Midnight Eyes ✵ Phan

*22*

If Dan had once been a pet, he was now an animal. Locked in a cage, the key strewn on the floor in front of him. A taunt. They called it obedience. They told him for a twenty-four hour period, he was not allowed to reach for the key on their orders. Each time he did, an hour was added onto the period. Each five hours added, a meal was taken away. At the end of the trial, he would be unlocked and the rest of the tests would be done. For now, Dan was locked in a cold metal cage in an open area with nothing but a rag to protect him from the biting wind. He was tempted to tell them that he had no fur to protect him but he was better than to think that telling them would change his situation but give him another strike.

He had already had four. He was such a stubborn boy.

They say he was underneath the enclosure but he couldn't understand. He felt as if he were outside. But, the darkness made it hard to see and the only thing to light his cell was a lamp to his right which had yet to be turned on.

Maybe it was a clue to sleep but in this state, Dan was too on edge to take up their suggestion. He wouldn't close his eyes. No, even in the darkness he would watch and wait for the next person. He would growl and scratch until they let him go. Or killed him.

He was stupid for even thinking that they would let him away.

Death was the answer. Death was freedom. Death would be his wings. Death would be the end of this. He wouldn't be the lone Neko stuck in a cage. He would be in the darkness of death or the brightness of heaven. He would take either of the two. Both seemed as good as each other at this point.

Dan, for all his promises, did fall asleep. He passed out just before sunrise and was woken by the loud rattling of his cage. 'Wake up!' The man barked, shaking harder. Dan startled, shuffling to the back of his cage, the cold metal burning his back. He watched as the man, whose dirty blonde hair and scraggly beard didn't hide his large head and disgustingly rotten teeth, sneered at him.

'I'm being paid to watch you whilst you're here, scum. Little extra cash in the pocket, ay? Did you know that even the park staff don't have time for creatures like you: disgusting little things.' The man taunted, taking a place on a plastic chair opposite the cage, just behind the key. Dan had no chance at reaching it now without his hand becoming the victim of a dirty man's boot.

So, Dan sat back, his teeth chattering as the harsh metal dug into his skin and the wind didn't subside. His rag was torn already, the flimsy material nothing more than the thickness of muslin cloth. At least, he thought to himself, it wasn't see-through.

The man continued to talk, filling the silence with booming echoes about his wife and kids back in England. He had moved here for the money. It seemed a lot of British had. And, after failing to find one, had resorted to the trafficking of Nekos.

Dan had experienced that first hand.

By the time his twenty-nine hours were up, the man didn't budge. Dan looked up with pleading eyes but he just sneered. 'What? Am I supposed to let you out or something?' Dan resisted a nod. The man knew exactly what he was supposed to do. He just didn't want to. He enjoyed Dan's suffering. He was a man with a rifle, his bullet buried in the side of the deer, enjoying the sight of blood staining the ground and a successful hunt.

They were interrupted by the loud footsteps of another person, this time a woman. She looked much tidier, although a bit run down and was clearly younger than the man. She must have been in her early-thirties, Dan thought, noticing the almost imperceptible wrinkles around her eyes and on her forehead and the ageing of her skin. Although the woman didn't smile, she seemed kinder. Or, at least, fairer.

'Nile, unlock him and take him to the next training room. There is no need for this delay.' She scowled, crossing her arms and glaring before strutting back up the stairs. But, even with the terse orders, Dan was not afraid. He felt only relief when the door of the cage swung open and he allowed himself to crawl out, animal or not.