Almost

Something had rippled through me and I thought for an instant I was human again, but now I felt sick. Brandt reached under the bed and slid me out. I tried to get up, but I had no strength in my legs. He picked me up off the floor and set me on the bed.

"What have you done to her, Alia?"

"Nothing." She showed him the small bag of kibbles she had brought. "As I said, I was just trying to feed her."

He set a hand on my head and I wagged my tail. That was right, stand up to her. Brandt smiled for just a moment before his head lowered.

"I apologize, Alia."

I rolled more to my side and closed my eyes. 'You weren't supposed to back track, Brandt.' The nauseated feeling I had was getting worse.

His hands moved over my body, pressing lightly in spots to see if I was injured. Then he opened my mouth to check for anything stuck in there. "Did you eat any of the kibbles?" he asked me.

I growled then whined and shifted as the nausea got worse.

"I shouldn't have taken you from the medics yet," he said more to himself.

"Brandt, have you forgotten I'm still here?" Alia asked.

"I need to take care of Carolynn, Alia. Excuse me." He lifted me from the bed and carried/ran with me to the medics. But on the way, he felt a shift in his arms and stopped. "Carolynn?"

I barked then licked his face. The nausea was starting to leave and he was doing it. He was on the right track to breaking the curse.

He set me down then knelt in front of me. "Are you going to be okay?"

I barked and wagged my tail.

"What happened?"

I chased my tail a moment before getting up in his face.

"I know you're excited, but I still don't understand why?"

I whined. This wasn't going last long I could tell.

"I've been ordered to keep you with me all the time. I hope by doing so that I can find out what it is I need to end this."

Resting my head on his shoulder, I set a paw on his knee. Brandt wrapped his arms around me before we went into the mess hall. He filled up a tray and got some extra meat for me. Then we sat and ate. He fed me pieces from his fingers while he seemed to ponder everything. When he was done eating, we went to a building where there were offices. Brandt spent a lot of time filing paperwork and other seemingly menial tasks for Captain Hawkers.

Alia came back as evening fell. She sat on the edge of the desk where Brandt was still working and his energy still seemed a little agitated. She was giving off strong sexual scents and Brandt reacted to it.

"I take it you've decided what you want me to do to make it up to you?" he asked, looking up at her expectantly.

"I've a couple ideas. Meet me in the usual place at 8pm."

"Okay."

Alia licked her lips then exaggerated the sway in her hips as she left. I growled as the door closed behind her. Brandt just looked at me then went back to his paperwork. What was he thinking? Eight came quickly and soon he and I were waiting in the shadows by the women's barracks. Alia came shortly after that with a bucket of mud.

She stopped when she saw me. "You couldn't leave the dog behind?"

"Captain Hawker's orders."

"That fool," she muttered then smiled. "Perhaps she can learn obedience through observation." Alia turned the bucket upright over Brandt's head, the mud covering him from head to toe. But he didn't move. Her fingers gripped his hair tightly and she kissed him.

"Where are you wanting it tonight?" Brandt asked.

"Under the stars," she said, breathing hard. Alia groped him then ran off into the trees.

Brandt followed and soon her laughter filled the trees. I didn't follow as quickly. Them having sex was the last thing I wanted to see. But as I came upon them in the trees, Alia was covered in mud as was Brandt. It was two dark to see much, save their movements and the sounds she was making. I sat with my back to them. What item would help him understand?

Alia's noises stopped and I could hear Brandt panting.

"I expect to see your naked and muddy body when I wake," she threatened.

"I'll be here."

I kept watch on the partially lit barracks and watched all the lights go out. I laid down for just a moment. When I woke, the sky was just beginning to lighten. I was human again. Shaking my head, I turned back to the mud hole where Alia and the Dalmatian Brandt lie covered in mud. Getting up, I lifted Brandt out of the mud which woke Alia.

"Who are you?" she asked, glaring at me.

"Carolynn," I replied. Then I turned and carried Brandt back to the barracks. "I hope you're satisfied, Brandt."

He whined in my arms.

When we returned to the barracks, I set him on the foot of the bed before climbing under the blankets to go back to sleep. I was tired of this. Brandt stepped on me several times before getting in my face and licking me. I pushed him away and rolled over. I felt him get off the bed and soon my little bag was in my face. I glared at him then opened the bag. I found the little mirror I tried to find earlier and a small wooden stop sign.

"Think about Alia," I growled. Then I closed the bag and dropped it on the floor before lying back down to sleep.

Brandt didn't do anything after that, but I heard Alia stomp into the barracks. "Who do you think you are? Where is Brandt? What have you done with him?"

I didn't respond.

"You're the woman he's been sleeping with? Aren't you?"

Brandt growled as Alia stepped closer. I watched him for a moment, if he kept going he would have what he needed to break the curse completely.

Alia kicked him and he yelped. I closed my eyes, he was going to back down again, wasn't he? But his growl returned as he put himself between me and Alia again.

"What's with this dog? He takes Brandt's place then protects you? Who are you anyways?"

"Good boy, Brandt," I said under my breath, just before it caught.

Brandt turned and stood, human again, and checked on me. "Carolynn? Carolynn, what's wrong?"

"Brandt?" Alia asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Carolynn." His hands touched my face as I struggled to breathe.

Then he picked me up with the blankets over me and ran from the barracks. He ran to the medic's tent where they tried everything they could to try and get my lungs to open again. But darkness filled my mind before they could get my lungs to open.