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35.89% Lupine Noctem / Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Chapitre 14: Chapter 14

Ash's dreams contained nothing but peace and happiness that night, but the same could not be said for Roth.

He was thrown back into his pre-death memories, back to before Ash died.

He was in a hospital room, and two people were standing over him. One of them was sobbing, while the other had a grave look on his face. The first was his mother.

It looked like she had been crying for a while, and with his memories, Roth knew why.

He had been diagnosed with cancer, and it was already too late for any treatments. He only had a month to live.

The other person, a tall man dressed in medical attire was his doctor.

"I'm sorry, miss Hal. If the cancer had been found sooner, we might have been able to do something… but it is too late now."

Pain could be heard in the doctor's voice.

Why did this innocent kid, who was always cheery and kind whenever he came in for a checkup, have to die so young. Why was this world so unfair?

Roth spoke up, wanting to comfort his mom. The irony of the situation was a bit sad.

"Don't cry mom, It's ok. Everyone dies eventually, I guess I am just going to a little early! At least now we know, I will spend this last month of my life doing fun stuff!"

Roth's mother kept weeping, and he eventually had to drag her out of the hospital on his own.

"Hey mom, can you not tell anyone else, please? I don't want everyone else to just look at me with pity all month."

She nodded her head, still unable to stop the tears leaking from her eyes. The two slowly made their way home.

"Mom, are you fine if I go hang out with Jeff (Ash) on saturday? I wanted to go check out the wildlife sanctuary after we both got girlfriends, but I guess that won't be happening, so I want to go with him now!."

Roth's mother didn't provide an answer, just looking at the ground.

"Why… why god, why do I have to bury my own child."

Roth spent much of the night trying to cheer his mother up, but she was completely unresponsive. It was almost like she thought Roth was already dead.

Soon Roth's father got home from work. He worked for a big corporation, and due to him getting sick earlier in the year, he had already used up all of his off-time.

He could face losing his job if he left work without permission, and his family couldn't afford that at the moment.

He sprinted to Roth and gave him a big hug the moment he returned home, tears leaking from his eyes.

"It's ok, kid. I'll find some way to save you. I won't let you go."

Noticing his distraught wife, he pulled her into the group hug.

"We'll get through this together. Families stay together no matter what. I won't let some damn sickness take my son!"

What followed was a quiet and depressing family dinner.

Roth's mother was still completely out of it, and his father seemed determined to do the impossible, to save his son from certain death.

Roth seemed to be the least affected out of the three of them, and he was the one with t

Roth recognized that there was nothing he could do to cheer up the two people closest to him, at least for now.

Retiring for the night, Roth made his way up to his room and began making plans for the weekend. Saturday would be spent with his best friend, Jeff, first at the wildlife sanctuary, then after they got tired of that, they could go into the city and find some good food to eat.

Roth began planning out every day's activities, up until the day the doctor predicted his death. The prediction wasn't accurate, but Roth had a strong will to live, so the doctor believed he could hold on for a while.

"Alright, wildlife park on saturday!"

A nauseating feeling came over Roth as he said this, making him rush for the washroom.

He heaved and heaved until the entire contents of his dinner were laid out in front of him.

^Is this because of the cancer… or something else? Why did I feel horrible, like I was doing something wrong, when I said that?^

The next few days went past quickly. Roth told no one about his impending downfall, and the depressing atmosphere at home didn't clear up.

His mother was still in a daze, completely ignoring Roth.

She occasionally muttered under her breath, "Why… why did you take my son…"

She acted like Roth was already dead.

His father wasn't much better. Every day after work, he would rush to the computer and furiously search for cancer treatments.

Every time he found some underground lab offering a cure for cancer his eyes would light up, then dim back down when he remembered that these were most likely scams.

Soon it was saturday, and Roth packed a bag full of snacks for the day's activities.

The feeling that something bad was coming constantly grew stronger, but he chocked it up to his upcoming death.

Roth met up with Jeff at the train station, and the two headed for the wildlife sanctuary.

"Hey bro, I thought you said we were going here after we got girlfriends, what pushed it up?"

Roth looked a little started at Jeff's question, but brushed it off easily.

"My parents are busy for the weekend and I needed something to do, so I figured I'd spend it with my best bro!"

Jeff wasn't convinced, and kept pushing forwards.

"You've been acting a little off recently, Roth. If there is anything you need to talk about, I'm your man."

Roth nodded, but still kept his lips closed. He didn't want to ruin their remaining time as friends.

The closer the two got to the wildlife park, the more uneasy Roth felt.

The train came to a half with a screech, and a few passengers disembarked, the two best friends among them.

This wildlife park was a popular tourist attraction, and a great place to take someone on a first date. A number of couples roamed around between the animal exhibits, gawking at the impressive animals within.

The two wandered about the park randomly, snacking on the food Roth brought as they walked.

"Yo Roth, check this out! They have a wolf pen, let's go take a look!"

Roth flinched at the word wolf, but quickly agreed and followed Jeff towards it.

^Why am I feeling so weird today? Maybe I should tell Jeff what's going on in case I collapse here.^

Soon the two arrived at the wolf exhibit. They stood on a ledge overlooking the wolves, giving them a birds eye view of the animals. Another wave of nausea overcame Roth as we watched the wolves play, and he needed to excuse himself.

"Hey bro, I'll be right back. Gotta go use the restroom real quick."

Roth turned and walked towards the restroom, which was luckily right next to the wolf enclosure.

Jeff stayed to watch the wolves, waiting for his friend to return.

Just below him, a small wolf pup with deep black fur was roaming around. Leaning against the railing of the enclosure, he tried to get a better look at the pup.

Seemingly noticing him watching it, the pup turned his head to look curiously at the human.

The pup's deep emerald eyes met with Jeff's own dark blue eyes

As the two locked eyes, someone bumped into Jeff from behind, pushing him against the railing. CRACK!

The railing gave out, and Jeff, unable to stabilize himself, fell with it.

Roth had just come out of the bathroom, and the first thing he saw was Jeff's back disappearing over the edge of the wolf pit.

Quickly running over, he looked over the edge and down into the pit.

Jeff had fallen only a few meters, but there was a ton of blood… not his own blood.

He had landed smack on the black wolf pup, killing it instantly. Jeff's landing couldn't have been much worse, because not only did he kill the wolf pup, but also smacked his head into a rock, knocking himself out.

The other wolves in the enclosure looked over at the human that had just killed their pack member in rage, rushing over to avenge their fallen pup.

The wolves began ripping at Jeff's flesh, tearing open countless gashes on him.

Everyone around the wolf pit was yelling it terror, and it didn't take long for security to come and drive the wolves away from Jeff's torn and bloodied body. Roth had climbed down into the pit from above, and helped the workers carry his friend's heavily wounded body to a nearby ambulance.


Chapitre 15: Chapter 15

The next few minutes seemed to fly past in a blur.

Roth stood over his friend while the doctors worked, but Jeff was in too bad of shape to be saved.

Roth watched as his best friend's face stilled and his breathing ended.

The constant cheeriness was finally gone from his face.

It was as if some god above wanted to see how much the kid could take before he finally cracked.

Roth left the hospital in a daze, wandering around for a while before finding a bench to sit on.

"Bro… why did you die…"

In a daze, and with his emotions thrown awry by both the loss and his own impending death, Roth's sense of reason was twisted.

"This is my fault, isn't it… If I didn't bring you here today, you would still be alive and happy, right?"

Roth sat on the bench crying for a while, and didn't return back home until it was dark.

Nothing had changed at home.

Roth's father still pounded away at the keys of the computer, and his mom sat at the kitchen table, a dead look on her face.

Roth no longer tried to cheer them up. Instead, he headed to his room and closed the door.

As soon as he was inside the door, weakness overcame him, and he fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

^Maybe this isn't so bad. I deserve this after causing my friend to die. If there is a next life, I hope to spend it with Jeff again, making it up to him for causing him to die in this one.^

Roth was practically delirious. He took the full weight of his best friend's death on himself, believing himself to be responsible for a freak accident.

He no longer fought to hold on to life, and the light of the ceiling light seemed to fade away, and soon everything was black.

Perhaps whichever godly being that toyed Roth to giving up on life finally took pity on him, as his final request was fulfilled.

Roth's consciousness woke up. It was still late in the night, and Ash was still sound asleep.

^What was that? I think I was dreaming about my past life, but why are the memories slipping back away?^

Just like Ash's first dream, Roth's memories of this one evaded him as soon as he woke up.

Other than being confused, it did nothing to help Roth understand who he once was.

^Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. That was this life, and this is this one. I shouldn't worry about what happened, and instead live for now. Right now, we need to focus on growing strong and learning the language spoken here.^

Planning out the future seemed to calm Roth down a bit, and he was able to return to sleeping for the rest of the night. This time, no forgotten dreams came to him, and he was able to sleep peacefully.

**************************

The remainder of the week seemed almost too peaceful.

Ash spent his mornings roaming around the city with Alice. The sight of the young wolf startled some, but Alice was well known, and the sight of her managed to calm down anyone started by Ash.

On the walks, Alice would point at objects along the way, then repeat the name of the object multiple times.

Ash soon gained a fairly basic understanding of the names of commonly seen objects in the city.

After returning from their morning stroll, the two would begin to study together.

Alice read aloud to Ash, and would often pause to make sure he understood what she was saying.

The two would eat lunch after studying, then explore around the mansion or study some more after their meals.

Some days Su would come over to visit, always prattling on about going out on hunting trips.

One such day was a week from when Ash first arrived at the Graves family home.

Su came for another visit, this time even more talkative than ever.

The girl was unbearably chatty, so much so that even Ash, who spent over a month longing to hear another voice aside from Roth's, grew tired of her.

'Yea, Su, we get it. You like hunting a lot. Shut up now.'

Nevertheless, Ash couldn't voice his despair. He could now understand much of the conversations, but had no way of joining them.

Alice, on the other hand, seemed too happy to entertain her talkative friend.

She always acted interested in what Su had to say, and her mannerisms didn't look fake at all.

^Does this kid actually enjoy this tortuous conversation, or is she just acting? I don't know how she keeps a straight face!^

Even Roth had reached his limit around Su. Roth and Alice were both loving souls who were too kind for their own good, but it looked as if Alice took the cake as the most patient.

"Alice, come with me hunting tomorrow! I'm sure wolfy here wants to go out in the woods, right wolfy?"

Su grabbed Ash's fur, pulling on it painfully, almost as if threatening him if he dared not to agree.

'This kid is the reincarnation of Mimosa, I'm sure of it. No one else could possibly be this annoying!'

The sudden thought of their now dead littermate dimmed Ash's mood even further, and his head sunk a bit.

Su, taking this as a disagreement, yanked a handful of Ash's fur out.

His head shot up in pain, and it looked a bit like he was nodding.

"See? Wolfy wants to go out hunting with me tomorrow, so you have to come with me too!"

Ash looked at Alice with a pitiful look on his face, but Alice misunderstood it.

"Well… it does look like Ash wants to go out, I have been keeping him cooped up in here a lot to learn. I guess we can go with you tomorrow."

'NNOOOOOO!!! Alice, you've doomed us all!!!!'

"Alright, see you tomorrow morning then!"

Su stood up and left, but the peace couldn't be enjoyed. Another few days of torture was now guaranteed.

The smile fell from Alice's face, relieved that Su was finally gone.

^HA! So Alice isn't a psychopath… She is scary good at acting though. She can probably trick anyone… I mean, she did trick her own father, after all.^

In the evenings, the small family would eat together, then play board games afterwards.

Both Alice and Earl were astonished by Ash's intelligence, and began treating him like they would any human. He still couldn't beat either of them in chess, but he did his best to put up a good fight.

This caused their relationship to become a bit odd.

Ash had the body of a wolf pup, but the mental maturity of a young adult.

He saw Alice as a younger sister, someone he had to protect. He still wasn't sure what to view Earl as.

Earl was certainly a good father to Alice, and some part of Ash wanted the same relationship with him.

Alice and Earl judged Ash similarly. Ash and Alice almost never split up, and she had gotten a pretty good feel of Ash's mind.

He seemed like… A protective big brother.

She found it a bit strange, how could a little wolf pup have the bearing of an elder brother?

For once in her life, she didn't know how to act in front of someone.

Should she treat him like a kid brother, a pet, or an elder brother?

She eventually decided on the third option, it seemed to fit his attitude best.

Earl was still a little distant, but as time passed, he started looking at Ash almost like one would look at a son… a fluffy, four-legged son with sharp incisors.

Ash grew at a rapid pace during this week at the Graves house, and his shoulder now reached as high as Earl's belly button.

Ash had plenty of food and exercise, as well as a safe place to rest.

He had the perfect conditions to grow strong quickly.

He still had a long way to go, but he could now be of use in protecting his new family from any potential danger.

Soon the morning of the hunting trip approached, along with a new adventure.


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