Chasing Anne

Snuffed Out

Andrew never remembered being more scared than he was the moment he entered the lower deck's stairwell. David was barely able to stay on his feet as he ran and nearly fell on his face as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Andrew grabbed his shoulder, pulling him backward just enough so that he wouldn't fall over, and then let him go, continuing to race down the steps. They made it to the little room where Blaze had last been and nearly broke down the door trying to get in. Dawn barked and snarled at them, baring her white teeth, but after she was given a reassuring word from David, she relaxed as if she realized why the two were there. Blaze lay right where they'd left him, only now the dog wasn't peacefully sleeping. The canine was gasping for breath, choking on air as if he were being poisoned by his own breath. Andrew knelt down beside him and laid a hand on the dog's head, trying to calm the Retriever down. Blaze noticed him, but continued wheezing.

It made no sense. Why would he be having trouble breathing if he'd been shot in the side? Andrew gently felt along the dog's throat, trying to find the reason why the dog couldn't breathe, but he felt nothing out of the ordinary. For the first time in his entire life, he had no idea what to do with the situation. David seemed to sense that that was what he was thinking and bit his lip.

"Is there anything you can do?" he asked.

Andrew started to nod, but he had no idea what he was going to do. Blaze winced and clenched his jaw, clearly in serious pain, but Andrew had no idea why.

"David, what happened?" he asked, looking over at the clearly upset young man.

"He was asleep, Andrew. I thought he was fine, so I moved to the counter to get a glass of water and check on the horses. Then Dawn started whining. I turned back around and he was like this! That's when I called you."

Andrew took Blaze's head in his hands, trying to comfort the suffering dog, but Blaze didn't seem to notice. He whimpered softly, and then glanced up at Andrew a clear sense of hope in his eyes. It was as if he were whispering, "Please, help me."

Andrew closed his eyes and laid his hands over the dog's neck. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "There's nothing I can do," he whispered. He felt tears come to his eyes and stream down his cheeks, dripping off of his face and onto Blaze's silky gold fur. The dog whimpered again, but a sense of peace came over Andrew in that moment. He pulled his hands away from the dog and bowed his head, hiding his eyes that he knew were filled with tears. Dawn laid down beside her dear friend and laid her head beside his, letting out a little bark. Blaze whimpered in return and looked up at Andrew. With all of the last of the energy he had within him, he raised his head and rested it in Andrew's hands, sighing deeply. He then gently licked Andrew's hand and let out a final whimper before becoming limp upon the floor. Dawn let out a long mournful whine and Andrew collapsed over Blaze's form, bursting into tears.

"No," he whispered. "God, please no!"

But Blaze was already gone.

Ryan could sense that something was wrong the moment he saw Jadon walk up behind him. He was carefully steering the plane towards his home along the Mississippi River at the time and hoped that there was still enough time to save his son. But when Jadon came in, he knew that something had gone terribly wrong. He instantly flipped on autopilot and then turned to his old lieutenant, bracing for the worst. Jadon flashed a quick smile and then looked at the floor.

"It's not what you think, Ryan. Mark's fine."

Ryan let out a breath of relief and smiled a moment before his gaze became somber again. "Then what happened?" he asked.

"Blaze passed away about ten minutes ago, Ryan. I thought I'd tell you first."

Ryan's eyes widened and then filled with tears. "But I thought Andrew-."