The next morning Will stood at the site of the first disappearance, cold hands seeking warmth in the pockets of his jacket. It was early fall, but the cold was coming quick to this border state. Plottsburg was the town he was currently in. It was on the very border of Plateau State. Will looked to the horizon. It was cornfields for miles. It was impossible to miss the wall in the distance though. It was far, but stood high. It separated the Land of Prey from the Land of Predator.
The ram had never seen beyond the wall, had never been inside the Land of Predator, and never wanted to. They learned of it in school. The word they lived in was separated long, long ago. A wall was erected around the entirety of the planet. One side being the Land of Prey, and the other, the Land of Predator. Prey animals were herbivores, or carnivores who ate insects or fish. And insects and fish weren’t like other animals. They weren’t humanoid or anthropomorphic. They were just fish and insects. Prey animals weren’t immoral to eat them. But predator animals were different. They supposedly ate differently from prey animals. The books on predator animals all say the same thing. Predator animals used to eat prey animals. The wall only makes sense; two types of animals with different cultures, different vales, different diets, need to remain separated. Prey wouldn’t be able to live safely with predators for neighbors. The wall keeps the prey safe.
Will sniffed around some more, but found nothing. At least there was someone in the next border state he had to visit that actually saw a disappearance occur. He’d been interviewed by countless agents, but Will decided he would ask the guy a few questions anyway. Will drove two towns over to Mountain State. He drove up to a small ranch house in Rocksburry and met the guy who’d seen it all happen.
Will sat on the anteater’s couch while he spoke.
“Yeah, I saw Katie get kidnapped three months ago. It’s a real shame, that Katie. She was just a fawn you know.”
“Yes I know,” Will said uncomfortably. The ram didn’t like socializing much. He was anxious and it showed. He played with the fluffy sleeves of his jacket as the anteater continued.
“Yeah well, I saw her all right. She was always playing with her brother. His antlers were just starting to grow. They would play all day, climbing mountains and-“
“Can we get back to the kidnapping please? You said you saw-“
“I know, I know. Don’t rush me son, I was just about to get there. This stuff with her brother is important. She was kidnapped on a day when he was staying at school late, some club…basketball or something. No it was track. He’s on the track team. Can’t believe how big that boys getting. Hella fast too, being a deer. His antlers are already-“
“Sir-“
“By the way, are you one of them sheep that doesn’t grow horns, or-“
“I have horns sir.”
“Where?” Then he gave a short chuckle. “You hiding them in those curly locks? I didn’t know the Prey FBI hired such young spring lambs.”
“I file them down. If I let them grow too big my head gets uncomfortably heavy,” Will lied.
“…Rrriiiiight. I’ve never heard of a sheep who files his horns. A few Moose who file their antlers though. Buck up by the creek, his antlers grow so long that he files his every-“
“Katie?”
“Right the girl. I was out minding the store. She came in with some lose change asking if she could get herself a candy. She wanted a grasspop.”
“So she came in for candy? Was she kidnapped in the store?” Will already knew the answer. He just wanted to keep the guy on track.
“Not in the store, no. She was right outside looking at something down the road when a car came right up beside her. The car door opened and she was dragged in quickly. The car sped off and I called the cops.”
“Can you tell me what the driver looked like? The guy who grabbed her?”
“Nope. Didn’t see anyone’s faces. They had muscle though, strong fellas.”
“What about the car? The model, the plate, anything?”
“Nothing. It happened fast lamb.”
“Graham, my name is Will Graham.”
“Right, so how long have you been an agent? You look kinda young.”
“I’m a special agent. I’m still studying.”
“They put a child on this case?” the anteater asked, astonished. “No wonder you ain’t got no horns.”
“I’m twenty-five sir, not a child.”
“Right well, they’ll grow someday I’m sure,” he said as he showed Will out.
Will tried not to show how offended he was as he got in his car and drove to the shop where the anteater worked. It was a small corner store. He parked his car on the side of the road and walked in. He was greeted by a teenager tending the register, a koala with a baseball cap. Will bought a grasspop, as Katie had and stood in the middle of the small road. He wasn’t doing anything risky. This was a small town with small streets. There were no cars passing by. Will took a moment to think. Why was this girl taken? Why her? Why here? This little doe who had just bought a grasspop from the store across the street. The really odd thing about this string of kidnappings is the lack of bodies. If a murderer were on the loose, the police would have found the bodies. Where were they? Could it be possible that these animals were still alive? Why, for what purpose? Nothing added up.
Will looked down the street, trying to figure out what had held the doe’s attention as a car sped up to her from the opposite direction. Surly she would have noticed a car coming and run? What had she seen that was more important than oncoming traffic? Will couldn’t even begin to imagine. He walked back toward his car and drove to a nearby inn to spend the night. He had to leave for the next site in the morning.
In his room he looked into the bathroom mirror and stared at his reflection, or rather the reflection of his head. Will flattened his hair a bit and looked again. There they were. The ram felt the two hard stubs there, scurs. He childishly wondered if they would grow any bigger. The way they were now made him look like a teenager. A young teenager. Will supposed that’s why he didn’t shave the stubble from his chin. It helped age him. Will remembered his father. The ram hadn’t needed stubble. His horns were thick and long and curled not only once, but twice. Will’s couldn’t even be seen, as they were buried by his wool.
The ram fixed himself a drink and turned on the television. Nothing was on and he found himself watching some rather explicit material. He had a light buzz when he stumbled upon a late night porno that featured a busty flamingo getting fucked by two rabbits. The girl’s hair was bright pink and so was her thong, at least what was left of it. The ram took out his already hard dick and started masturbating. As he worked his cock he closed his eyes and fantasized that the flamingo was giving him a blowjob. She was slowly licking up his shaft to the tip, swirling her tongue around the slit. Will grunted as he played with his foreskin. He opened his eyes, made another drink and kept working his cock nice and slow.
A few drinks later and the beautiful flamingo woman was traded out for another flamingo, a male. Will went to change the channel, trying to find the remote so he could put on something more to his liking, but he noticed something on screen. The male flamingo’s right ankle held a shackle. It was only on screen for a second, but Will knew he hadn’t imagined it. Was this supposed to be a rape role-play? It didn’t seem like it. The flamingo wasn’t pretending to get away or pretending to not like what was happening…in fact, the flamingo looked…out of it? High on drugs or something. Actually, now that he thought of it, the girl had looked a bit out of it too. Will continued to watch the gay porno, waiting to see when his right leg would- there it was! Will couldn’t deny it this time. For a split second he saw a shackle on the flamingo’s right ankle. What was going on here? Were these animals being forced to have sex on camera? Drugged up to their eyeballs on god only knows what, then shackled to a bed as some stranger had their way with them and another guy recorded it? Was this trafficking?
Then the ram made a jump. Were the animals who disappeared also part of a trafficking ring? That would explain why there were no bodies. Will grabbed his phone and called Crawford. The bison picked up after a few rings.
“…Hello?” he sounded like he’d just woken up.
“Sir, it’s Will Graham. Look-“
“Will, do you know what time it is?”
“Yes sir, it’s important. I think the kidnapped animals were part of a trafficking ring. That’s why there are no bodies!”
“Wait, hold on Will,” Will heard the man sigh on the other end. “Okay. An animal trafficking ring, is that right?”
“Possibly. Also do you know if two flamingos have gone missing? A male and a female?”
“Flamingos? Nope. Haven’t heard anything. Why?”
“I think they might have been kidnapped as well. I’m going to look into it.”
“Fine, just check out the next site tomorrow too.”
“Alright.”
“And Will?”
“Yes sir?”
“Good work today.”
“Thank you sir.”
“I knew your professors at Quantico were right about you.”
“Uh…right,” then Will heard the dial tone. Crawford had hung up.
Finnian Siog 