He let out the saddest whine as he let go and dropped to his knees.
“Don’t hate me anymore,” he cried out as he fell onto his hands, tears steadily dripping onto the floor. “I don’t wanna be alone.”
Trying to hold onto what emotional strength I still had, I knelt in front of him, pushing his heavy upper body from the floor.
“I can’t make promises about the future. I can’t say everyone will be around forever, but right now,” I pulled him into a firm embrace, “you’re safe in my arms. I swear.”
He looked up and locked eyes with me.
“When I was really little, my mom used to sing this song—I can’t remember it, but the lyrics promised I’d be safe in her arms.”
His words brought back a memory I’d forgotten until now, but I no longer believed any of this was coincidence. A week after Dad’s funeral, I’d heard the song he mentioned, and I remembered the lyrics like they were sung to me yesterday.
My voice cracked and trembled as I struggled to sing while stroking the back of his neck. I sang until I got to the last part of the chorus. “… you will be safe in my arms.”
We sat like that for several minutes in almost deafening silence.
“I’ll never hate you, Austin. Don’t ever think about dying again because our family wouldn’t be complete without you.”
His tears stopped, and he pulled back with a smile.
“Thank you,” he whispered, before the image shattered into millions of pieces, giving way to blue sky and rolling, green hills. Austin sat under a laurel oak tree with his back turned to me, but he was wearing something that made me laugh and cry at the same time. As my heavy footsteps fell beside him, he turned and grinned before scrambling to his feet.
“How did you get that Pawlibear costume?”
“I learned it from when I was in my blue box. You gotta want something bad enough, and it’ll happen.”
“And this is what you wanted?”
He pulled me into a hug, and everything around us turned a blinding white.
“No. I just wanted to see you smile again.”
Chapter 36
Flowers and Family
Cody
The sunlight grew brighter until it bleached the green hills and purple wildflowers. Colors bled into the ground, and everything around was featureless. Roscoe disappeared, and tribal drumbeats filled my mind, the rhythm speeding up as they beckoned me to the surface.
When I felt like I was falling, my eyes snapped open, and I choked on herbs that had been tucked into my cheek. I spat the psychedelic mixture onto the cavern floor, and the neon butterflies and multi-colored specs disappeared.
Roscoe, Austin, and Adam each jolted awake, spitting out what had been placed into their mouths, and the drums outside of the cave grew to a crescendo before softening back to a steadyrhythm. Yipping and howling commenced before a different beat took control of the feral tribe.
“Memories are intact,” I said, looking over at the huge elder sitting cross-legged by the fire. “I guess we passed?”
He nodded, now seeming to understand me, even without being under the effects of the herb.
“My head,” Austin whimpered while rubbing his temples. “Where the hell are we?”
“Did you come back to us?” Adam asked, scrambling across the stony floor toward the larger werewolf until he was on his knees before him, holding Austin’s face. “You’re talking.”
“Had this weird dream,” Austin said, “and you were in it.”
We all turned toward the sound of a giant tail thudding a joyful tempo.
“That was no dream,” the elder grunted. “I did not expect any of you to pass, and my pack would add four more this day, but I misjudged.” He turned to Roscoe before reaching into his pouch to grab a large handful of white powder.
