Together or Not at All

No, you can’t give up now and you can’t do that to Lacey. You have to make it you just have to. A peek over your shoulder reveals that the dogcatchers are on your tails. “Come here, be good dogs,” one of them huffs out of breath.

You feel the wire loop brush against your shoulder. Your heart is racing, Lacey’s hand in yours. “JUMP!” you shout, Lacey and you lunge forward clearing the final stretch as you reach the glowing symbol of escape.

The glow is blinding, you shield your eyes, and prepare yourself for the impact of landing on the ground. Your land with a soft bounce, a metallic squeak coming from under you. You open your eyes, no dogcatchers in sight. But also no Lacey. You’re alone in a bare room, a small window near the ceiling, and a nearly empty nightstand.

Where are you? This isn’t your home. You sit up, taking a closer look around. Bed, nightstand, and a desk. Is it a dorm room? It’s a little bare for a dorm. You freak out when you realize you’re wearing a pair of mittens. “Property of Saint Brenard’s Mental Hospital,” you read the embroidered writing on the mittens.

“Rise and Shine, Max,” a voice calls through the door as it creeks open. She’s dressed in white scrubs, you’re really in a mental hospital. Then you recognize her, Sofia. “Ready boy?”

“What’s going on?” you ask, not expecting her to understand you.

“It’s morning rec time,” she answers, forcing you to your feet.

“Wait, you can hear me?”

“Of course Max, how else would we be able to take care of you?” she laughs.

This is a relief, “What am I doing here? Why the mittens? I just want to go home.”

“Are you okay?” she grabs your head, checking your pupils. “I’ll tell Dr. Miller that you’re having memory issues, she might need to adjust your meds.” She lets go, and guides you from the room. “You’re here to get better, and the mittens are because you kept scratching at your self. You can talk to Dr. Miller about getting them off.”

She leads you through the halls. You look through a door marked SECURITY, Luis is sitting in a chair watching a wall of monitors. You pause outside another room, Robert presses metal rods to the dog’s…no patient’s temples. Sofia pulls you away as they start convulsing from the electric shock.

She brings you to a big open room. “Be a good boy, and I’ll be by later for your special treat.” She walks away leaving you at a round table. In one corner of the room is a tv with a handful of patients watching some odd cartoon. The wall is painted with a mural, a beautiful Japanese pagoda surrounded by cherry blossom trees, the pink petals floating in the wind.

What is going on? Are you crazy? Was the whole dog thing just some kind of hallucination, a fever dream populated by the people I see in the hospital? You recognize some of the other patients, they were dogs you saw out on walks or at the dog park.

“Sit here and don’t go anywhere,” Lucas’s rough voice breaks through your panic. He slams Lacey into the seat next to you.

You wait for him to walk away before talking, “Lacey, are you okay?”

She nods. Back to not talking, then you notice the bruising around her neck. Has Lucas hurt her? Or you are in a mental hospital, was it self-inflicted? Was her silence what caused your hallucination to have her be mute.

“What happened? We were in that field—” she starts to whisper, but is cut off.

“Breakfast is served,” Jack says, putting two trays in front of us. A pile of slop on each, it almost makes the bland dog food seem appetizing. “You both eat up, and maybe you’ll get a treat later,” he says, tapping the jar of peanut butter on his cart of trays. Your body shivers at the thought.

As the both of you pick at your plates, another patient sits at your table. “You guys ready for the big movie night?” Duke immediately starts in. His blabbering is constant, not giving you a chance to see what Lacey remembers. “So Freckles, Max, you want me to save you a seat? We can all sit together and share a blanket, it will be so much fun.”

“My name is Ralph,” you correct him, but he still calls you Max.

“You done?” Sofia asks, her hands on your shoulders. You didn’t even notice her approaching. She takes you away, not giving you a chance to answer. You look back, and see Jack picking up your tray. Then you see it, the glowing white door, the exit sign. You’re not crazy! It’s another trick of some kind… Or is it another hallucination? Maybe you are crazy, why would there be a glowing white door in a mental hospital?

You’re still questioning everything when Sofia pulls you into a room. “Hey, pup,” Trixie says grabbing you as you enter the room. Sofia takes a seat across the room, as Trixie pulls you in for a kiss. “Ready for a little fun?” She places your hands on her body, pushing her back up against you. The two of you face Sofia, who watches from her seat.

Trixie quickly loses her clothes, yours didn’t last much longer. Sofia watches as Trixie leads you through the motions. You watch as Sofia touches herself, her hand in her pants. You and Trixie are on the floor, both facing Sofia as you push your cock into the other patient.

It feels good, but you’re distracted. Your mind is filled with images of the exact scene playing out in the dog park. Your own sanity coming into question once again. Sofia moans watching you, Trixie’s own pleasure filled moans join her. You grunt trying to keep up. Each thrust pushes your cock through Trixie’s soft folds, until finally you explode inside of her.

Trixie turns, pointing her leaking pussy at the woman watching you. She licks your cock clean, before taking a seat on the bed. “You two were amazing as always,” Sofia says, pulling out a pair of crackers. She puts one in Trixie’s mouth, before turning to you. You can taste her fluids on her fingers as she presses the cracker against your tongue. “Now, you have an appointment with the Doc.”

Sofia straightens her hair, while you get redressed. Trixie relaxes naked on the bed. Sofia leads you back down the hallway, you spot the glowing door at the far end. She stops at a door marked Dr. Miller. Nicole is sitting at a desk, “Dr. Miller is expecting you,” she says without looking up from her phone.

“Remember don’t say anything about ‘your special fun time’ to the doctor,” Sofia whispers to you as she opens the doctor’s door.

“Max, the orderlies were telling me that you are having some memory problems,” Camila says from behind another desk covered in folders of paperwork. You stand there staring. “Please sit,” she says gesturing to the other side of the desk. But you don’t see any seats, does she expect you to sit on the floor? Like a dog? “Max. Sit,” she commands, her voice dripping with authority.

You gulp, the door is still open behind you. Do you sit? Should you make a run for the glowing white door again? What if its not real? What if you really are crazy? Would running just hurt your chances of getting better? But what if this is all just another fever dream? “Max, sit!”