She wakes up

I was woken up by the sound of the trunk opening, I couldn’t have slept for long. When I opened my eyes, I was blinded by the light that seeped inside the trunk. Before my eyes could adjust, I already felt master’s hands gripping me and lifting me up after he unlocked my chain. He cradled me, again, with my face pressed against his muscular chest, which meant that I couldn’t see where he was taking me. I suppose I could just turn my head, but what good would it do, other than possibly anger him? So I just stayed as I was.

He stopped for a second and I heard keys and then a door opening. He stepped forward inside a darker room, presumably the inside of his house, before carefully setting me down.

“Welcome to your new home, twenty-six.” he told me, looking down on my small body from above as I knelt on the floor.

“Stay.” he ordered me as he closed the door.

He didn’t waste another look on me as he took off his shoes, stored his bag, and left the room, probably to get something.

Although he left me alone, I didn’t even think of getting up, let alone trying to flee. After all, my master had told me to stay, and I didn’t want to be punished.

When he returned, he grabbed my leash, which I took as a sign to get on all fours and crawl behind him. He led me out of the room and into what I would later get to know as the living room. The floor was covered with a soft carpet, the air pleasantly warm and smelling faintly of human food. A big, soft thing that seemed to be designed for humans to sit on was dominating the room (I got told later that it was called a couch) with a low table in front of it, opposite of it was placed a big, black rectangle that I recognized as a TV. In a corner, I spotted a pet-bed, easily big enough for me to comfortably curl up on.

But we didn’t stop in that room. Instead, he lead me through one of multiple door into an adjourned room that I recognized as a kitchen. It had a small table with four chairs right next to the door, several high shelves, cabinets and cupboards. There was a stove, an oven, a sink and several other things I either couldn’t see clearly or didn’t recognize. The smell of human food was stronger now and the floor tiled, which hurt my knees a little, though it wasn’t too bad.

“Kneel over there, my pet.” Master ordered me, pointing to a mat in the corner that was the furthest from the stove.

I crawled over and knelt down. The purpose of the corner was obviously to hold slaves, as the lack of accessible cabinets, as well as the conveniently placed metal ring on the wall, made apparent.

“When and what did you eat last?” he asked while rummaging through a cabinet.

“This – this morning, master. It was cat food, I – I think.” I answered almost incomprehensibly, due to my quiet tone and stuttering. Hopefully, he wouldn’t punish me for that! My ears drooped low at the thought.

He didn’t seem to mind, though. He just grabbed a cardboard box from the back of the cabinet he had been rummaging through and returned to me.

“Cat food like this?” he asked me, pouring kibble from the box into his cupped hand and holding it out to me.

I sniffed the offered food. It smelled similar to what I had been given by the breeders, though also a little different. The smell was… richer? As if it had more ingredients? Since he didn’t draw his hand away and I didn’t know what else to do, I grabbed some of the kibble with my lips, took it in my mouth, chewed, and swallowed. It was definitely dry cat food, although much tastier than I’d ever had before! I took more of the kibble into my mouth, chewing hastily, before I took even more, again and again until there was nothing left. In the end, I even used my tongue to get the food that my lips couldn’t reach, thoroughly licking his palm clean to get the last crumbs.

Only as I did that, I seemed to remember the world around me. That I had just eaten the food without permission. And not only that. Even worse, I had dirtied my master’s hand with my filthy, feline saliva!

I shrieked back, but couldn’t get far as I was already backed into a corner. So I crouched down, pulled my tail under me, and covered my face and ears as good as I could with my hands, waiting to be punished.