Stray Cat

Chapter Twenty-Five

Dan was staring at the wall blankly when a noise at the door startled him. It was Jimmy, but he didn't have a tray of food. "What is it?"

A wave of fear hit him as he thought for a moment that Jimmy had come to make another pass at him. Dan wasn't sure what he would do. He recalled the moment where he had threatened to bite Jimmy with an odd sense of distance, as if that had been another person who said those words. All of his boldness and fighting spirit had left him; they had broken him.

"Just came to tell you that you'll be leaving us this afternoon. You've been sold."

"Oh," Dan said, his voice more even than he had expected it to be when he heard this news. He had heard this once before in his life from Mr. Smith. He felt numb and couldn't decide which time had been worse. Mr. Smith had taunted him and promised how awful his life would be now. Jimmy just stood there, but he didn't need to say anything – Dan knew what was going to happen to him.

Dan remembered that he had been curious last time and he had asked Mr. Smith how much, but he only had one question for Jimmy. "Who was it? Who bought me?"

"How the hell would I know?" Jimmy said. He turned to leave. "Be ready to go in a few hours."

Dan looked around his small cell, but there was nothing to get ready if he had wanted to – nothing to pack, nothing to entertain him, no way to escape. He lay down in bed. This place was awful, but he could be going to somewhere so much worse. This place could seem like heaven in comparison, so he tried to get some rest while he could.

A hand shook his shoulder to wake him. Dan opened his eyes and cringed away when he saw it was Jimmy. Jimmy glared at his reaction. "Time to go. Your owner is here."

Dan had heard those words before. He had been taken to a room where a man with dark hair salted with gray had put a tight collar around his neck and then led him out of the building on a leash. Dan's heart pounding, realizing that it could be him come back to claim him. Or it could be someone even more awful. Fear froze him in place and he didn't move as Jimmy looked at him expectantly.

Jimmy sighed and tugged on his arm. "Get up. Get up or I'll call help and we'll drag you out of here."

Dan stood on shaking legs and followed Jimmy, who kept a tight grip on his arm. "Who bought me? I want to know."

"What does it matter? You're about to meet him." Jimmy led him up a staircase.

Dan's body seemed to be rebelling. He felt like he was walking towards a fire in a burning building, and all of his instincts were telling him to run the other way. His palms were sweating, his legs felt like they were about to buckle beneath him, and his heart was trying to beat out of his chest.

Jimmy led him around the corner to a hallway full of doors. Jimmy announced, "They said he's in room 3."

As Jimmy was reading the numbers written on the panels beside the doors, Dan tried to pull his arm free. He had an insane idea that maybe he could find the way out and escape now that he was above ground. Jimmy's hand was like a vise on his arm though, and Dan couldn't escape even as he put his entire weight behind it.

Jimmy started cursing under his breath and then snapped, "Bitch, come on! The door is right there. Don't make this difficult."

"Fuck off, let go!" Dan fell to his knees in his attempt to get away, but the best that he could do now was to not take another step. He couldn't get away, but he refused to walk to that door. He gasped as Jimmy gave his arm a painful tug, knowing it was bruised.

"Walk! You fucking asshole, get up." Jimmy pulled him, and Dan slid a couple inches down the tiled hallway. Dan whimpered and he felt tears start running down his cheeks.