Beloved

Chapter five: Bite Me

As soon as he left, I crawled to the front to try to see if I could understand what it said. I was thrown off balanced though when my cage was lifted off the ground. 

My heart rate quickened as I began to be rolled across the room. This had to be black magic. My prison was made from solid metal, everything in this god forsaken place was made of it, but it was heavy enough that this person shouldn't be able to move me around so easily. 

The boy pushed me through different halls and doors until we reached a room that didn't have the feeling of death. Everything was red and gold and made from materials that were foreign to my tribe. He took me to an empty platform and slide my cage on it. I clambered to the front and looked around at the other boys and some girls. 

I quickly turned my head when I saw the girl were also nude. Luckily curtain were draped between us so when I sat at the back of my pen I couldn't see them. That was no way to treat a woman. A man could deal with it, but a woman should be allowed some privacy. 

I sunk of a peak to the other side to see the blue boy. He was kneeing the center of his cage with his head bowed. Scanning the room, I noticed that the majority of them were acting the same. 

"Are they all here?" Mrs. Finch appeared.

"Yes, ma'am. The last one just arrived."

"Aright then, make sure the servers are ready, and let the guests in."

"Yes, ma'am." The girl ran off to do as she was told. 

Swallowing hard, I pressed against the bar at the back of the cage. People started filtering into the room, talking with one another. The people with the collars walked around with fancy glasses with a red liquid in them. Some of the other tribes knew how to make glass, but it never looked like that. 

A man in a black outfit and a hat walked over to the blue boy. He knelt, and the blue boy quickly moved to the front. The man fitted his hand through the bars and lifted the boy's chin. The demon tapped the boy's knee, and he spread his legs. My mouth dropped open when I saw the demon touch him, and I wrapped my arms around my knees. This was disgusting, the whole thing was making my skin crawl.  

"Hey boy." A man with a woman on his arm kicked my cage. "Come here."

I glared at the two of them and kept my distance. 

"Stubborn little shit," he muttered. He motioned to one of the collared girls. 

She hurried over. "How can I help you Sir?"

"Get him to come closer."

"Yes Sir." She removed a rod from her belt and walked up behind the cage. 

I inched around the side, so I could tell what she was doing. She extended it into a long pole. Threading it through the bars, she pocked me with it in the back. I grabbed the end and felt a sharp pinch run up my arm. I gasped and jumped back. She came at me again with it, and I darted to the other side. She chased me around, and I didn't my best to stay away from all of them.

"Got him!" The man reached through and snatched my arm.

"Sir no!"

I panicked and did the only thing that came to mind, I bit him. 

"Shit!" He let go and yanked his arm out. 

Retreating to the back corner, I stared as the girl and Mrs. Finch came over to see what happened.

"That savage bit me. That disgusting little creature bit me."

"I'm so sorry, Sir," said Mrs. Finch. "We tried to warn people with the sign. He's wild and doesn't know any better."

He moved into Mrs. Finch's space. "That little devil shouldn't be allowed in here. These are exotic pets. If I wanted something that I had to keep on a chain, I would have bought a dog."

I curled up in a ball as they continued to argue. I wasn't a devil, they were. They were the demons that stole me form my family and took me to this horrible place. 

"Sir, please listen."

"I won't hear it! I want that monster out of here before he bit someone else. We want trained slave, not unruly savages. Get it out of here now! I expected with your reputation you'd have them trained before letting the costumers anywhere close."

The rest of the room had gathered around and either were nodding their heads or whispering with each other. They kept glancing in my direction. Even the other boys and girls in cages. They had a look of fear on their faces.

"Yes, right away. I assure you the others are perfectly trained. There must have been a mistake in the registry. He wasn't supposed to be here, and there's must be another lovely pet lost out there somewhere." 

The crowd began to disperse. 

Mrs. Finch grabbed the girl by the arms and turn her away from the room. "Get him out of here and find me something to replace him now."

"Yes Mrs. Finch. Where should we put him?"

"Surplus warehouse," she hissed. "He can rot there until someone needs a dog, just get him out of here."

"Yes ma'am."

They quickly brought in the lift and rolled my cage out of the room. I was taken through multiple buildings to the open square outside which just the day before had been crowded with people. It was empty today. They rolled me to an old building. The door was locked. The boy who had taken me there undid the chains and pushed it open enough that I could see the darken room with the only light coming from a windows high above the floor. He pushed my cage inside and processed to dump it in the corner on the cracked floor. It was empty and smelled foul.

"You should have behavior," muttered the boy as he pulled out a similar rob. "Who knows how long you'll be sitting here. Takes months or even years to fill this place and then Mrs. Finch offer a group deal to the big corporations. The last shipment went out two weeks ago. All heading to the salt mines." He knelt by the door. "We need the cage for someone else. I don't want to hurt you so just corporate."

My heart was pounding. "Why are they doing this to me?" I whispered. 

He opened the door. "You're a slave. They can do whatever they want." He tossed a set of handcuffs to me. "Put those on, and then come out slowly." He rang the rod in his hands. 

I snapped them around my wrist and inched out. It felt good to be able to stand up right again. The boy whose tag read 153 grabbed my arm and marched me to the wall. Chains were embedded in them all the way to the other side. The boy put one around my ankle before shoving me up against the wall. He took my tag and replaced it with a thick metal collar hooked to one of the chains. Grabbed his chart, he headed for the door. "Someone will be by twice a day to feed you." He left me there without another word. 

I curled up in the corner and glanced around the huge room. I couldn't even imagine the amount of people it would take to fill this place. The stress from the day started to take over, and I could stop myself from crying. I was really alone now. 

This place truly was hell, and all I could do was wait to die.