Jack stopped struggling at the loud 'bang' of a gunshot.  Watching Rodger leaned back inside the van with a broad smile.  As Rodger closed the door, Jack screamed out Mark's name!  Fueled by adrenaline, Jack shifted enough under Clifford to punch him so hard it knocked him away.  Scrambling to his feet, the van went over a speed bump or curve... bouncing him down to his hands and knees.  Hearing the sudden 'click', Jack looked up into the muzzle of a gun.  Rodger stood firmly against the door, his expression smug as he stated.  "You wouldn't want me to have to put you down like your master, would you"?  Jack stared Rodger down with defiant eyes.  If he had killed Mark... than why not take out his killer?  Jack was just about to lunge for Rodger when a man yelled out from the front passenger seat.  "RODGER! YOU KILL HIM AND I'LL PUT 'YOU' DOWN"!  Rodger quickly lowered the gun and any smugness he had was gone from his face.  The man climbed out of the front seat, snapping at Rodger bitterly.  "You stupid, mutt. Take over the wheel, before Trevor runs us into a building! And give me that"!  The man yanked the gun from Rodger's hands and quickly angled it to hit Rodger with the handle as he passed.

Jack eyed the door, when Clare yelled at the man.  "You can't just kidnap us! We have masters! What do you want money? You own an academy"!  The man tapped Jack's shoulder, making him jump as the man told him softly.  "The door has a child lock. It can only be opened from the outside".  Looking up from Jack, the man told Clare just as softly.  "My academy is simply a disguise for a much deeper operation. Very few people know about it, unless they were part of it. I take dogs like yourself and retrain you. Then sell you off to higher bidders. I make big connections... I get a LOT more money than the academy earns in four straight years".  Dusty tugged against his restraints, growling out.  "And if we don't sell"?  The man's voice lowered into a soft menacing tone.  "There is always a use for a dog that won't work. You could be used as the punching bag for our pit fighters. Or you could be used for our more gruesome customers. We run out of dogs that can handle being... Well, the less you know the better. They prefer scared screamers".

The man then turned to Clare, telling her with a fake smile.  "As for you. Should you choose to disobey... well, let's just say that we reward hounds with the promise of a good time. Makes them fight harder. Then when you get knocked up... we take the kid to raise into the perfect dog for someone... and put you right back to work.  Now you tell me? Does being sold to another sound so bad"?  Dusty and Clare shifted uncomfortable, when Jack quickly snapped back.  "You can't just sell me off! I-".  The man cut him off, answering loudly.  "OH, I can! You are my cash hound! You practically sold yourself. A fine youtuber like you. I'll have buyers wanting every piece of you. People will pay for your hair... your semen... your blood... for minutes alone with you. You are my golden goose and all I have to do is tell them about your channel to advertise you. How is that for selling you off"?  Jack went silent.  He wouldn't let that happen... but if Mark was alive... would he be mad to know that he killed himself to save himself?  What about Dusty and Clare? 

The man swatted Clifford's leg, yelling out.  "Get up, you pussycat! Chain Jack up with the others".  Clifford slowly sat up off the floor, rubbing his cheek where Jack had hit him.  Compared to Rodger and Trevor, Clifford looked... new.  He didn't have any scars on his body and he actually wore a leather collar and not a chain with a padlock.  As Clifford started toward him, Jack felt kind of bad for Clifford.  This didn't really seem like his normal gig.  Clifford reached out for his hand and Jack swatted it away.  When Clifford tried to nervously grab his arms, Jack shoved Clifford back.  Frustrated, Clifford kicked out at his leg and Jack cried out in agony.  Clifford's eyes widened in terror and he quickly scrambled away as the man drew closer.  Jack clutched his leg for a moment and when he lifted his hand... blood.  He had forgotten about the cut Trevor gave him.  The man dropped down beside Jack, his eyes widening in a strange expression.  It wasn't fear.  Jack cringed when the man whirled around to scream out angrily.  "WHO CUT HIM"!  Clifford pressed himself into a corner and covered his ears.  Rodger flinched, but kept his eyes on the road.  In the passenger seat, Trevor shrank from view.

The man stood up, yelling out again more aggressively.  "TREVOR! COME HERE"!  Trevor reluctantly climbed into the back.  He looked guilty.  His head was bowed... he was dragging his feet.  Jack felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.  This master wasn't like Mark in anyway.  He was so cruel that his own dogs feared him!  The man pointed to Jack, snapping out through clenched teeth.  "What did I say when I sent you for him? Did I say to hurt him? Did I say to claw him up"?  Trevor didn't look at the man as he whimpered out.  "No, sir... but he-".  Trevor didn't get a chance to finish, because the man back handed him so hard it knocked Trevor to the floor.  The man unbuckled his belt, yelling out loudly.  "Am I not making myself clear? When I want something done. I expect it to be done exactly 'MY' way! Yet all I'm seeing from you is failure"!  Jack had to avert his eyes as the man began to lash Trevor mercilessly with his belt buckle!  The van echoing in his high-pitched screams of pain.

Jack knew he shouldn't care about Trevor... but no one deserved to be treated like that.  He couldn't just sit here.  Forcing himself to stand, Jack approached the man from behind and grabbed the belt!  The man surprised him, by slamming him back against the van wall.  There was a fire in his eyes that made Jack fear him.  The man leaned his weight into Jack as he aggressively stated through his teeth.  "Interfere again and you'll be joining him"!  After a moment, the man released Jack and pulled out his phone.  Jack slide down the van wall to the floor a bit stunned.  The man really startled him.  He was so angry.  Jack barely caught the conversation the man was having on the phone... but what he did get really scared him.  "Barry, I need you to meet us outside. I am going to need your medical assistance. I don't care! I need him looked at now"!  Across the way in the corner, Clifford mumbled out softly to himself.  "Not Barry the butcher... I don't want to see him"!

The van halted roughly and the door opened up to reveal men in black suits.  The man pointed to Dusty and Clare, telling the men sharply.  "Take him to the men's cell block and her to the woman's. Where is Barry"?  Clifford and Trevor dashed from the van as the men unhooked the restraints on Dusty and Clare.  They thrashed and kicked, while a man in a blood stained lab coat appeared at the door.  The man pointed to Jack telling the man in the lab coat.  "He needs to be taken down to be checked out".  Jack retreated to the back of the van as the man in the lab coat jumped in.  Jack waited a few seconds before trying to dash around the man, but was grabbed by both the man and the guy in the lab coat!  Jack thrashed and kicked out as they picked him up.  While Dusty clung to the side of the van door, yelling out desperately.  "Don't let them take you, Jack! Don't let them take you to the red room"!  One of the suited men, punched Dusty in the ribs to force him to let go of the van.  Jack continued to squirm with everything he had, while the man in the lab coat asked the other man.  "How does he know about the red room? Is he a stray, Orson"?  Orson groaned as Jack's knee landed a shot to his ribs, but kept his grip on Jack as he answered the man in the lab coat.  "No. His Master is friends with Mark". 

The man in the lab coat chuckled eerily, before pulling something from his coat and asking very interested.  "Oh? Planning to bring the stray home"?  Jack felt the mans hands against his side and screamed as something pinched his skin, sunking in deep!  When the man with the lab coat took a step back, Jack saw the empty needle in his hand.  Jack could feel his heart slowing down... and he was getting light-headed.  Orson carefully set him on the floor, laying a firm hand on his lower back as he told the other man.  "I'll have Rodger carry him to your medical lab. Get him fully checked out. I need to know everything I can about this mutt".  To Be Continued...