My little friend, Merry, stood in front of me, tail stuck straight up in the air, eyes pinned on me, and teeth bared.

"Blue," Kimberley said. "Talk to me."

"I gotta go," I said, putting the phone down on the worktop behind me. I made sure not to hang up, just in case she could pinpoint my exact location.

"Shhhh," I said, holding my hands out to Merry. "There's a good girl." Merry growled. "Boy. Good boy." Merry growled again. "Whatever the hell you are. Good...thing. Shush now."

I made a move to my left which the wretched thing followed, lunging forwards at me and snapping its teeth. "Ok, ok. We can be friends, right?"

I bent down, thinking if we were on the same level, it might calm her or him down. However, the instant I started moving, it growled louder.

"So what you gonna do, huh? Just keep me pinned here all damn night?"

It wagged its tail from side to side and came towards me again, still growling. I loved animals but right now I wanted nothing more than to kick this thing out of my way and get out. Apparently though, Merry had other ideas.

The longer I stared at the dog, the louder it growled. I figured if I broke eye contact, it might think it had won and leave me alone. So I broke eye contact.

Merry barked. Continuously. A proper terrier bark—high pitched and as irritating as a nettle rash. In less than thirty seconds, all six of them were up, moving around, and heading down the stairs. Edith came down first, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Blue, what are you doing?" she asked, padding over to me in her flowery dressing gown.

"Just getting a drink," I said.

"But you're dressed."

"I fell asleep in my clothes."

Her eyes fell on the worktop behind me, spotting the phone. When she looked back at me, a hardened glare fell over her face like an iron curtain. "Barry!" she yelled. "It's time."

Panic swarmed me. Time? Time for what? Edith grabbed the phone and hung up on the operator. Then she grabbed my wrist and marched me outside. Merry escorted her, snapping at my ankles. With nothing to lose anymore, I took great pleasure in taking a swing or two at the damn creature. I missed, unfortunately, but it made me feel better for a split second.

Edith marched me back over to the shed I'd initially woken up. She unbolted the door and shoved me inside. "You ungrateful girl," she said. "We'd have accepted you into our family."

Barry appeared in the doorway, his bulging frame struggling to fit through the door. Carrying a roll of silver duct tape, he bound my ankles and wrists and then sealed my mouth shut too. He handed Edith the tape and reached behind his back.

My fear notched up a hundred levels. When he pulled a handgun out of the back of his trousers, I fell over and scrambled across the floor to the corner of the shed. A sinister smile spread over his lips. He raised his arm, gun in hand. Seconds later, everything went black.

***

A screaming horse woke me up. I opened my eyes, my head absolutely on fire and throbbing like anything. I lifted my hand to the source of the pain only to find I couldn't move my hand at all. I was back on the table, strapped down, duct tape over my mouth.

Every time I blinked, searing agony shot through my temple like an electrical bolt of molten lava. My shoulder ached and out of the corner of my eye, I could see red smears on the bandages.

Footsteps sounded around outside, more than one pair.

"Steady, easy!" shouted a man. "They're traumatised. Don't rush them."

I heard hooves clambering up something. A ramp, maybe? Had the police come at last? I lifted my head, ignoring the cries from my shoulder, and looked at what I thought was the door. Except it wasn't. It was a wall. A corrugated sheet of metal.

What? I thought I'd been put back in the shed? I glanced around at my new surroundings to see I'd been stuffed in what appeared to be a wall cavity. Daylight shone through the underneath of the curved sheeting, allowing me to make out what appeared to be boxes, cardboard boxes. Where the hell was I?

I tried rocking the table from side to side but it was heavy and stuck fast. I made as much muffled noise as I could until my throat felt raw.

"We've looked everywhere," a male voice said. "No sign of her. Maybe she managed to escape."

"No," replied a female. "She's here somewhere. Keep looking."

I made as much noise as my throat and duct tape would allow but it appeared to not work as the footsteps faded away.

Time ticked by. I didn't know if it was minutes or hours but however long it was felt like an eternity. I heard another ear-piercing scream, and I knew it was Blue. Various shouts sounded through the air along with the scuffle of boots and hooves.

"Watch out!" someone yelled, before a thud hit the ground.

Hooves clattered along the gravel, a persistent neigh accompanying them.

"Get him back!" someone else shouted.

"I need my gun!" someone else yelled.

I started to really panic then. Gun, what sort of gun? They couldn't shoot Blue, they just couldn't. If he died, a part of me would die with him.

The hooves came closer, getting louder. Then they stopped. I heard heavy breathing and snorting coming from my left-hand side. Then hooves pacing up and down. Was that Blue? Did he know where I was? I made as much noise as I could, in case he was on the other side of the wall by some sheer miracle.

"Easy now," said a male voice, soft and gentle. "No need to be scared. We just want to help you."

Blue snorted and I heard him stamp the ground with his hoof.

"Don't corner him," said someone. "If you corner him, he'll fight back."

I started crying then in my frustration to just be heard. Blue stomped the ground again with his hoof.

"Wait!" someone cried. "He's trying to tell us something."

Come on, for goodness sake.

"Look," said a woman. "There's straw piled up against the inside of the barn, but do you see any straw poking out from the outside wall? Is this hollow?" she said, smacking her hand against the metal wall. "That'll be a yes then."

I heard hands running across the sheeting and people calling my name. A couple of minutes passed by before someone shouted out, "I've got a door!"

Daylight poured in as the makeshift door was wrenched open. Within seconds, the entire area filled with people, people who just wanted to help me and get me to safety. I realised then that actually, my species did have redeeming qualities. I'd shown Blue that people could be trusted and in some bizarre return of the favour, he'd allowed me to see the exact same thing.