In Search of Home

Chapter 3

Viktor was only fifteen, and as such, had never been in a dogfighting ring. He had heard the stories. The odd abused dog whose story was traumatic enough to end up in the news or on the internet. At first, the horrific stories of bait dogs and cruel owners had left him feeling a bit empty and a lot sad. He always made sure to give his family dog a few extra pats when he heard of those stories. But as time went on, and more exposed he got to the internet, he found that they didn't phase him as heavily as before. Sure, he always frowned and sometimes sighed, but they were always far from his mind as he continued scrolling.

In short, he had rarely given it any thought. He would most likely never come across a dogfighting ring, so why would he ever think about one?

But perhaps, Viktor thought, as the vehicle he was trapped in opened to reveal a large warehouse-esque building, maybe he should've looked more into it.

The building was unremarkable. If Viktor had been an average alien, he probably wouldn't even give it a second glance. It was only when the aliens started picking up and dragging the cages he and his new friends were in did he get a view of the inside. They went through the front entrance, and right in the middle, lay a large metal netted fighting ring. The arena was filled with dirt and had a few rocks large enough to lie on comfortably littered throughout it. Bleachers towered around the arena, probably able to hold thousands of humans, if not hundreds of these weird aliens.

Viktor looked worriedly behind him, trying to catch the eyes of Ezekiel or Aiko. He had been the last cage to be loaded, so he had been the first one out. The others were being carried by two aliens each, lugging them as if they were a particularly heavy piece of luggage. Viktor was being carried as if he were a light bag of groceries by just one alien. The one who had been driving the vehicle.

He peered through the bars at the alien carrying him. He (at least, Viktor was assuming it was a he) was much bigger than the other aliens, and he seemed to be the one in charge. He had no tail like some of the others but seemed to have tougher skin. There was a nasty scar that Viktor could see stretched up his neck and over his face. He couldn't quite see too much from this angle. He hadn't been paying too much attention when he had been grabbed from the corral of humans.

Maybe he would've been better off in the crowded corral. At least then, he would've been anonymous. He didn't like how these aliens peered at him. They looked malicious. Big teeth stretched in a weird, threatening smile. They were chattering amongst themselves gleefully. 

His thoughts were confirmed as they were dragged downstairs and unloaded in what seemed to be a strange menagerie. He definitely would've been better off in that corral. Monsters like he's never seen before prowled large cages that would put the most highly secured prison in America to shame. They howled and shrieked when he was brought in with the others. Strangely, they quieted almost immediately upon seeing a few of the aliens.

The cages they resided in were... normal. Thick metal bars reached the top of the room. Small flaps were located on the bottom of the cage, big enough for food but small enough so that any of the imprisoned were unable to escape. His heart fluttered nervously in his chest at the thought of being shoved into one. 

Viktor was set none too gently on the ground, grunting as his elbow hit the edges of the small carrier cage he was in. "Ow," he groaned, rubbing his elbow as he tried to see what the big alien was doing. 

"You alright, kid?" Ezekiel said, air expelling from his body in a sharp huff as he was set on the ground. He whipped his head around, observing his surroundings just as Viktor had done. Viktor saw him mouth 'what the fuck' as he stared at some of the creatures in the cages around them. 

"Yeah..." Viktor said, trailing off a bit as the big alien started shouting orders at the others. It, obviously, wasn't any language that he recognized, but he could pick out the rhythm of the language. Verbs, nouns. Even if they didn't make sense, Viktor could tell that whatever they were speaking was definitely a fully-fledged language.