Taken
Chapter 1: The Beast's Lair.
She groaned as her body slowly came to and took immediate notice to a driving pain which pounded like an over sized bass drum in the back of her skull. She grimaced and pinched her eyes closed as she slowly lifted her head, for that motion alone was pure agony, then once she was positioned on her chest, she turned her head slowly to the right.
"Humphrey, what happened to me?" she asked, for the last thing that she remembered before everything had gone black was going out to the river last night for a drink, but there was no reply.
"Humphrey?" she called again opening her eyes slowly, but when they opened, she found herself deep in the confides of a dark, wet cave whose walls were lined with torches which cast ghostly orange halos upon the mounds of gold which were scattered across the floor.
"What the hell?" she asked, frightened and attempted to push herself to her paws, but as she attempted to rise, she heard a metallic clatter and turned to find that she was chained by her neck to the wall.
"Wha- what's going on?" she cried, almost in a state of panic, "what is this!"
"Shh... keep it down," another female voice demanded firmly, "you don't want to wake him."
Kate slowly caught her breath and collected herself.
"Wake who?" she asked her seemingly familiar advisor, her voice now a low whisper as she tried to pick her company out of the darkness, "what is going on?"
There was a sudden metallic scrape as something moved off to the left in the deeper regions of the cave, which caused both Kate and the other female to begin to tremble noticeably.
"Shit, lie down and pretend that you're sleeping," the female instructed in a frantic whisper, "and for God sake do not look him in the eye."
Kate nodded and lied down as a loud thud suddenly shook the floor, causing the piles of gold to clatter as their structures were rattled.
Never before had she been more frightened than she was now, trapped in this cave. She did not know what was going on, where she was, or what had taken her, but she could tell just by the sheer disturbance it caused when it moved, that whatever it was, it was huge.
A small shadow began to take shape on the wall which steadily grew in size as the beast approached, but Kate dared not look any longer, so she quickly closed her eyes and laid her head down, appearing to be asleep.
The rumble of the earth grew more concussive as the beast drew nearer to her, then, just when she thought that she would lose it, the rumble faded slowly away and all went silent once more.
She lied on the ground, panting deeply with her teary eyes still screwed shut, but after about another minute or so, her accompaniment spoke.
"Probably going out to pillage the park of more females," she mused bitterly as she struggled to her feet, "I swear if that bastard takes my sister, I'll kill him."
"What is that thing?" Kate asked, lifting her head, "and what does it want with us?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly, "but what I do know is that it's big, it's mean, and it's ugly."
A silence fell between them save the distant drip of water, which droned for a matter of about five minutes before Kate finally spoke.
"So... where are you from?" she asked slowly, trying to ease her nerve.
"It doesn't matter," the other female replied dejectedly, "I'll probably never see my home again."
Kate's eyes moved to her paws for a moment, then she lifted them again to ask another question.
"How long has he kept you here?" she asked.
"A week."
Kate's eyes widened.
"A week?" she asked surprised, "that's how long... Sweets? Is that you?"
"How do you know my name," the female asked, defensively.
"It's me, Sweets," Kate answered quickly, "it's Kate."
"Kate?" she gasped, "oh no, not you, too."
"Listen to me, Sweets," Kate began, "everything is going to be alright. We'll find a way out of here."
Sweets sighed.
"There is no way out," she said dismally, "I've tried for a week to get out, but these chains are too thick. We can't break them."
"Well we can't just stay here with that... thing," Kate replied, "it probably wants to fatten us up and eat us!"
"No," Sweets answered, "I don't know what it wants, but it certainly isn't that."
"Yeah?" Kate asked incredulously, "and how would you know that?"
"Because he's only given me enough food and water to stay alive, that's how," she replied bitterly.
"Oh," Kate said, lowering her eyes, "I'm sorry," she apologized, "it's just-"
"You're scared," Sweets interrupted.
Kate nodded slowly.
"But you, you seem to be doing alright," she inferred.
"No," Sweets admitted, "I'm terrified, it's just-"
The earth shook violently again which cut their conversation short.
"It's probably meal time," Sweets said quickly, keeping her voice low, "Lie down on your chest and place your head between your forelegs. Remember, do not move or open your eyes until he is gone."
Kate nodded, beginning to tremble again as she assumed the position instructed, then closed her eyes, waiting in great suspense as the heavy-footed creature drew closer.
It tended to her first, dropping something just before her muzzle, and while her curiosity demanded that she look, she dared not open her eyes.
The creature lingered over her for a moment, almost as though waiting to see what would happen, but when Kate remained completely still, he turned away and she felt his hot breath cease to roll over her back.
She released a breath which she had not been aware of holding, but she dared not move a muscle, for she feared what would happen to her if she stirred. However, the temptation to look was growing too strong for her to control. Perhaps she could sneak a glance.
She chanced to peel one of her eyelids open so as to maybe catch a quick peek at what had captured her and saw only a long, scaly tail, like a serpent or a lizard before her courage was lost and she closed it again.
Then finally the creature began to take his leave and his footsteps faded as he retreated once again to the deepest region of the cave.
A full minute passed before the all clear was given.
"Okay, we're safe," Sweets assured, though she still whispered.
Kate opened her eyes and lifted her head, then turned her eyes down to the dead animal which had been placed before her, a raccoon based off of the scent.
"Gross," she said in a distasteful whisper and turned her nose away.
"I know the meat is terrible, but I would still eat it if I was you," Sweets advised, "there's no telling when the next meal will come. I didn't eat the first thing he brought to me and didn't eat for another three days."
Kate opened her mouth to offer protest, but decided against it and lowered her head, staring uneasily at the silhouetted hunk of animal before her.
"Well... here goes nothing."
Humphrey was exhausted, for he had searched for her all night, and still he had not found even a single clue. Those with whom he searched were willing to give up on her and call it a night, but he would not give up until he found her and brought her home safely. However, the situation could not have looked more grim, for she had vanished last night without warning and without a trace, and not even the best trackers in the pack could pick up her scent. It was almost as though she had vanished into thin air... hauntingly similar to the way it was when Sweets disappeared...
None of this made any sense to him, for he could not think of any possible way that two wolves could just vanish like that with no witnesses, no evidence, no scents, nothing; so what had happened to them?
Frustrated both from fatigue and failure, he lashed out and slashed a tree with his claws, sending splinters of bark to the ground then flopped down onto his haunches.
"Where did you go, Kate?" he asked, lifting his head slowly to the sky.