Taken

Chapter 11: Trouble on the Horizon

"They're going to introduce you to the Breaker today, most likely."

"The Breaker?"

"Yes, it's something that all of us who are deemed 'dangerous' have to go through at some point while we're here. If you had the misfortune of being "born" as an equine- dangerous or not- you'll still have to be broken. I went through it my fourth month here. The scientists will take you to a small, dark stall. That's what we have decided to call the 'Breaker'. They rarely bother with mucking it out and cleaning it, so the waste and/or blood of the last occupant is often still there when you'll arrive. The walls are wooden planks and the ground is muddy with a mixture of urine, fecal matter, and/or blood. The gate is made of rusted iron, so there's no way to break through it. Once you're forced into the stall, you'll be starved, whipped, doused in cold water then shocked with an electric cattle prod, or they'll overwhelm you with loud sounds caused by air horns, bullhorns, guns, or firecrackers until they deem you 'broken' or 'safe to handle'. So eat as much as you can right now, 'cuz chances are you won't be fed a decent meal for a while. Just be thankful that you're not big enough to be ridden. If you were, that would add a whole other layer of pain."

I pinned my ears back flat against my skull and shuddered. I was mortified upon hearing what had been done to others and what would probably soon be done to me. My stomach had started to churn as I pictured my overly friendly neighbor lying broken and bloody in a muddy pool of his own bodily fluids and I had to stop eating or risk throwing up what I had already eaten. No, no, no, no! My breathing rate increased as my heart rate shot up and I began to pace nervously with my ears still pinned back in an attempt to calm myself down; but, all it seemed to do was make me more nervous and I began to pant as I paced. No, no, no, no, NO!

"Clara, listen to me." Alasdair soothed as he paused in his eating to watch me pace back and forth in my stall. "Take deep breaths. You need to eat right now. If you don't, you most likely won't come out of that hellhole alive."

Silver said that he would protect me! That lying, double crossing little- I managed to get myself to stop pacing. I took a deep, shaky breath and walked back over to my feeding trough- which was now about three quarters of the way full- as I hadn't eaten too much between first waking up and Alasdair's unwelcoming news. Right. I thought as I lowered my head back into the feeding trough and wolfed down a few chunks of meat and some of the veggies. I must eat what I can. I wrinkled my muzzle in disgust as I forced myself to chew on the spinach leaves that I came across in the trough and swallow them while resisting the urge to spit them back out. Even if I don't like it.

"Listen." He continued as we both ate our respective meals. "It'll be better if you don't try to fight back. The scientists like submission and obedience. The quicker you submit, the less time you'll have to spend in the Breaker."

I lifted my head from my trough and snorted disapprovingly at the thought of submitting to my captors as I swallowed a chunk of salmon. I was not going to be their- or anyone else's- pet.

"Right." I said with a snort. "And become someone's pet? No thank you."

"You don't have much of a choice, Clara. You either submit to the scientists or die under their hands."

"Everyone has a choice and I choose not to submit!"

"Then you'll end up DEAD, you stupid, stubborn, overgrown wolf!"

Well, ouch. I flinched at his harsh tone and crunched a salmon head between my teeth out of frustration and then snapped up the bits that had fallen out of my mouth and onto the hay. The next time he addressed me, the Kelpie's mind voice had dropped down to a strained whisper. He sounded almost... tired.