The Two Of Us (will be continued)

Chapter 3: Marshall's Captor

"Alright, alright. Let's settle down." Said Goodway. "We're only losing time."
"I think we should split up into little groups. That way we'd find him faster." Suggested Everest.
"Well the rest of you figure it out amongst yourselves. I'm going to begin searching." Said Ryder, walking off and starting his search.
The rest of the group watched as he wandered the yard, calling his pup's name.
"I swear, what's the matter with him?" Asked Rocky.
"He's just very worried. Marshall's his dog. Though he'd still be very worried if one of you went missing." Said Jake.
Chase chuckled. "Anyone willing to bet money on that?"
"Believe me. He WOULD be worried. And Marshall would be too. If one of you were in his place."
Skye, Rocky, Chase, Rubble and Zuma looked down in guilt. Their poor brother. It wasn't his fault. It was theirs.
"How come every time we try to think straight and try not to argue we end up doing so?" Asked Skye.
"(Sigh) I don't know. Maybe we're just really ignorant sometimes." Said Rocky, before walking away with the other four pups, all looking downtrodden and ashamed of themselves.
Goodway, Jake, Carlos, Everest and Tracker watched and felt sorry for them.
Jake then turned to the two people and pups beside him. "Well, I guess since they left and are a group, we can be a search group."
Goodway nodded. "Good idea. Where do we start?"
"Hmm..how 'bout over there by those bushes?"
Goodway, Carlos, Tracker and Everest nodded and went with Jake to look around that area.
"Marshall, please, don't go from me. Don't scare me like this. Somnambulism, stop making him veer from me.." Whispered Ryder.
At that moment Ryder could've swore he heard a faint chuckle.
"I see I've made my presence known. You possess a great deal of awareness, child."

"......What..?"

"Now don't stand there frozen still as if you didn't have a loved one to look for. I don't hide my victims in evident places, you know. I hide them swiftly and strategically. Especially with victims like Marshall. Then again, I suppose nobody is ever really LIKE Marshall."
Ryder was completely speechless. It was a kind of speechless he never knew existed in his entire life.
The boy shook his head. "Am I hearing things?"
"For the moment, let's assume you are and you aren't hearing things. It really doesn't make a difference either way."
"Ryder, stop. Stop scaring yourself.."
"Ryder? (Chuckle) I am HARDLY 'Ryder.' You know what my actual name is. And you know what I've been doing to your pup. And to you as a result. I'm nothing to mess with, boy. That isn't how it works. Rather, I mess with you, and you figure out how to save yourself. That's how it's intended. Understand?"
"I know you're not real..and I know this is something I'm just making up. It's just a voice in my head."
"Quit trying to convince yourself, boy. It isn't working. I know you know what is real and what isn't. Marshall's missing because I hid him. Doesn't that feel real to you?"
"It does, but-"
"Ah, you answered me as I am. You acknowledged my presence. Now we're getting somewhere. Trust me, Ryder."
"I will NEVER trust you..."
"Well I suppose that makes sense. But trust me when I tell you that these first few stages are as easy as it's ever going to be. Funny how that seems to make sense as well. (Chuckle)"
"What do you mean, 'first few stages?' Marshall's been sleepwalking for quite a while now. It's nothing new."
"Well you see, Somnambulism, also known as yours truly, isn't just limited to sleepwalking."
"...It isn't?"
Somnambulism laughed. "No! No! I'm a STATE of mind. Sleeping or awake. Not just a condition in the mind when only sleeping. I..I guess you could say I'm another complex character in this expansive universe. Just as you are. Just as Marshall is. There's just....more to me. I feed off of my victim's high levels of stress-driven energy. Marshall's my victim and therefore my little puppet. I make him do whatever I want."
"You can't put a claim on him. He's mine." Said Ryder, firmly.
"(Chuckle) I'm afraid it's far too late."
Ryder heard a shriek and turned around fast.
Mayor Goodway was staring up at the top of the Lookout in fear.
"What's wrong?! What happened?! Did you see Marshall?!" Asked Ryder in a paniced voice.
Goodway pointed up to the roof of the Lookout where Marshall was standing there, looking totally concentrated on nothing. It was such a deep concentration that almost looked impossible to break.
Ryder gasped in fright at how high his pup was. Everyone else had gathered behind him and had the same shocked, scared expressions on their faces.
"Robo-dog came and alerted us that he was up there!" Explained Goodway.
"Marshall! What are you doing up there?! You're going to fall! I don't want you getting hurt! Please, let me get you down from there!" Shouted Ryder.
The boy got no response from the dalmation, who was too focused on something and yet wasn't even focused on anything.
"I don't even think he's aware he's up there!" Shouted Jake.
"How in the world did he even get up that high?!" Shouted Tracker.
"I can't look!" Shouted Rubble in worry, covering his eyes.
Ryder thought quick and turned to Skye. "Skye, I need you to fly your helicopter so that I can get in the harness and bring him down. We have to hurry or else he'll fall!"
"Let's take to the sky!" Shouted the cockapoo in a fearful voice.
Skye rushed to her helicopter and got it started while Ryder ran quickly into the garage to get his helmet.
"Where is it?!" He thought while shuffling stuff around and tossing things onto the floor.
He gave up after a few seconds and ran to the helicopter, quickly harnessing himself. In no time Skye flew up to the very top of the Lookout. Marshall didn't look up or anything. It was strange to Ryder and Skye. It was like Marshall thought they weren't even there. As if they were ghosts he couldn't see.
Ryder carefully stepped onto the red platform. "Marshall? Marshall, it's Ryder." He bent down and touched the pup. "Marshall? Pup? Marshall?! Pal?! Hello?!" Said Ryder, nudging him worriedly.
Everyone down below couldn't speak. Why wasn't Marshall recognizing and acknowledging his owner?
"Marshall?"
At last, after what seemed like an eternity, Marshall blinked his eyes a bit and looked up at Ryder. The pup was silent but knew who he was with so he went into Ryder's arms as a sign of complete trust. The boy embraced his pup and felt relief. Yet so many questions were flooding his mind. Why was he all of a sudden hearing a creepy voice in his head claiming to be somnambulism itself? Was he going mental too?
"Marshall..do you know what's going on? Do you know where you are?" Whispered Ryder.
"Of course. At home, right?"
"That's right. Do you feel ok?"
"Yeah. I think. Why?"
"Just making sure. I want you to be safe. Now I'm going to bring you down and-"
"Bring me down? Down from where? Ahhh! Why are we on the roof?!" Shouted Marshall.
Ryder grasped his pup. "It's ok, it's ok. Everything's fine. I've got you. I'm gonna bring you down."
Marshall looked down and gulped in nervousness. He wasn't the biggest fan of heights.
Ryder smiled. "Trust me."
"Trust me." Said another voice at the same time Ryder did.
Marshall blinked in confusion. How could he hear two voices?
"Trust me." Repeated Ryder.
"Trust me."
"Trust me."
"Trust me."
"Trust ME."
Marshall looked perplexed but brushed it off and held on to Ryder as the boy stood up and carried him.
"Skye, lower us down."
"You got it." Said the cockapoo, flying back down to the grass.
Once down, Ryder un-harnessed himself but continued to hold onto his puppy. Now that Marshall was back in awareness he could ask his owner what happened.
"What's going on, Ryder? Why was I up there?"
"Marsh, do you remember about your somnambulism and what it makes you do?"
Marshall sighed in guilt. "I did it again, huh? I wandered off. I scared you guys."
"Don't feel bad, pal. It isn't your fault. What matters is that you're safe in my arms. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if something happened to you."
"All of us wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you." Said Jake.
Marshall turned his attention to him. "Jake!" He shouted in excitement, jumping out of Ryder's arms and into Jake's.
Jake laughed as Marshall licked him. Ryder only stood and watched, not frowning but not smiling either. Though Marshall hadn't been held by Jake for five seconds before he saw Everest.
"Everest!" He shouted, jumping down and embracing his sister.
Everest giggled and barked happily. "I'm so glad you're ok, Marsh!" She exclaimed. Then she slapped him with her paw. "Don't you ever do that again!"
"K, OK!" Said Marshall. "But I can't help it. It's my condition."
"I know. I just want you to be alright." Said Everest. "I'm your big sister. It's my duty to look after you."
"Especially my duty." Said Ryder.
Chase snickered. " 'Duty.' "
Ryder rolled his eyes. "Chase, be mature."
All the other pups laughed.
Mayor Goodway found it best to change the subject. "Well now that that fiasco's over, I can show you all the invitation I brought for you."
"Oh yes, it's right here in my pocket." Said Ryder, taking the paper out.
"Invitation for what?" Asked Rocky, curiously.
"Why the annual Valentine's Day Party, of course! The whole town is going!" Goodway replied, sounding excited.
All the pups were thrilled and cheered along with Jake and Carlos.
"Sweet! A party!" Exclaimed Skye.
"YAY! This'll be a blast!" Exclaimed Rocky.
"Imagine all the food I can eat!" Exclaimed Rubble.
"We get to stay up late!" Exclaimed Zuma.
"But not too late." Said Ryder.
Skye, Rubble, Chase, Rocky and Zuma immediately began to whine. "AW, Ryder!"
"C'mon! Please?"
"It's just one day!"
Ryder sighed heavily. "ALRIGHT."
"YAY!!!"
The pups all high-pawed each other.
"But you better not stray too far away from me. You have a tendency to do that at parties. I get worried. There are going to be a lot of people. You all must stay where I can see you." Said Ryder.
"Got it, Ryder. Don't worry." Said Chase, annoyed.
"It's my job to worry about all of you. You're my pups." Said Ryder, crossing his arms.
Goodway chuckled at how fatherly Ryder was.
The boy turned to Marshall and picked him up. "And as for you, you'll be sticking by me at all times." He said, rather sweetly.
"Well I got no choice." Joked Marshall.
"More info on the party is on the paper. But I also wanted to ask you all to meet me at the sports field tomorrow morning for some other news regarding preparations for the party." Said the mayor.
"You got it, Mayor. We'll be there..say about...eight?" Asked Ryder.
"That's perfect."
"Excellent." Said Ryder. "Well everyone, should we go inside for some hot chocolate?"
"Love some." Said Jake.
"Yeah, that sounds great." Said Carlos.
"We can discuss the party. This particular one is special. C'mon, pups. Let's go." Said Ryder.
"Too bad we can't have hot chocolate." Chase muttered to the other pups.
"Everything will turn out just delightful and-"
Ryder stopped suddenly when he heard it again.
"Believe me, boy. This isn't going to be the last you'll see of me. Marshall's tranquility will drain from him and will belong to me. You and those mutts of yours may be used to being heroes and getting all the glory, but you don't stand a chance now."
Ryder swallowed hard. "Stop." He whispered inaudibly.
"Hey Ryder dude, you alright?" Asked Jake.
"..Yeah. Yeah, sure. Everything's fine." He said with a smile.
"If you say so." Said Jake, returning the smile.
Ryder sighed and clutched Marshall a little tighter as he carried him into the Lookout.
"(Chuckle) You shall see, boy. You shall see."
"Ryder."
"Yes, pal?"
"You're trembling." Said Marshall.
"It's just cold out here is all. Let's get inside. I don't want you getting sick."
"I already am sick, Ryder." Said Marshall, solemnly.
Ryder gave his puppy a sympathetic frown. "Between you and me, I've started wondering if I'm going crazy. So I guess that makes two of us."
"Ryder, I feel so lost. What is the answer?"
"We'll find it together." Said Ryder, placing a hand on his pup's cheek. "I promise."
Marshall smiled. "Ok."