The Year of the Salamander - 23. Chapter 23

“Okay, mutt,” he said after he dragged the bag of dog food inside the house. “Here is the deal... I got your damn food, so...”

He stopped talking when the dog let out a very uncertain and confused sound.

“What?” he frowned when the animal just stood there with a strange look in his eyes. “Oh, don’t tell me that you are going to throw up!”

That didn’t seem to be the case, however. The dog looked plain confused right now, as if he had no idea who Desmond was. He frowned deeper, immediately remembering the dog’s weird reaction to him several months ago. Then he remembered about his strange reaction to Sam one night back in August, and narrowed his eyes. Come to think of it, there was a strange reaction from Sam once as well, he thought. The kid looked as if he wasn’t sure how the dog was going to act one night when he came home late. Now, why in the world would that be?

He started looking for a common denominator. He found it rather quickly, and a cold shiver ran down his spine. Eve, he thought. Eve was the common denominator. The dog acted strangely, when Sam came back from his first date with her; the dog acted strangely, when Desmond shook her hand for the first time; the damn dog acted strangely right now, after Desmond ran into her less than an hour ago... He was pretty sure that the dog acted strangely when he was alone with Sam, which explained the kid’s cautiousness that one time.

Okay, he thought feverishly. Why was the damn dog acting normal when Sam met her in that bloody bookstore for the very first time? He was shoving his tongue down the kid’s throat when Sam came home that evening, and he seemed completely fine. Desmond picked up the bag with dog food off the floor and went into the kitchen. He dumped all the pellets into the bucket, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Whatever it was, he did not like it.

The dog walked a little closer to him and sat down, watching him without blinking. Desmond closed the door of the cabinet and propped his arms on his sides.

“Dammit, mutt...” he muttered. “What is it? What do you sense?”

The dog moved his ears uncertainly but stayed put.

“Shit,” Desmond closed his eyes for a second. “Don’t tell me this has something to do with the whole sacrifice thing... Plus, why would you...” He growled softly and shook his head. “Screw this,” he muttered finally. “I can’t do anything about it right now, and I have that stupid dinner to worry about, which is happening tonight... I am taking a shower, and then I am taking a nap. Do you want your food?”

Desmond knew that the dog recognized more than several words. ‘Food’ was one of those words. He seemed to be hungry an hour earlier, but right now, he didn’t even move. Desmond sighed.

“Fine,” he said. “Try whining when I fall asleep, and you will be sorry.”

He went towards the bedroom, and the dog immediately moved backwards when he got closer. Desmond gritted his teeth, thinking that he needed to do some research on Akbash dogs. Maybe they could sense magic, he thought. Tess ran a check-up on Sam, and according to her, he was clean. Could the damn dog be more sensitive than Tess DeCrusse? He highly doubted that, but decided to do the research anyway.

He took a quick shower, hoping that whatever the dog smelled on him would wash away, and then he slid under the blankets, burying his face into the pillow. Five minutes later, he was asleep.

****

He was staring at the same canvas, holding the same brush. The surroundings were different this time, however. Every single time before this, he would be somewhere inside with nothing but canvas and the brush. Right now, however, he was outside, on some cliff. He looked around. The location was unknown to him. There was an old watchtower straight ahead, and he could hear lazy splashing of water underneath the cliff. He switched his attention to the canvas.

The interesting-looking pattern was shimmering gold in the middle of it. It was circle-shaped, with lots of lines entwining and crossing together in a glowing fashion. He quickly glanced around, looking for that damn dog. He knew that the pattern was about to be complete; it was in that stage for a while now. However, every time he was about to draw that final line, the goddamn dog would inevitably jump him. He wasn’t even sure where the hell the beast was coming from; sometimes, it would simply appear out of thin air, it seemed. Thanks to the dog, the pattern wasn’t complete, and it was driving him insane. He would feel a desperate rush and a maddening urge every time he looked at it. It screamed out silently, demanding that last line, ordering him to finish it already, screaming at him in helpless rage. He had to complete it; he had to complete it now, because if he waited any longer, he would be late, and that would mean everything was done for nothing. He had to complete it...

The paintbrush vibrated impatiently in his fingers and the tip of it glowed blue, just as it always did. He glanced around once again, and took a step towards the canvas. The pattern shimmered in sweet anticipation. He raised his arm, and then there was barking. It sounded almost hysterical, as if the dog knew he was running out of time. He gritted his teeth and stepped closer to the canvas. He was going to finish this, dammit! He knew exactly where that last line was supposed to go – it was so obvious...

The barking grew louder and closer. He didn't have much time, he thought, and bit his lip. The glowing tip of the brush trembled an inch away from the canvas, ready to draw the last line. The barking was really close now. He took a quick breath and brought the tip of the brush onto the canvas, drawing that demanding line in one swift and precise motion. The minute he did it, the entire canvas shuddered with incredible force, and then the pattern glowed blood-red for a second. Then he was knocked off his feet, his fingers losing the grip on the brush.

He rolled towards the edge of the cliff, trying to fight off that damn dog, whose teeth were very close to his throat right now. It’s done, he thought with strange satisfaction. It is finally complete. The dog’s muzzle was so close to his face, he could see his reflection in the dog’s eyes. Somehow, it didn’t matter. He forcefully shoved the dog away, thinking of jumping up, but at the last second, his ankle gave up, and the dog sank his teeth into his shoulder, ripping his muscles apart. He screamed louder than he screamed in his entire life, and then both – he and the dog – of them flew off the cliff. “It is complete,” he thought right before he hit sharp rocks in the dark water beneath the cliff.

****

He screamed out and sat up, gasping for air, his heart thumping somewhere in his throat, his entire body trembling as if he had a hell of a fever. He looked around with wild eyes, barely registering anything he saw. Finally, he took a deep, shaky breath and looked at the clock. It was almost four in the afternoon. Gabriel would be home soon, he thought and got off the bed, still shaking uncontrollably.

He went into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. He splashed it on his face, and it helped somewhat. Finally, he turned off the water and stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. “It is complete,” he thought, and blinked rapidly. What is complete? He had no idea what the thought even meant. He could not remember a single thing from his nightmare, as usual, but this one was worse than the others, he knew that. He would never shake so badly before.

“What the hell is going on?” he muttered to his reflection, and the reflection just stared at him with huge green eyes.

He looked in the mirror for several more minutes, and finally, sighed and turned off the lights. He is going to have a cigarette, wait for Rayhe, and bitch about the dreadful dinner that was looming on tonight’s horizon. He will worry about the damn nightmare later.

****

“You know, fettuccine doesn’t sound so alluring,” Desmond said gloomily at six in the evening when they were leaving the house. “It’s not worth it. Just tell them that I had to go to work...”

“It’s Solstice break,” Gabriel said calmly and handed him a bottle of wine. “Hold this, please.”

“Then tell them that I got sick,” Desmond said irritably.

“You never get sick,” Gabriel sighed and locked the door of the house.

“Then tell them...”

“Desmond...”

“What?”

“Shut up!”

“Goddammit, Rayhe...!”

“Des, shut up and get in the car. It’s important to Sam, okay? Just suck it up and deal with several lousy hours. You can do that, can’t you?”

“Rayhe...”

“Get in the car.”

“I am going to...”

“Goddammit, Desmond! Just get in the damn car!”

Desmond glared at Rayhe for a full minute. Finally, he shoved that bottle of wine into Gabriel’s hands and marched towards the car. Gabriel rolled his eyes and followed him. When they were inside the car, Gabriel almost said something that would include words ‘tantrum’ and ‘baby’ in it. Then he looked at Desmond and wisely decided against it. He kept his mouth shut until he got to the address Sam gave him earlier.

“We are here,” he said mildly after he parked behind Sam’s car.

Desmond opened the door and got out without saying a single word. Gabriel sighed deeply and climbed out as well. Desmond waited for him on the sidewalk, his hands shoved into his pockets.

“I am not staying for longer than two hours,” he said shortly.

“Okay,” Gabriel said as mildly as before.

“Stop talking to me like you trying to calm down a horse,” Desmond snapped.

“Okay,” Gabriel nodded.

Desmond gritted his teeth and said nothing else. He silently followed Rayhe towards the front door. Gabriel rang the bell, and a minute later, Sam opened the door. He looked excited and scared at the same time. He let out a small, relieved sigh when he saw Desmond, as if he firmly believed that Rayhe (or any other power in this world for that matter) would not be able to get him here tonight.

“Hey, guys,” he said quickly. “Come in...”

“Hey, Sam,” Gabriel said in the same mild manner.

Desmond’s jaw was hurting from all the teeth grinding. He followed Gabriel inside the house. “Two hours,” he thought. “Two bloody hours... Two hours, and I am out of here... If Rayhe wants to stay, he can, I don’t care. I’ll walk home.”

“Blair!” Sam yelled in the general direction of the living room.

Desmond took a breath and made a hell of an effort to unlock his jaw. It worked, but only partially.

“Hey,” he heard a strangely familiar voice, and blinked in disbelief. This could not possibly be...

“Oh, hell, no...!” they said at the same time when they saw each other.