Chapter 3

I woke up the next day. At least I assumed it was the next day. It was hard to tell in this windowless cellar. I was cold and stiff; I couldn't stretch out properly, so my limbs hurt. I pushed the hurt to the back of my mind and examined my cage more carefully in the hopes of finding some way out of this nightmare. It was made of thick steel sections welded together. The door was secured by a heavy padlock l couldn't quite get at, I had no idea how to pick locks anyway.

I was cold and hungry and I needed the toilet. I doubted I would be allowed out to use it so I did the only thing I could: I picked a corner of the cage to use.

I felt disgusted and demeaned to be having to act like an animal. I cried some more, curled up in the opposite corner of the cage.

I spent most of the day alternating between mad rage, screaming and shouting attacking the cage, and feeling sorry for myself crying in the corner.

At some point my tormentor returned, "Feeding time foxy!" she giggled. She wrinkled her nose, "oh foxykins you filthy beast you made a mess in your cage. You dirty animal! That means cleaning time."

She skipped off back up the stairs, her actions parodying an innocent little girl when she was anything but. She returned with a large brute of a man, huge and muscular, dressed in overalls and the look of someone who spent a lot of time doing manual labour. His eyes held the same dark gleam as Sandra's enjoying my torment and humiliation.

"Uncle Paul will help," she grinned.

They started to open the cage and I tried to make a break for it, but the brute Paul was ready. He smashed me hard across the face I was knocked to the floor. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth and my head span like I was dizzy. Some sort of clamp thing was snapped around my neck and I was wrenched to my feet. I was gripped at the end of a pole that kept me out of arms reach. It was like a human sized version of what animal control people used on violent dogs, allowing them to manoeuvre me without me being able to get at them.

"Bad foxy!" said Sandra.

I was dragged through another of the doors to a room with a tiled area and a drain. There were metal shackles on the wall and floor.

"Put your paws in the shackles!" commanded Sandra.

I hesitated and suddenly got an electric shock. The collar thing must have had a shocker built in.

"Put your paws in the shackles NOW!" she shouted.

I swiftly complied, not wanting more shocks. Sandra hit a lever and the shackles snapped shut. I struggled a bit but couldn't move. The collar thing was released and then Sandra came over in front of me. She was holding a pair of scissors, she snipped them at me grinning.

'Oh no what is she going to do now, ' I thought

"Silly foxy is still wearing people clothes but animals don't wear clothes. Now keep still foxy or else you may loose more than your clothes!" she said and came at me with the scissors.

She began cutting my clothes off. I stood stock still not daring to move. She hacked my clothes off with rough slices of the scissors. In several places she took off some of my fur as well even nicking me with the blades in the process.

"Now foxy isn't that better, no more silly clothes," she said and yanked at my fur. "Time to give you a wash."

She backed away and the brute turned a hose on me. A torrent of cold water hit me like a smack in the face. The force was sufficient to knock me off my feet and cause me to hang by the shackles. The freezing water felt like it was ripping the flesh off me. Sandra cackled as I was tortured by the jet of water for what seemed like hours. Eventually dripping wet and freezing cold I was dragged shivering back to my cage. Just before I was locked in Sandra approached me.

"Now that you are all clean I have a present for you," she said and held up a collar which had an engraved plate that said 'Foxy' in curly script with 'property of Sandra' in smaller writing under it.

The brute held me while Sandra snapped the collar on, and then wrestled me back into the cage.

"There, nice clean Foxy with fresh straw in its cage and a pretty new training collar. Now if you are bad it goes like this," she said pressing a small remote, causing the collar to shock me, "and don't try taking it off or it will do it worse! Now feeding time!"

I was once again subjected to the indignity of having to eat dog food like an animal. I was so hungry though I didn't care that it tasted bad. I was then left for a few hours cold wet and angry. Sandra returned at intervals to torture me some more, making me bark like a dog and do silly tricks for some horrible tasting dog biscuits at threat of an electric shock. If I didn't eat the biscuits I got a shock too. It was a real no win situation.

I spent the night screaming and shouting. I slammed myself against the cage trying to loosen it but it was far too sturdy. I knew my only chance was to try and get free when I was out of the cage.

I went to sleep exhausted from my attempts to get free. I fell into a listless sleep once again punctuated by flying dreams.

The next day was much like the last. Most of the day was taken up with long periods where I was just left alone in the dark with nothing but my own thoughts for company. Then in the evening Sandra would torture me for kicks. That evening she had her Uncle chain me to a post so she could throw a ball for me to retrieve.

Every time she tortured and demeaned me what little love I had for her died and rage burned in me. I became more like the animal she thought me. The animal part of me wanted to attack her, rip her to shreds right then and there, but the human part of me knew I had to be smart and wait for my opportunity. I spent the night licking my wounds recovering my strength.

My chance came the next day when they took me for cleaning, they were a little less careful than usual. Not gripping me quite so tightly and not making sure they had me under control. I remembered something my sister had showed me from her martial arts, how to use the strength and weight of an opponent against them. Simple physics that allowed you to throw even a much larger opponent with ease. I struggled against Sandra's Uncle and he made to push me but instead of resisting I pulled at the moment where all his weight was committed, overbalancing him.

Hannah would have been proud as the man went flying. He had let go of his restraints while falling so I was free to move, Sandra shouted and went for her remote to shock me into submission. I slammed into her with all the force I could manage knocking her down and the control from her hand. I turned to see her Uncle getting up to come to her aid. I ran at him and attacked with all my fury tearing at him with my teeth then smacking him unconscious against the concrete.