Tyler-

I ran as fast as I could, ramming my body against the wooden cage door that was keeping locked up. The door didn't budge from my hard force, it only popped my shoulder causing pain. I yelled in frustration and defeat as I leaned against another side of the wooden cage, sliding down to the floor and burying my head in my hands. I had been trying and failing to escape for twelve hours and made zero progress. I should have known that those men did something to me whenever they captured me when I was searching for Alexandra...

-flashback-

Trudging through the dense leaf-covered forest, I took my finest men to search for my dear Alex. I had been thinking too much lately... Thoughts of never finding her, or finding her cold dead body out in these chilly woods. There were millions of bad things that could happen to her.

We kept walking through the woods for days, only stopping to eat and sleep. I hadn't slept. I couldn't sleep knowing she was out there, alone. I had spent every night worrying for my little puppy.

We continued our trek through the leaves when one of my men growled, signaling there was something close by. We all formed a small circle, ready for whatever was approaching. I heard footsteps of multiple people that were slowly closing in on our position. Suddenly the footsteps all stopped.

We all looked around cautiously. I look in the direction where I heard the footsteps and I see a lime greenish fog approaching my small group of five men.

"Sir do you see-"

"-Yes." I cut him off. I stared at the greenish fog with curiosity. "Let's move. Don't go towards the fog, it could be dangerous." I warned as I turned the opposite direction taking a step then stopping in my tracks. There was more green fog in that direction too. I did a 360 turn, observing all the fog around us that was now closing in.

"Uh.. sir." One of my men said anxiously.

"Run through the fog. Try not to breathe it if you can, but the fog is thick. Run as fast as you can. Go go!" I ordered as I watched my men disperse like ants, racing through the thick green fog. They made it twelve steps before they began to drop to the ground unconscious like flies. I stood still, still breathing the fresh air from the small circle that was about to be covered in green fog.

I pulled my shirt up to my nose and raced through the lime green fog. As I ran, my skin absorbed the toxic air, causing my running to slid and my legs weakened. My eyes fought to stay open as I pushed as hard as I could to keep running. My run became a jog and then a walk until finally, I collapsed to my knees in defeat. I fell to the leafy ground, unable to move. My eyes became heavy, threatening to stay closed every time I blinked. I looked around to see all of my men collapsed as I was. I then heard footsteps approaching the edge of the fog. I saw men with cloths over their noses, protecting them. One of them pressed a button on a high-tech watch, causing the thick lime fog to vanish. One of the men then examined the unconscious men laying limply on the ground. His eyes scanned until they met with mine. He gave an evil smile before striding over to my weak body. He crouched down and chuckled.

"Don't fight the effects, just give in already." He spoke deeply.

"He's a strong one." One of the men commented before he and another man started grabbing the sleeping bodies of my men.

"He is indeed. We can use that." He smirked then looked back down at me and then he punched me, knocking me out cold.

Next thing I knew, I was waking up on a large exam table with my hands in cuffs on either side of me. I struggled against the cuffs, trying to escape. I looked around, surveying the room I was in. It was a small dark stone room with a small table full of pointy tools used for extraction. I winced at the thought of those tools being put into use. The only door in the small room opened abruptly and the same man from earlier entered with a young woman. She was slim and wore a white lab coat over her simple green shirt and jeans. They walked over to me, each placing themselves on a different side of me. The man to my right smiled

"Good you're awake." He mused as he looked down at my glaring face. "That's your cue," he gestured to the woman. "Begin the procedure, darling."

"Yes, Kaden." She nodded before picking up a gun-looking tool from the table. She placed a lime green vile into the weapon and then turned my head roughly away from her. I growled at her, struggling against the bindings on my wrists. "This will just hurt for a moment. Then you'll behave." She grunted, holding me down. I growled in fear, yanking at my bonds with all of my strength. The woman brought the gun to the back of my neck and pulled the trigger, shooting the green object into me and sending a surge through my body. I cursed out in pain and all of my struggling ceased for a moment. 

The woman stepped away from me, an accomplished grin covering her face as she looked at my hard expression. "It is done, sir." She said still grinning like a psychopath. 

"Very good." he mused as his eyes grazed over me. "Now get out." he barked rudely to the woman.

"Yes. Kaden, Sir." she said timidly before rushing out. He looked at me once more before he followed her out, slamming the door closed. I was alone now in the room to attempt my escape. I ripped at the cuffs for about 10 minutes before they finally gave way and I was free at last. I slid off of the long metal table and approached the closed door cautiously. My head spun as I tried to stay focused.

I opened the metal door, peering out to examine the outside hallway. There was nobody in sight down the dark hallway. I raced down the hallway towards the flashing red EXIT sign. I pushed through the door, suddenly surrounded by cold outside air. I kept running through the dark night. I heard shouting from behind me, signalling they had spotted me. 

I kept a good pace, feeling the freezing air as it burned through my lungs. I had been running for a good ten minutes now and I heard no footsteps following me. I finally brought my run down to a light jog and then a walk. I panted loudly as I gripped my knees for a minute. The moon was lighting up the forest very beautifully, dancing off of the fallen leaves and creating a nice picture that I would usually find scary. But this darkness wasn't scary. It was calming. I walked through the forest once again, only I was completely alone.

My pace remained at a walk for about twenty minutes until I stopped in my tracks at the sound of footsteps. I listened carefully as I heard voices. I moved closer to the voices, finally reaching a clearing where I saw her. She trudged through the woods with another man. My heart jumped in jealousy that he was standing next to her.

"Careful!" the man yelled picking her up by her waist and moving her to the other side of him just in time for her ankle to barely miss a large bear trap. "These woods are rigged with traps," he warned with a flirty smile.

She walked closely to him, her features perfectly illuminated by the moonlight. It was an early night, as the sun had just recently set not but five minutes before I was able to escape those men. 

"It's getting late, Russell are we there yet?" Alex whined like a child to the man called Russell. Even his name sounded cringy. 

"Almost. Are you scared of the dark?" He joked as he poked her in the side.

"No" I defended myself as I giggled at him. 

I let out a loud roar in anger from his flirting. Alex jumped in fear, grabbing Russell for support. He chuckled at her and grabbed her hand that was clinching his arm tightly. I growled again as she whipped around, her beautiful hazel eyes finally setting on me giving me instant relief. 

-end flashback-

I sat against the wall of the cold cell in defeat, taking in the cold air. I was in a huge room that contained many wooden cages all lined up like a pound. The floor was made of cement and the walls were dripping with water and the whole room smelled of stale blood. The door to the massive room suddenly slammed open and a woman was dragged into the room and then roughly thrown into the wooden cage next to me by Dylan, the second in command. Dylan was actually kind to me, he would sometimes give me his leftover bread when he was guarding me. Tonight his face did not show the same kindness as usual. Instead, he wore a grim expression as he tossed the woman in the cage and locked it swiftly before leaving the room completely. 

I looked over at the woman as he scrambled to her feet, her hair covered her face when she sat up. When she moved her hair I recognized her. 

"Hey Kitten." I managed to ring, hiding the fact that I was excited to see her. I tried to seem relaxed as I sat on the floor of the cell clutching my arm. Her face turned towards me, her hazel eyes lighting up at the sight of me. 

"Tyler!" She squealed, stumbling to her feet before scrambling over to where our cages met. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~