FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sera stared with curiosity at her computer monitor. The information she had requested weeks ago regarding the Chiennas had finally been approved. She loads up Mr. Chienna’s information first, as it was the one whom she had been most curious about. A file popped up with his photo identification. She glanced at the information presented to her. No criminal record, no history of financial difficulty, and all of the details she had learned about him appeared to match perfectly, down to the time he had moved from the east coast and registered in Lazuna. Sera couldn’t help but let out a small sigh of relief as she minimized his record.

Sera clicked on Mrs. Chienna’s file. Sera hadn’t been as worried about her, but still wanted to make sure. As with Mr. Chienna, Mrs. Chienna didn’t seem to have any blemishes on her file that would make Sera doubt her sincerity. Sera let out another sigh of relief, mixed in with a smile.

Sera minimalized the file and saw that the only one left unopened was Irena’s. It had been an afterthought on Sera’s part that she had requested information on the Chienna family as a whole rather than specifying the adults. That slight oversight granted her Irena’s file as well. Sera chuckled, knowing that there wouldn’t be much to view in the file due to Irena’s age. As Sera proceed to open the file, she noticed the time at the corner of her screen. Sera sighed as she reached for her cell phone nearby. She pulled up Tom’s name and pressed call. Sera leaned back in her chair as she listened to the dial tone multiple times. Sera closed her eyes when the call went to voice mail. “Tom, dear, it’s your mother. Call me when you get this. Love you. Bye.” Sera ended the call.

Sera let out a slightly disappointed sigh as she placed her phone back on the desk in front of her. She decided she would give Tom a few minutes to call back before trying again. In the meantime, Sera straightened herself in her seat as she went back to opening Irena’s file. As Sera had expected, Irena’s file was small compared to her parents. Due to Irena being a minor, much of her personal information such as birthdate, birthplace, and identification number were marked out. Aside from her name, the only other pertinent information available was the date Irena registered in Lazuna. Sera looked at the date; noting it was dated to about five months back. “Five months… Sera said to herself, her ears slowly straightening up.

Sera pulled up Mr. and Mrs. Chienna’s files again and focused on their registration date. “That’s over two years ago…” Sera’s mind began racing, trying to figure out what this could mean; why would they wait two years to register their daughter? Sera looked down at her phone. Wanting a distraction, she quickly brought up Tom’s number again and called. Tom still didn’t answer. Frustration started to build in Sera’s mind as she brought up Ren’s number and called.

“Hello?”

“Ren, dear, is Tom at the house with you?” Sera asked.

“No. He and Irena went to beach after we got off the bus. He hasn’t come back yet.”

“Alright…” Sera said as she took a deep breath. “Could you please tell him to call me when he gets home.”

“Okay…”

“Thank you. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Sera rubbed the front of her head. The inconsistency of Irena’s file and Tom forgetting the rules again was starting to make Sera’s head throb a little. She knew that solving the former issue would take time, but at least she had the means to resolve the latter one. Sera opened a webpage on the computer. After signing in she was met with image of the globe. It took few seconds before the image started zooming in. Sera watched as it eventually focused on the town of Lazuna. A second later a green dot appeared on the screen. “What…?” Sera muttered as she suddenly felt her fur standing on end. “How can he be in that part of town…?” When she realized the position wasn’t updating, and hadn’t done so for a few minutes, Sera’s heart rate skyrocketed as she leapt out of her chair, phone in paw as she sped towards the door, dialing Todd’s number.

---

Tom’s eyes stared lazily in front of him as the world around him vibrated and bounced with the van. Lying opposite of him was Irena, her eyes barely staying open, and her muzzle still stuffed with a cloth. She didn’t seem capable of moving either apart from slight twitching of her paw digits. Tom’s eyes then focused to a figure standing over them. The Hund was covered with golden brown fur aside from his black arms and back. Tom knew it wasn’t the same Hund that had attacked Irena, the other one was tall, his body covered with rust-colored fur with black paws. Who are they, Tom wondered, and what did they want with him and Irena?

A beep echoed in the back of the van. The golden Hund kneeled next to Tom. Tom suddenly felt something cold and hard pressing against his left arm. The Hund slid the item up, the beeping it emitted slowly grew in frequency and volume. When it reached the crook of his neck the peeping became nonstop.

“It’s behind his clavicle” the golden Hund said loudly. “Want me to try and remove it?”

“No, no” the rust Hund at the wheel said back. “There’s no telling how deep it is. I’ll see about removing it when we get back. For now, just turn off your phone. Be sure to check if the girl has one on her as well…”

Tom watched as the golden Hund kneeled over Irena and started searching. A few seconds later he held Irena’s phone in his right paw. He walked towards the front of the van and nonchalantly tossed it out the window. The rust Hund watched from the corner of his eye as the phone cracked upon hitting the asphalt. It tumbled for a moment before it was crushed under the wheel of another vehicle. “Don’t forget to restrain them…” The rust Hund said as his eyes refocused on the road ahead of him.

Tom suddenly felt something being shoved into his mouth. He realized it must be cloth like what’s in Irena’s mouth. His arms were then pulled behind his back and tied together tightly. Afterwards he felt the same tightness around his ankles. He still couldn’t move to gauge how strong his bindings were, though he did feel control of his fingers coming back.

Tom watched as Irena received the same treatment. He could see pieces of white rope being held by the Hund before he proceeded to tie up Irena. Once done, the golden Hund walked towards the front of the van, out of Tom’s sight. Tom could only look at Irena’s eyes. Despite her eyes having difficulty staying open, Tom could see terror in them. Tom had no doubt that his eyes echoed the same feeling to Irena.

---

Ren’s ears twitched as a strong gust of wind blew past him. He watched as the edges of the notebook pages on his desk fluttered up and down. Ren set down his pencil and let out a soft sigh as he looked down at time on his phone. It had been nearly thirty minutes since his mom had called. Ren unlocked his phone and opened his texts. Despite the multiple messages he had sent Tom, he hadn’t received any replies. It appeared that Tom hadn’t even read his messages yet. Ren let out a soft groan as he stood up and stretched.

Ren stared out the window, towards the parts of the beach he could see. He wondered if Tom was still down there with Irena, having lost track of time. Ren contemplated the thought for a moment before he let out another groan. He turned around and left his room; if Tom wasn’t going to pay attention to his phone, then he might as well go to him directly.

As Ren paced himself down the hill, he was filled with both determination and anxiety. He could see many of the neighborhood children were playing with each other in the street. Ren’s anxiety started to grow. Though none of the children were white-collars, he didn’t want to risk getting into a potentially familiar scenario as when he’s alone with Luna.

“Hey!” a young voice shouted. Ren’s ears straightened up in alert. He started picking up the pace. “Wait!” the voice shouted. Ren closed his eyes as his body started slowing down by itself until it came to a full stop. Ren could hear someone running towards him. He turned around and was met sight of a young blue-collar. “Do you live with the human?”

“You mean Tom? Yes…”

The young Hund smiled. “I’m turning nine tomorrow!” he said with pride. “Can you please tell him he’s invited to my birthday party?”

“Yeah… I’ll tell him” Ren said. “Why not ask him yourself?”

The kid’s ears went limp. “My dad won’t let me approach your house.”

“Oh…” Ren said softly, unsure how to respond to that.

“I was hoping to invite him as he was walking by, but I think I missed him”

“Oh… he’s on the beach with a friend of his.”

The young Hund gave Ren a confused look. “I didn’t see him on the beach.”

Ren’s ears went straight up in surprise. “He wasn’t…?” Ren said as he turned around to face the bay. “I need to go…” Ren said as he quickly dashed off at full speed.

“Don’t forget to tell him!” the kid shouted as he watched Ren run away.

Ren’s ears twitched slightly. “I won’t…”

It took only a few minutes for Ren to reach the three-way intersection at the edge of the beach. Ren panted as he scoped the beach. He couldn’t see anyone. He took a hard swallow and crossed the road. He didn’t even react when the dirt turned into sand. He looked in every direction he could, trying to find any semblance of a figure that might be Tom. He still couldn’t see anyone on the sand, or in the water.

Ren’s ears went up in alert when he noticed something black on the sand halfway to the surf. He rushed over and quickly realized it was Tom’s backpack, not far from it was a second backpack, no doubt belonging to Irena. “Where…?” Ren quickly started looking around again. If their stuff was here, then the two of them shouldn’t be too far. A bright light caught Ren’s attention. Not too far away he could see the sun reflecting off something. He went to investigate. Ren found it was Tom’s cellphone. Ren’s confusion grew as he again looked around. “Tom!” Ren shouted, trying to get some kind of response. He looked down at his brother’s phone and saw there were seven missed calls and five unread messages. “Tom!” Ren shouted again; his confusion was starting to turn into panic. He looked towards the water. What if Tom went swimming and something happened?

Ren quickly pulled out his phone and called his dad. As the ringing echoes in his right ear, Ren continued looking around, hoping that Tom would show up. After nearly thirty seconds of ringing, his dad finally picked up.

“Ren…” Todd said. “Now isn’t a good time to talk…”

“Dad, I think something happened to Tom!”

There was a pause. “What do you mean?” Todd asked calmly.

“I’m at the beach right now” Ren gazed at the phone in his left paw. “I found Tom’s phone and bag in the sand, but I can’t find him!”

“Ren… just…” Ren could hear his father cursing something under his breath. “Wait for me there, I’m heading over right now.”

“Alright…” Ren said before the call ended. He slowly sank down until he was sitting on the ground, his mind was filled with non-stop thoughts about what was happening. Ren absentmindedly let out a chuckle as the thought of this being just a prank of Tom’s briefly crossed his mind.

Eleven minutes passed before Todd drove onto the edge of the beach. As he was stepping out the car, Ren stood up and grabbed the two bags out of the sand and sprinted towards his father. When the two of them were an arm’s length away from one another, Todd grabbed the bags from Ren’s paws and quickly paced back towards the car, leaving Ren standing there in confusion.

“W-wait...” Ren said as he quickly followed. “Aren’t we going to try to find Tom?”

Todd remained silent and only took a deep inhale as he tossed the bags into the back seats. “I’m taking you to your grandmother’s house. Luna’s already there.” Todd closed the back door. “Let’s go…” he said as reentered the driver-side door.

Ren looked back along the beach, scanning it once more, hoping he could spot someone. “Get in the car, Ren.” Todd’s voice echoed in Ren’s mind as his ears straightened at attention. His body started moving before he had even turned his head to see where he needed to go. His eyes stared through the windshield towards his father’s serious expression. He couldn’t recall the last time his father had deliberately ordered him to do something, and with such seriousness. It only made the fear welling up in him grow.

No sooner had Ren sat down and closed the door did Todd start driving the car off the beach. “Dad…” Ren said weakly as he glanced over at his father. “Dad…” Ren said a bit louder, his voice cracking a bit. A quick side glance from Todd was all Ren needed to know that his father could hear him. “Do… do you know where Tom is?”

Todd’s eyes narrowed at the question. “No…”

Ren’s body started to shake slightly. “Then why aren’t we looking for him?”

“We are, Ren…” Todd said he slowed the car down for a red light. “No, we’re not!” Ren shouted, surprising Todd. “You’re taking me to grandma’s house when we could be looking around town for Tom!”

“Ren…” Todd cursed under his breath before taking a heavy swallow. “Trust me, I know exactly how you feel” he said as he turned to face Ren. “But there’s nothing you nor I can do in this situation…” When Todd noticed the light had turn green, he turned his head straight again, but didn’t step down on the gas. “Only the police are going to be able to find Tom now…” Todd’s grip on the steering tightened out of frustration.

Ren’s breathing started to quicken as he began to feel even more hopeless. “Do they even know what happened to Tom?”

Todd remained silent, only watching the traffic light once again turning red. “Ren…” Todd said weakly as he struggled to bring himself to say the words. “Tom’s been kidnapped.”

For Ren, it finally hit him. All the distressing possibilities that had been running though his head up until that point finally cleared, and with it left one certain truth. The thought of Tom being kidnapped was one thing, knowing it to be true was different. It was so much worse. Ren’s muzzle opened as if he wanted to say something, but no words came from his mouth, only the echoes of his breathing becoming faster and shallower. His heart rate increased further as the shaking in his body became more prominent. Ren brought his arms across his chest and clutched them as he tried to steady himself.

Todd’s ears flattened seeing Ren like this. He reached out with his right paw and gently patted Ren’s left shoulder. “The police will find him, Ren…”

Despite his father’s words of assurance, Ren couldn’t calm down. Two scenarios were playing in his mind. The first being the police wouldn’t be able to find Tom. The second was that they would find him, but dead. With both scenarios, Ren realized he wouldn’t see Tom again. Tears began to form in his eyes. Ren clutched his arms tighter, letting out a strained wail as he leaned forward.

Todd continued to try to calm Ren down by rubbing his back now, but he could see it wasn’t having any effect in easing the situation. He cursed to himself. The entire situation with Tom made him want to just scream out his frustrations but doing so now would just make it worse for Ren. He realized he needed to drop Ren off with his grandmother as soon as possible so he could get back to Sera and the search.

Ren’s mind felt heavy from the stress. His body was beginning to feel numb. Though, there was also a peculiar sensation. Ren’s eyes shot open and narrowed. The grip on his arms were released as Ren let out a gasp. “Dad…” Ren said weakly as his right paw slid up his arm and onto his chest. “It hurts…” Ren was having difficulty breathing.

Todd’s ears shot up as he watched Ren place his left paw over his right. “Ren!” Todd said as he leaned over. He pulled Ren so he sat straight up, eliciting a pained gasp from Ren. Todd watched as Ren stared blankly, but intently at the roof of the car. Ren’s paws tightened their grip on his chest. His breathing whistled in and out of his clenched teeth.

Todd immediately stepped on the gas, not even paying attention to whether the light was green or not. The hospital was now their immediate destination. Todd knew it had to be Ren’s heart condition causing this. He had believed the dangers were behind them now, but it decided to act up at the worst possible moment.

Todd’s anxiety was growing by the second as he sped down the streets. Why was everything going wrong all at once? Todd gripped the steering wheel tighter than before as he gritted his teeth. He had been able to contain it earlier, but the stress had finally gotten to him as he screamed “Damn it!”

---

Tom and Irena were finally regaining control over their bodies. They continued to struggle in an attempt to loosen their bindings. Irena wasn’t strong enough to stress the rope, and Tom’s efforts were less effective than hers. Irena knew if it weren’t for the gag and her arms being tied behind her, she could have torn through the rope with her teeth.

The van slowly came to a stop. Tom and Irena figured they must be at a stop sign or a traffic light, but when they suddenly felt the van driving in reverse, they looked at each other with renewed fear. They watched as the golden Hund in the back with them started standing up. Moments later, the van came to a complete stop, and the engine shut off. A mechanical sound started to echo. Both kids recognized it as the sound of a garage door closing. Slowly the inside of the van became dimmer as they were slowly shut off from the outside. With a final clank everything went silent. Unsure of what was going to happen now, the two kept their eyes on each other.

They heard a door open, then slam shut a few seconds later, making the van shake slightly. Moments later the back doors of the van opened. Standing there was the rust Hund. He stepped into the back with them. “I’ll grab the human” he said as he stepped over Tom. As Tom was lifted off the ground, he let out muffled protests and began thrashing his body. The rust Hund chuckled at Tom’s feeble attempts to overpower him as he draped the boy over his right shoulder. The golden Hund followed suit and grabbed Irena from the floor. Irena didn’t struggle, knowing it wouldn’t do any good against the adult.

The two were carried through a door connecting the garage to the interior of a house. The interior of the house was dark; neither of the two kidnappers turned on any of the overhead lights. It was only the dim glow of the setting sun seeping through the closed window blinds that allowed them to be able to see anything. There wasn’t much to see, however. Tom and Irena noticed they couldn’t see a single piece of furniture.

The rust Hund opened another door. With a click there was suddenly light beaming out from ahead of them. As they continued to move forward Tom suddenly felt himself bouncing slightly up and down on the Hund’s shoulder. He looked up and realized that they were heading down a flight of stairs. He watched as the golden Hund passed through the doorway, closed the door, and continued to follow. Tom’s struggles slowly turned into shivering as they were carried further and further down.

The Hund carrying Tom stoped. Another click echoed and more lights turned on. The rust Hund turned right, giving Tom the chance to see where they were now. The large room was practically empty from what he could see. The walls were made of concrete and there wasn’t a window in sight. He suddenly saw the golden Hund exit from the stairway and continued to walk straight with Irena over his shoulder. When Irena’s gaze turned towards Tom, her eyes widened seeing what Tom could not.

Tom suddenly felt himself being lifted and turned around so that he was now looking up at the ceiling. His body felt an immediate shiver as his back and arms came into contact with something cold and metallic. “Don’t struggle now…” a stern voice said over him as Tom found himself being rolled onto his right side. The rust Hund started untying the ropes binding Tom’s arms behind his back. The moment Tom felt he could shift his arms he started pulling his left arm away from the Hund. Tom eyes widened and let out a muffled gasp as he suddenly felt a tight, slightly painful grip enveloping his left wrist. “I said not to struggle…” the rust Hund said calmly as he finished untangling the rope from Tom’s right arm and let it drop onto the table. He looked down at the side of Tom’s head. “Are you going to keep struggling?” the Hund asked with a slight tightening of his grip. Tom let out a muffled groan of pain as he quickly shook his head from side to side.

Irena was placed down onto a metal foldout chair at the edge of the room. The golden Hund stood over her right side, his left paw resting on the top back of the chair, making sure she didn’t try anything. She could only watch at what was happening before her eyes. The rust Hund had rolled Tom onto his back and began securing his arms to a metal table. Tom just remained motionless, paralyzed by fear. In the background were various medical equipment, some of which Irena recognized from her books and her visits to the hospital. Why was all this equipment here? She let out a muffled whimper, pondering the more important question-what was the equipment being used for?

“There now…” the rust Hund said softly as he finished securing Tom’s legs to the table. “Just about ready…” the Hund said as he looked at Tom’s face noticed he was staring up blankly. The Hund walked up to Tom’s side and snapped twice within Tom’s peripheral vision. Tom flinched and his attention was drawn to the Hund standing over him. “Tell you what… I’ll remove the gag from your mouth, but you better not to start screaming or shouting.” The Hund shrugged his shoulders. “I mean… you could, but it wouldn’t do you any good; no one would be able to hear you outside this house. It would just be annoying to hear it echoing off these walls. Would just shove it back in your mouth at that point…”

Tom wasn’t given any time to acknowledge what the rust Hund had said before the cloth in his mouth was yanked out, eliciting a gasp from Tom as he was now able to breath fully through his mouth again. “Why?” Tom asks weakly. “Why are you doing this?” He glanced at the blue collars being worn by both adults. “What did I do to you?” Tom asked as tears started to form in his panic.

The rust Hund chuckled as he walked away and started grabbing some equipment. “I think you have the wrong impression, kid…” he said as he started transferring some items to a nearby table. “I have nothing against you nor humans in general. In fact…” the rust Hund gave Tom a smile. “I find it quite nostalgic being able to speak to a human again. It’s a nice feeling.”

Tom swallowed. “Then why?” his voiced breaking.

“You don’t seem to realize quite how valuable you are. Well, not you specifically as an individual, but as a healthy human.”

Irena’s eyes widened in horror. It suddenly became clear to her what was going on. She tried lunging forward from the chair to get to her feet, but she suddenly felt the grip of the golden Hund’s paw on her shoulder, keeping her grounded in the chair. She continued to struggle, trying to escape his grip which was getting ever tighter.

“What?” Tom asked. “I don’t understand.”

“Well kid…” the rust Hund said as he ruffled Tom hair. “The best use for humans nowadays is to be medical surrogates; to act as a collection of spare parts for those who need them.”

Tom shook his head in disbelief. “Who would need to something from humans so badly to warrant this!?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised how desperate black-collars can get when a prized commodity is in short supply… it used to be that black-collars had no trouble getting the medical resources they needed since the Human to black-collar ratio was so high. Demand hasn’t changed, but that ratio has drastically been reduced, and is getting smaller every year… and with it…” the rust Hund tapped on Tom’s chest. “Everything in here rises in value.” Tom held his breath. “Would say everything in here would be worth something in the seven digits.” The rust Hund chuckled as he walked away from Tom. “Even just some of your blood can be worth thousands. Not quite the figures of your organs, but blood is often the most sought-after material…” he rolled over a large machine. He placed a band around Tom’s arm and tightened it. He then picked up a tube connected to the machine that led to a needle at the other end. “Let’s start with a unit of blood…”

Irena watched as Tom started to struggle in his bindings, screaming for the rust Hund to stop. The rust Hund immediately stuffed the cloth back into Tom’s mouth, his screams now muffled, but still loud enough to reach Irena’s ears. Tears started to form in her eyes as she watched the rust Hund hold down Tom’s left arm and bring the needle down. Though Tom’s body obscured her view of his arm, Irena couldn’t help herself from looking away and closing her eyes. Though she couldn’t see the needle being inserted, a muffled scream, louder than those before echoed off the walls.

---

Sera’s eyes jumped from monitor to monitor as she watched everything from the back of the police operations center, trying to spot any major update. The room was chaotic; multiple police officers and investigators were on their phones, each of them speaking loudly over one another. On the front wall were two large monitors. On the left monitor, various video segments taken from street cameras were playing. On the right monitor, a map showing the last registered locations of Tom’s tracker; there had been no additional updates.

Sera’s body twitched when she felt her phone vibrating. She glanced at the id briefly before answering. “Dear, where are you?” Sera asked as she turned around, attempting to shield her phone from the commotion of the room. “Have you dropped off Ren yet?”

“I’m with him at the hospital” Todd said on the other side.

“What!?” Sera said in hushed surprise. “What happened!?”

“He… started having chest pain not long after I told him what happened to Tom.”

“Why would you tell him!?” Sera asked, panic in her voice.

“Because he already knew something had happened!” Todd replied. “I couldn’t just tell him everything was fine. He deserved to know the truth.”

Sera nodded. “You’re right…” she took a deep inhale. “How bad is it?”

“Not sure yet… The doctors sedated him not long after we arrived. He’s currently in observation while he awaits testing. Doesn’t appear he’s in any danger at the moment.”

“That’s good…” Sera said with a sigh.

“Any update on your end?” Todd asked.

“No…” Sera replied, closing her eyes. “I keep requesting to be kept in the loop, but that decision falls on the one leading the investigation.”

“The one who isn’t even there?”

“Yes”

“Keep at it then” Todd said with a sigh. “I’m going to stay here until I know Ren is fine.”

“Alright…” Sera said as she opened her eyes. “I’ll call with any updates.”

“Same…” Todd said. “Love you.”

“Love you” Sera replied before ending the call, letting out a deep sigh as she rested her head in her left paw. She could feel a slight migraine forming.

“Councilor Renoir…?” a deep voice said behind Sera.

“Yes!?” Sera said as she quickly turned around to face a blue-collar officer.

“Come with me, please.” Sera followed him into what appeared to be a conference room. A large circular table surrounded by office chairs. The officer motioned for Sera to take a seat.

“I’d rather stand” Sera said as she approached the table and placed her right paw on top.

“It would be best if you sit” a feminine voice echoed in the room. Sera’s ears stood up as her attention was brought to the speakers on the wall on either side of two monitors, both mimicking those in the operations room. A camera was mounted above them, a blue light shining from its base. “A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Renoir.”

Sera slowly pulled back a chair from the table. “Pleasure…” she said as she began to sit down. “Are you the one in charge of finding my son?”

“I am. I’m also the one who’s been told repeatedly that a certain concerned mother keeps asking for updates.”

Sera’s gaze narrowed from the tone. “I hope being concerned about my son isn’t an annoyance…”

“Not at all, but something as time-sensitive as this doesn’t give me much room to freely talk. I have perhaps 10 minutes before I must get back to managing the situation.”

“Are you close to figuring out where Tom might be?” Sera asked.

“Afraid not at this moment” the voice replied, causing Sera stomach to sink. “Whoever kidnapped your son knows he has a chip and has taken measures to prevent it from using a phone to send out a signal. Based on the pings prior to going silent, we suspect they headed east from Lazuna. They’ll be taking him to their safehouse in order to… well, I won’t go into the graphic details.”

Sera swallowed hard as she brought her right paw in front of her muzzle as she felt a slight wretch in her gut. She had seen enough late-night news reports over the years to imagine the horror.

“These sickos are most likely not locals of the area” the voice continued. “We are currently checking for any recent, short-term house rentals within a certain range of Lazuna; approximately an hour in all directions, just to be sure.”

Sera’s ears twitched. “Why such a specific time?”

“Kidnappers like this try to maintain a reasonable distance from their target so that they are close enough to perform reconnaissance, take action, and return quickly to harvest.”

Sera shot up. “It’s been over an hour since Tom went missing! He could very well already…” Sera’s eyes narrowed, her legs became weak suddenly and she collapsed back into the chair, her gaze becoming despondent.

“This is why I said you should sit, Mrs. Renoir” the voice said with a hint of annoyance. “Based on previous cases, it’s actually rare that those who kidnap humans immediately harvest them. The most common scenario is that they keep the human alive for a few days or weeks in order to extract a decent amount of blood from them. It’s only when they feel that the effort isn’t worth it do they start with the organ harvesting.”

“Weeks?” Sera said under her breath. She couldn’t bear to imagine the torture Tom would be going through in that time. How would she or Todd be able to sleep at night not knowing his fate. How would they break the news to Luna, to Ren, or to the Chiennas? Sera’s focus came back as she looked at the camera. “What about Tom’s friend, Irena? She was taken within him. What’s going to happen to her?”

There was silence on the other end. “To be honest… I’ve never encountered a situation where a Hund was kidnapped alongside a Human. Her fate falls upon how magnanimous the kidnapper chooses to be” a hint of sarcasm was in her voice. “To be blunt, though, I put her survival odds lower than Tom’s at this point. If she hasn’t already been killed for being a witness, she certainly will dead in a few days; they won’t waste resources on her.”

“Damn it…” Sera said rubbing her head which was starting to throb.

“Do her parents know?” the voice asked.

“They’re in an operation right now…” Sera said weakly.

“Well, I’ll let you bring them up to speed. I need to get back to leading the search.”

“Wait!” Sera yelped out. She took a deep swallow. “You’ve led many of these investigations before, right? What are the odds you’ll bring Tom home safely?”

The voice sighed. “Do you ever recall seeing on the news a kidnapped human child found safe?” Sera held her breath. “I’ve led twenty of these investigations. I’ve found twenty bodies.” Sera’s eyes started to water. “We’ll do our best, but the one thing I can promise you is closure. Goodbye.”

As the blue light beneath the camera flickered off, Sera sat there with a blank stare. Her mind struggled to process those last words and struggled harder to refuse them. She didn’t want to believe that she was essentially told Tom’s odds of returning safely were practically zero. “Damn it…” Sera said weakly as she leaned back in the chair. She closed her eyes as she tried to keep it together. She tried thinking of anything she could do to help, but there was nothing. The only thing that could have helped, the chip she had inserted in Tom months ago, was useless now. What had been the point? Sera let out a constrained howl as she covered her eyes with her left paw as tears started to flow. She felt powerless.

---

Tom let out a weak, muffled cry. For ten minutes the needle in his left arm had caused him discomfort. After the initial insertion, Tom started to freak out when he saw his blood start flowing out through the plastic tubing. The rust Hund did nothing to stop Tom as he suddenly started thrashing about, trying in vain to free his limbs from their bindings. Eventually though, the struggling stopped. Tom found himself short on breath as he rolled his head to its right side. He could only peer through teary eyes in Irena’s direction.

Irena could only stare back in pain as her eyes had been shifting between Tom’s pained expression to the collection bag that slowly filled up and expanded with his blood. Next to it was the rust Hund just watching it fill, almost with a look of intrigue.

“This one’s done…” the rust Hund said as he pressed a button on the machine. The blood flow through the tubes stopped. He then disconnected the tube to the collection bag from the machine. He held the blood bag in front of face, examining it. He let out a curious echo from his throat. He reached up and turned on a set of light directly over Tom. Tom winced from the sudden intense light shining down on him, closing his left eye. “Didn’t expect this…” the rust Hund said as he continued to examine the blood bag. “Unusual for a human your age…”

Tom turned his head. The bag hovering over him created a small area of shade from the blinding light. The light shone scarlet through the bag, allowing Tom to see through the dense blood. He could see the contents shifting with the slight movements of the rust Hund, dark swirls shifting about, almost black in color. Tom’s eyes started to widen.

The rust Hund then tilted the bag vertically. Slowly, the black swirls sank to the bottom. “Looks like about fifteen percent of your blood has been affected…” The rust Hund let out a disappointed sigh as he turned around, opened a fridge and gently placed the blood bag inside. Irena noticed the expression on the rust Hund was slowly becoming more serious, causing her heartrate to increase. The rust Hund looked at Irena, and then at the golden Hund. “Take her into the room.”

“Sure” the golden Hund responded as he reached down and grabbed ahold of Irena’s right arm. Irena let out muffled groans as she was suddenly pulled off the chair. Tom turned his head and started struggling as he watched Irena being picked up.

“Oh, don’t worry” the rust Hund said as he grabbed an empty collection bag. “We’re not going to kill her.” Tom’s body relaxed. “It’s just a bit of unfortunate luck she had to be dragged into this…” As the rust Hund attached the bag to the machine he looked over at the golden Hund. “Feel free to keep her company. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for harvesting.”

“Will do” the golden Hund said as he passed through a doorway. Irena looked back, trying to scream before the door was shut in her face.

“We’ll see if her luck helps save her…” the rust Hund said as he finished attaching the bag. “My associate and I will be leaving once I finish extracting everything of value from your body.” Tom’s body started to shake in fear. “In three days, the police will receive an anonymous tip that she and you are in this house. Whether they find her alive or dead with you doesn’t matter. We’ll be long gone.”

Tom’s wails were muffled as he weakly started struggling again. “Oh, don’t worry, you won’t feel any pain” the rust Hund said with an almost comforting smile. “You’ll eventually pass out as I extract more blood from you. It’ll be like slowly falling asleep…” With a press of a button the flow of blood continued.

---

Irena once again found herself lying on the ground. This room was also devoid of any furniture. The golden Hund was sitting on the floor in front of her, his back against the wall next to the door. His eyes stared at her intently as he stretched his back. Irena closed her eyes to avoid his.

Irena had no doubt that other Hund was going to keep extracting Tom’s blood. She did the math in her head. She approximated there were about twelve bags worth of blood in Tom’s body. If death occurs from losing 40% of your blood, and it takes about ten minutes to fill one bag… Irena’s eyes shot open when she realized Tom would die of exsanguination after the fifth bag, or in about forty minutes. Her eyes started tearing up again as she tried struggling once more.

“If I were you, I’d conserve as much water as possible” the golden Hund said as he watched Irena’s struggles. His words seemed to have the opposite effect as the flow of tears increased along with her desperation. The golden Hund shrugged his shoulders.

Irena’s wrists started to feel sore as they strained against the rope. Irena ignored the pain as she kept trying to free at least one of her paws. She groaned as she tried spreading her wrists apart as wide as she could. For a few seconds she could feel the gap between her wrists slowly widening. Her body was starting to tense, her breathing nearly came to a stop. Suddenly, though, her muscles gave in, and her wrists crashed back together, eliciting a muffled moan of pain.

The golden Hund chuckled. “Those ropes are tough enough to keep someone like me bound. You really think a kid like you is going to get out of it?” he shook his head.

His words hit Irena hard. What chance did she really have? In the state she was in, she had none. Her body went still as she closed her eyes, a steady stream of tears rolling down her face. She resigned herself to her fate but couldn’t stop crying knowing that Tom was dying just beyond that door. She started to wonder if all of this had possibly been her fault. Perhaps if Tom had never met her, he wouldn’t be in this situation. The word sorry echoed in her mind. Sorry if she caused this. Sorry that she couldn’t save him.

Nearly thirty minutes passed. Irena remained motionless, crying, but no more tears flowed out. Her nose had started to stuff up, causing her breathing to become strained. The golden Hund had noticed her lack of tears and strained breathing. He sighed. “Looks like you’ve gone and dehydrated yourself a bit...” Irena didn’t respond, just kept up her strained nasal breathing.

The golden Hund contemplated the situation for a moment. “How about this…” he leaned forward. “If you promise not to cause a fuss, I’ll remove the gag from your mouth, let you breathe easier.”

Irena eyes opened, revealing their redness.

“Will even consider getting you some water later” the golden Hund continued. That sound good to you?”

Irena stared blankly at the Hund for a moment before slowly nodding her head. The golden Hund reached over, grabbed ahold of the cloth in Irena’s mouth and pulled it out, causing her to gasp. “No fuss now” he said as he dropped the gag on the ground.

Irena took some deep breaths through her mouth. She swallowed hard, feeling it moisten her dry throat. She let out a deep exhale as her anxiety grew. She gazed into the golden Hund’s eyes. “Untie me” she said.

The golden Hund’s body twitched, his eyes narrowed in shock and surprise. His muzzle was starting to gape.

“Stay silent and untie me” Irena said with more urgency.

The golden Hund’s eyes widened as he found himself kneeling beside Irena and undoing the ropes on her wrists and then her ankles. Once free Irena got on her knees. “Lie down on your stomach…” The golden Hund let out a strained groan as he slowly planted himself on the ground. “Put your hands behind your back” Irena said quickly as she grabbed the rope. She started to bind his wrists tightly before moving to his legs. Once done she backed away. She could see the glare on his face, his eyes staring at her with intensity. “Open your mouth” Irena said as she grabbed the gag. The moment there was a gap she jammed the cloth in.

Irena reached into his collar, moving it around the edges until she felt something. She grabbed and pulled out his cellphone. “Ok, ok…” Irena mumbled as she held the power button, her paws trembling. She let out a relieved chuckle as it turned on. She swallowed hard again as she turned to face the door.

Tom could no longer find the strength to move. His body shivered in a cold sweat as his heart was beating faster than it ever had. His breathing was rapid, though strained through his nose. His mind had slowly descended into a cloudy haze, his vision blurred so much he could no longer see any details in the Hund looking over him except for color of his rust fur and blue collar.

The rust Hund stood over Tom, examining him. He could tell Tom’s body was close to shutting down. “It’s almost over, kid…” the Hund said as he slowly pulled the cloth out of Tom’s mouth. A soft gasp escaped Tom’s lips as his lungs shifted to utilizing his mouth for increased airflow. He glanced over at the blood bag filling up slower than the previous four due to the decreased blood pressure in Tom’s body. It was now about halfway to being done. “Try to hold out for a sixth, if you can…” the Hund said with a smile.

The door on the other side of the room flew open, catching the rust Hund’s attention. His ears straightened, staring in confusion from seeing Irena coming out of the room. “What the…?”

“Turn it off!” Irena shouted in a panic as she dashed towards Tom. She could easily how bad Tom’s condition was. The rust Hund’s body stiffened. “Turn it off now!” Irena shouted at the top of her voice at the adult. He quickly pressed a button to stop the extraction.

“Tom…” Irena said as she placed the phone beside Tom’s head. She placed her paws on either side of Tom’s head and watched as his eyes wandered through partially opened eyes. “C’mon, Tom, you have to stay awake!” For a moment Tom’s gaze focused on her. An incomprehensible echo escaped his throat as his eyes started closing further. “Stay awake Tom!” Irena said in a panic as she looked back at the rust Hund. “Untie his legs!” she shouted as she started untying Tom’s arms. “Come on Tom…” Irena whined.

---

“No… I haven’t heard anything from her since then…” Sera said into her phone over speaker.

“Damn it…” Todd’s voiced echoed from the phone. There was then an extended silence. “What about the Chiennas… have you been able to get in contact with them?”

Sera closed her eyes. “Still can’t get in contact with them; they’re performing a surgery.”

“What? The hospital won’t pass on the message on to them? I’ll find where they are and tell them myself.”

“Don’t do that…” Sera said with a groan. “When I called, I said to have them contact me as soon as they were finished; I didn’t mention what happened to Irena.”

“Dear… they deserve to know.”

Sera rested her head in her paws. “I know, I know… but…” Sera let out a strained sigh. “I just want to hold off as long as possible for any good news.”

“Alright… If you want I can wait outside surgery and tell them instead if you’re worried about breaking the news.”

“No… I’ll do it…” Sera rubbed some tears from her eyes. “Wish you were here to make it easier, though. Not telling them, just… everything.”

“Ren is still in observation. Just say the word and I’ll come back; I don’t mind going back and forth.”

The offer brought a small smile to Sera’s muzzle. Before she could answer, her ears flickered.

“What’s that beeping?” Todd asked.

Sera could hear the beeping as well. In addition, the commotion outside went silent. Her eyes looked up at the source of the beeping. There on the monitor with the map, the map zoomed out revealing a blinking green dot, far from the solid green ones from hours prior. Sera suddenly felt all the fur on her body standing on end. “There he is…”

“What was that?” Todd asked.

“I think they know where Tom is” Sera said as she grabbed the phone and jumped out of her seat.

Todd let out a relived laugh on the other end. “Let me know what happens.”

“Will do” Sera said as she rushed out of the conference room.

“Attention!” Sera’s ears flickered when a voice echoed throughout the operations room. It was the investigation lead. “I’ve contacted the local police dispatch near that beacon. They are going to be dispatching tier one officers to that address, tier two to surround the area, and will have an ambulance on standby. If anyone wishes to assist them, please leave immediately.” There was a slight pause. “And if anyone is able, please take Mrs. Renoir with you. She looks ready to leave and I’d rather her not cause any incidents on the way. Go.”

Sera noticed a blue light dim over the large monitors and was met with the sound of renewed commotion as many shifted their focus. “Councilor Renoir…” a familiar voice said behind her. She turned and noticed it was the one from earlier that led her to the conference room. “I can get you there in about twenty minutes with sirens on.”

“Yes, please” Sera said, her voice shaking as she quickly followed him to his squad car.

---

“Put his blood back in!” Irena ordered urgently as she continued to keep Toma awake.

“Can’t” the rust Hund said as he crossed his arms, glaring at Irena. “Don’t have the necessary equipment.”

“Liar!” Irena growled. “He already has a needle in him, just attach a blood bag and use gravity.”

“No” the rust Hund said as he took a step forward.

Irena’s anger was starting to be replaced with panic. “Then call the police tell them to come here.”

“I’m not doing that either” the rust Hund said with a growl.

Irena’s eyes widened. She glanced to her side and noticed a scalpel set on a tray. She quickly grasped it her right paw and pointed it at the approaching Hund. “Stay back!” she shouted.

“Oh no…” he said, shaking his head mockingly. “You’ve had your fun, but your deception isn’t working anymore, you varzi bitch” he said with added venom.

Irena glared back as she tightened her grip on the scalpel. “Then come closer!” she shouted. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and sever one of your arteries; let you feel what he’s going through now!” Irena said as she motioned her head towards Tom. The rust Hund’s eyes followed the motion and his expression started to change. His rage turned to shock as he finally noticed the phone laying next to Tom’s head.

“Oh shit…” the rust Hund said under his breath. He quickly turned around and ran towards the door, leaving Irena standing there in confusion momentarily.

“Oh no…” Irena’s eyes widened in fear when she realized he was going to untie the other one. “Tom! We’ve got to get out of here!” she said in a panic as she pulled the needle out of his arm. She lifted his upper body off the table, draped his left arm around her neck and pulled him off the table. Irena grunted as Tom’s entire weight shifted onto her right shoulder as he was unable to support himself. “Come on…” Irena said as she started walking forward with Tom.

“Get me out of these!” a loud, enraged voice echoed off the walls of the basement started walking Tom up the stairs. Her heart started to beat faster, both from adrenaline and the fear that was producing it. Step-by-step she had to pull Tom up with her.

“We’re almost there Tom…” Irena said in a panic as they approached the top. “Just need to get outside…” She pushed through the door.

“Where the fuck is she!?” a voice boomed from down below.

Irena turned the corner. There, obscured by the darkness of the house was the front door straight ahead. “Almost there, Tom…” Irena said with a huff and she quickly pulled him towards the exit. Irena’s ears shot up when she started hearing a pounding echoing from the stairway behind them. It was getting louder. “Come on…” Irena said as she tried picking up the pace. She reached out with her free arm towards the door. Her eyes widened as she suddenly found herself grabbed from behind and thrown across the room, releasing her grip on Tom, who fell to the floor.

Irena grunted as she landed on her right shoulder and rolled a few times before coming to a stop on her stomach. Her mind was spinning as she tried pushing herself off the floor. A sudden sharp pain spread across her chest as a swift kick to her chest lifted her slightly off the ground and onto her back. The air had been knocked out of Irena’s lungs as she found herself suddenly gasping for air. Her eyes widened when a familiar set of eyes glared down at her.

The golden Hund quickly straddled his knees on either side of Irena, on her arms, and brought his paws to her neck. Irena let out a shriek as the golden Hund’s paws started tightening their grip.

“Try not to kill her” the rust Hund shouted from behind. “We may need her as a hostage.”

“Screw that!” the golden Hund shouted back, his grip tightening further. “This little bitch has ruined everything.”

“Fine! Just finish it quickly and grab the boy. We need to get out of here now!” he said as he rushed back downstairs.

The golden Hund leaned forward towards Irena. “I tried showing you a bit of sympathy… I’ll rectify that…”

Irena’s head was on fire. The only part of her body she could move were her legs, and they were flailing up and down as her body was in full panic mode.

On the other side of the room, Tom stared blankly at the dark room, unaware of what was going on. Slowly, his eyes closed fully.

Irena’s legs slowly went still. Everything was starting to go black for Irena, her brain was shutting down. The flashes of pain in her head were starting to become duller as she started drifting out of consciousness.

A loud bang suddenly rang out, catching the golden Hund off guard as he released his grip on Irena and turned around, causing her to gasp violently for air.

“Put your paws in the air! Get off the girl!” the golden Hund complied and slowly stood up. Irena rolled to her right side and gently brought her paws to her neck. She flinched in pain just from a gentle touch, letting out a strained groan. “Get on your knees! Put your hands behind your back!” The golden Hund groaned as he followed their orders.

Irena’s vision was slowly coming back to her. Flashes of red and blue light shone of the walls from where the front door had once been. The room was filled with White-Collar officers. One approached her and kneeled down next to her. “You alright, kid?” he asked as the golden Hund was led out of the house. Irena tried to say something, but suddenly found it very painful to speak. She could only let out a pained gasp as she covered her neck. “We’ll have the paramedics take a look at you. Sit tight.”

“Why don’t you take that damned varzi into custody while you’re at it” the rust Hund said as he was escorted out in cuffs by two officers.

“Shut up” the White-Collar officer shouted as he followed the rust Hund out the door, his gaze briefly shifted to Irena again as he exited.

As her vision was becoming clearer, Irena saw Tom lying on the ground across from her near the entrance, his eyes shut. She noticed a stream of blood sliding down his arm into a small pool on the floor. Irena let out a weak whine as she realized it had to have been from when she recklessly pulled the needle out in a panic. Irena tried to push herself up, but her head was throbbing, causing her to collapse back down.

A pair of paramedics rushed into the house and quickly kneeled over Tom. They turned him onto his back and started examining him. Irena could no longer see what was happening as one of them blocked her view.

As a second pair of paramedics entered and started examining Irena, she could only watch as the ones examining Tom were behaving in a more urgent manner as they realized the condition he was in. Irena crawled forward, surprising the paramedics examining her. “Bla…” Irena said hoarsely, and through pain. She pointed at the pool of blood near Tom. “Blaa…”

“Blood?” a paramedic next to Irena asked.

Irena quickly nodded her head. She then pointed at the floor. “Fri… frig”

“I think she’s saying fridge” the other paramedic said. Irena nodded her head again and continued pointing down.

“Officer!” a paramedic shouted. “Check if there’s a fridge with blood in it downstairs.”

“Yes ma’am” an officer said as he quickly rushed down.

Irena allowed herself to go limp. “He’ll be alright…” Irena thought as she was rolled onto her back by the paramedics. “Please let him be alright…”

---

Two parts down, one to go