Misadventures of a Very Bad Pet

Chapter 1

I never liked Mondays to begin with, and being abducted definitely did not help change my mind on the matter.

It was 3am, and I was out picking up some chocolate ice cream from the nearest convenience store. Looking back, that was a stupid idea. My sleep deprived self must have checked the fridge for a nice cold snack only to find it empty and must have decided that I needed some. ASAP.

With the delicious treat swinging in my bag, my mind wandered off as my feet took me down the familiar path back home. I counted the hours of sleep I'll probably get that night before I reached the alleyway that I often use as a shortcut back to my apartment. 

Without a second thought, I had turned into it and was almost halfway through before something wrapped around my left foot, sending me crashing onto the ground and my ice cream carton flying a few feet away.

Great. Absolutely spectacular. Mondays suck.

Annoyed, I sat up, ignoring my scraped hands to see what the fuck my foot had caught on. 

"What the hell?" 

There was a silver bracelet-like device locked onto my ankle, kind of like those ankle monitors on people under house arrest. It looked a lot more sleeker and high tech than those clunky things though. I frowned as a little green light flickered on and off. 

That had better not be a bomb. I didn't want to touch it, afraid of accidentally setting it off. I looked around, eyes searching for where it could have shot out from. 

My opinion of not touching it changed rather quickly when something sharp suddenly stabbed into my ankle. I yelped and started to pull on it, even going as far as bashing it with a chunk of fallen brick to get it off. 

The brick broke. The last thing I remembered was staring down at the damn thing in dismay before everything went black.

I woke groggily, a thumping ache in my head. My eyes swam before they finally focused on the grey ceiling above me, and I became aware that I was lying on something hard and cold. I also became aware of my aching neck, which really did not appreciate the hard floor it had been resting on at an uncomfortable angle.

What the hell happened? Was I kidnapped or something? I finally stirred, pushing myself up with a soft grunt and rolled my neck, hearing that satisfying crack. As I sat up, my nose caught a whiff of a hospital-like scent. Clean, sterile, and full of chemicals. 

Oh please tell me I have all my organs. I want none of that black market or human trafficking shit. I patted myself down, noticing everything in my pockets were gone. Well shit. Was I robbed and ditched at some random place then? But at least the ankle device was gone as well. More than a little confused, I waited for my eyes adjust to the darkness.

What. The. Fuck.

I decided then and there that Monday is my worst enemy.

I was sitting in what seemed like a glorified dog crate. The area seemed to be around 4ft by 4ft, and I soon realized I couldn't stand up fully. I was not a tall guy, mind you. I'm only 5'6, but the height of the crate barely lets me go fully upright even on my knees. 

The metal bars surrounded me on all sides, except for the solid metal sheet serving as the floor of the cage. Looking up, I realized the grey ceiling I had been staring at when I woke up was actually the bottom of another crate stacked on top of mine. My assumption was reinforced from the deafening rattling above me as my new upstairs neighbor released a feral scream that almost popped my eardrums. It sounded like a damn panther.

Who the hell thought it was a good idea to keep a panther in here?

I watched as a few clumps of fur drifted down from above outside the bars of my cage. It did not sound happy, and honestly, I don't blame it.