One Last Dream
Copyright 1998 by Kane

This story is dedicated to Derek Norris, a.k.a. Wolfmage, where 
ever his path takes him...

   The two lovers met in the middle of the sunny meadow.  Life and 
health sprang up around them like flowers.  They embraced, 
Changing as as they kissed.  The two wolves tumbled about in the 
grass smelling the fresh scent of the grass, feeling the warmth of 
the sun, hearing the quiet sound of the...

   ...ambulance siren as it screamed through the night...

   Janus awoke and fought back the revulsion he felt as harsh 
reality of plastic and metal making it's presence known.  The 
cloudless sky melted into the ceiling of his condominium.  The 
dream was always the same.  Now if he only had the guts to make it
real.

   He had been on a date with Sylvia once before.  They had gone
out for pizza and rented a movie.  Nothing fancy, just two friends 
who enjoyed each others company.  If only Janus had the nerve to 
tell her that he was a werewolf as well.

   Janus picked up the phone on the nightstand beside the bed.  He 
pressed the auto-dialer button for Mick.  He desperately felt the 
need to talk to someone right now.

   "Hello?" said a tired sounding voice on the other side of the 
line.

   "Mick, It's me, Janus."

   "Mmm...Janus, what do you want, it's late."

   "I know, I know... I just had that dream again."

   "If you're that crazy about her, just tell her and get it over 
with.  She likes you."

   "No, it's not that.  I'm afraid that if someone finds out about 
my were-side, I might lose my job."

   There was an amused chuckle.  "Someone already does know."

   "You don't count, Mick.  You wouldn't 'rat' on your best 
friend, now would you?"

   "Low blow, not fair."  Janus laughed at the wererat's injured 
sounding voice.  "So it's either you keep your job and six-figure 
salary, or you live happily ever after with Sylvia.  Just try 
calling her.  Who knows?"

   "All right Mick, I will.  Good bye."

   Janus pushed the flash button on the phone and began to slowly 
dial Sylvia's number.  He counted a dozen rings but she never 
picked up.  Typical.  He laid back down on the bed, stared at the 
ceiling, and tried to put her out of her mind.

   A few minutes later the phone rang.  Janus looked at the caller 
ID box and picked it up.  "Hello, Mick."

   "Jan, we've got big trouble.  It's about Sylvia."

   "I know, I know, she isn't home.  Probably out with some tiger 
running around Central Park..."

   Mick's voice had an unaccustomed note of urgency in it.  "No!  
She's been picked up by the Prop282 guys!"

   282.  That hideous number that loomed up at you like a ghastly 
black portal leading straight to oblivion.  "Where is she, Mick?"

   "Jan, I don't want to to get any damn fool idea about..."

   "WHERE IS SHE, GOD DAMN YOU!?"

   "Detention camp outside of the city.  Jan?  Janus?"

   Janus was no longer listening.  He was already on his was out 
the door.

   Sylvia lay in her cell, alone and scared.  She had been crying 
continuously ever since she arrived there.  The cell was so dark, 
the metal floors and walls were cold like ice.  The chill of the 
place seemed to invade her very soul, penetrating her fur.  She 
started to cry again.

   The lock on the door clicked open, and the handle began to 
turn.  Sylvia cowered in the corner.  Was it some interrogator who 
was going to torture her until she told him the names of all her 
shapeshifter friends?  Or some jailer come to take her to the 
electric chair?

   It was neither.  It was Janus, holding a tiny lockpick in his 
hands.  She ran to him and hugged him.  "Janus, it's you!  But how 
did you..."

   "Never mind how I got here," he said.  "I'm getting you out."

   "Why?"

   "Janus looked at her furry form.  "Because...because I want to, 
that's why."

   The two crept along the inner wall, occasionally darting around 
corners to dodge spotlights or guards.  Their progress was slow, 
but it was still progress.  They were almost to the rope that 
Janus had left coiled at the base of the fence. Just a few more...

   Janus and Sylvia were suddenly bathed in the light of a 
searchlight.  A moment later, a siren began to wail.

   Janus threw his jacket over the barber wire on the top of the 
fence, and held out his hands to Sylvia.  "I disabled the 
electricity on the fence coming in.  I'll boost you over," he 
said.

   "What about you?" asked Sylvia in a panicked voice.

   "There the are!" shouted a rough, burly voice nearby.

   "No time, get going!"  yelled Janus.  Sylvia boosted herself 
off of his outstretched arms over the fence and began to run for 
her life.  Janus grabbed the rope and threw it over the fence.  
Just five more seconds, and they would be free.

   The first bulled caught him in the shoulder, causing him to 
fall off of the rope.  Seven more pelted into him on his way down.
From the other side of the fence, he heard a terrified scream.  
Uniformed bodies began to swarm around him.  Sylvia never heard 
Janus' dying words.

   "I love you..."