Broken Pieces

Chapter Thirty-Two

By Roofles

Alan woke with a blinding headache. Literally.

He opened his eyes and only saw darkness. He tried to shift, to reposition himself and move but he found it to be impossible to do so. Alan was strapped to a chair. His ankles had been tied to the legs and his arms bound behind his back. He could jerk and move his torso and head but little else. Alan was trapped and the chair shifted and moved as he struggled at first trying to orientate himself to his new surroundings.

Fear gripped him and his breathing rapidly increased. The overwhelming amount of oxygen mad him dizzy as he nearly had a panic attack on the spot as he tried to figure out what the fuck had happened and was going on.   

Confusion was quickly replaced by fear. It made his breath hitch in his throat and beads of sweat drip down his face as his entire body shuddered from the experience. Overwhelmed, he nearly gave into it. Wanting to close his eyes and just give up. And he almost did before, still shaking, Alan took a long breath and let it out, trying to calm down.

Panicking wasn’t going to solve anything and he needed to figure things out while he could.  

The air tasted foul and there was something over his head, hampering his breathing. It only increased his stress. A bag had been placed over his head, blinding him to everything else. It itched and scratched his cheeks and tickled the back of his neck whenever he shifted around. Alan couldn’t be sure what it was, but it reminded him of a farmer’s bag used to carry potatoes in. Maybe that was what the smell was.

An earthy smell with a mixture of old produced that’d been left out too long, with something almost sweet along with it...

Or at least originally, that’s what it smelled like. Alan felt something wet and sticky from inside the bag against his cheek and worry gripped him tightly, freezing him to the spot again. Worried that whoever had this bag on before him, wasn’t around any longer. Like he might be in the near future.

Unless he did something.

“Get a grip,” Alan voiced his nervous thoughts aloud. Needing the sound of his voice right now. The silence was deafening. His mouth tasted as foul as the bag smelled, as if someone had shoved it in at some point during his kidnapping.

It was hard to swallow, to even produce saliva and Alan recognized this.

Several years ago, Alan had been knocked out by a spiked drink. These symptoms reminded him of the roofie he’d been slipped back then. It left him with a similar cotton mouth and splitting headache as it had back then.

Back then, Reese and Clem had been there for him. He’d met the dog’s that day. It was, oddly, the start of his new life and now… it might be the end of it. Alan researched the drug afterwards, his curiosity not letting him rest on it.

It was a form of sedative that herbivores used on carnivores they jumped. A popular sedative that hunters would shoot into wildlife. Powerful specially made tranquilizers used to hunt with.

He’d been drugged, again. Alan just couldn’t figure out why…

Then it clicked as it began to fall into place as he tried desperately to grasp some understanding of the situation he was in. His head hurt but Alan forced himself to think through the pain, no matter how it made his eyes sting with tears when he did. The herbivores, the café, PB and finally that jaguar showing up in the alleyway. Alan had stepped willingly into the car so that PB would go overlooked. They were after him, not the battered, damaged wolf… Alan wanting no further harm coming to his old friend. Despite what PB had done, Alan wouldn’t hurt him.

Even when that jaguar had expected him to. To yell and shout, kick at the wolf that had betrayed him… Alan couldn’t bring himself to do so. PB… no matter what others might think, PB would forever be his PB. Alan understood the situation, what he’d gone through and what coping mechanisms PB had used to get by. Alan couldn’t blame him. He just… All he felt was pity for the wolf that couldn’t move forward after that day.

Crippled by the fear and pain of that night that had ruined their lives…

Fear was such a powerful thing. A tool one could use against others. It was all consuming. Gripping you all around. It could even keep the masses in check. An invisible force others couldn’t see or feel or experience, not the same as you would, but your pours, your body, would exude the scent of it. Unable to hide it. Telling others about it. That smell could be an allure to some. To predators. Drawing them in. The smell of it. Fear. It could cripple the strongest of men and bring the most prideful of people to their knees while the hunters in the dark drool hungrily at the scent of it. Haunting them, hounding them like wolves nipping at their heels…

One of the most self-destructive of forces ever known to man was fear. It was a means of control, a way to tear down kingdoms and break even the strongest of bonds. And Alan was succumbing to it, once more. The fear that glued his feet to the ground for nearly twenty years. Not doing anything, barely living. For fear of what it would mean to try again and the fear of being hurt if he did.

Alan always struggled with his own fears from that night. Losing it all to The Pack he was now a part of. It was a struggle, every day, to fight against such primal feelings inside. To hate and resent those responsible instead of letting it go… But if he hadn’t? If Alan hadn’t learned to let it go? He’d have ended up just like PB had.

Trapped in the past in a cage of your own mind, of your own making. Unable to continue to move forward. Shackles by chains that no one else could see, but you could feel weighing you down.

Now here Alan was trapped, again. His brain wanted to tell him it was PB’s fault. That he should blame the wolves. To point that finger at everyone else and shout “it’s your fault!” But Alan didn’t. He couldn’t.

For when he closed his eyes, it was the good memories that came through over the bad. Back when they were kids. PB was such a fuzzy little thing. Reese was a mysterious loner that hung around, acting like he didn’t want to be there but wanting it more than anyone else.

Then there were the dogs back at the house, before they moved out. Togo was always so bright and happy and friendly. Charles had become more of a dude bro, but he seemed happy with the husky. Clementine acting like the tough guy. Ralph in the office!

And the others…

When they left, Alan thought his life was over, again. The dogs moving out, the wolves moving in and then… Salt and Pepper had been dropped into his life. The boys never knowing what a family was, coming from a damaged home. Something Alan was far too familiar with. And then Barrett… There was so many things to say about that wolf, but Alan was sure he’d only grunt in reply.

And then Reese… Reese was still there. After it all. After everything and he…

“Huh,” Alan thought suddenly as it dawned on him. With all his memories from the days when he was young, living in that white trash trailer park with his white trash parents, to getting older, to losing and gaining new friends…

There was one constant in it all. All the ups and downs, lefts, and rights. From every bruise and cut Alan had gotten or received. Every emotional wound he’d suffered through… There was one constant in his life he had never truly appreciated until that moment.

“Reese.” Reese had been there in the beginning. Maybe not as a friend but he’d been there. Watching over him, guarding him in his own socially awkward way.

To years later when Alan learned the full truth behind him, and all his dirty laundry was aired out. Alan might’ve been pushed to the side, but he’d seen it. He’d learned the truth of it. The world. Seen it with his own eyes and how it affected everyone else. 

To now. Even with how broken he’s become and all the pieces of his life shattered, Alan realized there was one grounding force in it all. A looming shadow that would follow every time he took a step forward. Always there, watching and guarding over him in his own awkwardly dirty broken way.

“Reese. I miss you.” Alan took a shuddering breath, a tear running down his face. “Fuck,” he could only curse. “Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” Curse his stupidity and weakness. Getting captured like this wasn’t about him, any longer. His friends, family and… Reese. Alan hated how others would suffer because of his mistakes, again. Again. And again. And again! He’d fucked up and… “No!”

He could let that consume him as fear had.

To stop now would be an insult to everyone in his life who’d helped him. Who’d been there for him or just laughed with him. For nearly twenty years of his life, Alan felt like he’d been standing still. When he lost PB, he lost a part of himself… Then Reese had found him.

And that missing piece in his life were brought back together. They didn’t fit properly; some things were still missing but Reese had gathered them all up and tried to put them back together. Into something whole.

What Reese would even call a “family.”

Alan understood the situation he was in but couldn’t let that self-pity bullshit hold him back any longer. He swore he’d become Reese’s Alpha-mate and rise to the position. He wouldn’t be a burden on them again. Beating himself over this wasn’t going to change a damn thing and Alan took the time to try and figure things out.

To at least try and be better.

The heavy-duty twine rope went along with the burlap bag. It tied and bound his wrists behind his back, around the back of the chair. Alan didn’t have a nose like Reese and couldn’t use such a sense to figure things out. Like where he was or if there were others in the room. The human also couldn’t see a thing. Limiting such senses just seemed to heighten his others as Alan shifted around, wiggling his wrists and legs to test out the bindings.

They were securely fastened, and the rope were too thick for any human to break through.

“They knew what they were doing,” Alan let out a slow breath as he pieced it together. This wasn’t the first time for them.

The drugs they’d used, jumping them like this… this must’ve been another gang Reese had kept secret from him. Another truth of the world that the human had willingly turned an eye away from. Like so many others. Not wanting to see that even a herbivore could be as dangerous as a carnivore.

He wasn’t familiar with the situation as the others in the pack were, but Alan had always kept an ear out whenever they spoke. Those within Reese’s territory often spoke about the others in the area. Who they had to keep an eye out for and who they might fight next. Always needing to keep two eyes open and ears up. There was always an uncomfortable tension behind those words, weighing down on their already beaten and tired bodies.

Always on edge, always preparing for the next fight. Afraid of what might happen next.

Alan had wanted to help but knew he wasn’t about to pick up a gun and go shooting like they would’ve done. He had instead taken on the role of a sort of caretaker for those within the pack. Being a safe place that others could come to when they needed. Knowing Reese could never offer something like empathy to others, Alan would fill in for him. Helping out with the food situation was a good start, working with those building the housing and new homes for the wolves to expand their territory so everyone would have a place to live came next. Even going so far as to work on setting up future areas for pups to play in. A playground for them to go to. A safe area that pups could run around in and laugh and shout and tumble around with each other without others, from society, glaring at look and looking at them with disgust.

The thought hurt as much as the back of his skull did.

He missed it. Despite having thoughts of leaving or distancing himself, Alan did enjoy the life Reese and he had built for themselves together. Salt and Pepper, Barrett… there were so many wolves he was becoming close to, as he had once done with the dogs before. People came and went but others would fill in those empty places if you let them.

People he never thought he’d ever have a chance to get close to and yet, now, people he dearly missed would never see him again. Alan just hoped they wouldn’t feel too bad when he was gone…

“No, dammit. Dammit!” Alan had to bite his bottom lip, tasting blood as he did so. The pain was a good way of countering that self-deprecating, dark thoughts that liked to worm their way in whenever he was down. Dealing with depression was such a bitch at times.

Alan shifted his weight to one side, then the other. The chair rocked as he did so.

“It’s not bolted to the ground…” He took another slow breath. “Fuck. This is going to hurt.” Alan almost laughed, smiling as he rocked forward, then backwards, then again and again. Faster and faster, leaning further backwards and then forwards. Never once letting the chair fall. Not until he pushed forward onto his toes and stood up in the chair.

Lifting all four wooden legs of the chair off the ground as he did so.

Standing on his tip toes, Alan leaned forward. Feeling the weight of the wooden chair he was tied to. It was a farmer’s chair. Something someone might’ve built in a workshop. Made of wood with wooden bolts securing it together with hide glue, or wood glue depending on who you asked. Alan just hoped this had been someone’s pet project instead of by a professional.

With that thought and a prayer, Alan jumped backwards and landed, hard, on the chair. The back cracked and Alan couldn’t help the cry of pain that tore through his throat as the weight of his body landed on his bound arms. He just hoped that cracking sound wasn’t a bone and only wood as he struggled to get loose from the broken boards.

Pain was such a good motivator in life. It was a warning that told the body that something was wrong, to urge you into action to prevent you from succumbing to the numbness that threatened to consume you. Something Alan had picked up over the years thanks to Reese and Logan.

Wiggling his arms and struggling against it, Alan managed to slip one arm free. Then another. It hurt and he twisted his arm painfully to one side before rolling over and getting it out from under him with another cry of pain, feeling as if he’d dislocated a shoulder.

Hopefully not as Alan didn’t know how to pop that back into place.  

Arms still bound, at least he wasn’t tied to the chair any longer. At least his wrists weren’t. The bottom of the chair had fallen with him and one of the back legs had snapped off. The rest remained perfectly intact.

“Holy fucking hell…” Alan breathed heavily, trying to sit back up and felt a twinge in his back. “Getting old sucks.” He fiddled with the ropes and found the strands with his fingers. They’d loosened a bit thanks to the chair breaking. Tracing them back with his fingers he blindly worked on untying himself as he laid there on his side. His wrists turned at an uncomfortable angle as he worked.

No one came in. There were no other sounds outside his desperate struggles. All Alan could do was work on the ropes as he laid there pondering how the hell he had gotten here in the first place.

It would’ve been easy to blame Reese, hell even blame PB. Alan knew that was reaching. PB had been… that hadn’t been PB. Not the PB he’d known and loved and grew up with. That was what happened to someone, friend or family or loved one when they took drugs… drugs change you. Change who you are, how you perceive things and even going so far as to change how you feel. Changing the chemistry of your body until you were something different.  

“I don’t regret it.” Alan closed his eyes, still trying to untie the ropes. “I don’t regret choosing Reese. No matter what anyone else says. Reese is… everything to me.”

Reese cared for him in his own clumsy way but had flat our refused to teach Alan how to fight. Reese going so far as to put his own half-brother there as his personal bodyguard instead. Not wanting Alan to become what Reese had to, to survive.

So, Alan had gone to the next person. Barrett had flatly refused with no more than a “no.” Alan remembered that. The look on his face, scowling ever so slightly as if he thought Alan didn’t trust him to defend him.

Alan did, it was just… he didn’t want to be a burden any longer. With no one else to turn to, Alan looked at his friend.

Logan had taught him a lot. After much begging. Alan pleading with Logan to help him not be so… useless. Logan had reluctantly agreed. He wanted to be able to defend himself, to learn to fight? No, more like to learn to not be a burden on the others. It wasn’t that he was human. That was taking the easy route. An excuse people liked to use.

There were plenty of humans Alan had seen online or on TV or even in the news that overcame “just being human.” People who ran marathons, who became ripped bodybuilders. There were UFC fighters that went toe to toe with those almost twice their size! Of course, there was a weight bracket even for different species but still…

Still.

Still, even as a human Alan could do this. To just say “I’m human,” and end it there was the cowards way out. Ever since he had met Reese… Alan didn’t want that. Even if he was afraid of the wolf, his wolf, at times… he didn’t want to be a coward. He wasn’t about to sit around and wait. Not if he could do something. Anything.

And that was why Logan had reluctantly agreed to help him in the end.

Apparently, Logan was teaching Alan just as Logan’s mentor had taught him. A combination of martial arts that used the opponents weight against them. At first, Alan thought it just meant he had to learn how to position himself against the person. It wasn’t, at all.

It was about building strength. The “right kind of strength” as Logan told him.

“It’s easy to just go work out in a gym. Anyone can do it. There’s a reason why though that people hire professional trainers to help them. They help you build the strength for what you are going for, instead an overall increase. Or to lose weight. What I’m going to teach you, Alan, is more about how to use the strength that you are going to earn yourself.” Logan laughed, slapping him hard on the back. “You got this! Show me that dedication.”

Just like the others, they had expected Alan to call it off then and there. Maybe go a week, a month at most of the extensive exercise routine before calling it quits. Alan hadn’t. He did exactly as Logan had asked of him. Never more, never less. Doing the routine every morning. Going for a jog, eating a high protein enriched diet, and cutting sugar out completely, something he truly did hate having to do.

Health and protein shakes had been his go to for every lunch for the past year and it was beginning to show. The weight he gained burned off and was replaced by lean muscle. Nothing like Alan thought he’d need.

“You aren’t going to outmatch someone in strength. Maybe a bunny rabbit,” Logan teased. “That’s why you need to learn how to build others strengths. Core strength is overlooked. It helps with, frankly, everything. Also good for an old man like you.”

“I will get Reese to maul you, you know this. Right?” Alan glared back from where he’d laid on the ground, sweating, after Logan had knocked him down, again. Logan just laughed.

“Right,” Logan paused then. “You know what I’m teaching you won’t help you against Reese, right? That guy is-,”

“Stop.” Alan sighed, shaking his head as he forced his aching, tired body to stand up. “Not you too. I trust Reese and he loves me. Deal with it.” Alan had put his foot down hard on that subject. “No matter what. I trust him. More than even you,” Alan teased then with a wink.

Alan hoped he could have such conversations again as his fingers felt raw and sore against the rope he was picking at with his nails. If he had a feline’s nails, this wouldn’t be so difficult. If he had the strength of a bull, he could rip out of the last of the ropes. Alan didn’t. All he had was an unhealthy amount of patience as he picked at each thread with what little nails he did have and pull them loose, one by one.

Did it take ten minutes? Thirty? An hour? Alan didn’t know as he worked. Picking and pulling and unthreading each one the best he could. His wrists would be sore for days after this. The skin was rough and raw, tender to the touch by the time the first rope fell away.

“At least I’m human,” Alan bitterly thought as he pulled an arm free almost an hour later and took the bag off his head to take several gulping, gasps of air. “Fuck.” If they had tied it any tighter, Alan doubted he’d have been able to manage what he had.

The hares that put him in here must’ve looked down on the lone human taken in by wolves. Maybe they pitied him? Maybe they resented him for siding with the wolves? It didn’t matter. The fact they had underestimated him was a blessing in disguise as Alan turned over and began working on the legs of the chair.

It was far easier from this position, even if it felt like he was doing a sit-up the entire time. His abs burned by the time he got the first one undone. Then the second. Unlooping each before letting them fall to the side.

“Fuck,” Alan laid back, sweating as he breathed heavily. The air was fresh and clean outside the bag, and he took a moment to savor the sense of freedom he’d gotten taking it off. “Right, now then.” He sat up and looked around his surroundings. “Where the fuck am I?”

He was in a cage, of sorts.

It was a large metal room with bars on one side, a door connected to it and then a glass panel on the other wall. Curtains had been drawn on the other side, preventing anyone from looking in as Alan walked over to touch the thick sheet of glass.

There were claw marks on it.

He rubbed a hand over several of them and couldn’t decipher who they might belong to. Cats? Dogs? Other species? Maybe all the above. It left a sickening feeling inside. How many people had they trapped in here like this? Alan wasn’t the first they’d done this to.

Making his way over to the door, Alan checked it. It was locked, of course. He fiddled with the thing, trying to figure it out when there was a low click. Then another click. A set of lights were being turned on overhead and he winced, covering his face with an arm as the enclosure he was trapped within began light up.

Unsure what was happening, Alan ran back towards the fallen chair and tried to awkwardly sit back in it. He pulled the bag somewhat over his head and pretended that his arms and legs were tied up again as he finally heard it. Voices. Coming from the other side of the far door.

The door clicked, a bolt was turned, and the door swung open inwards. They didn’t suspect the human getting free and two people walked into the room, still chatting as they dragged something behind them. Alan could barely see the hares bare feet as he laid there on the ground.

Between the two hares was a person, a body, of a heavy-set man with dark gray fur. They dragged him in as they chatted openly, unafraid of the unconscious human in the room with them.

“Barnes is planning on having this big party before the announcement.” One large burly hare said as he walked into the room, looking at his friend. “Then they’ll do the showcase. Talk some more, eat and drink until they’re fat and full and helpless.” He laughed. “Then he’ll start the real show. Just make sure you aren’t in the halls when it happens…”

“You think anyone would vote for that old prick after this crazy ass stunt?” The second laughed, shaking his head. His floppy ears swung back and forth as he did so. “I don’t know what the council is after but Barnes? Something’s fishy about this. All of this! Did you see that jaguar he was talking with earlier…? What’s a hare doing talking to a pred?”

“Conniving old man,” the first groaned with a roll of his shoulder. “This fucker is damn heavy,” the first dropped the arm he’d been dragging and gave the body a swift kick in the side. The man didn’t even grunt from the blow. “Fucker… Who knows how many pred cocks Barnes had to suck to get into his position. Bastard would do anything to be on top.”

“On top like I was last night with your sister.” The second laughed and the first punched his arm hard for it. “Oi, look.” The second jumped, stopping and pointing into the room. “Boss said not to rough him up too much!” They said talking about the knocked over human on the ground.

“What?” The first hare looked over, then noticed the scene Alan had caused. “Shit. I thought he’d be out for another night, at least. That tranq was strong enough to knock a horse out.”

“A horse? That’d kill a puny human like this bastard.” The second got on them for it, the two arguing about whose fault it would be if the hostage ended up dead on their watch. “I’m not taking the blame this time.”

“Calm down. It wasn’t a full dose. I’m not an idiot.” The first undid the cage door and walked further inside to check on their prisoner. “Fuck. This prick better not have croaked. I don’t want to be used as feed for those preds.”

“Not all of you. Barnes’s just chop of your dick and toss it in as a chew toy for them. What little you got.” The first laughed carelessly as he dropped the other man’s arm as he bent down to inspect the wolf. “You think this fuck would enjoy a chew toy? Ugly bastard he is…”

“Go suck a pred.” The first made a jab at them, looking over one shoulder. “And don’t rough him up too much! We need him for the showcase.”  

Alan held his breath, listening to every step the hare took. Closer and closer they drew, bending down to check on Alan’s pulse.

“He isn’t breathing-,” the first hare had turned away from Alan, looking over at his partner. He never saw the wooden board coming.

Alan’s fingers had dug into the slab of wood, and it bit back into his fingers. Alan was sure he’d gotten numerous splinters from it as he swung the thing around with his full strength, swinging it like a misshapen baseball bat at the back of the hare’s skull. Right between his long ears.  

His ears had jumped up, the hare turning his head just in time as his eyes widened. Noticing too late. Fear filled those large eyes. The guards breath had caught in his throat and Alan took advantage of that slight hesitation he’d never see a wolf have to break the wooden board over his panicked face.

The wood splintered and broke apart. Pieces flying everywhere as Alan scrambled to his feet, nearly slipping, and falling flat on his face in the process of getting up. The other hare took a moment, his body had gone rigid and there was a palpable fear exuding from his pours as he stared at the first.

Just staring. Like a deer caught in headlights. Fear and panic nearly consuming the prey species before he pushed through it and got up to avenge his friend.  

Alan could see why these people struggled so hard to get anywhere in the world. Their prey instinct was overpowering. It dominated who and what they were. The hare was a trained guard and yet had been shocked as Alan tackled him full body to the floor.

He wasn’t much bigger than Alan was, and the human pummeled his face. Not letting him adjust to what had just happened. It hurt. The splinters dug deep into his hands that had already been burned, and his knuckles began to bleed as he pounded the hare’s face into the metal floor like a wild gorilla.

Maybe Alan had dug deep into some ancestral part of himself, but he didn’t stop until the person under him stopped. The hare didn’t twitch, his face was so swollen and bruised all over. Alan was sure he wouldn’t be able to see out of his eyes for several days.

Panting and sweating, Alan hauled his body off the guard. Stumbling, he grabbed one of the bars for support and cursed out a storm as his burned hands touched the metal. He hadn’t noticed at first, maybe a side effect from the horse tranq they had drugged him with. His body already felt unnaturally heavy as he stumbled out of the cage and shut the door behind him.

It didn’t lock and Alan didn’t bother trying to figure it out as he moved towards the other door. Then his foot hit something and he jumped back, looking down at the other person they’d dragged into the room. In the confusion, Alan had forgotten all about them.

They were a wolf. Or a canine of some sort. Alan couldn’t figure it out at first as he bent down and turned them over. Their face was gnarled, and cuts and scars littered his body. The ugly gray pelt of fur was splattered with blood and one of his eyes had swollen from where someone had hit him.

“It is a wolf,” Alan realized. He’d seen enough of them over the past year to tell the difference between canine species. “Just an ugly one,” he bent down to check on their pulse. “Alive but out of it… the fuck were they planning?”

Alan glanced back at the cage. With the lights on, he could see the room better. It wasn’t hard to spot the cameras in the room and he looked at them before back down at the wolf.

“They were going to toss him in the room with me?” Alan took a second. “And what? Get off an watching him tear me apart? Sick fucks…” Alan sighed as he bent down, trying to help the wolf up. “Holy, they weren’t kidding when they said you were a heavy fucker.”

The human grunted, struggling to lift the man up enough to haul out of the room.

Alan didn’t get it fully. Not the full implications of the predator being brought into the room with him in the cage. He could’ve figured it out if he tried but a part of him refused to think that anyone would do something like this. To lock a human in a cage with a wolf and have the two fight to the death?

“No…” Alan paused in front of the door. “They didn’t want a fight. They wanted a show.” Alan swallowed. “I need to warn the others,” he didn’t want to think what these bastards were willing to do. “Reese… PB… I’m sorry.”

There was a low groan from the wolf and Alan tensed, worried he might wake up. He didn’t recognize him from The Pack and wondered if he was just another poor soul that these hares had jumped and kidnapped. Alan couldn’t just leave him here, knowing that. It didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about him.

He needed to find a cellphone or something to contact the others with first. To let Reese know what was going on. Where he was and… He was sure the wolf already did. Reese knew more than he’d ever let on or tell Alan. For his own good, he was sure Reese would tell him.

Being left in the dark didn’t make things any easier for him as he pushed the door open with a foot.

“Just got to figure out which way to go…” Alan stopped though as he saw the red light spinning in front of him up on the wall of the otherwise dark hallway he’d entered.

The hallway lights were off but there were numerous red lights spinning above.

“The fuck?” Alan couldn’t even finish the thought before the sprinkler systems above clicked on and he was showered in water. It poured down from above. Numerous metal spouts unleashed a flood of water from above.

That wasn’t the issue, though. The water stunk. It smelled of something Alan couldn’t put his finger on and as it began to pool on the hallway floor, he could see a strange tint to it. The water was off color and looked like it had something mixed into it.

In the light, Alan could see a tint of gold to it.

“The absolute fuck is going on?” Alan backed away before he heard it. A scratching sound. Scratching of nails against metal and he turned around so quickly he nearly gave himself whiplash.

In the cage, one of the hares had gotten back up. Water rained down from above on and over him. In the cage Alan had been put in. It covered his body, soaking his white and gray splotched fur to his muscular body. It was his eyes that made Alan take a step back. His eyes were large, wide, and fully open. Staring. Staring at nothing as the pupils dilated and then it attacked.

It didn’t even look at Alan, instead jumping on his friend. Scratching and biting and screeching before moving away. Lashing out violently before retreating into one of the corners of the cage. Cowering. Fear and panic filling their eyes as he stared at nothing, breathing quickly. Trying to push further into that corner. Away from the other hare, away from everyone else.

As the gold tinted water rained down overhead.

Alan had no words and shut the door.

“Uh… righty then.” Alan took another step back. His foot made the water splash, and he looked down again, seeing that strange tint of gold in it. Like a drug being laced with something else.

Before he could wrap his mind around what was happening, the body under his arm shifted and moved suddenly. Jerking violently as if it’s muscles were spasming. It made Alan jump and drop the man on the ground.

“Sorry!” Alan bent down to help but a flash of fangs made him pull back quickly. “Oh shit…” Alan was already moving away.

Grabbing at their head, clawing at their face, growling low and deep the wolf began to stir. The water soaked his dark gray pelt of fur, his eyes snapping open as they rolled in their sockets. Water coated him, bathed him, and dosed his body as the low growl rose in volume. Rising higher and higher as Alan backed away.

Then he began grinding his teeth, as if chewing something. Chewing and chewing, grinding and grinding as his fangs gnashed together making Alan wince every time he did so.

It was as if someone had flicked a switch and Alan gasped, eyes widening as he stared at the gray furred wolf.

“Gristle…?” Alan had heard so many stories about the wolf from PB, his uncle, that he recognized the wolf from the action instantly. “No…” Alan could only curse them, this place and everything they had done to hurt his friend.

To hurt him.

Gristle body spasmed as the drug soaked his body. The man he was, the wolf he had become, everything about him didn’t matter anymore. Even Alan knew that. He was nothing more than a feral, wild animal now and Alan could only pity him as he had PB.

Snorting sniffs soon followed. The wolf dropping to all fours as it sniffed and snorted at the water, head swing left to right as Alan carefully, slowly backed away as it sucked in lung filling breaths of the air. Then it stopped. Pausing at a spot.

Alan could barely see it. A tint of red mixed in with the gold. He had thought it was because of the red lights above. But no, it was from something worse. The water had ran red from the cuts on Alan’s hands. Where his hands had been bleeding, the blood dripping down with the water and mixing together. The wolf sniffed at it before his entire body froze as if shocked by electricity. His tail lifted, his ears perked up and eyes widened as Gristle stared dumbly at the spot… then began lapping at it, as if dying of thirst.

Lapping and licking and drinking the sweetest of reds.

The entire stocky body of the gray furred wolf froze at the taste of it. Of his blood. Licking over his lips before his nose twitched again. Sniffing. Sniffing for more and it slowly turned to face towards Alan who had been slowly, carefully walking backwards this entire time.

It’s nose sniffed the air, lifting up as those eyes focused on nothing. Giving into it’s sense of smell as Alan turned and ran for it. Even knowing you should never run from a wolf, the blood dripping from Alan’s hands was enough for it to give chase.  

And Gristle did. Hunting him down as the human took off down the dark hallway as fast as he could. Alan was just glad Logan insisted he did cardio. Alan ran for it down the hallway as his knuckles continued to bleed and drops of red dripped down his fingers.

The red falling into the water, tinging the golden hew of it with red. A mixture of red and gold swirling around together as four footsteps chased after him.

On all fours, the wolf ran for the human prey. Splashing through the water that soaked further into his skin, overdosing him on the diluted fluid.

But Gristle wasn’t the only one brought here this day, tricked into coming for this sick game to be played and recorded.

Around the corner another person stepped out. Their body large, massive even. With far too many teeth, the fish stepped out from where it had been lurking. The water ran over his light gray and white skin. Rough to the touch, it ran over their body from head to toe. Drawn here from the most sweetest of smells.

Red.

The shark dropped to his knees, sniffing at the water. Sniffing the spot where Alan had bled. The water above fell over his rough skin. Soaking through as the Primal laced water absorbed into his body. It didn’t need to get into his eyes or mouth or nostrils as it did others. The sharks body was made to absorb water and it had been exactly what Barnes had been hoping for as the hired goon quickly followed after where Alan and Gristle had run off to.

Soon to be followed by others.

Bare, shirtless bodies of marine life that pushed and shoved against each other. All vying for the sweet smell that fueled their primal instincts on. Carrying their feet forward as the scent of red, mixed with the gold of primal, fueled their feeding frenzy.