The Anthros

9

What is happening? Pheonix thought as dizziness gave way to wakefulness. She remembers being stabbed in the back with a needle by her old master who took care of her as a child. She was knocked out. Was her master truly evil? Had he been this way this entire time or was there something else in mind?

She was sitting, head down in a moving vehicle. A thin blanket placed over her shoulders. She was in the back seat. Looking up, she saw a man. Unknown. Nobody else was in the car. She could escape by transforming and using her hot fire to burst the glass windows and fly out-

"Don't try to escape, my pretty, these windows are heat repelled and if you try to attack me, you'll be met with bullet under your chin." The man says in a dark, decieving voice.

Phoenix looks around. Nothing but forest and road ahead. Where was she going? The man could atleast tell her that much, right?

"Where-"

"Shut up. No speaking. This drive is nearly complete." The man says.

They were in the middle of nowhere, so, who knows why they were here.

Suddenly the car jerks to a stop. It brakes so fast that Phoenix finds her head smashing into the front seat. Immediately her nose runs with blood.

"Damn! Now, my seats all bloody. Keep your filthy feathers off the car, girl. Now, let's go. And don't even think of trying to escape." The man says, leaving the car, opening up her side of the car and pulling her out roughly.

He carried her through the forest. He smelled like rotten animals. Plus, his coat had the faint smell of rabbit blood.

He walked a fair distance from the car without looking back, then finally stopped. He sets her down, but keeps hold of the back of her neck.

"Now," he spits, "As I have heard, you are an anthro. Correct?"

Phoenix stays silent. She was so scared, yet seething mad.

The man tightens his hand on her neck then kicks her leg so hard she crumbles to the ground where he lets her yelp in pain. "Are you anthro or not?!" He growls.

"Yes!!! I am!" Phoenix cries out.

"Well, then. Your owner tells me I get lots and lots of money if I do this small job for him."

"And this job is?" She spits back.

"Oh, this job is to...skin those...wings from your backside, my dear." The man sneers.

What was he doing? Skinning her own wings from her human form? Why? Why would her master want this done? This could very well kill her.

"No! I won't let you! No matter what!" Phoenix growls, but she already knew she was weaponless and that this man now held her at gun and knife point.

If she transformed, could she get away fast enough? No, there was no way a fire bird could escape such a dense forest.

"Now, lay on your stomach. You can make my life a whole lot easier by doing this." The man says, cocking his gun.

Phoenix shakes her head. Then, the man kneels next to her, grabs her about the neck and shoves her down to the ground, bloody nose smearing into dirt as her entire half is placed toward the dirt, back side facing up. So far, the only thing hiding her wings was the thin blanket.

The blanket is ripped away and the man sneers at her tucked velvet wings on her back. He quickly sets out to duck taping her mouth and tieing rope about her legs and hands.

NO! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! NO! NO! NO!! Phoenix screams in her mind. She couldn't fight nor kick. She was useless now. And suddenly the gun was placed beside her left ear. She would risk killing herself if she transformed.

It was too late. The man took hold of the left wing, spread it out, found the joint where it connected to the rest of her body and sawed away.

Phoenix forced herself to stay as still as possible, in fear of being shot. The pain was unbearable. It was nothing she had ever felt before. The man was laughing terribly.

As he got to the bottom of the wings he had to cut away at her shirt, causing his knife to cut into her back sometimes.

Finally, Phoenix fainted.