Hey Ya'll. Guess who ain't dead.
'Ight, so it's been a while. What, 5 years? Hot damn. Well, a lots happened in that time. None of which is important to any of you, sans my writing improving. And, let me tell ya', going back over this fic made me cringe. Hard. You guys don't deserve my lame college freshman level drivel. Even more so since it's been so long. I said I was going to finish it, damnit I'm gonna! But, I'm not going to continue with my improved writing tacked on to what was here before. Ya'll deserve better. Even if there's only a fraction of those that still even come to this site, let alone to this fic.
So, it's all being rewritten. Plot is the same. Story is the same. It's just been spending every other day at the gym. I've got a better understanding of a few things and won't just be slapping it all together just to get it out and on to my next thought.
I was going to surprise those that are still following by redoing every chapter before tossing confetti and giving the announcement with a new chapter. However, I figured ya'll've been waiting long enough (I'm also just really impatient). So, I've only got 2 chapters redone. But, I'm steadily working.
To all those that have reviewed so wonderfully in the past, love ya'll, stay golden. To those that are still here and to those that are new, welcome to a new start!
Her eyes were unfocused again. She'd been staring. For how long she didn't know. Time no longer existed for her. She didn't know when the sun was up or when the stars were out. She couldn't see them. She wasn't allowed to. All she had was biting cold, hard steel, and the promise to never leave.
She blinked. There was a sound, getting louder. Metal scrapping against metal. It clawed against her skull, causing every beast within her to scream with it. There was a time when she would have welcomed a different sound from the constant hum of the too bright lights. But not now. Not when she knew what outside noises could possibly bring.
The click of boots was steady and unhurried, knowing there was nowhere to go. They were mocking her. Their pace seemed to slow slightly as she huddled into herself to keep from shaking. She hoped that they hadn't come for her, but rather one of the others. She knew though. The cage next to her had been opened a long while ago. It was her turn.
The heavy door opened with a deafening squeal. The Human was watching her. She could feel it. There used to be several of them at first. Then she became weaker. She wasn't fed enough, was kept cold, and body broken several times. What a sight she must have been. A once proud and strong hunter reduced to a shivering mess.
The male said something. Angry. They were always angry when they spoke. She didn't understand what he was saying, but knew what he wanted. She began to stand clumsily to her feet, hands failing to find something to grip on the smooth walls.
Too slow.
She cried out as she was yanked forward into the hallway. Her bare feet doing everything to keep herself up as she was dragged along. Her eyes caught movement behind some of the doors. A shadow or a tuft of hair, but never eyes. No one ever looked out when the Humans were around.
A prickling feeling stung around her eyes as the grip on her arm tightened. For probably the first time, in a long time, she wished she could go home. Not to the trees and damp earth, but to her home. For the first time in a long time, she wished she could remember her mothers face. Wished things had turned out differently.
They reached their destination soon enough. There was just enough light from a few strange lamps around the room, making long shadows, making the room that much more unsettling. He picked her up with little effort and all but dropped her onto the table, forcefully strapping her in. He then left without a second glance. She listened to the echoing of his boots as they became faint before everything went quiet.
This was the part she always hated. The waiting. The lights here didn't make noise and there wasn't any movement of others around her. The stillness unnerved her. The lack of being able to move made her fidgety. Even more so since she couldn't sift into a more comfortable position. She was sitting on her tail awkwardly. It was starting to throb unpleasantly.
She inhaled deeply, hoping to clam herself. He always teased her when she was worked up. She coughed as she finally noticed the pungent metallic stench. Whimpered when she felt a cooled, sticky substance on her hand. No. She wouldn't think about it. She'd keep her mind on something else. She relaxed and closed her eyes, trying to ignore everything around her, only to be visited by a memory.
She was crying. All she could smell as the blood. All she could see was the motionless body before her. It shouldn't have been killed. Why was it killed? She didn't understand. Just barely seven-years-old and she already knew this was wrong.
The cat dwarfed her as she fell to her knees beside it. She nudged at it with her tiny hands. It was still warm so it might still be alive!
She only succeeded in staining herself. Her mother wouldn't be happy about that. Then again, her mother hadn't been really happy in a long time. Not that she had seen. Not until...
Him. This was his fault. The cougar hadn't even run at him. It had just stood there, looking at him. Watching. It didn't move as he started moving toward it. It did hiss, but only when he got too close. Even from her place far on the porch she could see that it wasn't being unfriendly, only curious. Could he not tell? No. He knew. He just didn't care.
He had yelled at it. It turned away when a rock was thrown. But he raised his gun anyway. She hadn't noticed until the last second that he had it, bolting forward.
He was excited when the cat fell. Even her kindly mother praised her new husband for being such a good aim. She was the only one upset by its death.
She hiccuped as she fell into its fur, wiping her nose with her blood covered arm. She tasted the still warm blood mix with the salt of her tears. She cried out in great pain as she was roughly yanked back by her tail. Her stepfather ignored her outbursts and scolded her for touching a disease ridden corpse.
She pleaded with him louder when he began to drag the body away, her mother holding her tightly. Her mother had scolder her as well, though much more gently. She tried to reason that such a dangerous predator needed to be put down before it got to their small and defenseless livestock. Or even worse, the family.
The excuses didn't matter. You only killed to protect yourself or feed yourself. Anything else was wrong. Why didn't her parents already know this?
The lights became harshly bright to her closed eyes. She kept as still as she could as she heard the Human move around the room. She hoped he was only checking her health today.
She peeked her eyes open when his voice came to her. And there he was, hovering close to her person, smiling almost kindly. As if he were humoring a small child. She knew better. This balding, aged man with the glass on his face was anything but kind.
He spoke again. She could only pick out a word or two. Some sounds that he made seemed familiar.
He frowned when she didn't make any response beyond scrunching her face in confusion. She was picking out more words the longer she was here. Some of others in cages spoke to one another when it was quiet. It had helped some. However, everyone spoke so quickly most of the time. Having not spoken to anyone for so many years greatly hindered her understanding. But she was starting to remember some. She just would have liked it to have been under better circumstances.
The male, Strike she believed she heard others call him, moved away from her, still talking. She didn't understand why he kept talking to her. He must know by now that she didn't know what he was saying. Unless he thought she was keeping quiet on purpose. Or just didn't care.
There were a few clanging noises coming from him. She couldn't see what he was doing from where she was. She was starting to shake in panic. When he came back into view she made a strangled sound of protest at the needle in his hand. That she knew what it was. They either had something in it that made her body heave or black out, or they were empty and took blood from her. Regardless, it caused pain and unease. She didn't like them inside of her.
Strike paused at her sudden cry, seemingly startled that she had made any noise at all. She had made all sorts of sounds when she was first brought in, mostly snarls and yells of anger and fear. Over time she hardly made any sort of vocalization beyond a grunt in discomfort or pain. She had always disliked the needles, but this one caused a new fear.
Before, needles were small. They pricked but it was whatever was in them that really hurt her. This one was a little thicker and much longer. There was nothing in it. What was he taking?
He chuckled at her eying the tool in his hand. He spoke again, waving his hand to the Human that was assisting. The table she was strapped to was suddenly flipped to where she was facing the floor. This was different. She began to struggle when bits of the table were removed, exposing her neck and lower back. Her thin tail whipped around frantically when it was freed. It was quickly tied to her leg.
She struggled farther as multiple hands clamped down on her to keep her still. She was crying. There was pressure on her lower back, just above her tail. Then the prick of a needle. Then a pain so great it set her back on fire, numbing her limbs.
She screamed.