Word Count → 376
Sophie wanted to speak up. There was almost a physical need building in her chest to say something, somewhat inspired by the whimpers coming from Boothe, whom she could occasionally see out of the corner of her eye as they swung back and forth in the hands of their father, hanging by the scruffs of their necks as they had for most of their lives--or at least as long as it took to make this journey. She really couldn't take much more of this, the pain from being held this way making her eyes water. But if she spoke up, it would only get worse; she knew that much. So Sophie simply wrapped her legs tighter around Bug, clamping one of his arms between her teeth, and tried to keep quiet. She didn't want to anger Daire any more than he already was, and she hoped that maybe, if she and Boothe kept quiet and were well-behaved enough, maybe Daddy would put them down soon.
And then, maybe, if she was really lucky, he would just leave them wherever he set them down and never, ever come back. But Sophie knew better than to get her hopes up.
They soon came across an area that smelled awfully strange--familiar, but not; a scent that she sometimes remembered from that time, long ago, with the nice woman who'd given her Bug and the cozy little den they'd been forced to leave far too soon. It had been small and hard to notice, then; it practically covered this area. She wondered why that was, but didn't have much time to find out, as at that moment Daire dropped them to the ground and she was more concerned with landing in a way that would cause less harm to her body. As soon as she was certain she was unharmed--aside from that slight twinge in her legs, and the limp that followed--she scurried over to huddle next to Boothe, both puppies staring wide-eyed up at their terrorist as he began muttering angry, sometimes obscene words.
When he pointed a large finger at them and said, "Stay!" in his sharpest voice, coupled with a frightening glare, neither puppy dared do anything but what he said.
.
The wheel breaks the butterfly
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