chris let go of his mouth, Tom continued.
“Lady. I left Lady all alone at my house. I have to go get her.”
Chris tugged on the dog’s leash, preventing him from leaving their sight.
“I’ll tell you what” Chris replied. “We’ll stop by your place first so you can go home and then I’ll drive the few remaining blocks back to their house. Is that alright with you?”
“Fine. Whatever.”
Chris grabbed the dog and put him onto the floor of the backseat. Then, he got into the passenger side of Freddy’s car for the first time. Settling in, aware of his nakedness, he began to gulp, as Tom got in and adjusted the car mirrors to his liking.
“You think Freddy has any clothes in the trunk?” Chris asked nervously.
“You can go check” Tom replied, as he opened the trunk with the push of a button.
Chris got out of the car and made his way over to the trunk. Noticing this from his car, Michael rolled down his car window.
“What’s the hold up?” he called out.
“Looking for some clothes to wear” Chris replied, as he peered in, but could not find anything to wear.
“Wait until later. Let’s just go home.”
“Tom’s taking me to his place first and then I’ll drive the rest of the way.”
“Ok” Freddy replied.
“Meet you back at the ranch” Michael added.
Chris nodded, as he closed the trunk, while Michael rolled up his car window. Michael began to turn his car around, as Chris got back into Freddy’s vehicle and settled inside.
“Ready?” Tom asked.
“Yes” Chris replied, as he put on his seatbelt.
The dog barked loudly in the back, but the sound was muted by the muzzle he wore. Tom pulled out and then drove onto the broken road for the final time. The sun began to shine brightly above them, as the night was over and morning had arrived. Michael’s car left the warehouse road first, before Freddy’s car followed behind them at a slight distance. Just as their vehicles were out of sight, three police cars, the last ones left in town, pulled up to the warehouse from down the broken road. They were there investigate what had happened the previous night, but they’d never crack the case.
As Michael drove Freddy home, they smiled at each other brightly. Despite the horrible experiences they had just gone though together, they were both thrilled that this adventure of theirs was finally over. The war against the wizard was over and they had won decisively. Despite multiple clashes with death, they survived them all relatively unscathed. With the mayor now in Chris’ possession as a dog, with the deaths of nearly all of his allies, and with Freddy’s election day victory now all but secure, a new chapter of their lives was about to begin. Their days of heartache and pain were finally over. Happier days were here to stay.
Finally…..