Sold to the Highest Bidder

3. Caught

I had been traveling for days, and I was getting tired, but I was at the border.  All I had to do was find a way to cross it.  But I was afraid of what I would find on the other side.  The fear of the unknown was great, but the fear of what would happen if I had to go back was even greater.  I knew I needed to wait for nighttime, otherwise I would have trouble crossing, even in my animal form.  I also would have to find a way to lighten my pack, it would be very awkward to carry it in my animal form, and probably attract a lot of attention.  Even if most people didn't see an animal and started thinking about the possibility of it being a shifter, a big cat carrying a bad would certainly make them question my real identity. 

I decided to find a motel and try to get some rest before I tried to cross, I was sure I would need it, but as I was getting closer to my destination, I realized something wasn't right.  There was something off, and I had the feeling of danger.  I changed my mind, I knew I wouldn't be able to wait until the cover of darkness, I needed to go, as soon as possible.  I decided to head out of town, and then look for a point to cross the border, but I had only walked a couple of blocks when a man cut me off.  I knew right away he was a cat like me.  I had no idea who he was, but I was pretty sure he was looking for me. 

I turned and got ready to run, but then I felt I sting on my arm.  I looked at it and saw a dart sticking out of it.  I still tried to get away, but soon the man was standing next to me and holding me against him.

"Don't try to resist and this will be easier for you," he said. 

"No," I protested, but whatever they had given me was making me sick, and I had no strength left to defend myself.

"You had your chance, it's time to go back and do what you are supposed to do."

I wanted to protest again, but I just passed out before I had the chance.  I wasn't sure how long I was out, but when I came to we were moving.  I was in a car, sitting in the back between two men, another two were in the front.  It was clear they were like me.  I couldn't help it, I started to cry.

"What's wrong with her?" the one driving asked.  "The drug is supposed to be harmless!"

"Please let me go!" I pleaded.

"We can't do that, sorry," the man next to me said.  He sounded a little scared.

"We are just going to take you to the elders.  You are one of our kind, your place is with us," the other man  said from the front.  His voice was colder than the other two, and he didn't seem even a little moved by my tears. 

"It's not.  I don't want to go back, please don't take the there," I begged.

"Look, lady, we all have jobs to do to ensure the survival of our kind.  The wolves are out there multiplying as if they were rabbits, even the bears are growing in numbers.  Other cats are also growing, and we?  We are about to disappear.  We need your help," he said, as if it was completely logical. 

"But that's wrong!  Even if we have an animal side, that doesn't mean we are animals.  You can't force me to breed.  I'm a person, I have feelings, I have needs."

"This is nothing personal," the one next to me said, "we are just following orders."

"Well, that makes me feel so much better, you are destroying my life, but at least it wasn't personal," I said, mad at him for being the one who had captured me.

"Just shut up!" the one in front said.  "If you can't accept your fate and keep your mouth closed, I will give you another dose to keep you under until we reach our destination."

I was trapped, in a moving car, with four shifters that I assumed were trained as enforcers.  I had no way of escaping.  I felt so alone and useless.  I debated if it would be better to get knocked out again, or to just wait it all, and I kept crying.  Eventually I was so tired that I fell asleep, and woke up as the car was stopping.  We were outside a house.  I looked around and didn't see much around us, we were in the middle of nowhere.

"We will rest here and keep going tomorrow," the man I came to think of as the leader explained.  "This is a house of one of ours.  They have offered us shelter for tonight, so don't try anything crazy," he warned.

"I want to go, please let me," I pleaded. 

"Come on," he said, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me inside.  We were welcomed by a couple, they looked around my parents' age, and looked happy and welcoming.

"Don't think they will help you," my captor said, maybe watching my hopeful face,

"Are you saying that all of our people are heartless monsters just like you and the elders?  That no one will have mercy for a girl?"

"Welcome to our home," the woman in the house greeted us, "we have everything ready for you.  I hope you have a great stay with us and enjoy our humble house.  It's an honor to meet a full blooded lioness like you," the woman smiled.

"You mean a breeder?  How can you be helping them with this?" I asked her, angry at her happiness. 

"My mother was like you, but she married my father, and he was human.  I don't have a cat inside of me, not like my brothers do.  I married a mountain lion, but out of three of my children, I could only give one of them a cat.  I failed them, but you won't."

"Were you happy?  Were you free?  I won't be either of those things.  Who cares about my kids, it's not like I will have them in a happy family.  I will just be used for what I can do, with no care about my feelings."

"That's enough!" the leader told me, dragging me inside the house.  "No more talking from you.  If you can't behave, I will just knock you out again, and you won't have anything to eat," my stomach chose that moment to growl, letting them know just how hungry I was. 

I thought about trying to resist, but a look at the couple told me that he had been right, they weren't going to help me, they really believed they were doing the right thing, just like my family after the elders had talked to them about the importance of continuing our race.  I would have cried if I had any tears left.  I had never felt so alone, and I knew things would only get worse.

I was taken to a beautiful room, "I hope you like it, we prepared it for you," the woman said, and I just glared at her.

"You should be more grateful," the leader told me.

"Why?  I don't intend to be grateful to my captors.  You are not here doing me a favor, you are holding me against my will.  I want all of you gone.  I want you to leave me alone."

"You know we can't do that," he said, turning around and leaving me.

I ran to the windows, but as expected, they were covered with bars, it was impossible to get out.   That didn't stop me from looking for alternatives, but no matter how much I looked, there was no way out.  I screamed in frustration, but there was not much I could do, they had thought of everything. 

They eventually came back, and gave me a plate of food.  I guessed that because of my unwillingness to act like a docile captive, they wouldn't allow me to eat with them, which was fine by me, I didn't want to be with them either.  The food was actually good, and I was starving, but still, I couldn't get myself to be grateful to them for giving it to me, not knowing what they had planned for me.  I understood that the woman wished she had been given the chance of being a shifter, or that she had been able to pass her genes to her children, but I had different goals.  I wanted a family, and children, but not because it was my duty or because I had to create more mountain lion shifters, but because I loved someone. 

After eating I went around the room again, trying to look for a way out, but couldn't find it.  They had thought of everything, or almost everything I thought seeing at all the fabrics.  I was feeling a little petty and a lot angry, and for a moment I couldn't think about consequences, only about my chances.  They had taken my clothes and my money, but as long as I had my freedom, I was sure I would find a way to survive. 

I went to the bathroom first and filled it halfway with cold water, then I went and took down the frilly curtains and put them on the bed.  I had noticed an old lamp that used those light bulbs with resistances, so I very carefully broke the glass and put the resistance on top of it before turning it on.  It took a few seconds, but it finally ignited.  I watched as the flames started to grow and I retreated to the bathroom, shifting into my cat and getting ready to run.  As the flames grew and smoke started to get out, I heard the screams and got ready.  When the door opened I wanted to jump, but I waited a little more until I heard how he told the others to get out of the house and then prepared to fight the fire. 

I waited until he stepped into the room, and then I bolted out of my hiding spot, I was wet, ready to jump through the flames, and managed to get out without being stopped.  Once I jumped out of the house, I ran with all my strength, ran toward freedom.