"You!" Nathan said.
"Me," the evil jackal woman said. Before Nathan could run, she plucked him away from his hiding spot between two furry fingers. She appraised his struggling form coldly. "You're supposed to be eaten."
"Life's full of disappointments, psycho." Nathan said it before he could stop himself. He was too angry. His captor squeezed him between her fingers, making him gasp for air. She bared her teeth and snarled.
"All this and still you haven't learned a thing about treating your betters with respect!"
None of this was fair. Nathan wasn't even sure what he'd done to make this woman so angry. Was it because he startled her while checking her ticket? That was crazy! He'd even tried to apologize but she took the "offense" as bad as if he'd tried to kill her. What she was doing wasn't in anyway a justifiable response. Still, arguing the "fairness" of this punishment wouldn't get him anywhere. Not with a crazy person. Nathan decided to swallow his pride and try to apologize again.
"You're right," he squeaked. "I'm sorry. I should never have... wronged you," he said awkwardly. "You are my better in every conceivable way and I should treat you with the utmost respect. Please, I beg of you, give me a chance to earn your forgiveness. I will do anything to make it up to you Miss... uhhh..."
Crap. He didn't know her name.
"Anubis... Jacqueline Anubis," she said. Jackal. "Jacquel"ine. Oh, ha-freaking-ha. "I let my friends call me Jackie."
"Jackie--"
"Did I say we were friends, worm?"
"I mean--Miss Anubis," Nathan said. "Like I said, I am truly, deeply, utterly, completely, impossibly, eternally sorry for any offense I caused you. Will you please, please, please take this curse off me?" Nathan tried his most winning smile to convince her.
"Not a chance in hell."
"But--"
"No buts. Death is the only fitting punishment for your transgression."
"I don't even know what transgression you're talking about!"
"Exactly. Even now you're ignorant of the depths of your offense. The fact that you even have to ask only proves how much you deserve this fate. You will finally learn your place--the place of all humans--once you're devoured by one of your so-called friends. Hopefully your fate will serve as a reminder of what happens when the staff here try to integrate pathetic little worms like yourself among their ranks."
Seeing there was no reasoning with her, Nathan decided to at least vent his rage. "You psychotic, evil bitch! You monster! I didn't do a damn thing to you, you bigoted, rabid dog!"
Jacqueline Anubis paid him no mind. She clutched him in a paw and stomped off down the train carts. Where she was going, Nathan had no idea, but he knew it wasn't anywhere good. He couldn't see anything in the darkness but as Jacqueline kept walking, he could hear excited voices outside, sniffing the air.
"What is that?" "It smells positively heavenly." "Is someone baking cookies?" "Are you crazy? It doesn't smell like cookies. It smells like the most exquisite steak." "God I'm so hungry. I need to eat now!"
Nathan gulped in the darkness of the paw and heaved a sigh of relief as the voices went out of range. Unfortunately, his relief was short-lived. Jacqueline opened her paw and he blinked, eyes adjusting to the light. Nathan recognized where they were and he gulped. He was right outside the dining cart. Jacqueline was standing over a dining cart lined with several, silver domed dishes.
"No escape this time, worm. Your next stop with the inside of one of your friends."
"If you want me eaten so badly, why don't you just do it yourself?!" Nathan demanded.
"Because the lesson isn't just for you about your proper place. It's a lesson to your friends as well. Humans are at the bottom of the food chain and it's high time they all admitted it. When they realize not even their "friendship" can stop them from indulging in their hunger, maybe they'll finally wake up and stop treating insects like you as equals."
"But it's not their choice! You're making them feel this!"
"Making them feel it? Yes. Forcing them to act on their instincts? No. That's their choice. Don't blame me that their hunger is more important to them than your life. I was amazed how quickly that roc succumbed. I barely had to do a thing. Think about that as you await your fate."
Without another word, Jacqueline lifted up one of the silver dishes, casually tossed Nathan inside and closed it, sealing him in darkness. Inside the dish was slimy and gooey. Nathan didn't spend a moment trying to figure out what food he'd been put into though. As soon as Jacqueline's thunderous footsteps faded away, he was at the edge of the dish, desperately trying to pry it open so he could escape. But it was no use. He couldn't budge it an inch, and soon he heard a new voice outside.
"Don't worry, I'll deliver these orders now."
The cart was pushed into the dining car, and Nathan tumbled at the sudden movement, getting a fresh coating of whatever dish he was in all over him. It was no use. He just had to pray that Jacqueline was wrong. That whoever his dish belonged to valued him as a person more than they did as an easy meal. Nathan said his prayers as the dish containing him was taken off the cart and put on a table.
"Finally! I'm starving!"
Nathan recognized the familiar voice even before the cover was pulled off the dish, putting him face-to-face with...
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