“Percy.”

I glanced around the blackness that had enveloped me, and caught sight of a small figure standing a few feet away, hands clasped before them as if they were praying.

“What…how…I’m dead, damnit, can’t you leave me alone?” I snarled. I was sick and tired of people demanding things of me, and now that I wasn’t alive anymore, I couldn’t see why anyone would bother, let alone what I could do for them.

The figure shrank back a bit, then, without warning, was behind me, its face next to my ear.

“Stupid little wolf. You’re not dead. And you’re certainly not done. You have a job to do, and you’ll finish it. The Elders want the boy alive. Most of the other wolves want him dead. You want to keep him safe. Haven’t you figured it out yet?”

I spun around and grasped the little thing by its neck, intending to give it a quick twist and end the conversation so I could go back to being nothing. As I squeezed, my hand suddenly grasped at nothing.

“What the hell do you want me to do about it?” I screamed, staring around me wildly, trying to pierce the mists that had sprung up from nowhere and catch a glimpse of my tormentor.

“Poor un-remorseful child.”

Again, the voice was in my ear, behind me, but as I turned, there was nothing but mist and darkness.

“You’ve no idea what you’re getting yourself into. What you’re already neck deep in…”

A whisper of a wind across my throat made me shiver and throw myself sideways, trying to avoid any attacks. As I skidded to a halt a few feet to my left, I realized that I was dead; nothing could hurt me here.

“Leave me the hell alone,” I muttered, plopping myself down where I was, “I don’t give a shit what I was neck deep in, considering the fact that I’m not even in the realm of possibilities anymore. I’m dead, and it’s over. Ash’ll figure it out and get the Elders involved; the kid’ll be fine. Besides,” I flopped onto my back and crossed my ankles, closed my eyes and rested my head on my arms, “Even if they don’t, and the kid dies, I still don’t care. I’m dead. What the hell could I possibly have to worry about?”

Sensing a presence, I opened my eyes and caught sight of a small girl in a pink, frilly dress standing over me. A split second later, my entire body contracted and I was filled through and through with the most horrid pain I’d felt in my life. Even the Change was nothing compared to this. I tried to scream, but I could force no sound from my throat; I couldn’t even breathe. I could only curl in on myself and pray for the pain to stop.

“See, now, boy, you can be hurt here. So by your own logic, you’re not dead.” The voice coming from her mouth didn’t belong to a little girl, “Which means that you still have a job to do, as I said before.”

I wrenched my eyes to her face, and tried to reach out with my power, intending to end her and this stupid conversation all in one burst of anger. The instant I conjured the power from within me, however, I knew it was a mistake. Snapping back at me, it ripped away the last of my reasoning, freeing my voice at the same time. I screamed against the pain of whatever the girl was doing to me as well as my own power beating down on me. As I held myself, I felt every blow I’d given others, with my power and with my own hands. Bullets made of nothing ripped through my flesh; knifes with no substance pierced me time and time again. Bones cracked and broke, mended, and broke anew in moments. My heart was stopped, restarted, and stopped so many times I lost count.

Once I felt myself slipping away, giving up, and thanking the blissful end to the pain that was creeping into the edged of my mind, it stopped. It was so sudden I was still screaming a few seconds after. A little hand covering my mouth silenced me, brought me back from the edge of insanity. Shivering, I opened my eyes, and had time to wonder when or how I’d managed to get them closed before the little hand pulled back, and there was nothing but black once more.

“Remember, wolf, you have a job to do. Figure out what the child means, and then you’ll know your task. Complete it, and we won’t have problems like this again.”

The voice faded, and I once again I was nothing.