Lassoing the Cresent Moon

26. No more Mercy

I stared at him with wide eyes.

"You were Terry?"

Dogday's tail wagged softly as he nodded.

"Oh my God! Terry!" I exclaimed. I held his head trying to avoid his torso. "I'm sorry. Terry, I'm so sorry." I let go of him to look at his face. There was no hint of the boy that used to be. "I had no idea- I swear-" I blinked back a few tears as I squeezed him.

"I know." He whispered holding me again.

"We-I need to fix you. Bandages- we need!" Dogday took my wrist and shook his head. "But!-" He reached out and wiped a tear from my cheek. "You can come with me. When we get out of here I'll take you home- I-"

He put a hand on my lips. "No. I'm sorry. You did nothing wrong. I am the one that needs to apologize." He turned to the left and began to walk.

"For what?" I exclaimed. "For being a child that was cruelly abused by some monsters? You don't deserve this! "

"No." He bluntly replied as he continued.

"Then what are you sorry for- Terry you're cut in half! You need help."

Terry's ears pinned back slightly as he looked at himself. "Cut in half? I hadn't noticed."

The sarcasm in his voice made me snap out of my panic. I didn't know what to do. He had been here for so long dealing with hell. My brain couldn't even comprehend the torture he had been through. He'd been alone for so long.

His ears slowly relaxed and I could see his tail shift. "I know it's a lot. Breathe. You freed me. I'll be okay."

How was he comforting me? That's not how this was supposed to work!

...yet for some reason it did. His calm soothing voice helped me realize that panicking would help nothing.

As much as I hated what he had gone through, I still wanted to give him belly rubs and see him wiggle with happy barks, and tail wags. That's what I wanted from him. If it wasn't that I wanted to see him running carelessly through the old playcare. I wanted any hint of happiness- not this.

"Let's go to the gas production room. I need time to think."

I sighed softly. "Just give me a minute. This really isn't okay." I looked around catching a TV in the distance. I ran forwards to it leaving dogday confused behind me.

The TV and VHS player was on top of a small cart. I took the set and placed them on the floor before grabbing the cart and rushing back to dogday. I grabbed a sheet that covered some furniture nearby and shook off the extra dust before folding it onto the cart.

It wasn't the most sanitary thing, but it was still better than the floor. He looked completely bewildered as I picked him up and sat him on the top compartment. "At least you can save your energy this way."

He rolled a little on the sheet, shifting into a more comfortable position before spreading his arms to the side. "Even after ten years, you make it hard for me to stop calling you an Angel." His tail wagged softly and I had no option but to pet him.

He gently closed his eyes before pointing back to the left. "Gas production zone." He reminded .

Why so sudden? Was he that excited to get revenge on Catnap? "Ollie told me you thought Catnap could still be redeemed, is that true?"

I saw dogday's torso tense. He dropped his head causing his ears to plop over his eyes. "Yeah..." he whimpered before clearing his throat. "I did. Please move on." He turned his head from me, refusing to look me in the eye.