Note: Some abuse takes place.
Randall had managed to pull his head up higher than his feet, but he didn't make enough progress to get out before he heard a door open and footsteps coming his way. He tried to hurry, but it didn't work this time. His body was too cramped to be able think about vanishing. He continued to try to pull himself up though.
Suddenly, a light shined onto him and he shut his eyes.
The two humans were mystified of what they saw in the net. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The father said.
As the boy neared, he said, "Looks like some kind of lizard, Pa."
Randall was at least relieved when he wasn't called a gator.
"I saw it looked like a thin snake or something when I've seen it in the dark a few times. But now that I see it up close, looks nothing like no snake or lizard I ever seen before." The father said.
Randall was looking at them without moving and he did notice the gun in the father's hands. He knew this might be the end of him in just moments. The light had been lowered to down his body. Then he saw the father move his gun. He shivered. His breathing quickened.
Then he felt a touch from the gun on his back down at the bottom of the net. It made him jump and he growled. He began to squirm again.
"What are we going to do with him, Pa?"
"This creature deserves to die since he was killing all our chickens."
Randall gulped at that. Then he saw the man raise his gun. This was it. He closed his eyes.
The father had raised the gun, but it was the other end aiming at the lizard. He gave one strong thrust of his arms with the gun and the harmless end of the gun made contact with the creature's head.
He heard a yelp of pain, but the struggling was over.
"Untie the rope."
The kid untied the rope and the lizard fell to the ground.
The father then picked up the rope and began dragging the net to the back shed. It was where he did his horse shoeing and other things.
Once in the shed, the lights were turned on and the net was taken off and the lizard's body was spread out and rolled over to check out what it looked like.
The humans saw all of Randall's markings and how many limbs he had.
"Wow. Such unique feet and colors, Pa." The kid said.
"Regardless, he's a menace, son. He must be done away with. We can either stuff him as a trophy, skin him, or we sell him to the authorities. But then, maybe we can have some fun with him before we kill him. Go get that rope and we'll tie him down."
The boy went to get rope while the father raised the lizard monster onto the table. He turned him onto his back. He looked for signs of life, and indeed, he could make out the chest and stomach moving as he was breathing.
His son returned and they began tying all of the arms and legs down. And using some of the net, cutting some off, the father even made a muzzle that he slipped on over Randall's head, but before tying it off, he had a look in the mouth. He saw some really sharp teeth and a blue tongue that was forked like a snake's. He then tied it off so he wouldn't be able to open his mouth.
"We'll leave him here for now, son. We'll take care of this in the morning. Double check all the ropes that he won't be able to get away."
They both checked all the ropes and they were tied on tight. They went back to the house for the night.
….
Some hours later, Randall awoke to a horrendous headache. He moaned, but found he couldn't open his mouth to voice anything. He felt something on his head. He saw he was in pitch blackness. He tried to move his hands to his face to remove whatever was on over his head to get it off, but it was no use.
He felt the ropes on his hands and feet. All of his limbs had been spread all out and tied down.
Randall shivered. Where was he? Was he going to be tortured? It made him shiver some more, and a chill even went through his gut. He had to get loose before the humans came back. He felt he was on a hard surface, a table perhaps. But he didn't feel pain on his body yet, besides his head, though some minor ones on his limbs.
He tried his hardest all night long to get loose, but the ropes were too tight. He soon saw daylight creep in and he was tired. He just wanted to sleep, but was so scared of what the humans were going to do to him. He had heard their statements that they were going to kill him. He had to hurry and get loose and get away.
Around mid morning, the doors to the shed opened up and Randall closed his eyes. The ropes had been so tight that he couldn't get loose. But in stepped the two humans again.
When they closed the doors and turned the lights on, Randall could make out all sorts of sharp objects around the room. He gulped. He looked at the father and son. They were preparing some knives or something.
The boy came over first. He saw the lizard looking up at him with fearful green eyes.
"He's awake, Pa."
"Good. I want him to feel all the things we're going to do to him since he killed our chickens. Think of your prize winning hen, son. He has to pay for it." The father said.
Usually, Randall knew better than to mess with anyone else's prizes. But he hadn't known which was which, and he had to eat while out there. Sure there were plenty of other prize chickens he could get in place of it.
Randall squirmed again. His voice was muffled by the muzzle not allowing him to open his mouth. He really had something to say about this. Killing him wouldn't bring that stupid chicken back.
The father saw him squirming. "Good. The squirmier, the better. It makes it more fun for this."
The boy was all for killing the pesky lizard, but torturing was another.
"Now it's time for the lizard to pay the price before he dies." The father said.
Randall gulped. 'No! Please, don't do this!' He said to himself. He could only await the fate the humans were going to give him, unless someone was able to stop them. But who would help him anyway? If he was going to die anyway, why couldn't they just shoot him instead? Put an end to him without him having to suffer?
He saw the father coming at him with a large pole stick in his hands. He let out a muffled whimper. He feared more hits on his already sore head the most, but he didn't want to be hit at all. He began to breathe faster and started trying to move away, but he couldn't.
The father was pleased this lizard was scared of him. He was going to enjoy this.
With the net muzzle on his head, Randall couldn't even say anything to defend what he did. The netting wasn't in his eyes, but they had his fronds flattened down and his mouth tied shut.
The man saw the widened eyes on the lizard. Seeing those sad eyes wasn't going to stop him from punishing him for what he did. He was now standing on the right side of his victim. His son could only watch with what his dad was about to do.
The father raised the stick high in the air.
Randall closed his eyes and looked away. 'Just make it quick.'
The man looked squarely for the most intended target, which was why the lizard had stolen the chickens in the first place. He brought it down directly just below Randall's diaphragm.
Randall's cry of pain came out muffled. The blow instantly had knocked the wind out of him. He had managed to bare his teeth at the pain.
Now the humans knew this was no ordinary lizard. Normal ones didn't cry out like that. But the father was determined to make him pay.
Randall tried to move his hands to hold and rub the sore spot, but to no avail. Nausea set in. But it didn't end there. There came another blow.
The father wanted to make the lizard cry out more and more. And the more he struck blows to the helpless body before him, the more he got.
In the end, tears were falling from Randall's eyes and he was breathing hard. He had received blows to his ribs, his belly, two of his arms, a leg, and his tail. But his poor belly had gotten the most blows. Up to six. Randall had cried out at the top of his lungs every time.
The father was pleased with his handiwork when he was done. He saw that where he had landed blows so hard that the skin was beginning to darken. Deep bruises at the most if not any broken bones.
"Now, son. It's your turn."
The boy felt sorry for the poor lizard at that time.
Tears were still in Randall's eyes when he heard that and opened his eyes, but still trying desperately to breathe. His whole body hurt, but his stomach and lower chest probably did the most.
The boy stepped forward. "So what do you want me to do, Pa?"
The dad had put his pole down and he stepped over to a stand that had other supplies on it. Then he picked up a big, sharp knife.
Randall let out a pained whimper.
"Here, take the knife."
The boy took it. "What do I do with it?"
"Now the torturing is over. It's time to get to the killing part. It's time to gut him! Just think of your prize hen as you look at him. Make me proud, son. I'll leave you alone if that'll help take the pressure off." The father left.
The boy looked at the knife in his hand and then at the lizard. He could see that it was looking at him, breathing hard and fear in his eyes. He saw the lizard shake his head at him.
It was even hurting Randall to breathe right now. The father had surely done some damage to him with his hard blows.
The boy approached and he shook his head some more and he whined in pain.
The boy put his knife to Randall's face. "You do deserve every ounce of punishment you're getting for what you did to our poor chickens. Though I usually don't like torture, but you killed my prize hen!"
"Get another!" Randall said. "Let me go!" He had bared his teeth to get his voice out.
"I knew it! You could talk! When I heard your cries of pain." The boy said and he cut the net muzzle off.
Randall was relieved he could open his mouth again. "Let me go, …you little brat!"
"Why did you kill our chickens?"
"It was only… about food. Easier to catch… than wild animals."
"Yeah, well, that's not going to happen anymore." The boy said and he pierced the knife into Randall's stomach.
Randall screamed to high heaven. "AWWWW! Stop! Please stop!"
The boy drew the knife down a bit. Blood pooled at the surface. Then he took the knife out.
"If I let you go, I better not ever see you around here again, lizard. Deal?"
Randall cringed, but said, "Deal."
The boy began cutting the ropes, and Randall's hands were immediately on his wounds. But as he got his last foot free, Randall was glaring at him too, and then he gave the boy a good whack with his tail in the shoulder, knocking him down.
Randall hurriedly got up and got off the table. It hurt to stand for a moment, but he began moving.
The boy recovered and then he grabbed the pole. He was going to get it.
Randall was nearly out the door when a hard blow hit him directly in the back. It made his front half go down to the ground and crying out again. But he saw the boy with the pole in his hands, about to bring it down again.
Despite his pain, he acted quickly and made himself vanish and he moved before he brought it down on his head. The pole came down, but only hit air.
The boy looked on the ground and could see blood trailing. He followed it. But before he could get in a blow, a blue tail tripped him up and he felt backwards, hitting his back on the wall. It made him go unconscious.
Randall reappeared. He glared down at the kid. Now he just needed to get out of here. But first, he had to find something to cover up this wound. Bruises would heal.
He cringed with every breath. He looked around the shed for anything that he could wrap the wound with. He soon found some cloths. He took up to three of them. He put one on over the wound, applying pressure, then put the other ones on over it.
He glanced over one more time at the boy, still out, then he left the shed. His actions were only in self defense.
Once out, Randall took to all eights. He winced as he went. He couldn't move as fast now, with two hurt arms and a hurt leg. He was limping terribly. His tail hurt, his ribs hurt, but his stomach really hurt. His breathing was heavy.
Randall soon made it to the woods. He wished he was home and could check into the hospital. But he needed to find one home with a small child. He couldn't give up.
He soon found some rocks to cross by a creek and the water looked inviting.
He went down to it ever so slowly and laid down, trying to soothe his injuries. He laid on his belly at first, but cringed and moved to his left side. Some of his blood ran down the water.
After some few minutes, he got out and moved on. He crossed the creek and moved further toward the road. He had to find a door and soon.
….
The father came into the shed to see if the job was done, but instead, he found his son unconscious and the lizard gone. He ran to his son and batted his face gently to get him to wake up.
"Wake up! Wake up, son!"
The boy came to. The man hugged his son for dear life.
"Where's the lizard?"
"I killed him and got him out of here. I tripped over the pole, Pa." The boy said.
The man saw blood on the floor. "Why don't I believe you? You wouldn't have been able to move him on your own. And I saw the footprints out there."
"Ok! I let him go! He promised he wouldn't come back. Then he attacked me!"
After he heard that, now that the lizard had attacked a child, and his at that, the lizard had to be destroyed.
"I knew I shouldn't have left you alone. And animals can't promise things. I know he'll be back otherwise." The man said. He went to go get his gun.
"But he wasn't a normal lizard, Pa."
"I don't care what he was. He has to be destroyed. Come on. We aren't going to rest until that lizard is dead."
The boy reluctantly followed.
