FSE

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Chapter 2.

Johnny didn't know where he was. It was just a huge, white, never ending place with a little bit of grey here and there. 'Huh, so this is where you go when you die? I thought it would be a bit classier.' He didn't really know what to do, so he began walking. The place was just plain weird. It had no turns, or anything in his sight for that matter. Not even his feet made noise when it hit the ground.

'Wait a minute', he reached down and grabbed his torso, but there was nothing there, 'Huh, I guess I am dead.' After about ten minutes, he began panicking, 'Shit! There has to be an edge or stopping point! Something!' but there was nothing. In fact, it got to the point that he began feeling that he wasn't moving at all. He began sprinting, hoping that he would run into something. Finally, he collapsed due to exhaustion, _'Fuck...this can't be heaven...Feels more like my own personal hell!' _ He thought he heard voices pricking at his eardrums. He closed his eyes and focused all his energy into his inadequate human cartilage flaps. Yup, there were voices; a little distorted, but still voices.

"Is...e...ive?" He tried to focus even harder..."Dad, did you hear me? Is he alive?" From the sound of the voice, he guessed it was someone close to his own age. Then a much deeper voice replied, "Yeah Marcus. He's alive. Had we gotten there a minute later, he'd be dead."

Johnny tried to open his eyes in shock. 'Whoa...someone saved me?'

Then the voice he guessed was Marcus sounded aggravated, "Dad, you know what he is right?"

Johnny sighed, 'Oh great, here it comes...'

"Yes I know what he is Marcus."

"Then why is IT in our house?" The older voice sounded slightly angry, but still calm.

"Marcus...HE has a name. And I wasn't just going to leave him there in the street. Now c'mon, he needs to rest. We can ask him questions when he wakes up fully."

And that's all that he heard. 'Alright, let's try again.'

As he began to sit up, he saw a dark object that was far away to his left in the endless previously indistinguishable corridors of white in his mind. Jumping onto his feet, he began jogging towards the object. As he got closer, he recognized the object. It was a door. A black, ordinary looking door...one that you could find in any house. 'Well, seeing as there's nowhere else I could go...' He walked towards the door, stopping about a foot from it. 'Let's see where this leads...'

He grabbed the door knob, which instantly sprouted enveloping shadows. 'Ah! What the hell!?!' Slowly, the shadows began consuming his right arm, before it crawled down his torso and began consuming his lower body. 'No!...stop!!!' But it kept continuing, proceeding towards his upper body. Soon it covered his chest, and began consuming his left arm. All that was left was his face. 'Nnnghh!...ungh!!' It began crawling across his face, covering the left side first, the right soon following. All that was left uncovered was his right eye, and at the moment it was being consumed as well.

But right before his only source of vision was swallowed by darkness, he heard the most horrifying and unsettling voice he had ever heard in his fifteen years of life. "Give me what's rightfully mine..."

~~~~

Johnny gasped and sat up straight, only to feel pain to erupt from his side. He grabbed his torso, and was surprised to find it wrapped in bandages. Then, three points of realization hit him at once.

One, he was all fixed up.

Two, he was in a strangers room.

And three, he was stark naked, save for the briefs that was covering his 'area.'

He looked around. Yup, he was in a bedroom. He was lying in a bed too, the best damn bed he'd ever been in. He felt the covers with his worn out hands, and sighed deeply. They were the most fantastic and softest thing he'd ever felt before. They felt like they were made of pure silk, smoothly running across his rugged skin. What was better was that he was wrapped from head to toe with the smooth blanket. And the pillow? He'd heard the term 'Feels like your head's on a cloud.' This shit was way better than that. Hell, if he wasn't freaked out about where he was he'd go back to sleep.

He looked around the room. It was pretty standard. The floors were made of an auburn/brown coloured wood. He looked to his right, where there was a closet along with a brown desk, a black desk chair tucked under it. On the desk was a computer, one that hadn't been touched by the look of it. He looked to the left, where there was a light brown coloured dresser and a brown loveseat that blended perfectly with the wooden floor. But that's not what caught his attention. Sitting on the love seat was the most beautiful acoustic guitar he had ever seen. It's black body and neck, sticking out like a sore thumb in the white and brown room.

Johnny loved the guitar; he'd taught himself how to play it in the orphanage he grew up in. While everyone else was outside playing, he would spend hours inside strumming the worn out one that they had. He had nothing better to do anyways, whenever he went outside to try to make friends or something, they would all steer clear of him. Even the people working there wouldn't go near him unless it was absolutely necessary. 'Alright, before I do anything, I HAVE to find my clothes."

He looked around once more and spotted something sitting on top of the dresser. He got up and walked over, the cold wood sending shivers through his almost naked body. When he approached the dresser he saw what it was. It was clothing, but only a pair of pants. Along with it was a note.

"Your clothes were dirty from sitting in the rain when we found you. They're in the dryer right now. Here's a pair of pants for you. Come downstairs once you wake up"

Johnny sighed, "Damn, and I just wanted to get dressed and sneak out. I hate confrontation with people," he muttered to himself, slipping into the pants and walking towards the door, but stopped about three feet from it. He remembered his dream, how disturbing and vivid it was. Hesitantly, he reached for the bronze coloured door knob. He grabbed it, and nothing happened. 'Huh, so then what the hell was that all about?'

He twisted the knob and opened the door which led to a hallway. It was narrow and the lights were dim. As he began walking slowly down the hallway, he noticed the walls were filled with nothing but photos. From what he could tell, they were all family photos. There was one with them smiling, a sunny beach in the background. And another one, except there was a party going on. A banner at the top of the photo could be seen, 'Happy birthday Michael!' But the one that caught most of his attention was the humongous photo right in the middle of the left side wall. It was about half as tall as him, and it looked like a family portrait. The fancy kind, when the men wear tuxes and the women wear dresses. It was a family of three, a wolf -which he assumed was the father-, a female fox, and a younger wolf, who was no doubt their son. The dad had a nice, classic, black and white tuxedo with a red tie folded into the coat. On his face was the most infectious smile Johnny had ever seen. His face wasn't rugged or mean looking, but it still had a small look of authority. And by looking at his chest and arms, Johnny could tell that he was well built.

Then his eyes moved towards the mother. She was a fox, orange and white. He couldn't really describe her...well he could. She was beautiful, to put it in simple words. Her fur colour blended perfectly with her red dress, like the two were merging to become one. Her face was what caught most of his attention. She had magnificent emerald green eyes that sparkled in the light. She had black 'tear drops' right under each eye. She was also wearing a graceful smile. So altogether, she looked like an elegant and spontaneous woman who had the ability to smile in even the darkest of times.

But their son, he was the most unique. He was a wolf and his colours consisted of three. His primary was white, covering most of his face. His secondary was black, covering his cheeks and part of his throat. He was wearing the exact same thing his dad was wearing, tie and all.

His third colour was red. It was in streaks, three going horizontally across each of his cheeks. There were also two going down the space in between his eyes, and leading down his muzzle. And speaking of eyes, his were just...special. They were a purple violet colour, and he had the same black 'tear drops' his mother had. Johnny didn't know what came over him, but he couldn't take his eyes off the younger wolf's. He couldn't help it, they were so mesmerizing; he'd never seen or knew eyes like that existed.

He shook his head and proceeded down the hallway. At the end was a staircase going down. Cautiously, he took small, quiet steps, slowly descending downstairs. They led to a huge room, with a gigantic door to the right. He assumed it was the living room, seeing how there was a couch with two small tables beside each end, a coffee table in front, and a huge plasma facing the couch. To his left, there were two doors with glass windows. One led to the left, the other led to the right. He heard voices coming from the one to the right, so he began walking towards it. Each step was traumatizing, and he could literally feel the anxiety and nervousness building up. When he got to the door, he braced himself and opened the door.

It was a kitchen, black and white chequered tile floor, white cabinets, a black refrigerator and a dark ebony coloured table. Sitting at the table, were two wolves. As soon as he entered, they both snapped their attention to him, and nothing else. He recognized both from the portrait he'd looked at earlier. The older wolf was wearing a muscle shirt with blue jeans. An opened, button down collar shirt was over the top.

The younger wolf was wearing a black collared polo shirt with black/blue jeans. The clothes brought out his fur colour or colours, making him look sharp. He looked at his eyes, and found the same violet purple colour that had hypnotized him earlier. But there was something in those eyes that caught Johnny off guard. In the portrait, the eyes were filled with infinite happiness. These eyes were not those eyes. These eyes were filled with dark emotions, anger, sadness, depression and hatred.

After about a minute of awkward silence, the older wolf broke it by standing up and walking towards Johnny. "Ah, I see you're awake. How do you feel?"

Johnny stuttered, "Uh...I..."

The older wolf broke in, "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Michael Don Carlo. And you are?" Michael held out his hand.

'Huh? He actually wants to shake hands with me?' "...."

Suddenly, the younger wolf broke in, "Hey! My dad is trying to introduce himself! Don't be a rude bastard and just ignore him! Show some respect!"

Michael turned and glared at his son, "Marcus! There's no need to yell at him!"

This sudden burst of anger knocked Johnny out of his dazed state. He brought out his hand, "Sorry sir. It's just that I don't usually get treated this way, especially with formalities."

Michael shook his hand, it was a firm, but soft grip. One that said he wasn't a strict man, but would be tough if he had to. "Oh...is it because you're human?"

Johnny looked away, "Yeah...I don't really get treated the same way as other people."

"Oh...well I'm sorry to hear that. How's your injury?"

Johnny had completely forgotten about his wound. He slowly ran his right hand over it, "It's fine. Speaking of which, how'd you find me? And how'd you patch me up so well?"

The smile on Michael's face slowly turned into a grim expression. He sighed, "Well my son, Marcus. His car wasn't working this morning, so I decided to take him to school. When we were half way there, he told me to stop the car. I asked him why, and he just ignored me and ran out of the car."

By now, Michael was looking over at Marcus, who didn't show any interest in the conversation. He continued, "I got worried and stepped out of the car to talk to him. I was about to ask him again what was wrong, but then I picked it up."

Johnny looked at him, waiting anxiously for the answer, "Picked up what?"

Then Michael's' sad gaze returned to him, he sighed, "The smell of blood."

Johnny's' anxiety dropped completely as he turned away, brows furrowed slightly, 'of course, how could I have forgotten about their sense of smell? I DO live in a world where half the population are canines.' He looked back at Michael, "Continue please."

Michael stared at him, looking as if he didn't want to continue at all, "Alright, where we were, the smell was pretty strong already. And thinking back, we were far away from you when we picked it up. We began jogging in the direction where it was getting stronger. We made a couple of wrong turns, but eventually, we found you. It was horrible; you were lying on the ground, soaking in the rain. When we got close enough to see your face, Marcus immediately backed up in shock. I was too focused on your injuries to go into a shocked state. You looked horrible, there was blood everywhere on the ground since the rain was spreading it. You were soaked from head to toe, you were barely breathing and your eyes were wide open, staring at the sky." Michael looked towards the ground to his left, as if reliving the moment. Then, he continued, "I picked you up in my arms and brought you back here. I had to yell at Marcus to get him to follow me back to the car."

A confused expression came across Johnny's face, "Hold on, why didn't you take me to the hospital? Not that I'd rather be there, but usually that's what people do when they see someone seriously hurt right?"

Michael looked back at him, "Alright, let me explain. From where we were at, the hospital was forty-five minutes away. My house was ten. I work at the hospital; I'm the chief surgeon there. I brought you back here instead because I have my own O.R upstairs, that and I'm pretty sure if I took you to the hospital, they would've let you die."

Johnny was still confused, he ran his hand across his injury once more, "But I was stabbed in the liver, I should be dead from blood loss. I'm still alive, how's that?"

Michael's face was still grim, "Actually, the blade was point three of an inch away from your liver. So when I got home, I performed surgery on you. The lacerations weren't that severe, so it was pretty much a cake walk." Michael's gentle smile returned, and it took all of Johnny's willpower to not smile back. "Hey, do you mind if I ask a question?"

Johnny was slightly surprised, "Sure, shoot."

Michael was standing in a way that looked like he was uncomfortable, "What's your name?"

"Oh...um it's Johnny, Johnny Trevino."

Michael looked towards Marcus, "Well, this is Marcus. If he hadn't picked up your scent, you'd be dead."

Johnny looked at Marcus, who was looking to the side with disgust all over his face. He wanted to say something to the wolf, but decided it was best not to. He looked back at Michael. "Hey, um... where are my clothes?"

"Oh! Wait here for a sec." He walked out, and Johnny wished he'd hurry up so he could get the hell out of there. He could feel Marcus glaring at him while he waited for his father to return. Soon, he reappeared with a familiar stack of clothing. "Here you go, you can change in the bathroom down the hall over there."

He grabbed his clothes and proceeded in the direction Michael was pointing. At the end of the hall there was the bathroom. It was pretty huge. It had a separate shower and bath, two sinks with a clock sitting on the counter and the colours were white and black, just like the kitchen. He stripped his donated pants and began putting on his own clothing_. 'Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurr-......holy shit! It's 7:32 at night?!? I've been out for over twelve hours? If I hurry I can catch the 8:00 bus to mercer island in downtown...'_ he put on his gloves and headed out towards the kitchen.

Michael was waiting for him by the kitchen entrance. "Well, I guess you wanna go home now right? Where do you live? I'll take you. You're still injured, so you can't walk home. I won't take no for an answer."

'Shit! This is what I was afraid he would ask that.' "Um...I uh..."

Marcus appeared from behind his dad, "What's the matter? Don't you know where your own home is, or are you that stupid?"

"No! It's just that...well...I don't really...um...have a home." He said the last part in a whisper.

Michael's warm smile disappeared and a serious look replaced it. "What did you say?"

Johnny cleared his throat, "I said I don't have a home."

Michael just stared at him...and stared...and stared...and stared.

"Wha...how...wait, so where do you live? How do you survive!? Where are your parents?!?"

Johnny sighed deeply. "Look, my parents died when I was three. I was sent to an orphanage and stayed there until I ran away on my ninth birthday. Ever since then, I've been living on the streets. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to catch the bus to Mercer Island."

Johnny walked past the two wolves and headed for the door. Michael was lost for words, and even Marcus was shocked.

Johnny opened the door and began walking outside, "Hey Wait! You can't leave! You're injured too badly and you need help! You'll just hurt yourself!"

Johnny turned and was surprised to see Michael running after him. He sighed once more, "Look Mr Don Carlo, I can take care of myself. Thank you for your kindness and hospitality."

Before Michael could respond, Johnny pulled up his hood and began sprinting towards the nearest building. But as soon as he set a foot on the wall, he felt excruciating pain erupt from his side. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground, unfortunately landing on the side where his injury was.

He turned his head and saw Michael running towards him, "Damn it! I told you this would happen." He crouched by Johnny, putting a hand on his chest.

Johnny had his eyes squinted, "I...*gasp*...said...I could take...*gasp*...care of myself..."

He opened his eyes and looked into Michael's, and saw two emotions, sadness and anger. "You know what? Fuck it...you're staying here whether you like it or not! I'm not just gonna let a kid who's severely injured run around, and homeless at that! As a doctor, it's my responsibility to care for those who are in bad health. And no matter what you say, I'm NOT going to take no for an answer!" To prove his point, he put his arms under Johnny and lifted him with ease, surprising him with his strength.

Johnny wasn't that heavy, but he weighed enough to at least make an average furry grunt. He carried him back to the two story house. As soon as they entered, he carried Johnny up the stairs back to the room where he woke up. "Marcus! Come downstairs, I need to talk to you!" Michael yelled.

Soon after, he saw Marcus come out of a room next to the one he woke up in. "What's he still doing here?!? I thought you said you'd just patch him up and then let him leave!"

Johnny winced 'ok....gotta admit, that hurt.'

Michael entered the room with Johnny still in his arms, Marcus soon appearing behind him. He laid him on the bed, "Stay here," he whispered. Then, on his way out he took Marcus by the arm and led him out.

The ten minutes that passed felt the longest of his whole life. His was shaking his ankle up and down due to anxiety, and he only heard two words. "He's staying." Then after that, there was a LOT of cursing and yelling.

When Michael came back in, Johnny was scared shitless. He'd never thought he'd be in this kind of situation. The elder wolf sat down at the foot of the bed and sighed. "Look...you mind if I call you John rather than Johnny. It seems a little childish to use that?" John nodded in agreement. He had only kept that name as it was bestowed upon him by the kids in the orphanage. "John, I'm gonna be blunt and cut to the chase, I want you to stay here with me and Marcus. And not until you just heal up, I want you to live with us, until you get at least a stable life."

Johnny was stunned, shocked...and scared. "Look, Mr Don Carlo..." he started.

"And don't tell me no you're not. I don't see any reason why you should continue what you're doing. You need help John, so why won't you take it?"

John looked away, remembering why he made the rule not to trust anyone. He looked at Michael, and lifted his hand to point to his right eye which had a huge white scar going across it. "This is why I don't take help from anyone. It's already bad enough that I'm the last human. When I first started living on the streets, I was vulnerable. I wasn't out of shape, but I didn't have the build I have today. I was weak, scared and defenceless. So...I depended on the kindness of others to help me." John took a shaky breath, "I remember that night perfectly. I was cold, tired...and so hungry. This tiger saw me clutching my stomach, and offered to help me. He ignored the fact that I was human...or so I thought. He took me to his house, and fed me. I thought it was a gift from God or something. I was so happy...until I started feeling woozy. Next thing I know, I'm tied up on a bed, naked. The sick bastard was playing with himself, watching me closely. I was ten and still a little kid, but I didn't cry. I was just scared, that's all. Anyways, he kept on touching me...Saying things. I remember him saying one thing though, word for word. 'Always wondered how tight a human felt.' So...when he finally got to it...I started freaking out. I began thrashing, trying to desperately rip the ropes from the poles they were attached to. He was so close to sticking it in me, but I pulled one last time, with all my strength. And I ripped the rope..."

John didn't realize he was shaking, until Michael placed a paw on his thigh. He looked at Michael, and saw something in his eyes...Concern. John swallowed...and continued. "As soon as I was free, I attacked him. I started scratching and punching him, but he threw me to the ground. He brought out his claws, and got me across my eye. I cried in pain, and grabbed a lamp near me and hit him with it. I must've hit him in the right spot or something, because he fell to the floor, unconscious. I thought I'd killed him, but he was still breathing. Realizing what I did, I took my chance to escape. And ever since that day, I decided to never trust anyone who would try to help someone like me ever again. After that day, I also began working on my body and fighting skills. I never wanted to be in a position like that again, at least not without knowing how to fight." He looked back up to Michael, who was looking back at him with even more concern than earlier.

The next thing he did, John thought would never happen. Michael grabbed his shoulders, and John instinctively tensed up, preparing for a punch or something of the sort. But no, what Michael did was nothing like that. He hugged him. Then, he heard him whisper, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

John was wide eyed with shock, unable to say anything. "I promise...I'll never do anything like that to you ever in my life. I want you to stay with us John, to give you the love and care you've never received in your life. I want to help you and to protect you."

John closed his eyes, but a single tear escaped still escaped it. He'd never felt like this before, but it felt great. So great, he never wanted it to end. Michael broke the hug and looked at him. John opened his eyes, only to have more tears escape, but he wasn't crying, tears were just falling down his face. He didn't understand why they were falling though, probably from years of keeping them inside. Ever since he was on the streets, since he left the orphanage, he'd never cried. Slowly, Michael leaned in and gently licked the tears away, but John didn't mind. In fact, he liked it.

The wolf hugged him one last time and stood up, "Okay, so it's official. You're staying with us. Get some rest, I'll figure out what to do next, okay?" John nodded as Michael began walking away. "Oh! And don't worry about Marcus...I'll talk to him." He turned to face John one last time, "Welcome to the family John, I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight." And with that, he turned off the light and left the room.

John lay back down, even though he'd woken up only about an hour ago, he was very tired. That fall had taken a lot of energy out of him. There was a lot on his mind, but he was too tired to even think straight. He'd just have to deal with it in the morning. As he began drifting off to sleep, he asked himself one question. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Edit performed on 24/12/2011 as a gift by RuthofPern, at Madfire's request.