Listen Dog- Jake

Listen Dog





         “So you’re Ellie?” I followed her down the hallway. She pulled the back backpack over her shoulder and tightened it.

         “Now’s not the time.” She started at a run. I could deffinitly keep up with her. I beat her to the magenta doorframe and blocked her way. She looked at my chest and it took her a minute to realize I was not moving. She then looked me in the eye very pissed off. “Get out of my way or I will kill you.” She hissed. Wow she was really good at acting pissed off.

         “I heard it.” I said quietly. I didn’t want to use this against her, but I wanted to be around her. She looked at me like I had three heads. Maybe in this house… no wait never mind, back on topic. “Don’t let me be alone. Don’t show the fear. Get up and leave.” I repeated under my breath as Ziek stepped into the hallway. She glared at me harder. She swung her hand at the door and it opened.

         “Go.” She pointed and sighed. Ziek was watching. He seemed amazed as I turned into her room. I took a few seconds, and realized this might be one of those boundaries; I leaned on the door jam looking at my feet.

         “Ellie.” He called with a question in his voice. She glared back at me and walked halfway down the hallway to meet him. I had to listen very closely and even then, I could barely pick up the conversation. “We don’t know much about him. Are you sure you want to be alone with him?” he asked.

         “I know he seems well enough. Plus if he pisses me off I could always kill him.” She said. Well that was uncalled for. I didn’t kill her when I had the chance. I didn’t even thin about it. Wait. I really didn’t even think about it.

         “Please don’t…” He looked back towards his room. “Ally would be very upset. She wants to help.” Ziek explained.

         “What about you?” Ellie asked.

         “I find myself dragging my feet in the killing department.” Ziek kept that cold look on his face. Ellie shifted her weight. “Kid means well, so if Ally can help him, there is no need for me to kill him.” He caved. That is comforting, never mind the fact that I plowed right through you to fight with Ally… Jack ass.

         “Zoë and Marcus?” She asked.

         “Zoë loves him. She’s excited he’s here and won’t stop bouncing.” He paused and looked over her shoulder toward me. I had practiced that looking at your feet like you’re not paying attention thing. “It’s actually kinda obnoxious…” he sighed. “Dude, you missed it! Marcus made the kid stab him and he did the falling over thing.” Ziek was smiling.

         “I hated that.” Ellie sounded a little lighter.

         “What’s up with you?” Ziek finally read her emotions.

         “Got smacked in the face with my past.” Ellie mumbled. Ziek stood there a minute. Say something! Tell her what the past was so I can know. Come on Ziek speak!

         “Did he…” Ziek faded. No finish the sentence.

         “No, I used his power and jumped into the library.” She was almost in tears. Don’t make her cry! Come on man, you should know her like that. “Jake turned into a…” She didn’t know what I was. She tilted her head to the side, probably trying to find the right words.

         “Werewolf.” Ziek finished her sentence. “He doesn’t have complete control over his powers, but Ally shut him down well. She wants to help slash train him.” Ziek started talking.

         “Well yeah, he turned into that, attacked the guy, and kept him busy until Marcus killed him…” It seemed like she was still trailing off thinking about me. “Kids earned something… don’t ya think?” Ellie looked up at Ziek. Tell her yes, it is a start to earning trust.

         “No. I think he should get a dog house on the back forty until he can control himself.” Ziek said coldly. What an asshole.

         “Well good thing he didn’t save your ass.” She said quietly and turned towards me. I kept looking at my feet and waited for her to tell me what to do. “Come on…” she led me into her room. It was a little bigger than mine, and had magenta borders on white walls. There was a four poster bed with a white canopy in the middle of the far wall. It had magenta fabric that was tied to the posts with green ropes. Her quilt was perfectly even on all sides, white with green squares and Magenta stitching. The pillows all matched and were set up perfectly symmetrical. The Dresser was Magenta and lime green. There were a few Lime green squares on the walls. Nothing in the room was out of place, and everything matched.

         Ellie was in all black. She stood out from everything in the room, but I guess you never really know. She just didn’t seem to fit into this room at all. Clash of personalities in the most schizophrenic way. I guess that’s a good thing. Judging by how efficiently she moves and how clear she is in her decision making eight million little red flags should have gone up in my head. She yanked her tank top off and I turned away. Everyone deserves a little privacy when changing.

         “It’s okay Jake. I’m not shy.” She threw her ripped tank top in the garbage, and walked over to the dresser. All the same, she deserves a little privacy. I faced the wall. I could pretty much see where she was in her room, and hear her heartbeat. I could also smell her skin. There’s not much you can’t judge by those. Her heartbeat was steady and she moved with a purpose. If I listened close enough-

         “If I catch you in my head one more time, I will not hesitate to kill you. That is not your right or your business.” She was very clear, very articulate and very threatening. The smell of her skin dulled so I knew she was fully clothed again.

         “Okay.” I said quietly. She could feel that. That’s… new. Everyone else hand no clue.

         “My powers are very straight forward. I can bend the elements. Earth, Wind, Fire Water. I can steal peoples powers, but only if I am touching them. I can also change my hair, but that’s about it. You change, can do the mind reading thing… What else?” She asked.

         “Thank you.” I said quietly. She stopped rummaging through the back pack on the other side of the room.

         “What?” She looked up.

         “You’re the first one who hasn’t called me dog, or kid. Thank you.” I said a little louder. Zoë hasn’t either, but something tells me she would never be condescending to anyone. So I don’t really count her.

         “You’re welcome.” Ellie seemed taken back by a simple thank you. That’s… odd.

         “I have really good hearing, good sense of smell, and my body temperature is hot… other than that… just me.” I answered.

         “Well, here are the rules of me.” She paused. Oh good, ground rules. This isn’t so awkward. “One: Don’t ever come in my room. I will find out, and I will hunt you down.” I looked down. Yeah… clearly standing in her room. “Invitation doesn’t count.” She added. “Two: My backpacks, you will be killed over them. They are all black, and very rarely out of my hands. They contain things that will get me killed, or paid. I might have to kill you out of necessity if you go through them.” She continued.

         “Do I get anymore information on that one?” That didn’t make sense to me.

         “No.” she stared at me blankly. That’s creepy. A bag that I can’t look in or I might get killed. You know I seem to be getting a lot of those threats from her, and that’s the first one that sent a little red flag up. Stay away from the black backpacks. Check.

         “Lastly…” She turned and pointed at me. This couldn’t be good. She sounded, and looked very angry. Which I thought was very hard because she was so little. She was not as little As Zoë, but she was close, maybe twenty pounds and two inches bigger. This rule would really suck.

         “Thank you.” She dropped her shoulders. That was not what she was going to say, but something tells me she doesn’t thank people often.

         “You’re welcome.” I said back. This was a good thing. I know you’re not supposed to expect a thank you, and I could have done without, but she was easy to be around. I mean, Ally was comforting because I couldn’t kill her, she was already dead.

         “Do you mind me ruining the moment?” I had to ask. That was a real fear of mine. I liked her, and I didn’t want to hurt her accidentally. “Can I injure you?” I asked. She looked at me and seemed defensive. “No, not like run over and hit you with your permission, but physically hurt you. If I changed and couldn’t control myself?” I tried to better explain.

         “Prolly… but I’m not too worried about it.” she answered and moved around the bed closer to me. I just basically told her that I think I could accidentally kill her and she wants to get closer. What is with the people in this house? Ellie got close to me. As she got just within two feet I backed against the wall. She was just below shoulder height for me, and the only thing that kept me from running away was eye contact with those liquid gold eyes. I took a step back as she stepped towards me, soon the wall was at my feet and she took another step.

         What the hell am I supposed to do here! I can’t win, I know this, Either way I am wrong, That tight feeling in your chest when you’re backing away from something you really want and you’re not sure whether or not you are willing to risk what you just did or didn't do, Nothing really makes sense and the not problem, problem seems to be right in your face and you know the right decision but you also know what you think you want at this very moment, Stepping away isn’t an option, and neither is taking what you want. Yeah… that.

         “You seem nervous.” As she continued to talk something fell hard above us and rolled. It scared me and before I could even think about what I was doing I changed. The tee-shirt shredded and the belt splintered off.  On the up side the pants finally fit right. Her back was against the wall where I had stood. Something was a little different this time. I could hear me in the back of my head. Like the me that was panicking and praying I don’t kill her. Yeah, I could hear that. I could never hear that before.

         “Hi.” Ellie sat on the floor in front of me. She just plopped down, without any fear or anger. She only came up to my breast bone when she was sitting. “Come on, have a seat.” She smacked the floor in front of me. I circled around her to the other side and she seemed tense about that. Not like she was going to be mean in anyway, but just, apprehensive. I sat next to her, when I sat I was even taller. It’s not like I could tell her I had a bit of control over this, so I lay with my head next to her leg. “Not as difficult as you thought it was, is it?” She looked down at the top of my head. How can I answer that? It’s not like I can talk.

         After a minute of silence she moved her had closer to my head. No one had ever tried to touch me before, at least not without violence being the case. I jumped up and faced her; this was something I was unsure about. She was on her feet as fast as I was. She has good reflexes. Her hand was still out, but she looked apologetic.

         “It’s okay.” She was quiet. I hadn’t scared her. She wasn’t upset or anything. Ellie turned her hand upward. I’m not a dog, I can smell you from over here, but I got the point. She wasn’t going to attack me. I knew that, as much as I thought that as the werewolf, that voice in the back of my head knew better. I took a step closer and she kept still. Thank you, that would make this easier.