Chapter Nine

The Frustration

Travis led Katie down the block and to the school. Jet, who was watching from the bushes, smiled. 

Kaitlynn wagged her tail and looked up at Travis. Travis glanced at her.

“You know, I feel like you can understand me.'' he mumbled.

Katie smiled. You have no idea.

Travis sighed as he reached the school. He looked down at his dog.  

“I have to go now. I’ll see ya after school. Go home."

Katie sat down. 

"Molly! You know dogs aren’t allowed in school. Go. Now." Travis commanded and walked towards his friends who were waiting for him.

Kaitlynn sighed and got to her paws. There was a park somewhere, and she knew it. Her and her friends would go there after school everyday Jamie would be late picking her up.

With that, Katie bounded across the street in search of the park. She smiled as she saw the playground. She had always been a kid at heart, even at her age of 16. She bounded up the steps and slid down into the tunnel slide, jumping off at the bottom.

After about the fifth slide, she froze, hearing a familiar chuckle. She turned and her ears pinned back, as she saw Jamie, sitting on the park bench, watching her.

Kaitlynn whined, taking a step forward. She hadn’t seen Jamie in days, though it felt like years. But she knew Jamie was allergic to dogs. It was one of the many reasons they hadn’t gotten one before.

Reluctantly, Katie walked back to the school. Without the retriever knowing it, hours had gone by, and she was just in time to pick up Travis. She lay down on the concrete outside the school gate and rested her head on her paws, watching the gate.

After a few minutes, the bell rang and a large mob of kids ran out in a rush to get far from the place most referred to as Hell. She lifted her head and kept her eyes peeled for Travis. She whined, as she saw her friends walking out, frowns on their faces. The whole school didn’t seem normal. They all seemed to be lost in thought. Did they find out about me?

Kaitlynn perked her ears and listened carefully as her friends walked past.

"I cant believe she’s dead."

"Me neither. Are you going to the funeral tomorrow? Her mom called my mom and asked if I could come. She said Katie would've wanted it."

''Yeah, she called my mom too." They both glanced at her and one of them gasped. The second asked 

"What is it?" The first was staring at her, mouth gaping. '

'I could've sworn I... Never mind." They walked away.

Kaitlynn whimpered and flattened her ears. She shook it off as Travis walked up to her. 

"Molly? What are you doing here? How'd you know I get out at this time?" He looked around to see if Mrs. Parker had come and brought Molly along.

Katie sighed and took his sleeve in her teeth and dragged him towards home. It was time he knew the truth.

Chapter Ten

The Unsaid Words

Katie dragged Travis into the house. His mother and father were both at work, and Rylee was at preschool. 

"Molly! Cut it out!" Travis complained, and tried to pull his sleeve away. Katie ignored him and kept marching on down the hall. She released him once she reached the computer. She jumped onto the swivel chair and set her paw on the keyboard. 

She frowned, looking down at it. 

I can’t type! I have paws not fingers! 

She pondered this for a moment, and snatched a pencil in her jaws. 

She then tilted her head and moved the mouse with her pencil. When she the mouse hovered over Microsoft word, she slammed her paw down on it. She then began pressed down on each key with her pencil. 

‘Travis, its me Katitlynn.’ She typed then turned and looked at him, her ears pinned back.

Travis's eyes were locked on the screen, his moth agape. He looked at Molly. 

"B-but how? Why? How can that possibly happen?" He stuttered.

Katie turned back to the screen and continued to type.

‘Long story short, a dog told me I came back to life to fulfill my purpose, which is to keep you safe. Apparently, great trouble is going to come in the future, and only I can save you.’

Travis frowned. 

"Like, what kind of trouble?"

Kaitlynn typed; ‘I don’t know. I wasn’t told.’

Travis rubbed the back of his neck, and looked down at his feet. 

"So you uh... heard me crying the night you died huh?"

Kaitlynn wagged her tail, her whiskers twitching with laughter. 

‘Sure did. I also heard the 'I’m so sorry Katie.. I didn’t mean it.. I broke up with her for you. Im so sorry etc.’ She typed and narrowed her sparkling eyes.

Travis laughed and wrapped his arms around the golden retriever. 

"I really am sorry Katie... She asked me and I just, couldn’t say no to her. You know Angela is a cry baby."

Katie smiled and thumped her tail against the seat. She gave his ear a quick nudge and he released her. A car sounded outside the house. Travis opened his mouth to yell out what Katie had just told him to his mum. Katie grabbed his sleeve and tugged as if to say no.

"Got it." he replied. Travis closed the Microsoft Document and his mother walked in.

"Why is Molly on the chair?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Travis looked at Katie and said; 

"I was asking her the same thing."

Mrs. Parker nodded and said ;

"Well get her off. I don’t want dog hair everywhere."

Chapter Twelve

The Shock

Kaitlynn lifted up her head, thumping her tail against the couch cushion. It had been a year since she had told Travis her true identity, and so far everything had been semi-normal. Better than she expected. Travis was like that, always surprising her. 

Katie had become friendly with Travis's other pets, Ruth the cat and Apple the hampster. Travis and Katie had been communicating through the computer as before, and Katie had been helping him with, to her simple math, while he struggled. Travis was now 18 years of age, and Katie was now 18, though she didn't seem like it. 

It was just like old times, minus the fact she was a dog, lived in his house, couldn’t see her family, and could no longer act human. 

Kaitlynn yawned and leapt off the comfortable furnature, and stretched out her legs. Ruth trotted into the living room, and let out a soft meow in greeting to her. Katie walked over and smiled. 

"Hey Ruth. Anything new?"

Ruth jumped onto the small coffee table and flicked her tail. 

"Nothing, just the usual." The feline replied. Ruth knew who katie was, as much as Travis did. Ruth could tell by her personality that it was the same girl who had brought her leftovers from when her mother made dreadful tuna salad.

Katie nodded and glanced over at a tennis ball, which lay in the kitchen doorway. She wagged her tail, her dog instincts kicking in. She then bounded over to it and pinned it between her front paws. She growled playfully, tossing the ball around the room.

Ruth rolled her eyes, and covered her muzzle with her calico paws. She then closed her ivory green eyes and drifted off to sleep, the sounds of a bouncing ball echoing into the background.

Kaitlynn barked excitedly and chased the green ball down the hallway, and into Rylee's room. Apple looked down from his high perch on Rylee's desk, and shouted around the seed in his mouth. 

"Thaccle it Katie!" He exclaimed, his tiny paws gripping the steels bars, eyes wide.

As the ball bounced high, Katie leapt up and snatched it in her jaws. She barked triumphantly and trotted over to Apple. She set down the ball and held it between her paws, so it wouldn't roll. 

"Hey Apple!" Katie barked cheerfully, her heart pounding from the earlier excitement.

Apple spat out the seed and smiled widely. 

"Hey Katie! Any news?" He asked with a sly grin.

Katie cocked her head. 

"News? What do you mean by that?" she asked with a confused look on her golden face.

Apple stepped back, and casually pawed through his hamster feed. 

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if Travis had said anything about still having feelings for ya." He glanced at her, a smirk on his chestnut and white face.

Katie growled, lips peeled back. 

"No, and I'd certainly hope not. It wouldn't matter anyways, considering we are two different species." She huffed.

Apple laughed. 

"Did that stop the Lion and Tiger, from making the very first Liger? No, it didn't!"

Katie raised an eyebrow. 

"Huh?"

Apple frowned. "You didn't see the news? A tiger and lion mated, making an offspring called the Liger."

Katie shook her head. 

"No. You watch the news, not me." She smiled.

Apple rolled his eyes. 

"Anyways.. So nothing?" He cocked his head.

Katie shook her head, jumping away. 

"Nope, and there will never be." She trotted away, down the hallway. She hadn't heard Travis walk into the house.

As she rounded the corner, she found Travis kissing Angela.

Chapter Thirteen

The Rage

Katie peeled back her lips, her large canines clearly visible. She stalked forwards, eyes a blazing, locked on Angela. Her ears were pinned back against her skull, and her dew claw scratched the wood floor.

" Katie, stop.." Travis commanded after he pulled away from Angela, stepping between the golden and the girl. Angela made no move to step out from behind him.

Katie didn’t bother to listen to him. She continued to stalk forward, and after a final snarl, she lunged forwards and grasped Angela's ankle. Angela shrieked and Katie yelped, feeling a hard grip on her scruff. She soon found herself sailing in the air, then slamming painfully into the hallway wall. 

She cowered down in the corner, pulling her tail protectively against her ribs. Her body trembled, as she watched the pair fearfully.

Travis had thrown Katie, and was now facing Angela. Before he could speak, Angela shouted at him. 

"Look what your stupid dog did! Thanks a lot Travis... and you named her after Katie? That idiot blonde girl you loved in 10th grade? I thought you forgot about that brat after she died, thank god." 

She then looked down at her ankle. 

"Now I need stitches. Good job you idiot."

Well, you sure have changed since 10th grade Angela. Katie inquired in her mind.

She stormed out the door and climbed into her car, speeding away. By the screeching sound of the tires, Travis and Katie both knew there would be skid marks.

Travis looked over at katie, causing her to let out another snarl. 

"Katie.." He started, though he couldn’t finish his sentence. Kaitlynn struggled to her paws and raced out the open door, her head screaming in pain from slamming into the wall.

How could he? And just as we were beginning to forget that fight, he brings it up again, and of all people it had to be Angela. Angela!

Katie ran down the street, and rounded the corner. She raced past the school and the park that she had spent so many days at, waiting for Travis, and watching Jamie from afar. She ran past it all, until she came to a stop at the small, remote road that had killed her so many years ago.

She sat down behind the bush where she had met Jet, and watched the road in front of her. Cars seemed to drive past as if they had no clue a huge accident had occurred barely a year ago. She huffed, and lay down in the dirt, resting her head on her paws.

"I was wondering when you would come back here." Said a familiar voice. One of a large, black Newfoundland who went by the name Jet.

Kaitlynn jumped to her paws and whirled around, a warm feeling filling her. 

"I didn’t think I would need to, but I guess once betrayed, always betrayed."

Jet smiled, sitting down, and Katie did the same.

"Katie, some people change you know."

"Well Travis hasn't!" She objected.

"Not yet." Jet replied flatly.

Katie sighed and looked away. 

"Can we talk about something else? This topic depresses me."

Jet nodded his head, pondering this. 

"Then what shall we talk about? Politics?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Kaitlynn rolled her eyes. 

"How about how you died?" She asked.

Jet raised an eyebrow, not amused by the smug look on her face. 

"No." he replied.

"And why is that?'' Katie snapped.

"Because I don’t share my life with just anyone."

"Well, I’m not just anyone. Im Kaitlynn, your friend. Speak." She commanded.

Jet shuffled his paws and sighed. 

"Fine. It was just a small heart attack. I didn’t know I was sick, but my wife, Lilly did. I declined her pleads to go see a doctor, and I died the day before my 70th birthday. I came back as a Newfoundland, and helped her as her assistance dog until she passed away." 

Jet shrugged it off, as if it didn’t bother him, though he seemed to be hiding his face from her view.

Kaitlynn opened her mouth to speak, eyes filled with sorrow but Jet cut her off. 

"Save your pity. Its pointless." Katie shut her mouth and nodded." Go find Travis, and quick." Jet commanded.

Chapter Fourteen

The Forgiving

Kaitlynn nodded her head at Jet's command, and slipped through the underbrush quickly. Once on the other side, she shook her fur free from the leaves and twigs, and sprinted back in the direction she had come from.

Her paws pounded down the dirt road, in which she had driven down thousands of times in her human years. The same dirt road that was 3 miles long, the same one that she had walked up and down on her school days. That very same one, the one that she had sat under a nearby tree at and waited, every time she knew Travis was going to come over.

Her ears bounced up and down, the tips outstretched with lifted ends. Her blue eyes darted back and forth as she ran, watching the semi trucks pass by. Her body was tense, as it was almost like she was reliving her death night.

As she turned to look over her shoulder, to watch the truck go by, she rammed head first into the legs of Travis. She yelped, and staggered backwards. She looked up and stood still as she saw his brown eyes, the sun peeking out from behind his head. Travis was her forever best friend, no matter what stupid things he did.

"Katie.." He exclaimed, relief filling his eyes. Kaitlynn let out a small whine, taking a step backwards. Travis knelt down, holding out his hand like any human would when first meeting a dog.

Kaitlynn sniffed it quickly, licking the finger tips. Travis smiled, rubbing the top of her head. 

"Jeez Katie.. I don’t know how many times you've dealt with all my crap." He said with a laugh.

Katie looked up at him, and rolled her eyes, as if to say; "Yeah yeah."

Travis scratched under her chin, and his face grew serious. 

"Katie, you know you would be my first choice. But I can’t date a dog, and you don’t expect me to just stay single forever do you? I mean, no offense but your going to die before I do, considering you’re a dog and all."

Kaitlynn pulled her head back immediately, about to growl. Instead, she let out a sigh and dipped her head, understanding. Why would he have to suffer because of her? That was not love. That was sacrifice. She stepped forward again and rested her chin on his knee, and he lay his hand on her neck. Travis bent down and kissed the top of her head, and Katie licked his face.

"Ew! Katie! Thats disgusting..." He complained, wiping his face with his sleeve. Katie wagged her tail, a small cloud of dust forming.

Other than the two there on the road, it was strangely quiet. No cars were passing by, and the closest house was a good two miles down the road.

Just as Travis wrapped his arms around Katie's neck, a voice boomed from behind them. 

"Well now.. What have we here?"

Chapter Fifteen

The Final Goodbye

Kaitlynn and Travis whirled their heads around and saw a dark man, a grey hooded jack covering his face. He was twirling a gun in his hand, a sly smirk on his face. 

"Well, now I hate to break the mood here and all, but I’m kinda on a schedule." He said, raising the gun.

Travis, frozen solid, stared wide eyed at the gun.

Katie snarled, jumping to her paws. She stood between herself and the muzzle of the gun, lips peeled back over her large canines. Her hackles rose, muscles tense. Her ears were pinned backwards against her skull, and her eyes were hard as rock. A large growl escaped her throat, making her vocal cords vibrate furiously.

The man moved the gun off Travis and pointed it at Kaitlynn, looking through the scope at her neck. 

"Oh shut up dog." He muttered, pulling the trigger. His hands were shaking, causing the gun's muzzle to move off her neck and at her shoulder.

Katie yelped in pain, staggering backwards. Beginning to feel lightheaded, her shoulder collapsed from under her, making her yelp again. She glared up angrily at the man, and he shook his head in disgust, firing at her again. This time, the bullet sunk into her side.

Kaitlynn didn’t yelp this time, but simply let her head slowly fall onto the dirt road.

Travis stared at Katie, then at the man who was making his way towards him. Travis shakily got to his feet, and grabbed his backpack. He threw it at the man, and it crashed against his leg. There was nothing else to throw.

The man chuckled, shaking his head while smiling. 

"You've got to be kidding me." he said, pointing the gun at Travis once more.

Kaitlynn looked up at the two with her eyes, her head feeling heavier then ever. Was this my purpose? Was this what I was supposed to protect Travis from?

The man pulled the trigger, and just as the bullet shot out, the man let out a grunt as Kaitlynn latched her teeth onto his ankle, thrashing her head furiously.

Travis groaned loudly as the bullet hit his shoulder, making its way deep into his skin. His hands pressed down on it, in an intense urge to stop the pain. His face twisted in pain, his leg not giving him the support he needed. He closed his eyes and found himself on the floor when he reopened them. He breathed heavily, looking up to see Katie, now on the man's back.

The man thrashed his body around, in an effort-filled attempt to get the golden retriever off him. Katie's teeth were sunk deep into his forearm, and she would not let go. The man rose the gun, up behind his back and pulled the trigger. 

The bullet landed between Katie's shoulder blades, making her yip around his arm. The man fired once more, but after Katie had fallen off his back. The bullet shot into the man's neck, making him drop to the floor.

Travis struggled to his feet, and staggered over to the man, who was covered in blood, clutching his neck frantically. Travis grabbed the gun in which he dropped, and aimed it at the man. He closed his eyes, and fired it, killing the man.

Travis tossed the gun aside, eyes watering and looked over at Katie, who was laying motionlessly in the dirt.

When Katie woke, she found herself in a small, cold room. She tried to lift her head, but failed in her attempt. It was extremely heavy, and she didn’t have the strength. She let her eyes wander around the room. The walls were white, and by the looks of it, she was on a small table.

Her tail lightly thumped the tile of the table as Travis walked through the doorway. Tears rolled down his cheeks, as he silently made his way over to her. His shoulder had a large white padding over it, obvious that he had gotten treated for the bullet wound already.

Travis sat down next to Katie, and looked up at her. 

"The police took the man away, well his body.." He said softly.

Katie listened, not even trying to communicate. She knew it wasn’t possible for him to understand dog.

Travis softly rested his hand on her head, not wanting to hurt her.

Travis bit his lip and said;

"Katie, the doctor said you wouldn’t live." He said quietly, holding back his tears as much as he could.

Kaitlynn froze. She knew that was coming.

Travis let the water drip down his face and onto the table. He buried his face into Katie's fur and sobbed. 

"Katie, I’m so sorry. I love you Katie. I always have, even since we were five, I knew you were for me."

Kaitlynn licked his hand, looking down at him with soft, blue eyes. She had finished her purpose, and with that she lay down, and let her body grow still.