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The tiger growled. Carlos growled right back at him, and they began to circle each other and assess each other\'s strengths and weaknesses.

The tiger was caught off guard when Carlos took the offensive. Carlos jumped through the air and landed on the beast with his nails extended. His movements were so fast that Crystal could not see what was going on. It was not until the final stroke had been struck that things slowed down.

The tiger collapsed at Carlos\'s feet.

"Did you see that!" Crystal exclaimed. "If I hadn\'t seen it with my own eyes... How did he do that?"

"You don\'t know?" Eric laughed. "Did you think that he did that on his own? I gave him a serum that I am developing. He is my first guinea pig."

Crystal could not believe it. "You are a monster!"

"Am I?" Eric seemed genuinely surprised by her statement. "Without my serum, he would be dead. Never mind that, though. Just watch the show. By the end of this, I am sure you will have a newfound sense of appreciation for my work."

I doubt that - Crystal thought but knew better than to say.

There was a clicking sound, and the gate reopened. Behind it, there was a wolf, and it immediately began to stalk Carlos.

"Please," Crystal begged. "Make it stop."

Eric smiled and said, "Only you can save him. If you promise to stay with me - never to see Nathan again and never to betray me, then I will let him go."

"I have already married you!" Crystal exclaimed. "Isn\'t that enough? What else do you want from me? Do I have to kill Nathan to prove my loyalty to you?"

"That would be nice," Eric replied. "But it is not necessary, and it wouldn\'t prove anything anyway. Even if you killed him, his memory could live on in your heart. What I want is for you to remove him from your heart. I want you to root him out."

"You are crazy," Crystal cried. "Hearts do not have On/Off switches. How can I remove him from my heart?"

"I have a way to keep him alive and torture him at the same time," Eric explained. "If you did your part, he would be removed from your heart."

This ought to be ripe - thought Crystal.

"What is it that you want me to do?" she asked.

"I want you to catch him and let him be my prisoner," Eric replied. "I regret not having poisoned him when I had the chance. If I had, he would be dead by now."

Crystal\'s face turned white. "You want me to poison Nathan and turn him over to you?" She could not believe what she was hearing.

Eric smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "You don\'t have to do it by yourself," he explained. "I will help you. You will be the bait, and I will be the trap."

"No." Crystal had a grave expression on her face. "I will not help you. I will not trade Nathan for Carlos. It would be best if you let them both go. Only then will I willingly stand by your side."

Eric frowned and said, "Hush your mouth. We\'re missing the show."

Below them, Carlos had just torn the wolf\'s throat out, and he had his fist raised triumphantly. There was gore dripping down his arm, and from the grin on his face, Crystal could tell that he had regained some of his humanity. "It looks like you\'re losing," she said. "Don\'t count your chickens before they have hatched," Eric muttered. He lifted his right hand and showed two fingers.

Almost immediately, two gates were opened, and a pack of wolves emerged from each of them.

Oh, my God! thought Crystal. "That\'s not fair!" she cried. "Twenty to one is not fair!"

"Who said that life is fair?" Eric chuckled and said, "This should be fun."

Crystal felt like she was losing her mind. She thought about all the things she could do if she had not been bound, and her helplessness taunted her.

****

The wolves approached Carlos. They formed a circle around him, and the largest one slowly approached him. It raised its head and howled proudly, and the other wolves joined their voices to his. It was a terrifying sight to behold, but Carlos seemed unaffected by their show of strength. He looked at the wolf in front of him, stuck out his tongue, and made a rude noise.

Almost immediately, the wolves pounced. Crystal\'s whole body was trembling. This is the end - she thought. She wanted to cry, but the tears would not come. All she could do was close her eyes and wait for the end.

****

A few minutes passed, and when Crystal heard Eric begin to grumble, she slowly opened her eyes. She looked down, and she was amazed by what she saw. The pack had been nearly eradicated. Unfortunately, those that remained appeared to be the strongest of the two packs. They were hungry, and they were desperate, which made them incredibly dangerous.

Before this, Carlos had never been so fast, agile, or strong. But Crystal feared the serum would not be enough. She turned to Eric. "Do you know that if you kill him, you will lose your bargaining chip?"

Eric scowled. "Hush... If you cannot watch the show in silence, I will have your mouth duct-taped closed."

Crystal turned back to Carlos. She did not want to watch this, but she felt compelled to.

Three wolves attacked Carlos at once, two from the front and one from behind. He dodged one, punched the other in the face, but he had not seen the one behind him. She opened her mouth to warn him, but it was too late.

Carlos shrieked as the wolf\'s claws scraped down his back. He lost his balance, and he fell to the ground.

Crystal shouted his name as loud as she could. She knew that Eric would punish her for it, but she did not care.. She wanted him to know that someone was rooting for him. "You can do it! I know you can! You are the strongest person that I have ever known!"