The Stranger. Chapter 3.
3 of The Stranger.
Here's the third chapter to my series "The Stranger" I won't bore with a long introduction, but thank you all for being so patient with this chapter coming out! Just also like to say another quick thank you to a certain special someone for helping with the proof reading once again, and keeping me motivated to write. You know who you are! :)
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The Stranger
CHAPTER THREE
BY LITTLE FUZZY.
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The last remaining shards of sunlight shone through the trees, casting spindly, claw-like silhouettes across the empty streets.
I listened to the ghostly sound of the October wind howling through their bare branches, the haunting melody only broken by the crunching sound of my feet as I trampled along the rust coloured pavements littered with fallen leaves which whipped up around me in circles.
It wasn't a far walk to Owens apartment, he had texted me the directions and they were simple enough. I pulled out my phone, the brightness of the screen stung my eyes as the gloom of dusk set in around me.
" Head west along your road, then about half a mile turn right at the library. Follow along the curved road, Can't miss it."
I contemplated what had happened earlier that day whilst I walked along, my paws shoved firmly into my coat pocket, they felt cold and clammy as I remembered the embraced we'd shared at the door, and I tried to push a lingering feeling of Déjà Vu out of my mind as I turned the corner at the large town Library.
The road arched around to the right, and I approached what seemed to be a large Manor house stretched out before me. I started to walk slowly, without even stopping to think whether or not this was indeed the right house, making my way up the long, gravel driveway, which seemed to go on for miles. There was that same feeling coming from the house, drawing me in, which I had sensed when I had first met Owen.
I felt a sense of familiarity as I gazed upon the house in front of me, surrounded each side by tall trees. Dark green Ivy covered the majority of the front of it, and a faint orange glow lit up a few of the windows. I could see and smell wood smoke coming from one of the 5 chimneys, which each stood atop high, steeple roofs, making a distinctive black outline as they cut through the backdrop of a dark, Sapphire blue, evening sky.
The sun barely clung to the horizon, leaving the driveway in a shadowy twilight as I made my way past a huge marble fountain, and then finally coming to a stop at the porch. Glancing behind me, I stared at the three solemn looking cherubs which stood in the middle of the fountain, each held a flute to his lips, which I would imagine would have had water flowing from them some time ago, but were now covered with leaves. I could imagine that this place would look quite grand in the middle of summer.
"Summer..." I said out loud with a faint sigh, it seemed like such a long time ago, I mused as I stepped up to the front door and grasped the large iron door knocker in my paw, before knocking it gently against the dark, wooden, double doors.
Standing there awkwardly for a brief few seconds, I could hear the sound of footpaws hitting against bare wood coming from inside the house, the sound got closer and closer to the door, before it then opened and an out of breath Labrador appeared, a warm orange glow wrapped his black outline as he stared down at me, perched timidly on the red brick steps of the porch below.
"You'd better come in." Owen said, with that same hint of anxiety hanging to his voice. I almost thought for a second he sounded reluctant to see me, but my mind was quickly put at ease as I stepped into the hallway and felt two warm paws on my shoulders as he helped me off with my coat, before hanging it up on an elegantly carved wooden coat rack.
I smiled at the Labrador in front of me, who was wearing a pair of blue jeans, and a fitted white t-shirt which contrasted against his chestnut brown fur, before clumsily saying, "Thanks, s'a nice place you got here."
Owen returned the smile, making me feel a little more at ease. "It's a little too big for just me, but still, it's home." He said with a nod, putting a paw on the small of my back as he pushed me towards what seemed to be the living room.
As we walked, I could hear the blur of Owens voice talking to me, except I wasn't listening. All I could feel was a swirling warmth all around me from the touch of his paw on my back, that same tingling feeling that I had experienced earlier on at my house. Time seemed to slow down, and I felt dazed, I felt like I was almost about to... "-pass out!" Owens voice rang out in my head, as clear as a bell now.
"Huh?!" I gasped, regaining awareness of what was going on. Everything suddenly came back into focus; I was in a dimly lit room, the only light sources coming from two table lamps at either side of the room, and from the large fireplace at the far end. A sofa sat against the wall opposite a large window, which had long, red velvet curtains drawn up at them. All over the dark wooden panelled walls hung paintings, some containing portraits of older, sterner looking Labradors, with the same piercing green eyes that Owen has. I figured they were most likely his relatives. I could tell by the decorum of the room that the house was very old.
"I said, you look like you're about to pass out?! Owen said, as he guided me over to sit down on the sofa. "Would you like some water?".
"Please." I replied as I watched him disappear through the doorway.
What the heck just happened!? Maybe it was just because I came out of the freezing cold into a warm house? Yes, that must have been it, I thought to myself as Owen re-entered the room, carrying two glasses of water, and handing one to me before sitting down next to me. "Are you okay now?" He asked.
"Yes. Must have just been the shock from the warmth... Thanks!" My words cut through the atmosphere like a hot knife through butter. "I'm glad it's warm in here though. This is such an interesting house!" I continued, looking around the room.
"It is, isn't it." The other Labrador said, I could feel his eyes studying me as I looked around the room, deliberately taking a long time so that he could explore all of my features whilst I seemed to not notice. "Do you live here alone?"
"Mmhmm" He started, "I do, the house belonged to my Uncle," Owen pointed to one of the portraits on the wall "he left it to me after he passed away."
Silently I nodded, "I'm sorry." I said, regarding the painting, and then looking back at Owen.
There wasn't any sadness in his eyes any more. He glanced at me, briefly lifting his eyebrows in a half smile before shying away and continuing, "I suppose you'll want to know why I've been acting so weird to you?"
Turning myself towards him, I perked an ear up and gave him an expectant look, and nodded.
"Well," He carried on, "I've actually been watching you for quite a while. But, you've not noticed."
"Watching me?" I asked, starting to feel rather uncomfortable again, I glanced over at the doorway, and then looked back at Owen who had moved a little closer.
"Please don't be freaked out. I was only watching you to protect you." The brown furred Labrador said calmly, putting a comforting paw on my knee. My eyes closed and after a short while I felt a sudden rush of blood to the head from his touch again, the room started spinning around and I could feel myself starting to sway backwards. No! No! I thought, not again. What on earth is happening?! Has he drugged me!?
I took a deep breath in, and pulled my knee closer to me, out from under his paw. The room slowly came back into focus and Owen was staring at me. "You sure you're okay?" he said, a tinge of worry in his voice.
"Y-yes, honestly, I'm fine... go on?" I said with a nervous smile and shaking my head slightly to re-awaken my senses.
"Look, you'll just have to trust me, but I know a lot more about you than you think. I've been watching you, yes, but like I said, to protect you." Owen said, his Emerald Green eyes piercing their way through the gloom to meet my gaze. They had glazed slightly, and I could tell that he was still holding something back. "Why?" I asked, giving him a rather stern look.
An awkward silence hung in the air, broken only by the sound of the Owens heavy breathing, and a loud gulp as he took a sip of his water before he finally said "Because... I like you..."with his cheeks turning a light crimson hue. I could tell he was uncomfortable.
"Look, I don't know why, but you just seem to turn up everywhere I go. I couldn't help but notice you, and it's just that you've never noticed me before." His voice trailed off "I kinda thought you were doing it on purpose." He followed, before turning his gaze away from me and towards the window.
I stared at him, taking the opportunity to study his face while he was looking away. Had I seen him some place before? No. Surely not, yesterday morning in the School library was definitely the first time I had ever seen him, right? There was something playing on my mind, something that I just couldn't quite put my pawfinger on, something that just didn't seem right, or rather, that it did seem right - which was what was bothering me. This all seemed far too familiar. Maybe I was going crazy.
Hold on a second, what did he say before that?! He liked me!? I felt a smile creeping over my muzzle, but held it back as to remain looking stern, to try and get a little more information out of him. He got the hint.
"So when you said 'Hi' in the Library yesterday, it just sorta shocked me. I'm sorry that I seemed rude the whole day, it really wasn't intentional. But, I did think you were purposely ignoring me because of what everyone thinks about me." Owen continued.
So he did hear me after all! And what was he talking about?! What did everyone think about him? I am pretty sure I didn't even know he existed before today, and anyhow, even if there were any rumours or anything going around, I sure wouldn't have heard about them as nobody talks to me about that kind of stuff, or indeed, any kind of stuff to be exact.
"Well, excuse me for being completely oblivious to all of this, but I'm not quite sure what you're talking about." I questioned him. "What does everyone think about you?"
He turned back to face me, his expression now very serious. "Please, just don't worry. I'm just glad that you're here is all." Owen said, his voice soft and gentle as he inched a little closer on the sofa.
I actually felt quite all right with it, strangely enough. Being there in that room with him, just felt, right. And who knows, maybe everyone just thought he was a stuck up rich kid or something? Did it really matter if that's what they thought? And did it even matter anyway? I'd at least found a friend, and to be quite honest, the fact that he "liked me" made it a little more interesting.
"Heh, well, I'm glad that you've explained about all the weirdness now, and I'm glad that we're friends! Us Labs need to stick together!" I said, grinning at him, which he replied to by smiling back.
"Is that your catch line or something?" Owen asked, starting to laugh. "You said that to me in the hallway."
"No, no." I said, "There are no other Labs in the school for me to use that on for a start!" I continued. "And also, I don't use catch lines?!"
We both started laughing, and for a second then I felt a warmth rise up inside me. This was actually really nice. I was actually having a great conversation with someone! I couldn't remember the last time I'd actually laughed!? Had it been weeks? Months even!?
"You know, for some reason I feel like we have a lot in common, like there's some sort of connection between us?" I said, raising an eyebrow in anticipation. Hoping that he'd pick up on it, and try and explain why I felt so compelled to talk to him in the first place.
The Labrador paused for a second, and rested his paw on my knee once again before saying, "Actually, that doesn't surprise me."
After a few seconds I could suddenly feel that swirling blackness again from his touch, the swelling feeling rising up from the pit of my stomach. The room span around in circles and everything started to go blurry. The blood rushed straight to my head again and I felt myself slipping back into darkness. It was like a tantalizing, toxic euphoria that just drew me in, the more I fought the feeling the more I wanted to just fall...
"Hey are you okay?! Please! Please don't!-" I heard Owen say again. His voice muffled and distorted. My eyes rolled back and shut and I felt myself falling forward, cool air rushed past my ears as I suddenly hit the ground... It was warm and furry. No, wait, this wasn't the ground?!
Lazily I opened an eye to see Owens face, he was looking down at me, worry evident in his eyes and his expression tangled with panic. I could feel his hot breath on my cheeks, and it smelt sweet, "N-no!" I called out feebly, my voice barely even a fair whisper. Unable to decide whether I was in danger or not, I shut my eyes before I felt myself blacking out again.
What the heck was going on?! Shouldn't I be feeling worried that he might have drugged me, but then, didn't he mention something about protecting me?! Either way I didn't care. I was gone, the swirling blur of darkness had encased me, wrapped me up in bliss, I was enjoying it. All the while the only thing I could think about was, why? Why was he protecting me, and what from?!
And suddenly, there was silence... Closely followed by that feeling that you get when you're dreaming and you fall backwards, my heart jumped in my chest as I started to fall, except this time I wasn't waking up.
The world around me turned pitch black and I laid there for a few seconds, before realizing, I wasn't laying at all - I discovered that I was actually standing. A haze washed over me, as I stood there, trembling, feeling slightly dizzy and disorientated. Was this a dream? Surrounding me was a cold, dark mist that lingered heavy in the air, clinging to my fur and making it feel slightly damp and muggy as I squinted through the darkness, trying my hardest to comprehend what was happening.
As I focused my senses, I could hear a low humming noise coming from the distance, which, instinctively, I started to walk towards in the darkness. As I walked, my surroundings became a bit clearer, the dense and muggy mist around me fell low to the floor and I soon discovered that I was walking along a road, not that similar from the one just outside my house, the time of day was around dusk, or dawn. The smell of rain lingered in the muggy air and I didn't know why, but as I walked, the lighter everything seemed to get until I could make out houses either side, trees, and lamp posts.
Picking up the pace, I started to jog, and I felt the tarmac beneath my footpaws, it felt cold and gritty against my pads, and puffs of the clammy mist plumed upwards as my footpaws slapped down at the pavement. Wait, did I even have shoes on?! Glancing down at my legs as I was jogging I realized I was completely naked, my blonde fur whirling back as I started into a run. But I still didn't care. I just had to get to whatever, or whoever was making that humming noise. Every step I took, the sound got louder, and my surroundings became clearer and clearer.
I focused on that sound, that humming sound, it felt irritating in the back of my head, like the feeling you get when you're trying desperately to remember something, when you go to look for something but then forgot what it was, or say something that's just on the tip of your tongue. I bared my teeth in disdain and let out a growl, as I continued along the tarmac, picking up the pace a little.
Running faster, and faster, until I burst into a fully fledged sprint, my headfur swept back from the sheer speed that I was travelling at. Lamp posts, trees, houses, blurred. I could only make out colours now as they whirred past me, dark blues, teals, greys, the occasional red from what might have been a stop sign. The humming sound was getting louder. I didn't even care if anyfur saw me, running through the streets completely naked, I just had to get to that sound, it was tormenting me, eating through my sanity like some foul acid corroding through metal.
Suddenly I turned a corner and stopped dead in my tracks. The humming noise had turned into an ear-splitting howl as I neared something, or someone in the road. I got a little closer, slowing down my pace into a jog. As I neared the figure I could see that it was Owen, bent down in the middle of the road, stooped over a pile of what looked like a bundle of clothes, although there was something not quite right...
As he looked up at me, my heart lurched and I felt a sinking feeling slug me in the chest. Everything stopped, and time seemed to slow down. I could see his face was wrought with agony, his eyes dull, glazed and widened. Tears were already wetting the fur on his cheeks, slowly rolling off of his chin to drip onto the disfigured and contorted shape below him which was starting to leak a crimson coloured fluid onto the road, settling in a small puddle around Owen.
I could barely hear the rumble of thunder over the almost deafening humming noise which was now even bellowing through the streets as a flash of lightening shot through the skies above and a rush of rain started roaring down. I was stood there, cold and naked, my fur completely drenched. Just watching, completely useless, and helpless, unable to do anything except look on at the Labrador, who was bent over the bloodied shape in the road, somewhat shrouding it with his shadow so I couldn't quite make out what it exactly was. The rain poured down and started to wash a little of the scarlet liquid towards me, and Owen continued to stare at me, his Green eyes cutting through the grey of the dreamy world around me like a shard of glass which made me feel as if my heart were about to jump out of my throat. I could feel a lump in my throat, and my chest welled up with emotion as tears started to form in the corners of my eyes. Unable to determine if I was happy or sad, I dropped down to my knees and outstretched my paw to Owen, softly letting it rest on his shoulder.
No sooner had my paw came into contact with him, the humming noise then just stopped, as though someone had turned it off with a switch, and everything was again plunged into darkness, swirling blackness everywhere once more. I felt peaceful...