If Dan had once been a pet, he was now an animal. Locked in a cage, the key strewn on the floor in front of him. A taunt. They called it obedience. They told him for a twenty-four hour period, he was not allowed to reach for the key on their orders. Each time he did, an hour was added onto the period. Each five hours added, a meal was taken away. At the end of the trial, he would be unlocked and the rest of the tests would be done. For now, Dan was locked in a cold metal cage in an open area with nothing but a rag to protect him from the biting wind. He was tempted to tell them that he had no fur to protect him but he was better than to think that telling them would change his situation but give him another strike.

He had already had four. He was such a stubborn boy.

They say he was underneath the enclosure but he couldn't understand. He felt as if he were outside. But, the darkness made it hard to see and the only thing to light his cell was a lamp to his right which had yet to be turned on.

Maybe it was a clue to sleep but in this state, Dan was too on edge to take up their suggestion. He wouldn't close his eyes. No, even in the darkness he would watch and wait for the next person. He would growl and scratch until they let him go. Or killed him.

He was stupid for even thinking that they would let him away.

Death was the answer. Death was freedom. Death would be his wings. Death would be the end of this. He wouldn't be the lone Neko stuck in a cage. He would be in the darkness of death or the brightness of heaven. He would take either of the two. Both seemed as good as each other at this point.

Dan, for all his promises, did fall asleep. He passed out just before sunrise and was woken by the loud rattling of his cage. 'Wake up!' The man barked, shaking harder. Dan startled, shuffling to the back of his cage, the cold metal burning his back. He watched as the man, whose dirty blonde hair and scraggly beard didn't hide his large head and disgustingly rotten teeth, sneered at him.

'I'm being paid to watch you whilst you're here, scum. Little extra cash in the pocket, ay? Did you know that even the park staff don't have time for creatures like you: disgusting little things.' The man taunted, taking a place on a plastic chair opposite the cage, just behind the key. Dan had no chance at reaching it now without his hand becoming the victim of a dirty man's boot.

So, Dan sat back, his teeth chattering as the harsh metal dug into his skin and the wind didn't subside. His rag was torn already, the flimsy material nothing more than the thickness of muslin cloth. At least, he thought to himself, it wasn't see-through.

The man continued to talk, filling the silence with booming echoes about his wife and kids back in England. He had moved here for the money. It seemed a lot of British had. And, after failing to find one, had resorted to the trafficking of Nekos.

Dan had experienced that first hand.

By the time his twenty-nine hours were up, the man didn't budge. Dan looked up with pleading eyes but he just sneered. 'What? Am I supposed to let you out or something?' Dan resisted a nod. The man knew exactly what he was supposed to do. He just didn't want to. He enjoyed Dan's suffering. He was a man with a rifle, his bullet buried in the side of the deer, enjoying the sight of blood staining the ground and a successful hunt.

They were interrupted by the loud footsteps of another person, this time a woman. She looked much tidier, although a bit run down and was clearly younger than the man. She must have been in her early-thirties, Dan thought, noticing the almost imperceptible wrinkles around her eyes and on her forehead and the ageing of her skin. Although the woman didn't smile, she seemed kinder. Or, at least, fairer.

'Nile, unlock him and take him to the next training room. There is no need for this delay.' She scowled, crossing her arms and glaring before strutting back up the stairs. But, even with the terse orders, Dan was not afraid. He felt only relief when the door of the cage swung open and he allowed himself to crawl out, animal or not.

The man hauled him up by his arm, avoiding the cloth that looked like it could rip at a touch, dragging him up the stairs, down a dimly lit, grey corridor and to a similar room to before.

The woman from before stood there, her scowl as perceptible as before as she shooed the man, Nile, from the room and took her stance in the centre, motioning for Dan to sit up. He did as he was told as sat on his knees, his back held straight but his head sunk low.

'I am your shifting trainer-'

'Shifting?' Dan blurted out, watching with terror as the woman approached him.

'Do not speak unless spoken to, got it?' She growled and Dan nodded, afraid of the punishment if he did not. It was hard to tell what was to come of him. He had the same rights as any animal in a zoo, meaning punishment was not allowed without reason and had to be minimal. It was only, really, allowed in training.

And, it seemed, that was just what Dan had been thrown into.

The woman took a step back and began to speak again. 'As I was saying, I will be your shifting trainer. We like all of our Nekos not only be able to change at will but at ours as well whether it be needed in an emergency or in your presentation.' She paused for only a second when Dan started shaking, his whimpering slightly muffled by his heavy breathing. 'Shift for me.' She ordered and Dan looked up frantically.

'I can't.' He whispered. It was true. His parents had never shown him how. They didn't know themselves. Phil couldn't show him, he didn't know. Nekos had as much culture in different societies as humans did and with that, the shifting rituals changed. In his clan, as his parents explained, about a hundred years before, they had decided to remain in human form. It let them keep their wits and their strength and whilst their cat forms were useful for agility and speed, it was not what was important.

'You're a Neko. Of course, you can shift.' The woman scowled, grabbing Dan by his chin and forcing his head upwards. 'You will shift for me, now.' She ordered, her voice demanding and strict.

Dan shook his head, sobs soon wracking his body. 'I can't.' He whispered. The woman slapped his cheek. 'I can't! I don't know how!' He shouted, begging for mercy. He would go to the exhibit! He would do as he was told! He would do everything and anything but he would not change.

He had heard stories of changing, how your mind became numb and your sense of self lost. Your goals and objectives are still there but motivations are nothing. In cat form, the mind has to shrink to less than half its size. They had to cut out what they needed. And, with each change, the mind lost part of itself. It would never regrow to what it was before.

Nekos did it for various reasons. To run away. To be free. To fulfil curiosity.

'Shift.' She spat and Dan broke. Nodding, he pulled away from her and shut his eyes thinking one and one thing only, he would do it for freedom. If this was what it meant to avoid pain he would do it. Maybe, if he changed enough time, he would lose his memory as the stories told. He would forget his pain, torture, past and present. He would be free. He would be able to fly.

He shut his eyes and chanted, feeling his body crack and burn. If practised from a young age, the process did not hurt, he knew that. He was learning too late. The transformation was brutal. His brain shrunk and with it, his head exploded into pain. With the shrinking of his body, came the endless burning of his muscles and snapping of his bones. Fur grew and skin snapped. And, he was a cat. Unaware of anything but the pain scorching his body and the thing his mind was being wired to do. Follow orders.

The woman looked down, smiling at her progress. The dark brown cat in front of her was beautiful. Perfectly groomed and tidy, the old owner had done well, she thought. Stroking it to confirm that it was doing what was right, she reached for a treat and popped one into her mouth. This one would be a good one, she could see it already.

It only took the breaking of an animal to make them perfect.

The cat's eyes suddenly open and watched the woman with curiosity. She gasped. She had never seen this before. This boy was really special. His cat eyes, unlike the rest of their Nekos, were not the same colour as when they were human.

The warm chocolate of the human boy's eyes had been replaced. In its place was a black as dark as the night sky. Within it was the glimmer of stars and the promises of galaxies. They were endless, eternal as if this boy had lived far longer than a mere twenty years.

They locked eyes and the woman smiled, 'you're going to be okay. With those eyes, I can promise you that.' Then, as if nothing had ever happened, she stood up and put her facade back into his place. To instruct discipline, you had to look the part. 'Shift.' She ordered, a command leaving no room for question. The cat did as told and after a single screech, the boy was back, his body collapsed on the floor like a doll tossed to the floor by a careless owner. The woman sighed. The more he shifted, the easier it would get. She didn't mind, after all. She was already looking forward to seeing those eyes again.

It took three days and hundreds of shifts before Dan was released. His trainer, whose name he had learnt was Ana- specifically one n, not two- had become kinder each day and somewhat to Dan's dismay, she looked at him as if he were a miracle. He hadn't the guts to ask but revelled in the fact that his punishments were minimal and the pain dulled.

Ana was the one to bring him to the enclosure, up a set of stairs from the training room where not only his transformations had taken place but also the follow-up training as well. They stopped by the enclosure door, a simple metal door, bland grey in colour, with a four digit lock system that would release the Nekos if needed. Dan stared at it. It was his only route to freedom. Funny, he thought. The few things stopping him from running was a four digit code. With enough diligence, he was sure he could find what it was. That was, until, she covered his eyes as she punched the code in and opened the door, ushering Dan inside.

Dan didn't have the chance to look around until she closed the door, uttering a short 'be good for me'. Dan stared at the door shocked, close to crying but he had spilt enough tears in the last few days. He needed to be calm, for his own sake and for the others that would be forced to listen to him.

He looked around and froze. In the cage were two lone Nekos on a blank, white floor surrounded by glass. Glass that revealed the eyes of the public. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. He was trapped with all to see.

He was a laughing stock.

He was a piece of art. An inanimate, non-sentient piece of art.

He was an...

animal.

word count: 2040

published: 10.08.17