Silent Heroes: Wildcat

Chapter 48: The Caged Wildcat

Cold.

That's the first thing I was aware of.  I was curled up on a frigid surface while artificially chilled air swept over me.  My body was tense and shivering.  I felt goosebumps all along the surface of my skin.  My arms were curled subconsciously against my chest.  My feet were bare.  My fingers and toes were numb.

Arms?  Toes?  Shivering?  All this led me to a second realization; I was no longer in cat-form.  I was back in my small, frail, human body.

My thoughts were sluggish.  Like my brain was clogged with molasses.  Where was I?  What was going on?  One second I had been on the beach with Reza and the next I was somewhere else entirely.  I remembered the stabbing pain in the back of my neck.  I felt a dull ache where it had struck.  Had someone hit me with a tranquilizer?

Slowly, I opened my eyes, afraid of what I might find. 

I was inside what appeared to be a large, metallic box.  There were no windows, just vents near the ceiling where the cold air was coming through.  Bright, fluorescent lights glared down at me, hurting my retinas.  The walls rattled faintly.  The floor vibrated beneath me.  It sounded like the rumble of a car engine.

Worst of all, I was also inside a big cage, thick silver bars confining me on all sides

Something moved on the edges of my vision.  I bolted upright, turning my head so fast I almost got whiplash.

I found myself opposite a huge lion with an inky black mane and a brindle pattern all over his body, staring at me from a cage that was identical to my own.

"Rez?"

Eve, you're awake.

"Umm, yeah.  Sort of."  My brain was still a bit fuzzy.

You okay?

"I think so.  What about you?"

Still breathing, Reza said.  You were out for a long time.

I was?

Yeah.  He hesitated for a split second.  I was kinda worried.

I rubbed my forehead, trying to think.  "What the heck happened, Rez?  Where are we?  Where are the others?"

I don't know.  I don't remember.  I felt this pain in my shoulder, and then I woke up here.

"Same," I said, only the pain had been in my neck.

I looked around the square box, trying to orient myself in this bizarre situation. 

I think we're in the back of a truck or a van or something, Reza said.

"But how did we get here?" I said.  "Who put us back here?"

I'm not sure.

"Did they tranquilize us or something?"

I don't know, Eve, Reza said.

I shivered, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.  Why the heck was it so cold in here?  We were in California, for crying out loud!  Or, at least I thought we were still in California.  There was no telling how long I had been unconscious.  For all I knew, we had driven all the way to Alaska.

I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering.  My fear and confusion were slowly giving way to anger.  My wildcat hated being enclosed and confined like this.  My human side hated being left in the dark, with no idea where I was or what was going on or what had happened to everyone else.  Neither side of me thought much of being attacked and drugged and locked up for no apparent reason.