Note: This would have taken a lot longer without the help of ZenaidaMacroura. He deserves a lot of credit for helping me. Also, this is not a completely "new" fic but I had troubles with some of the fics involved so I just put them all together.
Disturbed
November 2nd, 1929
All knew of this house. The house on the end of the lane. It had been abandoned for years. The brown paint was pealing and the roof was falling apart. The floorboards squeaked whenever they were stepped on and the windows were always open. No one knew what had happened to the previous owners. Many people had wondered what was in there, but none dared to enter. Until one day...
“Oh come on dad. Are ya chicken?” Kodi teased.
“I’m not a chicken. I just know that I shouldn’t go in there.” Balto protested, looking at the house.
For all the years that he had lived here, this was the one place in
“But dad-” Kodi started.
“I’m not going in there and that’s final.” Balto interrupted.
That night:
Balto lay awake. Tossing and turning for what seemed like hours. He couldn’t stop thinking. Thinking about that house. He couldn’t figure out what it was that wanted him to go in.
“Why can’t I go to sleep?” he asked aloud.
He heard someone stirring. “Vhat are you doing still awake?” grumbled Boris. “It is very late at night. You should be sleeping.”
“I don’t know Boris. I just can’t sleep.” replied Balto.
“Well maybe be quieter so I can sleep!” honked Boris.
Balto knew that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep. He was just about to talk to Boris when he heard him snoring. ‘Faker’ he thought. Balto got up and stretched. He crept off the boat and headed towards town. He was going to find out what was in that house. One way or another.
He stepped up to the house. He looked it over. Just doing that sent a shiver up his spine. He walked onto the porch.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” he muttered.
He opened the door. It was unlocked. It creaked open and slammed against the wall. Balto walked inside. He took a look at his surroundings. He was in the living room. Cobwebbed furniture was scattered about the room. He looked to his right to see two staircases. One that led to the basement and another that headed upstairs. To his left he saw a fireplace with two chairs. He walked over to them. There was a newspaper in one. “Mysterious Disappearance” was what it read. Balto kept reading farther. “There has been a mysterious disappearance of a local family of
“Wow. They disappeared almost fourteen years ago.” he said to himself.
He continued to look through the house. He came upon the kitchen. He saw a pot on the stove with a chair nearby. He hopped on the stove and looked inside. It was full of dead bugs and something else that he couldn’t tell what it was. He got down and went back into the main room and headed up the stairs to a hallway. The two doors to the left and right were closed shut, but the door at the end of the hallway was side open. He walked to it, as if in a trance. He walked into the room. The wallpaper had been ripped to shreds. It looked like the room had been used for storage. He saw this doll in a baby carriage with a charcoaled face.
“That’s weird.” he commented.
He walked by a stack of boxes, unaware of the evil in the house. Then all of a sudden the door slammed behind him.
“What the heck!?” he yelled.
He ran to the door, but it wouldn’t open. ‘Darn it!’ he thought. He turned around. Then all the neatly stacked boxes fell over right in front of him. One of the boxes split open to reveal a decorated, wolf’s skull. Without warning Balto started to feel pain in his side. A pain that was so terrible he could barely stand it. To his saving grace he saw an open window. He rushed to it hoping to get out. It closed when he got ten feet from it.
“What’s with this crazy house?!” He yelled in frustration.
He hurried back to the door, hoping that this pain would end. It opened before he got to it. He didn’t ask and just kept going. He limped down the stairs and hobbled out the door. He got off the porch and something weird happened, he didn’t feel any pain.
He ran back to the boat. Unaware of the evil that would follow.
“Boris! Boris! Wake up!” he called to him.
Boris awoke with a start. “Vhat? Vhat? Why did you wake me up? I was having marvelous dream!?”
Balto stopped and tried to catch his breath. “Something…Something weird happened in that house.”
“Vhat house?” Boris asked.
“The one on the end of the lane.” he breathed heavily.
“You went in there!? Why?” Boris quickly questioned.
“I don’t know Boris. I just don’t know…” he replied.
Boris started to look him over. “Everything seems intact.” Just then he spotted a mark on his side. It almost looked like it was burned into him. “What is that?” he pointed to the mark for Balto to see.
Balto turned to look. “What is this?”
The mark that was burned into his skin almost looked like a curled up serpent. Never before had either of the two saw anything like this.
Balto looked at Boris. “What do you think it means, Boris?”
“No clue Balto. But we will maybe be able to figure out in morning. Let us catch some shut eye.”
Both went to bed that night and Balto could sleep easy. They were being watched over. By the demons.
The following morning:
Balto woke up in the morning earlier than usual. He felt different. He felt more energized, which was awkward. The sun was just starting to rise on the horizon.
“Wow, I beat the sun.” he said.
He stretched and jumped off the boat without Boris waking up. He looked up into the sky. ‘Winter will be here soon.’ He could tell by the slowly dropping temperatures and the clouds gathering in the sky. He had to tell Jenna of his experience the night before. Normally he would have walked but today he ran. While he was running through town he saw the house.
“No, never again.” he whispered and continued on his way.
He reached the front of Jenna’s house and howled just loud enough so she could hear it. There was a little bit of clatter as she came down. She stumbled out the door still half asleep.
She yawned. “What is it Balto? It’s early. The sun isn’t even up.”
He felt a little guilty, waking her up so early, but he had to tell her the strange things that happened. He was so busy thinking of what to say that Jenna started to worry.
“Balto are you okay?” she looked at him, worried.
“Yeah I’m alright Jenna. I just have to tell you about something that happened last night.” he told her.
She nuzzled him and looked down and saw the mark. “What happened?” she asked.
Balto started to confess. “I went into the old McMeijer’s house. The house at the end of the lane. When I went inside I looked around. I found a newspaper that said that they disappeared without a trace almost fourteen years ago. When I went upstairs I saw this storage room in terrible shape. In there I saw a charcoaled doll and a stack of boxes. When I entered the room the door slammed behind me and wouldn’t open. The boxes fell over and a wolf’s skull fell in front of me. Then all of a sudden I felt a pain like never before. I tried to go through an open window but it shut right before my eyes, so I headed back to the door and it opened up. I limped down the stairs and out the front door while still in pain. As soon as I got off the porch all the pain was gone and I had this…mark.”
Jenna’s head was reeling from the story. “Why did you go in their?” she blurted out. “No one should go in there.”
“Well-” he began but was interrupted.
It was Kodi. “Hey mom, hey pop. How’s it goin’?”
“Just fine, Kodi. Your father was just talking to me.” Jenna told him.
“About what?” he asked.
Balto looked at him. “Nothing important.”
“Okay, well I have to get back to the other mail dogs before we leave.” Kodi responded and happily hurried off.
Jenna looked at Balto with a concerned look. “I know it’s early but you should maybe get some rest. You went through a lot last night.”
“Don’t worry Jenna. I’ll be fine.” he told her.
If only he knew that, that was not true. He continued his day like normal. Wandering about the town just to waste time.
Soon it was sunset. He was heading back to his boat from Jenna’s house. He was walking along the houses when he passed by an empty alleyway. He almost passed it when something caught his eye. It was a shadow of some sorts.
“Eh, probably just my imagination.” he said aloud.
Sure that our minds play tricks on us once in while, but this time it wasn’t his mind. Just then there was a load bang and a trashcan fell over. Balto jumped in surprise and looked down the alleyway. Nothing.
“Okay, what was that?” he waited a few seconds. “Whatever it was I don’t want to find out.”
He started back towards the boat. Looking over his shoulder the whole way. He got back to the boat to find Boris already asleep and snoring.
“I guess he’s already asleep. Lazy bird.” he chuckled, wondering if that would wake him up, but to no avail. “Oh well. Good night Boris.” he whispered.
“Goooood niiiight.” a mysterious voice whispered.
Haunted
Balto was just about to fall asleep when he heard a voice. It gave an eerie good night. He jumped up to look for anybody who could have said it. No one was there except for a sleeping Boris. He shook Boris awake.
“Boris wake up.” he yelled.
“What, what, what!?” he honked.
“I think there’s someone else on the boat.” Balto said looking around.
Boris did the same. “I don’t see no one! You are paranoid! Go back to sleep!” he grumbled. He did not care to be woken up in the middle of the night for no reason.
“Boris is right. I’m just hearing things.” he murmured.
“Aye! I don’t want to be kept up half of night by your mumbling!” complained Boris, “I am very tired.”
“Okay fine. Bird brain.” he said to himself.
“I heard that!” Boris called.
Balto said nothing more and both tried to go to sleep. Boris of course, had no trouble sleeping. It took Balto a good hour to drift off.
Balto was in a flowery meadow. Different colored flowers dazzled his vision and the sun was shining. Not another soul was insight. In front of him rose a mountain. ‘This is nice.’ he thought.
“Oh look guys. He’s with us now.” said a voice.
“Ooh great. Now we can really have fun.” commented another.
“Yeah, he’s where he cannot escape.” said a third voice.
“Who are you?” asked Balto, looking around.
“No one you need to know about. Like we said, you’re with us now.” cackled the first voice.
“Let’s make this scene more appropriate.” replied the third voice.
All of a sudden black clouds painted the skies. Balto watched around him as the once pretty flowers started to die. A heavy rain started to pour. It washed away all the soil and leaving a rocky wasteland. Balto couldn’t believe it. This once beautiful scene turned to a nightmarish landscape. Balto looked around. “What have you done? Tell me who you are!”
“But why would we want to do that? It’s too much fun.” giggled the second voice.
“You know what else is fun?” the third voice asked Balto. “Causing you to have the worst dreams ever.”
Balto heard snapping and groaning. He felt something slide over his paws and immediately looked down. Root-like things had come up from the ground and ensnared his paws. He couldn’t move. Snakes appeared and started to crawl all over him. A wolf pack came from the horizon and surrounded Balto. They started laughing. Balto also saw some familiar dogs. Nikki, Kaltag, Star, Steele, and Jenna. He couldn’t believe his eyes. his best friends and mate were laughing at him. Complete strangers were mocking him. The next thing that happened hurt, Jenna went over to Steele and nuzzled him. Then, as if told to do so, the snakes that had previously been crawling over him suddenly bit him, hard.
He awoke with a yelp and started breathing heavily. The sun had risen a while ago. It was almost noon. The dream had seemed so real.
“That was a terrible nightmare.” he said. “Hey, Boris, where are you?”
He saw a shadow in the corner.
He turned around. “Ah Boris, I’m happy you’re here. Boris?”
Boris wasn’t there.
“Oh please tell me I’m not insane.” Balto prayed.
He went onto the deck, looking for Boris. ‘Where can he be?’ he wondered. He headed back into the cabin where he always slept.
Boris came up behind him. “Good morning sleepy head.” Boris cheerfully greeted.
Balto jumped almost five feet into the air. “Don’t scare me like that!” he yelled.
Boris looked at him, clearly surprised by his action. “Geez, what is your problem? Yelling at me for saying good morning.”
“Sorry Boris.” he said, feeling sorry. “I just had a nightmare that freaked me out. I’ll be okay.”
“I hope so. You have been acting paranoid since you went in house.” Boris said.
“I know, Boris. I’ve been seeing and hearing things that aren’t there.” Balto sighed.
“You have not been getting much sleep, maybe you are still tired.” suggested Boris.
“That’s what Jenna said.” he began. “But so far I haven’t been able to sleep. I’m going to walk around in town for a bit.”
Boris looked at him and smiled. “Okay, but try to not overreact to anything.”
“Gotcha Boris.” Balto smiled meekly and hopped off the boat, eager to talk to Jenna about the dream.
He arrived at Jenna’s house a few minutes later. There he saw Kodi talking with Jenna.
He smiled at them. “Hi. How’s everyone doing?”
Kodi looked up at him. “Sorry dad.” he looked back at Jenna and she nodded. “I didn’t mean for you to go in there and get yourself hurt.”
“It’s okay Kodi. It’s not your fault.” Balto said and looked at Jenna. “You told him?”
“Of course. Why shouldn’t I have?” asked Jenna. “He did have a right to know.”
“You’re right. Jenna I need to talk to you.” he looked at Kodi. “A private talk.”
Kodi nodded his head to signal that he knew he was not included. As soon as Kodi was out of earshot Balto began his story. It took a good five minutes for him to finish.
Jenna looked amazed. “Wow, are you okay? That must have been a terrible dream.”
“Yeah, well I’ll live. I better get back to the boat now. See you Jenna.” he gave a happy wave and started back.
To his relief nothing strange happened to surprise him on the way back. Nevertheless he kept checking every so often behind him. He decided that he would just relax today and gather his sanity. Boris was there to keep him company while the sun crept across the sky. Soon it was sundown and the two started to say their goodnights, and Balto started to dream.
A clearing came into view. Tall pine trees surrounded it. A clear blue stream slowly flowed through the clearing. Birds were chirping and everything was peaceful. It wouldn’t last forever…
“Please don’t let them return.” whispered Balto.
On cue he heard the first voice. “Welcome back.”
The second voice chimed in. “Did you miss us-”
The third voice cut in. “Like we missed you?”
‘Oh great.’ Balto thought.
“Yes it is great.” chuckled the third voice.
Balto froze. ‘Had that voice heard his thought?’
“Yes, isn’t it wonderful? That we can read your every thought.” rang in the first voice.
“Now shall we continue from the previous night?” asked the second to the third.
“Why yes we shall. And Balto, have a good time, because I know we will.”
‘Oh no.’ he thought, afraid of what they would do. Balto looked around. Everything was starting to fade, fade into oblivion. Soon he was engulfed by a blackness. He looked around. Every glance given him a sinking suspicion that whatever they had planned was going to be terrible. Then he heard a mysterious voice call his name.
“Balto…Balto where are you?” it faintly cried.
Balto somehow knew this voice. He called back to it, “Jenna? Jenna is that you?”
The scene flashed into focus. He was back in
“Jenna I’m so happy you’re her!” he exclaimed.
His running didn’t get him any closer to her. Instead she started to slip away. He looked around him. The houses and people were also slipping past him.
“Jenna!” he yelled.
He kept running and running. A mix of panic and confusion filled his mind. The last thing he saw was the house at the end of the land and then everything completely disappeared and was replaced by a new image. It was a circus. Carnival music played and laughter could be heard. Laughter from people who weren’t there. Behind him and to his left and right empty stalls with different striped roofs formed lanes. In front of him stood a red and yellow striped tent with an overhead, wooden, sign that read “Hall of Mirrors”. He started to walk away but hit a barrier.
“Ow, what was that?” he asked.
He put his paw in front of him in the air and felt a wall. It was completely transparent. He carefully walked to his right and left to find he was surrounded by these “walls”. He headed back towards the tent to find no barrier. ‘Well I don’t think I want to stay where I can’t do anything.’ he thought. He went into the tent. Different mirrors with different heights and widths surrounded him. He paid no attention to the funny figures that appeared.
“I’ve never really been a huge circus fan.” he said looking at one mirror that made him look fat.
He then walked into a maze of mirrors.
He chuckled. “The classic mirror maze.”
He stepped into it, not knowing that he was not alone. He took even more steps until the maze was all around him. All of a sudden his ears perked up. Had he just heard footsteps? He was alone in this maze right?
He heard a voice from the shadows. “Welcome back…Wolfdog.”
Then the music halted and Balto spun around to see another dog. He couldn’t see this stranger very clearly. Before he could see say anything the stranger bolted to the depths of the maze. Balto ran to catch up with him until he stopped to listen. There were no footsteps now. He continued through at a slower pace. Just then all the mirrors flooded with one image.
Balto growled. “Steele.”
All the images around him laughed. “That’s right half-breed. Miss me?”
Suddenly the mirrors around him folded into one huge room with no escape.
Balto muttered to himself. “Great now what am I going to do?” He then spoke loudly to all of the images. “Why would I miss you? You’ve been nothing but a pain ever since I came here.”
Steele laughed harder. “Aw, now I’m hurt. You’re always so mean.” Steele said sarcastically.
“Why are you here?” Balto asked.
Steele smiled. “A better question would be what you’re gonna do now. Because I’ve got you surrounded.”
Balto laughed. “Oh yeah? They’re just knock-offs that aren’t even real. They’re just a reflection.”
If only he knew how far from right he was.
Steele grinned. “You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” he said darkly.
Balto looked around at the images, clearly confused. “What? There’s only one of you…”
Then all the images disappeared. Balto could feel his pulse quicken. ‘What is going on here?’ he asked. He felt a tap on his back. He nearly had a heart attack. He turned around as fast as he could to see no one. He slapped his forehead with his paw.
He was annoyed now. “Oh great! Now I’m feeling things that aren’t there!”
The fur on the back of his neck was standing on end at this point. Something was going to happen and it wouldn’t be good. Then the mirror that Balto was facing started to crack.
He looked at it, completely bewildered. “What the?”
He heard another cracking behind him. He turned to look at it. The rest of the mirrors, heading out from the two that had cracked, started to crack also. Balto backed into the center.
“What’s going on here?”
Then everyone one of them shattered simultaneously. The music started back up but was much slower. The normal happy music sounded scary and evil. Balto looked where the mirrors once stood. Then he saw a figure step out from the hole in one mirror. And then another, and another. They just kept coming. They started to surround Balto. They were all Steele.
The first Steele that appeared smiled smugly. “See? I told you that you were surrounded.”
There were about at least a hundred of them.
The same Steele looked at his ‘team’. “Get him.” he ordered.
The Steele’s started to come closer. He had to admit that he was scared. Balto tried to drive them away by growling and snapping his jaws. But it didn’t work. They just kept coming.
“WAKE UP!!!!” yelled a voice.
Balto suddenly woke up. He felt a sting on the side of his face.
“Balto! Balto let go! I want to keep my leg!” yelled Boris.
Balto looked to see that he had a death bite on Boris’ leg. He let go immediately.
“What happened Boris?” he asked.
“Oh same as usual.” Boris began. “I wake up, see you tossing and turning, I go to wake you up and get attacked. Typical morning.” he finished sarcastically.
“So sorry Boris. I didn’t mean to.” Balto apologized. “I don’t know why but I can’t sleep or relax. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Well maybe you need to go to relaxing place. Like the beach?” Boris said. “Me myself, am going to talk to Jenna about how paranoid you are getting.”
Balto sighed. “Alright Boris. I’ll take a walk on the beach. I’ll be back later.”
Boris looked at him and was about to walk off. “Okay Balto. Just try to have a nice time.”
Balto sighed again. He hopped off the boat and onto the beach. He had to admit, it was a nice day. The sun was just peeking through the clouds.
“Winters so close now. I wonder why we haven’t seen snow yet?” Balto asked.
He looked over the beach. It was a nice enough day that there was even a child on it. It was a little girl human playing jump rope. Suddenly the air around him started to cool. He could see his breath.
He was really frustrated now. “Not again!”
He looked up and down the beach. What could be doing this? He then looked at the girl. He was looking at her from the back. She had brown hair with pigtails. She was wearing a red, plaid shirt. She wore coveralls and brown shoes. He looked at her jump roping. It seemed as if time was distorted around her. She seemed to hover in midair and her jump rope was moving much slower then it was supposed to. She then started to sing a merry children’s melody while she had her back to Balto. Her song was slower than normal and it carried an eerie message. Balto couldn’t help from listening.
“Skip, skip, skip to my Lou.
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou.
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou.
Skip to my Lou, my darlin'.
Fly's in the buttermilk, shoo, fly, shoo.
Fly's in the buttermilk, shoo, fly, shoo.
Fly's in the buttermilk, shoo, fly, shoo.
We’re going to find and get, you.”
The last sentence grabbed his interest. He listened more intently on her words but, something also caught his attention. This little girl’s voice sounded like he had heard it somewhere. He just ignored this last thought and continued to listen.
She stopped jump roping but continued. “Little, wolf, we’re coming for you.
Little, wolf, we’re coming for you.
Little, wolf, we’re coming for you.
You’d better watch your back, now.”
‘What’s wrong with this kid?’ Balto asked himself. Then the girl turned to face him. Balto normally would have looked into her eyes but only saw white. He jumped back. What had happened to her eyes?
The girl started to talk to him. “How are you wolfie?”
Before Balto could do anything she started giggling. She waved her hand and disappeared right in front of his eyes. Leaving behind a cloud of mist. Balto just stared. ‘How am I going to explain this to Jenna without making myself sound insane? …Well it’s worth a shot.’ he thought. He raced through
“So you really think so Ron?” he heard Jenna say.
“There’s no doubt in my mind. This may get serious.” he heard the Saint Bernard answer.
He heard Jenna reply. “I know. It just feels like something feels different between us. Something that I can’t explain.”
Balto started to get angry, and he had no idea why. One minute he was calm, and the next he was furious. He bolted back to the boat. Trying to run off the anger.
Jenna finished. “It seems that Balto and I aren’t in sync anymore. He’s changing and I didn’t know what to do. Thanks for the help.”
Ron smiled. “No problem Jenna. Just call me if you need me again.”
Balto got back to the boat and laid down in the cabin.
“Okay, okay. I need to calm down.” he said to himself. “I don’t want to do something stupid.”
But that didn’t really help. ‘Why do I feel so angry? There’s nothing to be mad about.’ he thought.
A voice argued back. ‘Of coarse there is. She’s going against you. It’s so obvious.’
‘Oh shut up. You’re not helping.’
Boris walked up to him. “Eh boichick. How are you doing?”
Balto sighed. “Not so good. I feel so different, like I want to explode. And I have no clue why.”
Just then Jenna walked onto the boat with something in her mouth.
Balto just sighed. “Oh great. Why is she here?” he muttered to himself.
Jenna looked at him. She couldn’t say anything with this thing in her mouth. She put it on the deck.
“Hi Balto. I’ve come to visit you. I also brought something with
He replied sarcastically. “What? My walking papers?”
She was taken aback. “What are you talking about?”
He got up. “Never mind.”
“Balto. You’ve been acting very different lately. I’m worried. That’s why I got this.” she said.
Jenna pushed a bottle with a cork in front of Balto.
Balto just had to ask. “What is it?”
Jenna began to explain. “I heard that when humans drink this water they are ‘healed’ from what they say. They call it ‘Holy Water’. I just thought that if you drink it you may feel better.”
Balto looked at her skeptically. “Fine… I’ll try it later.”
“Okay Balto. To open it just pull the cork out.” she looked at Boris. “And have Boris help you pour it into your bowl.”
He looked at Boris and back at Jenna and smiled. “Jenna. If I could bring back the medicine, then I think I can handle a bottle.”
Boris laughed. “Ha! You couldn’t handle a house. Much less a bottle.”
“Oh yeah? Would you mind if I brought Muk and Luk here?” Balto countered.
Boris gave him a dead serious look. “Don’t even threaten that. You do and I ring your neck like church bell.”
Jenna laughed. It was good to see them arguing again. They always had the silliest fights. And Balto was actually feeling better. All the negative emotions he had been feeling earlier disappeared.
Balto laughed. “Oh come on. They love to visit there Uncle Boris.”
“Yeah I know.” Boris said smiling. “But there happiness always brings me misery.”
Balto began. “Well if it brings them happiness-”
Boris interrupted. “Then I will make your life terrible.”
Balto grinned. “Well it’s already that way.”
Boris playfully slapped him. “Always wise guy.”
“You know what Jenna? I feel so good right now I’ll drink that water.” Balto said, walking over to the bottle.
“Well that’s great Balto. I’m glad you decided to drink it. Balto? Balto!” she yelled.
Balto had fallen to the deck about a foot from the water. He was twitching.
“Ow! It burns! It burns!” Balto howled, grabbing his side. The side with the mark.
All three had completely forgotten the mark. Boris and Jenna ran to him. What could they do? They had no clue on what was causing this. Jenna leaned over Balto. Suddenly Balto’s expression changed.
Balto growled at Jenna with a voice that was not his own. “Get away from me. Get away!”
Jenna was shocked. She looked into Balto’s eyes and saw pure hatred. Balto stood up and walked over to Boris. His face had taken a different look.
Balto gave a wicked smile to Boris, which would have sent a shiver down your spine. “Hey flatfoot. Having fun?” he said with a cocky air to the new voice that had taken his own.
Boris was speechless, his mouth hanging open.
“What’s wrong turkey? …Cat got your tongue?” he asked with a grin.
Jenna finally spoke out. “Balto what’s wrong with you?”
Balto still had the creepy grin. “Why nothing Jenna. It’s still me.”
“Who are you fooling!?” blurted out Boris, who had regained his speech.
Balto looked at him. “Ya know. I liked it better when you were quiet.” He walked over to the bottle. “And I never cared for bottled water.”
Jenna realized what he was going to do. “No wait! Stop!”
But it was to late. Balto grabbed the top of the bottle and started to whip it around. He threw it and it hit the deck. It instantly shattered into a million pieces, and the water sprayed everywhere.
“No!” she yelled.
Jenna gave Balto an angry look. Balto chuckled and started to sway. He fell onto the ground. He could hear is name being called while he slowly lost consciousness and everything gave way to black.
Changed
Balto slowly started to open his eyes. Everything around him was blurred. He could here whispers around him. And then everything slowly came back into focus. He could see concerned faces all about him and the glow of a fire. He shifted his body from a laying position to a sitting one. He took a look at his surroundings. He wasn’t at his boat. He was in the boiler room.
He rubbed his head. “Man, what a headache.”
He just then recognized the faces around him as Boris, Jenna, Kodi, and a few other dogs. The stares unnerved him a bit. The dogs had formed a circle around him and everyone was dead silent.
Balto stood up. “Hey guys. What’s going on? Why am I here?”
He took a few steps towards the edge of the circle and the dogs backed away. Some dogs even had a frightened look on their face. Balto was utterly confused. He saw Jenna give a nod from the back and most of the dogs headed towards the exit, words still not escaping their muzzles. Balto was about to follow them when Jenna jumped in front of him.
“Balto, can you please stay. We have some questions that we need answered.” Jenna said as she walked to the middle of the boiler room.
Balto followed Jenna and he sat down.
“Could I maybe have an explanation?” he asked her again.
“Do you remember what happened the last time you were awake?” Jenna asked.
Balto paused for awhile, wondering why she was avoiding his question, but he told her anyways. “Well the last thing I remember was having a fun time with you guys. Laughing and such. And then I went over to the water and then…”
“And then what?” questioned Jenna.
“…I don’t remember… It’s, it’s all a blur after that point.” Balto said.
The room then became silent. Jenna turned around and walked to the opposite side of the room. Balto stared off into space, but his thoughts were interrupted by Boris.
“Eh, Balto, something the matter?
“Wha?...Oh … Um… Nothing Boris.” Balto replied.
“Well good.” said Boris. “At least you are not going like couple days ago.”
“That reminds me.” Balto began. “What did happen the last time I was awake?”
“Umm...” Boris hesitated. “Hey Kodi!” he called. “Come over here for second.”
Kodi trotted over to them.
“Yeah Boris?” asked Kodi.
“Eh, nothing. Maybe just take your father to ship.” replied Boris.
“Sure thing. C’mon Dad.” Kodi urged already heading towards the door.
Balto, stunned from the previous vision, reluctantly followed. With Kodi in the lead the two passed right by the old haunted house. Balto flinched, unable to explain how he could still remember the experience so well. But he didn’t stop and they continued to the boat. About half way there Kodi started to speak.
“Ya know Dad. From what I heard from Mom and Uncle Boris, you went a little crazy a couple days ago.”
Kodi gave his dad a look and Balto nodded for him to continue. He was finally going to get the story on what had happened.
“Yeah. If I remember correctly, you looked at Mom like you hated her and then your voice changed, and then you took that bottle and smashed it to bits.”
‘Balto was silent. So that’s what they meant.’ he thought. But how could that have happened? Then it hit him.
“The spirits.” he whispered.
“Did ya say something dad?”
“Oh no. I just need to get back to think on some things.
“Okay. Well I think you can go the rest of the way without me holding your paw.” Kodi nuzzled Balto and headed back towards
Days came and went with no incident. The dreams had stopped, the noises had silenced, and he seemed like his old self. Everything was back to normal. Maybe it was just a little bit too normal. Until the sixth night that is. Balto had thought that he had gotten rid of the dreams but he was wrong.
“Well, time to hit hay.” said Boris. “And if you make it through tonight without dreams, I would think you have been cured.”
“Cured of what?” Balto asked.
“Why your paranoia of coarse.”
“Ha ha. Very funny Boris. Next I suppose you’ll do a juggle and dance number.” laughed Balto.
“Sure, but I don’t know if you want to get knocked out by bad juggling.” Boris laughed back.
“Well, I wouldn’t have to hear the singing then.”
“You’re kindness makes me feel soo loved and wanted.”
“Yup. I’m a giver.” yawned Balto. “Good night Boris.”
“Good night to you too.”
Balto woke up at his boat. The sun was high in the sky and nothing seemed out of place. His water bowl and blanket were still there but Boris was nowhere to be found. For no reason in particular, he decided to go into
Balto stood up and daintily stepped over a sleeping Boris. He carefully and quietly walked off the boat and headed to
Balto walked into town to find no one their either.
“That’s kind of strange. Where is everybody?”
He walked up and down the streets, looking for any signs of life and found none. He continued walking down the main street when something caught his eye.
Balto stumbled around the town, in the dead of night, heading in no destination in particular. He walked right pass Jenna’s house and not even stopping until he came to the last house on the street.
Balto somehow remembered the house that stood before him, but he couldn’t put his paw on where. He could have sworn it was the same house where he had gotten injured but it looked nothing like it. There was a brand new roof and paint. It looked like it wasn’t a day old. Before he could move and little girl came running out of the house. This girl had brown hair and pigtails. Her outfit consisted of a red, plaid shirt, brown shoes, and coveralls.
“Oh I missed you Cinnamon!” she cried.
‘Cinnamon? That’s not my name. My name is…’ He drew a blank. ‘What is my name. I can’t remember. Is it Cinnamon?’
He couldn’t complete his thought before he was dragged up the stairs, over the porch, and into the house.
Balto stayed still in front of the house. He hadn’t uttered a word since he had left the boat. After a couple minutes of standing he was pulled into the house by and unseen force.
When Balto arrived inside the house, it was a site to behold. The walls and ceiling were beautifully painted, the furniture was in excellent condition, and there was a crackling fire in the fireplace. In front of the fireplace stood two chairs. One had a man sitting comfortably in it while puffing through a pipe and reading the paper. He had on a stunning black suit and a top hat with a monocle. The other had a young woman, about her early thirties, that wore a pink nightgown and was knitting what looked to be a scarf. And above the fireplace was a huge picture of a dog. He saw an image to his left. He turned to see that it was a mirror. But instead of seeing himself he saw a brown husky that almost looked exactly like he did.
“Is that? It can’t be.” Balto said, not believing what he saw.
He walked to the mirror and put his paw against. One thing was for sure, that image was indeed him. He looked back at the picture and realized that the dog in the picture was him. Somehow he had become a husky.
The man who had been previously sitting walked over to Balto.
“That’s a good boy Cinnamon. I can’t wait to enter you in another contest so you’d get first place again.” he said. He walked over to a cupboard by them and opened it. It was packed full of trophies. “And this is by far my favorite.” He grabbed one trophy and walked over to Balto. “This was our first victory. Remember Cinnamon.”
Balto wagged his tail and stuck his tongue out.
“C’mon Cinnamon!” called out the little girl.
“Sally,” addressed her father. “Let him do what he wants.”
“Now George.” said the lady, finally speaking. “Just let her have her fun.”
“Nora, She has got to learn that everything won’t go her way.”
“Cinnamon, let’s go upstairs!” called Sally again.
Sally ran upstairs with Balto following her. He had now idea why but he felt like he had known them for a long time. Balto followed the girl to the end of the hallway at the top of the stairs.
Balto wandered inside the house for minutes. The old floorboards groaned under his weight. Balto walked into cobwebs and narrowly avoided the ancient furniture. After a bit he walked up the flight of steps and headed to the end of the hallway up there.
He walked into the room. There was a little girl’s bed, a few dressers and the room was covered in pink paint and stickers. Stuffed animals littered the floor and dolls were either at little table or on shelves.
“Great isn’t it?” smiled Sally. “Now let’s go to your room!” she cheered.
With that she raced down stairs and then down to the basement. Balto chased after, enjoying the running. When he reached the basement he was in pure awe. It was a dogs paradise. The walls looked just like you were in the forest. There was a huge dog bed to one end of the room, two dishes for food and water, and a cardboard box filled with chew toys. Sally snuck over to the corner with the dog bed and started putting her hands onto different places on the wall. Balto was curious as to what she was doing.
“Ah, found it.” she said quietly.
After standing in the storage room for some time, Balto all of a sudden ran down the steps and then down another and he reached the cellar. It was dark and quiet down here. White stuffing, broken pieces of wood, and ancient chew toys littered the ground. He walked to the far wall and pushed on a brick.
Sally pushed on a brick in the wall and then it opened up. There was a whole room behind it! Sally stuck her finger up to her mouth.
“Shh…I don’t want Mommy and Daddy finding out about our secret room.”
She started grabbing up different toys that she had hidden and brought them out.
The wall had opened right in front of Balto. He walked inside the opening to find old skeletons of an animal and humans.
Before she could finish bringing out her playthings, they were both called upstairs. Sally then put all the toys she had dragged out and was just about to close the wall when she was called again.
“Sally!”
“Coming daddy!”
She raced up the stairs to the living room.
George was the one that spoke. “Okay honey. Time to get dressed and get ready for bed.”
Then Balto, all of a sudden, lost control of his body. He started to growl at George. Foam started to form around his mouth and he leaped at George and knocked him down.
“Cinnamon! What are you doing!” screamed George. Then something occurred to George. “Oh no. He never had shots for Rabies!”
“Get off of him right now!” yelled Sally.
“That’s it! I’ve had enough of this!” screeched Nora.
Nora ran upstairs to her room to grab something. Balto then stared down at George. He bit him right at the neck and he fell limp. He then turned to Sally and the same fate befell her. While Nora went to grab what she needed, Balto proceeded to drag the bodies to the basement.
Balto ran up the stairs, to the ground floor. Then he lost it. He started running around the room, snarling and biting at thin air.
Balto was successful in taking the bodies down. He then when over to the far wall and pushed a brick in with his muzzle. The door to the secret room was opened. Then Nora came rushing down the stairs with a twelve-gauge shotgun in hand.
“You! You!” She shrieked. “You killed my family so I’m going to kill you!!”
She loaded the gun and pointed it square at his head.
Balto was then down the steps and was in the middle of the floor, not moving an inch.
Nora started to yell again. “I never liked you! I never like your kind! And now I get to use this!”
She pulled the trigger and a loud shot rang out through the small town. There was a howl of pain and then everything went silent.
Balto howled out and then fell to the ground. He was still breathing, but in a state of unconsciousness, while the dream continued.
Balto then reappeared, but not as a physical form, almost like a phantom who couldn’t touch the ground. He was again back in the house. But it somehow looked different. Nora was sitting by the fireside, still knitting a scarf like she had before. He looked at the painting that had been over the fireplace. He was shocked to see that it had been torn right down the middle where the picture of the husky was. Then, Nora got up from her chair and headed upstairs, and he of course he followed. Nora went to the room that Sally used to have been in and saw ripped wallpaper, stacked boxes, and a doll in a carriage.
“Oh Sally.” she sighed. “I pray every day that you were still here with me… But I know that that will never be.”
She went over to one box and opened it to reveal a wolf’s skull, all decorated.
“But I promised myself that I would get revenge on the beasts that started this. Oh not just Cinnamon, but the wolves that started these blasted dogs. Man’s best friend, HA!”
“So that’s who made that skull.” said Balto quietly.
She put the skull back in the box and put it on top of another stack of boxes. She then went down both flights of stairs to the basement with Balto floating behind her.
It was littered with all of Cinnamon’s broken possessions. She had never cleaned it up as a grim reminder of that terrible day. She felt her way along the opposite wall until she hit the brick. It swung open, once again, to reveal three skeletons. Nora went inside and laid the scarf around the littlest skeleton.
“Three years it has been. Three long, terrible years.”
She rubbed her hand on the skeleton.
“But now I must leave. After I finish my porridge, I’m leaving this place. It’s not because I hate it here, but the fact that I can’t afford it anymore.”
“Mommy. Don’t go.” cried a faint voice from nowhere.
“What. Is it? It can’t be. Sally?”
“Yes mommy. Don’t leave us.”
“But I have to! I can’t stay.”
“Nora.” said a strong male voice. “You’re not leaving us again!”
Then a creaking noise was heard. The door to the secret room slammed closed behind her which made both her and Balto jump. Nora then tried to open the door, but found that there was not switch, that it only opened one way. Balto watched as she desperately banged on the doors, yelling out “Help
Balto gasped awake and found himself in a basement and a ray of light was shining through a roof and cracked floorboards, stating that it was the day later. He knew exactly where he was, right where they wanted him.
Jenna yawned and stretched as she arose from her slumber. She had been sleeping by the fireplace where the fire had long since been out. Jenna walked by the front door and examined herself in the mirror besides it. She licked her teeth clean of any bit of food that might have stayed with her from last night’s meal. After her inspection was done, she pranced out the door into the frigid air.
She walked towards the docks repeating the same address. “
.
. …. Ahh, found it.”
She walked up to the doggie-door of a house that was close to the ocean. Right before she knocked, a small dog covered in long black hair stepped out.
“I saw that you were coming child!” she said.
“How?” asked Jenna. “You have so much hair covering your eyes.”
“Ahh, A smart-alecky one, I saw you coming through the spirits. They told me of your arrival, and, Ron said.”
“So I see.” Jenna replied. “And your name would be?”
“Oh! Oh! How rude of me, my name is Madame Millie!... Come, come in, I set everything up for you.”
Jenna groaned. It was crazy enough that Balto was being ‘tormented by spirits’, now she had to talk to some ‘whack-job’ that could ‘talk to spirits’, which she was probably just a fraud. But, she reluctantly followed the small dog into her house.
“Come here. Sit, sit, sit.” urged Millie.
Millie led Jenna to a small table with a small, clear ball on a pedestal.
“And I guess this is some kind of crystal ball?” asked Jenna sarcastically. She didn’t quite believe in the ‘Super-Natural’.
“Yes it is!” Millie said back enthusiastically.
“Let me guess. You’re also going to tell me what lies ahead in my future.”
“Right again! You know, you could become a psychic too… But let’s get started…. Ohm… Ohm…”
Millie put her paws around the ball and starting chanting things that made no sense. Then, the ball started to give out a luminous glow.
“Wha, what’s happening?”
“Hush child. I’m getting a vision…. I see, I see, I see!”
“What!?” asked Jenna again, more anxiously.
Jenna stared down at the crystal ball and saw nothing in it, just the shimmering lights. Millie could have been making up the whole thing though.
“I see a great torment and tragedy… I also see you losing the love of your life… because of a tormentor, or tormentors, which will force his decision… I also see, a, a, a husk of a hybrid that will end his life because of the tormentors… Unless something can be done, and fast.”
“But what could I do?” Jenna asked, nervously.
“Well… I suggest you learn what you’re up against.”
“How do you suppose I do that?”
“I think you know…”
Jenna gulped. She stood before the decrepit old house, weighing the pros and cons. She made the final decision. She quickly ran up on the porch and pushed the door open.
‘I hope that psychic was wrong’ she thought.
She walked around the interior and avoided most of the spider webs. She spied an antique record player with a huge bell and then the two chairs by the fireplace. Then, the old newspaper caught her eye, but right before she could read it, she heard pounding coming from below her and it was getting closer, and closer, and closer. She made a mad dash for the door but was plowed over by Balto.
“What the, Jenna? What are you doing here?” asked Balto.
“Well… this might sound crazy but… wait, why are you here Balto? Does Boris know you’re here?”
“Umm… Not exactly. But I was just goin’ to tell him. He’d probably have a conniption if I was gone for fifteen seconds.” chuckled Balto nervously.
“You didn’t answer the first question still.”
“Okay fine. I’ll tell you. I had this weird dream last night and now I know exactly why these things are attacking me-”
“What things? I came in here and had nothing happen. Are you sure you just didn’t imagine it?”
Then that strange anger bubbled up inside Balto again. He felt like if he didn’t let it out that he might explode.
“What! You’re sayin’ I’m some kind of nutcase!?” Balto yelled.
“Huh?” Jenna asked, clearly taken aback by his sudden outburst.
“How could you treat me like I’m a fruit-loop? Huh!”
Jenna started to speak quietly. “Maybe you should just relax a bit.”
“Relax! We’re tired of you saying that! Ya know what? Get out of our life!” and then Balto slapped her right a crossed the face with a heavy paw and stormed out.
Jenna put a paw to her face and winced. “Balto, why?” she meekly asked.
“Balto?” Jenna asked. “Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
Balto had reappeared right back to when he had first bumped into Jenna.
“Are you okay?” Jenna asked again.
“Uh, yeah, just fine.” he lied.
“Well let’s just get out of here. This place does creep me out though.”
“Okay. I don’t know why I came in here anyways.”
The two wasted no time getting out of the house.
“I didn’t find anything weird in there. I knew that that whole “fortune-telling” thing was just a con.”
“Yeah. Sure. I bet-better get going. I don’t want to hang around here much longer.”
“Okay Balto. But,” Jenna moved closer to Balto, “please be careful.”
“Whatever… Bye.”
“All I need is peace and quiet.” Balto said half-way down the street.
“Hi Balto!” Star joyously called from behind him.
Balto shot into air and turned back at Star. “Don’t you Ever! Do that again!” Balto growled deeply.
Star cowered down in fear. “I’m-I’m sorry Balto. I didn’t mean it!”
Balto, realizing he had scared his friend, tried to calm down. “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t in a good mood. What did you want to say?”
“I-I-I wanted to tell you that the latest word on the street was that you were crazy and I wanted to help, but I…um… oh… yeah… I should probably go right about now. It’s… uh… mid-afternoon-morning-later-post-post nap… uh… lunch time! Bye!” and with that, the husky had run off and disappeared over the horizon, not even looking back. Balto was now even more enraged, but sad at the same time. He wanted to let go of what Star had said before, but couldn’t. Then, his rage boiled to the point of wanting to kill Star, but yet he really didn’t want to. He was beginning to feel that if he didn’t make a decision now, he would split like an amoeba. He decided to let go of his anger and go home, but before he could move himself, something else was already moving him.
Suddenly, the world in front of him was replaced with the same scene where he killed George. The parlor, the urge to kill, and the lack of control over himself. Only now instead of George standing there, it was Star. Balto tried to stop, but couldn’t. He tried to warn Star, but couldn’t. It was a one-way ticket to disaster. Just as Star began to look at what was following him, Balto pounced on him and aimed for the neck. He sent his jaws plunging towards the jugular, but something stopped the entire scene. Everything was still, and then faded away to darkness.
Balto now found himself below deck in the boat lying down next to Jenna, who was sobbing. Boris stood nearby shaking his head at something, and walked away with a disgusted look on his face. Muk and Luk were holding each other tightly and crying. Nikki and Kaltag stood watching over something, but he couldn’t see what it was. When he finally regained the strength necessary to move his head, he looked in front of him and saw the body of Star, which was covered in blood. Jenna walked up to Balto and blocked his view. She turned to look at him.
Jenna looked surprised. “Balto, you- you’re awake! Y-you almost killed Star, you know. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I don’t like it one bit at all! Balto, if you don’t want to stop this madness, then I…I can’t be with you anymore!
This broke Balto’s heart into a trillion tiny pieces. His world was over, and all because he didn’t want to ask for help. He was ready to cry, but a voice told him something that seemed to make all the sense in the world.
“Kill them! Kill them all!” the voice in Balto’s head began to cackle maniacally, and he felt the inexplicable urge to join it in a chorus of laughter.
“Balto? Balto, what are you doing?! Stop staring at me like that! Stop laughing!!!” Jenna’s cries sent a wave of pleasure through Balto. He knew something was wrong, but he didn’t care. All he wanted to do was kill.
Balto’s voice began to change again. “You like putting an end to relationships, don’t you? Well, we like to end things, too. We like to end… lives!” Jenna ran off at this comment, and Balto switched targets. “We’ll teach you to make fun of me!” Balto was now heading for Nikki and Kaltag, who were now cowering in a corner.
He ignored their cries for help, and lunged for them both when he was knocked over by a large ball of fur. Luk had successfully pinned Balto, and as the others ran away, Balto struggled harder and harder to get Luk off of him. Luk was too heavy and large to squirm out from under. He pushed Luk off of him instead. Luk’s head punched a hole through the ceiling, and he flew off the edge of the boat. Just as Luk could be heard making contact with the ground, Jenna let out a piercing cry of pain. Balto got to his feet and jumped through the hole that Luk made. He saw Jenna, who was pinned to the ground by Luk’s unconscious body. He had the perfect opportunity to kill the one who broke his heart. He leaped into the air and landed standing over Jenna. He started drooling with delight. He could not believe that he was about to kill his only love. He was beginning to cry, and slowly regained control of himself. His evil smile turned to a frown, and he collapsed on top of Jenna.
He was more scared than ever before. “I-I’m sorry Jenna…I didn’t…I’ll do it...” He had his regular voice again.
Jenna looked back in a look of terror, confusion, and pain. “Do what? What do you want to do?”
“Get help…I want this nightmare to be over…” Balto fell into a state of unconsciousness.
Suddenly it dawned upon Jenna.
“Help from the nightmares. Nightmares?... Oh my gosh! That’s it! The weird nightmares. The strange happenings and the incident with the water. It’s not Balto’s will! He’s being taken over!”
She struggled and squirmed to try and get out from under the fallen Luk. When she succeeded she grabbed Balto by the scruff of the neck and tried to pull him to town. When she saw Nikki and Kaltag by Star they were still shaking.
She already knew the answer but she asked anyways. “Can I please have some help please?”
Kaltag looked a tad terrified. “Uh, not right now. We have to, uh, stay with Star and make sure he doesn’t go South.”
“Yeah, what he said.” replied Nikki eagerly.
She expected that but she carried on. Slowly trudging back. By the time she reached the church it was well past dusk. She laid Balto gently down on the ground and knocked on the huge wood doors. A dull thud echoed inside. Ron the Saint Bernard was in the sleeping quarters when he heard this and was woken up.
“What’s going on? At this hour?”
He walked into the main room and opened the secret doggie-door in the huge doors. When he saw Jenna he ushered her in. When she came in she brought Balto.
“What happened?” Ron asked stunned.
“No time to explain.” Jenna said quickly. “He needs it. Now.”
“Thank heavens that I started preparing before this. But we have to wait until Dawn.”
Ron went back to the sleeping quarters while Jenna pulled Balto under a pew where they were to sleep. It was an agonizing night for Jenna. She had to stay up all night for fear that Balto would have another episode. But finally after the exhausting wait, the sun started to shine through the stain glass windows. The sunlight rudely woke Balto and relieved Jenna. Ron came back to them.
“Well where are we going to this then?” he asked.
“What?” asked Jenna, “I thought we were doing this here.”
“Nope. Too many visitors here.” Ron replied.
“And who are you?” asked Balto in a raucous manner.
“Well, Balto, I’m the one who’s going to help you.” Ron kindly replied as he flipped off a sack that he had been carrying. “I’ve got everything in here.”
“We can go to Balto’s boat.” said Jenna.
“Splendid!” Ron said.
They walked back to Balto’s boat with a good pace. Balto gave looks of disgust towards Ron every now and then. When they got there, Luk was still asleep with Muk and Boris as well. Jenna went over to the three and woke them up.
“We’re going to need your help.” said Ron. “If this goes sour then I need all four of you to hold him down.”
They nodded as Ron started. He opened up his sack and pulled out a book and a bit of water in a bottle and a wooden symbol. Balto’s eyes narrowed at everything that came from the sack.
“Let’s begin… You may want to get a grip on him now.”
The four held onto Balto as Ron flipped through the book and started reading strings of words aloud. Balto then started twitching like he had before, as if in pain. Then the voices started again.
“He’s causing us pain. We need to stop him. Kill him. Kill him!” screamed the voices in his head again.
Suddenly Balto was unconscious, but not his body. His body was now giving Ron a devilish glare. Suddenly with no warning, he lashed out at Ron, but the four were able to hold him back. Ron looked up from the book but went back to reading.
“You won’t win! Balto is ours!” Balto cried out with an insane smile.
Suddenly his strength increased and Jenna, Boris, Muk, and Luk had more trouble stopping him.
“We can’t hold him for much longer!” yelled Jenna.
Ron just ignored her and then grabbed the water and splashed it on Balto. Balto quickly flinched when the water made contact.
“Almost done.” Ron interrupted himself.
“Stop it! Now! You won’t beat us! He’s ours now!” cried Balto again.
Ron went back to the book and read louder as he held up the symbol and forced it onto Balto’s head. Balto made a roar that sounded nothing like a dog’s or a wolf’s. He soon fell limp. Ron nodded his head.
“It’s over.”
“Agh!” screamed Balto as he lunged at Ron.
He jumped on him and almost slashed him but was soon grabbed back again. Ron looked at Balto seriously.
“It’s over.”
He took the symbol one last time and placed at his head once more and Balto fell again.
“Be ready.” Ron said. “They’re persistent.”
But Balto didn’t get back up. He laid there.
“Balto?” asked Jenna.
Boris leaned his head towards Balto’s mouth. “He’s not breathing!”
“Oh no!” sobbed Jenna.
Luk stepped forward and started to perform something close to CPR while the others stood around helplessly. Then Balto started coughing and a black and purple mist came from his mouth. It drifted towards Ron and enveloped him in the darkness. He started to gag. Jenna ran over to him but was pushed back forcefully. She could only watch as Ron slowly started to die. They could do nothing. Right when it was too late to save him, the gas formed a human-like head and smiled evilly before it dissipated.
“Thank you Ron. Thank you for everything.” Jenna silently cried.
Hours later, Balto awoke. They were still at his boat.
“Jenna?” he started, catching her by surprise. “Did something happen? I feel great. The air smells fresher and it all feels so light.”
“You mean you don’t remember?”
“Not a lick.”
“Well, Ron was successful in exorcising you. But at the ultimate cost. He gave his life to save you.”
“No. That couldn’t have happened!”
“Well it did. And we can’t do anything about it. But you don’t know how happy I am to have you back to normal.” she stood up. “I forgive you. I’ll take back what I said earlier. But I have to go. I need time to think.”
And that night, Balto had one final important dream.
He was back in time once again at the old house. Back to when Cinnamon was still around. But the house was empty. Suddenly he had a tap on the shoulder. He spun around to see Cinnamon standing right there. Smiling.
“Is this a nightma-”
“None of the sort.”
“Where are-”
“They’re gone. And no, I wasn’t the one to get rid of them. Actually, all that they showed you about me and what happened was a lie. Nora did indeed shoot me. But not for the reason you think. She did hate me for being a dog. She finally snapped one night and killed me and her husband and daughter for being witnesses. When she realized what she had done she took everyone in that room and killed herself with the gun.”
“Oh but-”
“Why am I here? I just wanted to congratulate on lasting so long with them. They were terrible and I was suppressed by all of them. And don’t worry. Ron is in a good place now. He’s back home. And I have to go too. See you soon grandson.” Cinnamon smiled as he walked off into a light.
Fin.
~By, Walto Disney