Sarah wasn't sure how long she had been trapped in the cage for, whether it was days, weeks or even months, there was nothing to give her any hints. All previous events were fuzzy and blurred into one in her mind.
The walls were damp like rain had dripped down them. Her only company was the guards who bought her food; made sure she didn't try to escape. Silence constantly filled Sarah's head. Day and night it was the only sound she heard, aside from the faint, annoying buzzing whenever she was summoned by 'The Boss'.
There was one guard who, obviously quite young, seemed to never stop talking. Luckily for Sarah, they would talk about everything, much to their colleagues' displeasure. 'The Boss' was the main-leader of the organisation, though what they actually did, Sarah didn't know. Anytime she was with them, she was chained to a chair. Horrifying images and sounds would race through her mind, making no sense like a scrambled puzzle.
Sarah leant against the back wall so she could see out her door. The dampness soaked her jacket slightly. She didn't notice her door open then close after a few seconds.
"Uncle Sam will come save me," muttered Sarah. "He'll be looking for me right now."
"Sarah?" For the first time in a while, Sarah heard a different voice, which wasn't her own nor was it any of the guards. A gasp escaped her lips, but they soon spread into a smile. The girl let out a delighted laugh as she jumped up.
"Conri!" she practically sighed with relief, wrapping her arms around the wolf's neck. "I'm so glad to see you!"
Conri smiled, lifting a paw to pat her back as best as he could. "Me too. I'm glad you're okay."
"So what's the escape plan?" asked Sarah, pulling away. She stared expectantly at Conri. He shifted on his paws.
"Sarah.. I.. There isn't an escape plan..."
"What do you mean? You can't break into a place if you don't have a plan to get out again," she looked around. "Where's Uncle Sam? I'm sure he was a plan to get us out of this."
Conri could have groaned right there but he knew that wouldn't help the situation. "Sarah.." he called.
The girl hummed in response.
"I.. I don't know where Sam is. I was taken here but I'm not sure where they took him.."
Sarah gasped, her eyes widened at the shock of the sudden, unexpected news. "What.." her voice shook. "What do you mean? What happened?"
For a brief moment Conri paused, unsure if telling Sarah everything that had happened was a good idea. Eventually, Conri let out a small sigh but he nodded nonetheless.
"Alright, get comfortable."
That was easier said than done as Sarah knelt on the floor in front of him.
"I wanted to help try to find you," began Conri. "I thought I would be able to track you, perks of being a wolf and all. Anyways, Sam and I managed to track you deep into the mountains," He paused briefly before he continued. "We overheard some individuals talking about a boss and someone who escaped many years ago. Sadly we didn't get to hear anything else because it seemed we had got too close."
Conri paused, running the events over in his head.
"What happened after that?" Sarah prompted.
"Well, at first we tried the peaceful route," he laughed slightly. "Although that didn't work, so we ended up getting attacked and tried to fight them. Sam was knocked unconscious.. I couldn't take all three of them on alone."
Sarah nodded, finishing the story for him. "And then they put you in here, but why would they do that?"
Confused, Conri tilted his head sideways. "Do what?"
"Put us in the same cage. Surely that makes it easier for us to try to escape because we know each other?"
Her words echoed in his head for a long time until he finally figured it out a few hours later. "Because they don't know we know each other!"
Sarah glanced up at him. She frowned slightly, her face a picture of confusion. "What do you mean?"
Conri's tail began wagging rapidly as he paced up and down. Some of the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place. "They put us in the same cage because before yesterday we'd rarely interacted," he explained, his mind was racing with every word. "Which means they wouldn't expect us to converse in here or help each other escape,"
Listening intently, Sarah nodded. "That does make sense," she admitted. "They'd probably have expected Uncle Sam to try to find me... Oh!" A look of realisation dawned upon her.
"What is it?"
"Nothing.. it's just.. you don't think they were just after Uncle Sam this entire time?"
Conri didn't know what to say to that theory. He knew it was possible, after all Sam had been the one to hand Buck Douglas to the police and Professor Polonium had recently been arrested.
"I mean, it is possible but the only people who have anything against Sam are currently in prison," he shook his head. "Come on, it's late. We should at least try to get some sleep."
Suddenly, Sarah looked rather fearful, fiddling with her sleeve to avoid any sort of eye contact with him. "I.. I can't.." she stammered.
Tilting his head, Conri sat down next to her. He turned his head so he was looking at her. "Why not? What's wrong?"
Sarah gazed at him with teary eyes. She sniffed, wiping underneath her eyes. The inside of her cheek bulged out slightly, a clear sign she was biting down on it. "I.." she swallowed, composing herself before she continued. "I don't want to be taken.."
"Taken? Taken where?" He asked, trying to gently coax her into telling him.
"To the Boss," she whispered. A shudder ran through her body of the mere thought of the man who was putting countless others through hell. "He's horrible... It's so painful what he does..." She squeezed her eyes shut, desperately trying to block out the images.
Conri placed a paw on her shoulder. "Sarah, no one is going to take you back to him. I won't let them."
"It's not just me though.." she whispered. "There are so many others he hurts, some are younger. I hear them screaming at night and.." her voice trailed off.
"And?"
"It sounds crazy but sometimes I think I can hear fighting. I hear a human screaming and animal-like noises then suddenly one of them stops like.. like they've stopped.."
Conri nodded, he didn't need her to finish the sentence to know what she meant. "It's not crazy. We're underground, in the perfect place for illegal halfblood fights." He flinched, realising saying that wouldn't help the situation they were currently in. "Listen, we'll find a way to get out of here. I promise."
Sarah curled up next to Conri. After a while she finally fell asleep, allowing Conri to drift to sleep as well. Unfortunately for him, his slumber was soon disturbed by the door being opened.
Growling, Conri bared his long, pointed teeth. The fur on the back of his neck stood on end. He stood over Sarah. "You can't have her!" he rumbled in an aggressive voice, unlike his usual calm one. Every word was punctuated with a deep snarl.
The guard laughed. "It's not her I'm collecting," she lifted up a leash and collar. "Now, be a good dog." She approached them, holding out the collar. Before Conri could react, she had the collar around his neck.
He growled, planting his paws firmly into the ground. A small feeling of victory coursed through him as he watched the guard tug on the lead with no success.
"Move!" She yelled. Her neck had turned red, although Conri suspected that was due to anger more than anything. After a bit, he finally relented. He allowed himself to be dragged out of the cage.
Conri found himself in a large pit. It looked like he was in one of those bull-fighting arenas. There was a control panel to the side. A figure stood next to it, their face covered by the shadows.
Another person was brought into the arena. A voice boomed overhead.
"Begin the fight. The winner will live. As for the other, well your opponent will have killed you."
Conri paled. He shook his head desperately. "No! No!" he yelled. "I don't want to hurt anyone." The collar around his neck flashed red.
"This isn't up for debate, Conri," a silky voice hissed in his ear. Although maybe it was his mind, seeing as no one else seemed to hear the voice.
"I'm not a killer,"
There was a sarcastic laugh. "When I have you, you are." Conri nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard nothing for a minute but his hopes were soon cut away.
"Kill,"