Maok

I was a retired police dog. My job was to protect and save the community no matter what. Jack used to be my friend. He was a nice human living in a nice house up in the mountains of North Carolina. We would always spend time together outside. Life was perfect and fun... until it wasn't. One day I woke up to the cries of Jack. He sounded terrified, so I sprinted outside to find him fighting a bear. I tried to help him, but the bear caused Jack to fall and smack his head badly against a rock. I tried to get him up, but he wouldn't respond. He just lay there, still and not even breathing. 

When the neighbors came, they found me and Jack. He was dead and I was standing next to him, bloody and all. Knowing my anger and violence issues, they thought the worst, and so the police were called, and I was condemned to Death Row. Now, I could have had issues, but I would have never done such a thing, especially to Jack. The people I once had protected had turned against me, and I was now alone.

I was ready to be sacrificed, but just then, a man snuck into the building, opened my cage, forced a muzzle on me, and then dragged me out of the place with a chain tied around my neck while I pulled back. He put me in the trunk of a car and closed it, and that's when my life turned upside down. 

I didn't like what I was being forced to do, but I had no other choice. I once managed to run away and get to the woods, but Brutus, the man who kidnapped me, found me, and the torture that followed my escape was unbearable. Despite that, I kept trying to run away more and more, but every time I was captured, the torture would kill a little piece of my soul, until I felt dead inside. I had seen and felt many things as a police dog, but I never imagined this would ever happen to me. After a while, the only thing that kept me wanting to go on was a tiny speck of hope living inside of me, telling me that someday I would go with Jack... but hope never lasted long. 

After a while, I learned that nights of rest would come if I killed the dog and won the fight, and so, I swore I would never lose one again. Everything was fine until the day I faced the strongest dog in my area. I almost had him, but he managed to dodge my last attack and buried his fangs on my weakest point. I fell to the floor, incapable of moving. I only remember being dragged somewhere before blacking out. 

I woke up in a dank, stinky place. My head was covered with a coaster bag and my paws tied so tight they were numb. My snout was closed shut with a muzzle that was hurting me. It was all quiet except for the muffled sound of water droplets dropping on a puddle in the far distance. 

I wanted to fight my way out of there, but my body was so beat up that even breathing was a torture. I thought there was no one I could beg for help, but then I heard some boots coming closer and closer to me, and then they stopped right in front of me. I was about to cry for help, but before I could even breathe, a bat hit me right on my rib cage, shattering most of my ribs. Then I received another hit right in the stomach. I puked and yelped, but nothing could stop the incoming hits. 

The pain was excruciating to the point that I just wanted whoever was doing this to me to kill me there. But then I heard the boots walk away, and then another pair joined in. Just that these weren't boots, these were high heels. I heard a voice; a young lady's voice. She was speaking in a foreign language, but she sounded pleased and irritated at the same time. She said something else I couldn't catch, and the one in boots answered. It was Brutus's thick and intimidating voice. After exchanging more things, Brutus left the place and left me alone with the woman in the high heels. 

"A whole beating and you're still not dead, huh?" she asked. 

Then I heard her kneel and grab the bag on my head. I began to shake and cry, imagining what she would do to me, but then she removed the bag and petted me in the head. Her hands were gentle and soft like baby skin. Her dark hair contrasted with her crystal-blue eyes. She smelled of spring and trees, and her innocent face calmed me. She untied my paws, got up, and went to the corner of the room. She came back with dog treats in one hand and the other hand hidden behind her. 

Food! I thought. 

She stopped a few feet from me and ordered, "Come here, now!" 

I tried to, but my body wasn't responding. I cried, so she said, "Oh, poor, dumb, thing!" She got closer to me and then drew a metal rod from behind her back. She raised it high in the air and struck me as hard as she could on the back. I yelped, so she kicked me in the face. "Hush, you cry baby! You're a fight dog made for dog fights. Listen, you fool! I'm your new Alpha, and you better do what I say, ok?" 

She forced me into a sitting position, which made my whole being cry out in pain. She put the rod next to my face and I began to tremble. "You see this rod? This means I'm the Alpha!" She breathed deeply. "I'd kill you right now if I knew you didn't have potential, but you get me a whole lot of money, so..." She took the rod away from my face and threw it to a far corner. "Let this be a friendly warning you shall never forget. Do this once more and I won't be as nice." She kissed me on the head. "Well, sweetie, you better be ready for next week's fight!" 

She turned off the dim light of the room, left, and closed the door as she hummed a happy melody. The room was now pitch black, so I shut my eyes, trying to fall asleep, but the pain wouldn't let me. After struggling for hours, I finally went to sleep; but it wasn't long until nightmares crept into my dreams, and by the time I finally got to rest, Brutus came in to wake me up, give me a beating, and leave me some food and water before leaving. That's how the week went by, only that Brutus didn't beat me again, just left the food and water. 

Finally, the day of the fight came, and this time I won, and then the next. I remained undefeated for two years, until I faced the strongest dog of the area. The fight took place in a very sketchy part of the city. There were many people in the place, most of which were drunk or betting exorbitant amounts of money. Broken glass adorned the floor, moonlight glinting on them. Then from the back of the crowd appeared a prominent figure. The man was smoking a cigar and holding a big chain leash that was tied around the neck of a dog the size of a grizzly. 

Well, this isn't going to be good for me. 

"Nice dog," the woman said, "but what a shame he only has a few minutes left to live." She giggled. 

I told myself I had to retreat. The dog would certainly crush me under the weight of his paw. Just as I was backing away, I heard the rod hitting the metal bars. No, I couldn't leave. The crazy woman would kill me right there in front of everyone if I even dared to do that. I had to fight. Not just that, I had to win! 

"Ok," a voice from the crowd yelled. "Fight starts in three... two... one... fight!" 

We both circled each other slowly, watching our every move, trying to find the perfect moment to attack. Then he lunged at me and buried his fangs in my neck and then released me. I fell hard on the floor, but the fight wasn't done yet. I got up and charged towards him, making him fall. I got close to finishing him, but he turned around quickly and buried his fangs on my neck again. This time he didn't let me go and I was running out of air. But then the police entered the place, and everyone started running and shouting crazily. The dog's owner called him to let me go and leave, and the woman in high heels found me in the midst of mayhem and dragged me out of there and into a building far away. 

She shut the door and looked at me with psycho eyes. She then proceded to beat the heck out of me with her rod and did more things I wish I could permanently erase from my mind. Fortunately for me, hell didn't last long, for the police found the place and she left me there to die, alone. The last thing she said to me was: "I'd kill you right now, but the cops are coming, so I'll just let you slowly bleed to death. You're just a useless piece of crap! Guess I shoulda heard my grandpa when he said you weren't fit for this... Oh, well, hope you enjoy your last moments!" And she left laughing and skipping as if nothing ever happened. 

The police got to where I was and searched for the woman, but she was gone. They called someone on the emergency line, and soon I was taken to the ER. The vet was shocked by my condition, but he soon had me drugged and sent me into the operation room. The painkillers drifted me into a world where nightmares couldn't chase me anymore. I was back home, chasing squirrels, running around, rolling in the grass, watching the sunset with Jack, free. Oh, how I missed him! But you always must wake up and face reality. 

The place was well-lit. I was in a big cell with bowls of food and water, some toys, and a tiny door to go out and do my business. I had a cone around my neck and was given meds daily. After several weeks, I was moved to a different room. This one had several more cells that had dogs in them. I was assigned one by one of the vets and then locked in it. The other dogs were staring at me. There was an awkward silence in the room until one of my new "neighbors" said, "Look! A newbie! What's your name?" 

I ignored him and laid down to sleep. I didn't feel like introducing myself to anyone. All I wanted was to go home. 

"What? The mouse ate ya tongue?" he asked. Everyone else laughed. I said nothing, so he said, "Ok, so now you're ignoring me? Let's see how long you can do that for!" 

He began crashing repeatedly against the metal bars of his cell. I tried to ignore him, but the sound was driving me insane to the point where I totally lost it. He crashed once more, but this time I bit his ear and pulled hard on it. He tried to fight me, but nothing he did would work. I pulled it once more and ripped off his ear. We both were shocked. I dropped the piece of ear and stared at it in disbelief. 

Shoot, now I'm screwed, I thought, how could I do this? 

"You're a f**king monster!" he cried as he tried to compose himself. He finally gave in and began sobbing. "I was just playing with you. bro!" 

The vets didn't take long in showing up. After seeing the scene, they took both of us out, him to the ER and me to a dark back room. There, they tied me with a tight rope to a pole. I heard them discussing some things I couldn't catch, but after putting together the words I did, I realized something: I was being sacrificed. 

No, I told myself, we're not dying today. Not in the hands of some stupid humans! 

I gnawed at the rope until I could pull it and rip it easily. I looked around and found that the exit door was open, so I pulled hard and rushed for it. The vets tried to catch me, but I outran them. I weaved my way through the buildings of the city until I got to the wooded mountains surrounding the city. I got deeper and deeper into the woods until it was almost dusk. I stopped, throat parched and legs giving out, and laid down next to a tree. Then I heard his voice. He sounded worried and sad. 

It can't be, I thought. He's dead! I saw him! 

Just as I was sorting my thoughts, I heard him call me by my nickname: Maok. He was the only one who knew that name; it was a buddy thing. I sprinted toward the voice, but when I got there, I found nothing. Then I heard it coming from somewhere else. Was he running away from me? 

"Jack?" I cried. I knew he only heard barks, but I didn't care. "Jack? Please, where are you?" Then the memory of what had happened to him, and a feeling of guilt hit me, so I began to sob. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry I didn't do anything! I'm a bad dog!" I lay on the floor and bawled my eyes out until tears ran out. 

I kept hearing him, but I didn't care. Then I saw him sitting down next on a rock, overlooking the sunset. I walked eagerly to where he was, and he petted me behind my ears. 

"Hey, buddy!" He smiled. "Nice to have you here. This place was getting lonely." 

"I missed you, too," I said, "I'm sorry, very sorry!" 

He hugged me to let me know I was forgiven and said, "Wanna go for a walk?" 

I nodded and we climbed up the mountain. I was finally free from the suffering of this world, and Jack was with me.