When I opened my eyes, the first thing to register was darkness. Thick black walls of darkness pressing around my vision. I must have been in a room with no windows and a sealed door, because there was absolutely no light what so ever. The second thing to hit me was smell. The stench of stale, uncirculated air and mildew, underneath beer and piss. The only thing to hear was a depressing, fear-inducing silence.
I craned my neck, trying to see something, but it was no use. I couldn't see a damn thing. I gritted my teeth and growled, then coughed. My throat burned angrily and my tongue was swollen. I tried to move my hands, and panicked when I couldn't feel them. When I tugged harder, I realized they had been bound very tightly with rope. They were numb from lack of blood. I breathed a sigh of relief, but shut it off sharply when my ears pricked forward, hearing the sound of approaching feet. Keys jingled and the door opened.
I squinted at the light, turning my head, my black hair falling around my face. A figure moved into the light and I looked back up. I bared my teeth, ears laying flat. Two more figures walked in and stood on either side of me. I tried to struggle when they grabbed my upper arms, but it was no use. I was too weak. It didn't occur to me until just then to wonder what day it was. How long had I been here? How long had it been since I last ate? Drank? When I tried to remember, pain shot through my head, just behind my eyes. My head sagged from the force of the pain.
I was shoved through the door and up a flight of stairs. It was a narrow passage and one of the men had to get in front of me, the other behind. At the end of the stairs, we came into a plain stone room. It also had no windows, but it had torches along the walls. The man that had unlocked the door walked to another one, a polished mahogany door unlike the regular pine of the other two doors, and knocked twice. A little slot slid open on the door, then shut. Some bolts rattled, and the door was opened. Once again, I was being shoved through the door and into another room. This room was easier on the eyes. The stone walls were scrubbed clean of their mold and draperies had been hung at regular intervals between the torches. At the end of the room a thin, withered man sat in a polished, high-back chair. He had a table in front of him, covered in roasted chicken, corn, bread, pie, and wine. My mouth watered at the smell. It was disgusting to watch him eat. The food hardly ever made it into his mouth, and when it did, I could clearly see the digestion process. He refused to speak until he was finished.
When the man finally finished, he wiped his hands and sat back in the chair. The table and food was taken away, and I couldn't help but watch it longingly, my stomach growling. I was jerked forward and thrown to the ground in front of the man. Pain shot through my knees,then my head as it was yanked back by my hair and I was made to look the man in the face. He stared at me for what seem like years. Finally he said:
"Let the dogs have her."
I didn't have time to wonder what was going on. I was dragged to my feet and held tightly around the arms by one of the men and my ropes were undone. The man holding me then lifted me off my feet and threw me through a door being held open by a servant. The door was slammed closed and locked behind me. I stood shakily and looked around. I was out side. High stone walls surrounded either side and lookers-on covered the walls. I had no idea why I was here or what was going on. Every time I tried to think, that terrible pain would bolt through my head. I've been drugged, I realized. My eyes widened, then narrowed with anger. Suddenly, I heard the sound of metal grinding against stone, and I noticed the crowed above was quiet. My head jerked towards the sound and I saw a gate being lifted. I took a step back and waited, ears pricked forward, alert. Then the sound of fifteen, maybe twenty dogs growling and panting reached me. I took another step back, baring my teeth, my nails extending into claws. I couldn't see them, but I could smell how eager they were to get at me.
Suddenly, one of the dogs let out a mournful howl. One that rang of bloodlust. A woman in the crowd screamed, causing me to look her way. Big mistake. A huge, heavy dog lunged at me and hit me in the chest, taking me to the ground. I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him in the dirt next to me. I had barley gotten back to my feet when the rest of the dogs were running towards me. I turned and fled, having no idea where to go or how far I had to run. Branches grabbed at my face and hair, roots and thorns snatched at my legs, but that was not the worst of it. With every step, pain exploded in my knees, raced to my hips, laced up my spine, then finally collected in my brain, threatening to implode. It was agonizing. Worse yet, I noticed bright, shiny red blood was dripping down my chin, running down my front, and streaming out behind me. I was biting my lip, tearing into the skin with the effort to keep from crying out from the pain in my body. Afraid of ripping my lip off, I settled for just setting my jaw, teeth grinding together.
The dogs were right behind me the entire time, white foam streaming behind them. They were the hunting dogs that had gone rabid from too many raccoon bites. It was all I could do just to keep two steps ahead of them. There was so much pain. My vision was starting to go black around the edges. Oh no! I'm going to pass out again. I let out a frightened gasp. I had never been more terrified in my life. I had had my fair share of near-death experiences, and I had taken and handled them all rather well, but this was too much. My lungs were screaming, demanding that I stop and breathe. Finally, I almost cried with relief when I thought I saw a light ahead, but they turned to tears of outrage and dismay when I realized it was only a lamp post, lit for the coming darkness. A great black wall loomed behind that light. I had reached the end.
I came to a stop, closed my eyes, and tried to relax, letting every muscle release as much tension as possible. The crowd had gone silent once more and the dogs were very close. A growl built up in my chest, making its way up my throat. When it came out from between my clenched teeth, I nearly yelped with surprise. It was the absolute most feral noise I had ever made. It rang with all of my fear, pain, anger, and desperation. The sound vibrated and bounced off of the walls and trees, reaching my veiwers. What happened next did cause me to yelp; out of panic. My body suddenly convulsed, sending me to the ground on all fours. My bones popped, snapped, and grew back in a different position. My spine stretched into a long, powerful tail. At the same instant, long, glossy black fur seemed to explode from my body, covering me head to toe. The last thing to happen was my jaw popping, stretching, and finally forming into a long, black, mean muzzle filled to the brim with unforgiving ivory fangs. I loomed over all of the dogs. I was probably about four feet at the haunches. Over all, a large, very large creature. As soon as the transformation was over, the dogs came bursting out of the bushes. I grabbed the first by the throat and slung him over my shoulder. He hit the wall with a wet thud and slid, very much dead, to the ground. There was a very funny taste in my mouth. It was like salt and rust. My eyes widened. Blood. As soon as the thought entered my mind, so did something else. I felt as if I was being shoved from my own mind, pushed back into the corner until I could neither see, hear, nor control what was going on. All I could do was scream a silent, mental scream.
