The night was strangely dark. The stars were blocked from view by the black clouds in the sky; and the moon was just a faint glow to anyone looking from below. Shadow watched from the window sill as the thunderand rain continued, resting her head on her paws; the wounds on her back giving her a jolt of pain every time she moved positions. The sound of creaking wood and the fluorescent light flickering above her head was enough to keep her awake. Shadow hated being locked up in this household, she was not the only cat living there. It was not that she disliked other cats, but it is because of this cat that her life has been made miserable for the past few months.
When Shadow was introduced into this household, she knew that she was going to be treated well, the place was enormous, and there was a small bed along with some food and water already waiting for her. Or so she thought. Shadow quickly stepped up to the bowl of water, thirsty after the long ride, and bent her neck to have a drink, but before her tongue could touch the liquid she heard a menacing hiss from behind her. Quickly turning around, she raised her hackles in hope of scaring away whoever it was, before she realised what she was up against. Facing her was a very large tortoiseshell female, teeth bared and ready to strike.
"What do you think you're doing?" The tortoiseshell hissed.
Shadow could do nothing but shrink back against the wall, and hope this was just a misunderstanding.
"I asked you a question!" She hissed once again. "Do you want to get clawed?"
"I….I thought─"
"You thought all this was yours, didn't you?" The larger cat actually laughed. "I can't believe these house folk actually went and bought another kitten after what I did to the other one, that's none of your business though of course. This is my food and my water, do you understand kit?"
Shadow nodded vigorously, trying to slip away as she did so.
"Don't you go anywhere. You need to be shown what happens to meddling kits!"
Shadow could tell what was going to happen, so she bolted as fast as she could towards the stairs. Just as her front paws were about to hit the first step, she felt claws grab on to her hind legs and pin her to the floor. The tortoiseshell cat seized the chance and clawed Shadow's back a few times. Shadow tried to fight back by reaching her claws around to land a hit on her head, but she was too fast and nimbly dodged the attempt. Shadow thought her 'lesson' had been learned, after she endured being clawed for what seemed like minutes, before the larger cat finally stopped and walked away with a flick of her tail. Shadow was very confused as to what just happened and why it did happen. Shadow painfully dragged herself towards a desolate area of the kitchen and fell to the floor. She winced as she turned her body so that she could clean the wounds that were left on her back, looking up and checking the doors in case the tortoiseshell came back. She wondered where the house folk went, they were rarely here.
Why was she so hostile about the food? Wouldn't the house folk just buy some more? Shadow thought.
Shadow then realised that she could just escape. All she needed to do was find an opening or a window, climb out, and then run. It was simple. She turned around and saw a window behind the kitchen bench, but she couldn't see if it was open or closed, so she climbed on top of an empty box to get a better look; and saw that it was most definitely closed.
Surely one of the windows in the house is open?
Shadow silently sneaked up the stairs, watching for any sign of movement, as she checked every room upstairs. The bathroom's window was slightly open, but only enough to fit her paw through. Every other window upstairs was closed and locked with a padlock. She sighed as she slunk back down the stairs. The final room she needed to check was the biggest room in the house, the family room. Shadow looked around the corner into the room and saw the large tortoiseshell lump on the sofa, lightly snoring and seemingly fast asleep. Next to the sofa was a small coffee table and a gap separating them. To get to the other side of the room she had to get past as quietly as possible. As Shadow came out through the other side of the gap, her hind leg bumped against the table, resulting in a small plastic cup falling off and hitting the floorboards, before rolling a few metres towards the front of the sofa. Shadow stayed as still as possible, even ceasing her breathing, as she heard movement from on the sofa; but almost just as soon as the movement started, it ended again. She relaxed and headed towards the other end of the room where the window was, and to her disappointment, it was closed like the others.
Over the last two months, Shadow had been kept locked in the house with the tortoiseshell cat. For some reason, the house folk refusde to let them outside. Every time she tried to get something to eat or drink, she would be attacked by the cat, and to her confusion, it was unnoticed by the house folk. The only way for her to get food or water when she needs to is the middle of the night, when there is no light and she cannot be seen. Shadow takes her share and tries to make it look like the pile of food in the bowl hasn't been manipulated, so that she isn't caught.
And after all this time of sneaking around and hiding, she still does not know the cat's name.