If You Knew

“P-Please, just let me go,” Zacky stuttered, pain shooting through his torso from the excessive walking he did. He was still in a tremendous amount of pain, and he didn’t want anything to do with the three soon-to-transform wolves in front of him. The one that spoke originally simply shook his head.

“I’m sorry Zacky, but I’m afraid I can’t do that. You’re a disgrace to the wolf name, therefore, you need to be punished, you little mutt,” he snarled. The two men that were standing beside the man speaking, one on each side, nodded in agreement. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the one in the middle was the leader; he had a heavier build compared to the other two, was a couple of inches taller, and, from what Zacky knew, had a more demanding, firm voice.

“Please, I don’t want any trouble. Just let me go,” Zacky begged, desperate to find a sanctuary. He mentally kicked himself for not bringing along Brian’s shirt, but, now that he thought about it, he never had the chance.

“I already told you mutt, I can’t do that.” The three men stepped back from Zacky ever so slightly, but only to transform. It wasn’t long before the three of them were grown, intimidating wolves. Zacky cowered, almost transforming himself into a puppy. He knew, however, that that wouldn’t be the smartest of decisions, for it was his halfling self that these wolves hated the most; the part of him that they wanted to rip to shreds.

He heard the three of them growl simultaneously, and in an instant, Zacky was running from them. Even though it hurt worse than any other pain Zacky had ever felt, he knew that if he didn’t run then, he wouldn’t be feeling anymore pain period. It didn’t take long for the three wolves, dark brown and light brown, black and dark grey, and grey and white, to catch up to him. The black and dark grey wolf pounced on him, and in the blink of an eye, Zacky was being pinned against slightly damp, green grass in an area secluded from most of humanity. Before he was stopped earlier by the three wolves, he was able to make it to an area of a park that wasn’t visited frequently by people; it was only ever used when people wanted to get away, and that was exactly what Zacky wanted, or at least that’s what he had thought he wanted.

Zacky felt his shirt tear and become slightly moist with blood from where the wolf’s nails were digging into his flesh. It wasn’t bad compared to his other injuries, but it wasn’t very good either. Zacky began to struggle underneath the wolf in a feeble at escaping. The wolf growled, obviously trying to tell Zacky to stop moving or else the damage soon to be inflicted would happen much sooner than intended.

“Get off, please!” Zacky yelled, tears pricking his eyes. The pain from running earlier, along with the new gashes, small, but still there, were beginning to get to him, and it felt like hell decided to take refuge in his body. Just as the wolf was about to sink his teeth into Zacky’s shoulder, a voice cried out from the very near distance.

“Get the fuck off him!” It was Brian. Brian actually came to his rescue. Needing to make sure it was all real and he wasn’t just hallucinating, Zacky turned his head trying to scope out the voice he just heard. And, to his surprise, Brian was there, looking more pissed off than he had ever seen him before. In his state, Zacky didn’t know if Brian was pissed off at him for leaving in the first place, even though he had told him to, or if he was angry at the wolves for doing this to him, even though they didn’t do much of anything yet. Anyone else on the other hand, could easily tell that the hatred currently swimming around inside of Brian’s chocolate brown eyes were for the three wolves currently pinning Zacky down.

Zacky watched in disbelief as Brian tackled the wolf that was on top of him. It didn’t take long for that wolf to transform back into a human, now laying unmoving underneath Brian. The wolf’s cronies transformed back as well, standing a few inches away from Brian.

“Zacky, get out of here. Go back to my house. I’ll meet you there,” Brian demanded.

“But-”

“Now, Zacky.” Being a dog, or a mutt, as the wolves referred to him, Zacky listened and began making his way towards Brian’s house.

Once Brian knew Zacky was out of earshot, he began speaking.

“What the hell are you doing here, Gunnolf?” Brian snarled. Gunnolf smirked, amused at Brian’s frustration.

“Ah, so you do remember me Brian. I was hoping you did.”

“What the hell do you want?”

“What, I can’t have some fun with a useless halfling? You hate them almost as much as I do, don’t you? I know you used to,” he smirked.

“Yeah Brian, don’t you remember those times?” Maicoh, the dark and light brown wolf joined in, stepping forward slightly.

“Shut the hell up. That was a long time ago Maicoh, you know that,” Brian growled in frustration, now aggravated at the three wolves.

“Oh shut the fuck up Brian. Do you hear yourself? It sounds to me like you’re sticking up for that fucking mutt. Denying your past like it never happened,” Gunnolf said as he removed himself from underneath Brian. If Brian was actually trying at this point, he could’ve held him down if he needed, or wanted, to. But, quite frankly, there was no use. Zacky was already a safe distance away, and as long as he was around, they weren’t going to get him.

“I’m not denying anything! I’m just saying that I’ve changed!” Brian yelled after a moment or two. Gunnolf, Maicoh, and the third wolf, Lupus, began to walk away.

“Whatever you say Brian, whatever you say.” After saying that, the three wolves transformed once more, running a good distance away from him and back towards wherever it was they called home.

Brian walked slowly back to his house, thinking about everything that had just happened. Three people, or wolves for that matter, he had never expected to see again showed up, and then continued to bring up things that he had long since forgotten about. Brian chose to forget about that part of his life and move on, but apparently, some people just couldn’t live and let go. Before he could contemplate much else, he was on his doorstep and opening the front door. The first thing he spotted after entering his abode was Zacky, laying curled up in a ball on his couch, staring aimlessly at the blank television screen in the middle of the room. Brian made his way over to him, kneeling down in front of him.

“C’mon Zack, let’s go get you cleaned up.”

“I’m fine,” Zacky mumbled, not wanting to give in that easily.

“Don’t even start this. C’mon, get up. I’ll clean up your cuts and then you can get some sleep.” Zacky only nodded, attempting to get up. He whimpered in pain when he tried moving his bottom half too much, and only then did he realize just how much additional damage had been done. He originally thought it was only a few small scratches, but looking down, he seen a good six to eight cuts down his rib cage, and he didn’t even want to know how many bruises littered his torso. Zacky looked up, pleading with his eyes for Brian to help him up. Sighing, Brian reached out his hand and helped Zacky slowly get up and off of the couch. Even though halflings disgusted him, absolutely revolted him, Brian knew Zacky needed someone right now, and that someone happened to be him.

Brian led Zacky to the bathroom and made him sit on the white porcelain toilet seat while he rummaged through cabinets that held everything he would need. Grabbing some gauze and Neosporin, Brian made his way back to Zacky. He took a washcloth and dampened it slightly before looking back at Zacky. Figuring it would be best if Zacky didn’t move throughout this process, for he didn’t want any wounds to reopen, he set the cloth down and lifted Zacky’s shirt off of his body. Zacky didn’t object, but looked at him somewhat confused.

“I didn’t want you to hurt yourself,” Brian answered Zacky’s look, receiving a nod of understanding in response.

“This might hurt a little,” Brian warned, pressing the warm washcloth against Zacky’s body. Zacky winced before regaining his composure, the little amount of pain now fading. Brian sighed, realizing just how much pain Zacky must be in right now.

“Please Zacky, please don’t run away again.” Brian didn’t receive any response, and he knew that wasn’t a good sign.

“Zacky, please. I’ll make a deal with you.” Zacky looked up, now interested in what Brian had to say.

“If I can make up for everything I’ve put you through in the next two weeks, then you stay.”

“And if you can’t?” Zacky questioned.

“Then you’re free to go whenever you want. You’re free to run away, and I’ll never go looking for you again.” Zacky thought for a moment, wondering if that’s what he really wanted. He wondered if he really wanted Brian to stay away.

“Alright,” he finally agreed, figuring that it would be better for the both of them if Brian just left him alone and acted like he never met him, “Deal.”

“Remember, I still have my chance to make this up to you.” Zacky nodded, not knowing how he planned on doing that, but what Zacky didn’t know, was that neither did Brian.