So there was this small boy named Billy. Billy was a total jerk, and always picked on people. He particularly picked on the underdog type kids, like me. To everybody else, I was Jake, just another young boy. I wouldn't go a day without wearing a light gray goodie and black, fingerless gloves (My favorite pair, the ones I made myself. I thought I looked tough in them, and so did most of my friends.). At school, Billy and his cronies mocked me. "Why do you have a hoodie, dude? Too much of a pussy to show your face?" They would taunt. They also repeatedly hit me, the usual style of bullying. I would always just sigh and walk away, and that made them really, really mad. I enjoyed countering their need for a reaction with my need to piss them off. One day I was walking down a sidewalk, away from school on my way home. Billy and his two friends, Mark and Rust, stepped out from the shadows, as they usually did. The only different thing was now Billy had a switchblade. "Wow, you guys just sunk to an all-time low. Stalking? Not cool. Assault? Even worse. Now ganging up on me? You guys just keep getting more pathetic." I remarked dryly, not giving Billy a chance to talk. I shoved him out of the way, and began walking away, all the time completely aware of them creeping up behind. I heard one whisper "Now." I instinctively kicked backwards, and felt my foot hit its mark, and ironically it was Mark. I didn't give them time to react. I ran forward, sprinting at top speed down the sidewalk. I took a detour into an alley. "Wrong move." I groaned, slapping my forehead. "I'm so stupid." I was just playacting, hoping to make them think I was helpless. They all slid in, surrounding me. Mark attacked, throwing a punch. I reflected it with my palm, and socked him in the chest. I was about to finish with a kick, but then Billy hit me upside the head with the handle of the knife, and my vision blurred. I wasn't expecting that. "You know;" He said, kicking me in the chest and sending me falling into Rust, who in turn fell as well, atop Mark. A domino set of overconfident kids. "Damn." I growled. "Jake is a lame name. Really stupid, you know?" Billy remarked. I growled. "No." He signaled to his two goons, who pinned me down. "Well, BILLY isn't exactly the best name for intimidation." I retorted, as he began to unzip my hoodie. Not really sure where he's going with this… wait. Is he going to kill me, or just hurt me a lot…? "What are you doing?!" I exclaimed, as he signaled to Rust, who slowly slipped my hoodie AND t-shirt off. Billy just laughed cruelly. "I'm not going to hurt you… I'm going to TRAUMATIZE you…" He whispered intensely, and he began poking my bare chest with the tip of the knife. It wasn't very sharp, so it felt like he was prodding me with a twig. It even tickled, to an extent. Then… he poked me in the groin. Ow. "The hell?!" I yelled, and was about to try and kick out again when he slapped me with the flat of the blade. He then gave the knife to Mark, who tossed it into a plastic trash bin. Meanwhile, Billy left the scene, leaving Rust to take his place. He left the alley, walking off like nothing happened. Meanwhile, I was shoved into the wall, where I slumped down in a heap on my ass. The two, whose intentions I had yet to realize, pinned me to the wall and both smiled. One of them, I can't tell who, leaned forward and bit my ear, in a painful but slightly erotic manner. "Oh shit, I think I'm about to be gang-raped." I said, not caring if they heard or not. Mark, the one who bit my ear, smiled and nodded, while Rust just smirked in the background, whilst pinning me down. I kicked out repeatedly, only to find that Rust was sitting on them. Damn. I shut my eyes, wishing that it was just a dream when I already knew it wasn't. During the time that I had my eyes closed, they had been contemplating what they were going to try and do. I opened my eyes; Mark was leaning over me, staring intensely into my eyes. He smirked at my undisguised fear, the feeling of dread I had seemed to be fueling him. He tried to kiss me, and I head butted him. He fell onto Rust, and they both landed in a pile of boxes. "That was one strong head-butt." I observed. I grabbed my hoodie, my shirt, and most importantly, the knife that Billy had left behind. Silly Billy. I hastily pulled on my clothes, zipped my hoodie, grabbed my backpack (Which had been on the ground the entire time.) and ran. Mark chased me, I kicked him in the shin and ran. I didn't know where I was going. I blindly ran into the woods, hoping to lose them among the trees. I ran and ran, hearing their footsteps beginning to close in behind me. Dammit, I'm faster than they are! I sprinted directly into a darker expanse of the forest, because of the thickness of the treetops there was almost no light. I saw a cave, cut into a hillside. Stupidly, I ran in. I hid myself against the floor of the cave, silent. They ran past, panting. I sighed with relief and relaxed, but only some. I was silent for minutes, listening to my own breathing, the dull knife in my hand. For minutes, there was nothing. But I became aware of a slow, methodical tapping. It was like a cat's paws on a wood floor, soft and slow. I became concerned. A bear? A cougar? I frantically looked around, seeing nothing but still fearfully. Voices approached the cave. Mark and Rust, back again. They seemed to know that I was in here, as they just stepped right in and grabbed me from where I was hiding. "We saw you come in here, you little bitch." Mark growled, rubbing his shin. He stepped to the side, and Rust's fist slammed into my forehead, as well as something metal. Brass knuckles. I fell to the ground, and Mark stomped on my chest repeatedly, earning a few cracks and a cry of pain. "DAMMIT!" I yelled, and lashed out, my fist slamming into his already sore shin. He cried out, falling backwards. I tried to get up, and Rust slammed his foot into my stomach. He raised his leg, about to try and crush my ribcage, meanwhile sliding a knife out of his pocket, when a black, blurry and rather large object slammed into his chest. He fell backwards, landing on his ass, while Mark was still trying to get up. The object, which I now perceived as some kind of animal, leapt at Mark, and clawed him across the face. He screamed, blood splattering on the wall. The two wannabe gangsters ran as fast as they could, out of the cave and into the woods, escaping. That left me alone to face whatever just attacked them. I heard breathing, though strangely it was more like human breath than any kind of animal. The sound loomed closer, and I heard the soft pitter-patter from before coming a bit too near for my comfort. I shut my eyes, expecting to be torn apart any second…
"Hi." A cutesy, feminine voice broke the silence in the cave. I opened my eyes, and there was the outline of a human form kneeling beside me. A match was struck, and a small fire was lit on the cave floor. Now that I could see, I got a better look at my rescuer. This person was a cute, black haired girl, about my age, in a white hooded sweater with little cat ears on the top of the hood. She appeared to be wearing little cat mittens, with claws on the "toes." She noticed me looking at her "Paws" and smirked. She also had little cat-like fangs. Creepy, but I can't be judging people that I barely know. "Urm… Hi." I responded. A literacy master, I know. She smiled at my sudden shyness. "Don't be afraid of me, silly. I saved you, after all!" She said cheerily. This brought me to wonder why she even bothered rescuing me in the first place. "Why… exactly did you help me there?" I asked, regaining the ability to speak fluidly. "Well, that guy was probably going to murder you, in MY cave, and I don't want blood all over my floor anyway. Also, you seemed like a nice enough person for not trying to kill ME when you knew I was right behind you, and to top it all off, you're really cute." She giggled, and it made me wonder just how low your standards can get after living in a cave for a while. "Why would I have tried to kill you?" I asked, curious. She suddenly went from bubbly to slightly depressed in about a second, which made me instantly regret asking. "Because…" She pulled down her hood, and two little black cat ears (Real ones) Popped up from underneath. She looked down at the floor, most likely expecting me to whip out a Taser or something. I just kind of stared, not sure what to say. "Um… Why would I try to kill you because of those?" She looked up, surprised. "You mean… you don't think I'm a freak?" She asked quietly. I nodded. "To be honest, it doesn't change my opinion of you at all." I said. She was slightly surprised, but I could see she was happy to know this. "Wow… You're the first person to be actually nice to me." She said, and scooted closer to me. "I also have a tail," She adjuster her hoodie, and a little fluffy black tail popped out from underneath. I stared at it, regarding it as if it was completely normal. I'd seen weirder things in my lifetime. "That's actually kind of cool." I remarked, reaching out and gently poking it. She smiled and kind of rotated the lower half of her body, and her tail stretched out and stroked my arm softly. I swear at that moment she was purring. "So, how exactly did you come to have these cat-like features?" I asked, expecting some dark and brooding backstory. She was pretty open about it. "I was born with them, because of some genetic thing. My mom had some kind of cat DNA in her blood, so they were passed on to me…" She said. Something told me that her mother was no longer around, so I never really asked about her parents. As we spoke, I began to learn more things about this mysterious girl. Her name: Kira Stone. Her parents died in an "Accident" which she assumed to be a murder, and she was left with quite a bit of money on her hands. She lives in this cave (Which she equipped with a bed and cupboard.) She also takes frequent baths, shops at a supermarket not too far away, and has a network of contacts and friends all over town. Meanwhile, I told her a lot of things about me, such as the fact that my father was a total dumbass and got himself murdered, my mother is overworked, and constantly have people ridiculing me about my outfit, as well as my hairstyle (Messy and proud of it) and fact that they believe I have no friends and will die alone. Also, that most of my friends also have the same problem, and that one of my closest friends (A fellow that I refer to as Jaggy) is dying of a terminal illness. Last thing: I like pie and long walks in the woods. At the last part she smiled slightly, but the news about Jaggy made her tear up. While we were talking, I noticed a certain lack of light outside the cave. I gestured to the entrance with my head, and she gasped. "It's almost nighttime!" She whispered, dashing to the entrance and pulling a sheet metal covering over it. She lined any exposed cracks with moss, and finally came back, sitting down across from me. "To keep bad animals out." She explained. "Well, since you're my guest, you get the bed." She said, gesturing to further into the cave. "What?" I exclaimed. "I should be getting back into my neighborhood!" I said. "My mom has to be worried sick!" She sighed, putting her hands on her hips and pouting. "But I'm lonely, and you need a place to stay. You probably live a really long way away anyway." I considered this. "Ok, but I'm calling my mom to let her know." Kira beamed at me. "Yay! SLEEPOVER!" She cheered, dashing over to the bed and grabbing a pillow, hugging it. I pulled my phone out of my backpack, dialing my mom's number. It rung twice, before she picked up. "Hi Mom." I said happily. She gasped. "Jake? You're alright!" She sounded worried. "Yes Mom, I'm all ok. I got chased out of town by a bunch of goons, so now I'm staying over with a…" I glanced over to Kira, who smiled cutely and did a little peace sign. "… new friend." I finished. Mom sounded suspicious, but I assured her that it was safe. I mentioned that it was in a cave, but it was fully decorate and equipped. This seemed to relax her, and her slight OCD when it came to decorations. "Ok… Well… I dunno…" She said, concerned. "Don't worry, I've been out of the house for months before." I reassured her, remembering the few times I had been lost in the woods, as well as the desert. She sighed and finally agreed. "Ok." Before hanging up on me, she said the usual motherly "Be Careful". But then she said "Don't do anything you'll regret in the long run." What kind of thing would I do that I would regret? But I consented, and hung up. I glanced back to Kira, who was busy setting up a little sleeping bag at the side of the bed. "As I said before, since you're the guest, I'll take the floor." I shook my head. "No, you should probably have the bed, seeing as it's your home, and you were kind enough to help me out. Beggars can't be choosers." She smiled at me. "I guess chivalry isn't dead after all." I slipped into the bag, and laid my head down on the pillow. She doused the fire, and walked over to her bed, sitting down atop it and looking down at me. I was about to fall asleep, but as soon as I closed my eyes, she unexpectedly planted a kiss on my cheek. "Good night." She whispered in my ear, before lying down and instantly falling asleep. That little smooch kept me awake for a few more minutes. Why, I'm not sure. Well, I thought. This is certainly going well.
