MYSTERY CAT
by Medianoche
(aka The Lady Elizabeth)

Chapter One

Panting, I hurled myself between two garbage cans, overflowing with the remains of human meals and other, even less savory, items. My stomach nearly forced up the contents of my breakfast at the smell, but I didn't dare back out of there. The moment I stopped running, my legs went weak with exhaustion and I sunk to my knees. Since my legs didn't seem to want to work anymore, I managed to drag myself backwards until I reached the wall behind the cans. Pressing my back against it, I told myself not to cry, even though I desperately wanted to.

"Damn it! I saw him run down this way!" The booming baritone voice paused. I could almost see its owner glaring savagely at the others around him. "Well, don't just stand there, you idiots! Find him!"

There were grunts of agreement and I heard their voices scatter throughout the alley, no doubt hunting for me. My heart was thudding so loudly in my chest, I was certain they could hear it. As several thickly accented voices drew nearer to me, I pressed my paws over my chest and closed my eyes. It's very strange, trying to will your heart to stop beating so loudly. Of course, I began to realize that it wasn't a matter of if they would find me but when they would find me. I licked at my lips and tried to calm down. The crash of a garbage can not to far away brought me out of my feeble attempts to calm myself. My eyes snapped open.

Fine, I thought. If you want me you're going to have to catch me.

Forcing my exhausted body to crawl along the brick wall behind the garbage cans, I noticed that my breathing was hoarse and raspy from too much running. I considered myself to be decently athletic, so I knew I was fast pushing my body to its limits. I didn't let myself worry about my limits nearly as much as I began to worry about the echo of my breathing behind the metal garbage cans.

Crawling behind the garbage cans wasn't exactly the safest thing to be doing, but what other option did I have? Go on a mad dash out from behind them and see if I could outrun them? That was a laugh. I could outrun a lot of kittens my age, but trying to outrun full-grown, strong, street-hardened (did I mention big yet?) toms was a death wish. I preferred the more cowardly, less lethal method of sneaking out past them before running back home.

Of course, just as I was nearing the edge of where the cans and wall hid me, my forepaw fell over a piece of jagged glass and immediately sunk in. For second, I didn't feel a thing. Then, as the pain sunk in, I screamed and tried to pry it from my paw. Almost immediately after I began to claw at the piece of glass did I realize that everyone had just heard me just as well as if I had shouted out exactly where I had been hiding. There was nothing else left for me to do than run, so I stood up and did.

I got about three strides before I felt something heavy collide with the small of my back. I barely choked back another scream and sunk down onto my knees.

I was dying.

At least, that's what it felt like. My middle felt like millions of molten hot shards of glass had exploded inside of it. I opened my mouth to scream but nothing came out. Then, just as suddenly as the pain had exploded within me, my body shut down and I felt nothing. I closed my eyes and gasped in the little bit of air my abused body could handle. There was rustling around me and distant voices. I opened my eyes to find a fog of unfamiliar, unfriendly faces. I winced.

"Stand him up," the biggest tom growled and I felt myself being yanked upright.

Even without the bizarre pain in my back and abdomen, the two toms holding my arms tightly prevented me from even attempting to escape. I winced again as I felt my legs tremble mutinously. After a brief fight with myself to stay upright, I left myself fall limp. As I had predicted, the toms holding onto my arms kept me upright. I raised my hand to stare back at my captors.

"Well," the tom in charge growled. "You certainly have a lot of fight in you, don't you, kid? It's a shame that one good hit brings you down. But, then again, what can you expect from a Jellicle?"

He nodded to another tom, meaning for me to follow his gaze. I looked reluctantly. The other tom sneered at me then tossed a wooden board to the ground. I winced once more. No wonder my back felt the way it did. I turned back.

"My back," I gasped weakly, unable to make a threat, boast of confidence, or even a plea for mercy. "I can't..."

"Can't what?" He laughed as I raised myself up and tried to stand on my own feet. My legs trembled, shook painfully, and gave out. "Feel it? A good blow will do that, you know. You're lucky though. He could've hit your head and killed you."

"Why didn't he?" I asked, surprised at the newly found strength in my voice. I decided to go with it. "Not scared to kill a kitten, is he?"

"Brave little thing, aren't you?"

He didn't wait for me to respond. Instead, he pulled back his arm and, before my brain could figure out what was happening, slammed it hard into my stomach. I felt the air rush out of me and tears automatically sprung to my eyes. I tried to crumple into a protective ball, but was forced to stand up right. I felt my tears run down my face as I struggled to catch my breath.

"Well, there you go, boys. Remember: if you hit a Jellicle in the stomach, it will cry for you." He raised my chin and gave me a repulsively sympathetic smile. "Isn't that right?" he cackled.

I pressed my lips together, determined not to actually cry. If my eyes watered from pain, fine, but I wouldn't let myself cry in front of him. He had probably seen too many of his victims sob and beg for mercy. I wasn't going to be one of them. If I was going to die, I was going to die with a little more style than that. I narrowed my eyes and put on my fiercest face.

"Just kill me already," I growled. "I know that's what you have planned anyway."

"True," he agreed. "Very true, but not just yet. I thought it'd be fun to rough you up a bit first." He raised his eyebrows at me as if sharing a secret. "Besides, a quick death would be too easy for you, my friend. With all the grief you've cause me, death shouldn't come too soon for you."

I heard myself scream in my head as he unsheathed his claws and drew his paw back a little further. I once more struggled to my feet and found myself able to maintain my own weight for a longer period of time than before. I swallowed and raised my head up, even though the kitten inside of me was hysterical.

"Don't fight, kid. I'll only make it worse for you if you do."

I shook my head, playing my last card. "No. You're a coward. You don't have the nerve to kill me."

He threw back his head and laughed as if that were the funniest thing he'd ever heard. I looked around quickly as the other toms joined just a bit too late. He shot them a disgusted look and they all fell silent. "And why is that?"

"My grandfather. You're scared of him."

Suddenly angry, he grabbed me by the throat and jerked me away from the other toms. I struggled pointlessly to stay on my weakened legs as he tightened his grip, his stale breath on my face. Blackness began to creep into the edges of my vision. I had to fight to stay conscious.

"Your grandfather," he hissed, "is nothing anymore. He's little better than a figurehead. Everyone knows that."

"No," I choked. I tried to push his paws away as colored spots danced in front of my eyes. I tried to blink them away, but they were just as determine to stay in my face as the tom holding onto my throat was.

"Yes. And who's going to save you now? Nobody. Not even your own father is here to save you."

"No," I gasped again, feeling consciousness start to slip away.

"And why would he be? You were a mistake. They never wanted you."

"Not... true..."

"It is true. Why else would they abandon you?"

Maybe it was the pain or the sting of the truth, but I began to cry. My tears weren't loud and I don't think I shed more than a few, but it didn't matter. I had started to cry for real this time. Satisfied at that, he dropped his paw and let me collapse to the ground. My throat burned and my stupid tears only made it worse. I wiped my face weakly and looked up. There was still a black, fuzzy edge around my vision.

"You're wrong..." I gasped weakly.

"Am I? Why don't you ask your grandfather about it? That is, if you survive."

I started to protest, but was yanked roughly to my feet again. Before I could move, my face was struck with his fisted paw. My head snapped back with the blow and I felt my nose break as it made a popping sound. I stayed on my feet for a moment, which was probably a bad thing. The tom grabbed my shoulders and used my own body to leverage his knee up against my stomach. Once more I was reduced to a gasping ball on the ground.

"Hell, why don't we just rough him up and send him back to his grandpa? A little gift, let's say, for him. I'm sure he'd like to see just what his precious little grandson looks like broken. That'll tell him that we don't mess around, even if the offender is only a kitten. We'll kill the kid later. After his grandpa gets a chance to see him." This was met by more laughter and cries of approval.

I felt another blow against my back, which made me arch my stomach forward. That gained another kick to my stomach. After that, I slipped to a foggy, semi-conscious state as the kicks and blows rained down mercilessly onto my body. I could feel myself speeding quickly towards death and began to cry harder, even though I could barely hear my own voice above the rushing of my blood in my ears.

Suddenly, it stopped. Everything was quiet and, even though my body was screaming in agony, nothing new hit me for a full few seconds.

"Boss! Someone's coming."

"All right. Maybe it's his grandfather, after all. We'll leave him here. C'mon."

I stopped trying to hide my tremors of pain as they slipped into the shadows. My back went into a violent spasm and I cried out.

"Oh, Heavyside. Is that him?" I heard someone ask. I squeezed my eyes tightly, hoping to shut away my brain from my body.

"Yes," another male voice replied.

I felt my head being lifted gently. Someone was obviously examining my condition. I wondered what they were seeing. My head was lowered, but almost as soon as it was back on the ground, strong arms were under my knees and back. I was lifted off the ground slowly and cautiously.

"Do you have him?"

"He won't fall."

"Good." I felt a paw run down my cheek. I struggled to open my eyes at the profoundly gentle gesture.

"Grandpa?" I asked weakly.

"Shh. You're hurt pretty badly this time. What did you do to provoke this?"

"Grandpa, I..." I couldn't say anymore. I pressed my battered face against the chest of the tom carrying me and whimpered. My whole body ached too badly to speak.

"Oh, Macavity, what are we going to do with you?" I heard him ask before I fainted.

I sat with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders and watched Jennyanydots bustle around. She glanced at me and frowned.

"Why can't you just stay out of trouble for once in your life? Your brothers never give me this kind of grief." She motioned for me to lean forward. "I don't remember the last time I had to fix either one of them up."

She dabbed at a cut on my forehead. It stung so I clenched my teeth together. "I'm not like them, Aunt Jenny," I replied softly.

She leaned back. "Of course you're not. You've got more of your father in you than I'd ever like to see in anyone."

"What do you mean?"

She hesitated. "Nothing." She patted my head, giving me a smile. "There. Feeling any better now?"

I nodded slightly. "Yes, but my back still hurts. Right here," I said, pointing to the small of my back.

"And it will. You took a pretty good beating there."

I caught her eye again. "Are you mad at me?"

"I..." She sighed deeply. "No, Macavity, I'm not mad at you. I wish you wouldn't go looking for trouble, though. I really do." She caught my chin in her paws. "You don't know what I go through every time trouble finds you."

"Aunt Jenny, I-"

"I thought you were dead this time," she said, cutting me off. "I thought he'd finally gotten sick of giving you a bump here and there and decided to kill you. And you know what? I blamed myself." She let out a nervous little laugh. "I blamed myself for not keeping better watch over you."

I stared at her, numb. She blamed herself for my knack for finding trouble where ever I went. I felt my bottom lip tremble.

"I'm sorry," I said weakly.

She wrapped me in a tight hug before I could actually cry. I'd cried enough for one week. After a moment, she pulled back and looked deep into my eyes.

"Promise me that you won't go looking for him." I looked away. "Macavity!"

"I can't promise you anything, Aunt Jenny. If I find him again, I-"

"You're a kitten!" she cried and slapped me across the face.

We were both shocked; she'd never hit me before. I touched the side of my face, half expecting blood.

"You're no match for a big tom like him," she finished weakly.

"OK," I said softly. She stroked my face, trying to make up with me.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt again."

We sat in silence for a moment. "Can I go play?"

She frowned slightly. "I suppose so. If you start to hurt again, come straight here. And no rough housing."

"I won't." At least that was a promise that I could keep.

She swatted lightly at me. "Go on, now. Go play."

"Eh hem," I said, loudly clearing my throat.

My youngest brother jumped to his feet, concern all over his face. My other brother gave me a slightly disgusted look and looked back down at the ground.

"Macavity! How are you? We heard what happened. Did they hurt you bad?" my youngest brother asked.

"Nah, they could never hurt me too badly."

My other brother raised an eyebrow. "That's why you spent the last three days unconscious at Aunt Jenny's."

I narrowed my eyes. "I bounced back, didn't I?"

"With one eye swollen shut, yes, you did."

"And," I said, taking an aggressive step forward, "I suppose you, the great and wonderful Munkustrap, could've done any better?"

He scowled darkly. "I wouldn't have gotten into a fight to begin with."

"Oh, excuse me. You're the pacifist, huh? No fights for you."

"Maybe I'll make an exception for you," he growled, angry now.

Luckily, our other brother held up his paws. "Guys, stop. We should be glad that Macavity's not dead, right?" He looked pointedly at Munkustrap.

"I guess so," he mumbled, not looking very convincing. "Let's play tag or something, Tug."

Tugger nodded eagerly. "OK. You're It, Munk."

"I'm always It."

" 'Cuz you're so good at it," Tugger laughed.

"Fine. I'm only counting to ten, so you'd better run."

"Wait! What are we playing?" I asked. Munkustrap rolled his eyes.

"Hide and Seek."

With an abrupt spin, he started the game. Tugger grabbed my paw and practically dragged me after him. I almost laughed, but I bit my lip to hold it back. We ducked into a huge, long since abandoned pipe.

Tugger turned to me anxiously. "Are you sure you're OK?"

"I'm fine. Like I said, you have to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over Macavity."

"Just be careful," he warned, not laughing at my cocky behavior like he usually did. "They've had it out

for you since you found out about their warehouse."

I shrugged and picked at the peeling paint on the inner walls of the pipe. "I know that." I looked up at him. "I'm not that stupid, Tug."

"I didn't say you were. But... please, Macavity. Remember what they did to Orion's dad?"

I shivered involuntarily. "Of course I do. How do you go and forget something like that?"

Looking older than I'd ever seen him, Tugger shook his head sadly. "You don't. That's why I'm warning you."

I patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, little brother. I've got things under control."

He smiled slowly. "I hope you do." Then his smile turned distinctively devilish.

"What? What are you gonna-"

"MUNK! He's in here!" he shouted as loud as a kitten of his size could and raced out the pipe.

My jaw dropped. "Rum Tum Tugger, you jerk! I'm going to get you for that!"

I raced out of the pipe after him, trying to dodge away from Munkustrap, but still getting tagged. I stood still for a moment and caught sight of a couple of the other Jellicle kittens run over to him to join in. Alonzo and Cassandra giggled madly for a moment, then she ducked behind Munkustrap and Alonzo raced off after Tugger.

Oh, well, I thought, grinning. Wait until I get my paws on that stupid brother of mine.

Old Deuteronomy stared down at me, his face blank and expressionless. I shifted my weight nervously, wanting to hide from his disproval. Then, almost without warning, he broke into a wide smile. He opened his arms and I ran into them, clutching him tightly.

"Macavity, my boy, what are we going to do with you?" he laughed. "Maybe chain you up somewhere until you're old and gray?"

I shook my head. "I'd bribe Orion to get the key."

Ruffling the fur on the top of my head, he laughed again. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm Macavity!"

"How could I forget?" he replied, rolling his eyes a little. Then he turned serious. "I don't want to you to leave the junkyard for about another month or so."

"What? Why not, Grandpa?

"They'll kill you if they catch you," he said bluntly. Somehow it seemed so much more like a real threat when he said compared to my brother. I paled a little. He noticed and patted my shoulder.

"Don't worry. As long as you stay within the junkyard, they wouldn't dare to touch a hair on your head. They're cowards at heart."

I didn't say anything. The fact that they were cowards, most of them, changed little. They still wanted me dead and I would be if they ever caught me. Deuteronomy hugged me again.

"It's fine, Mac. Just stay close and you'll be fine."

I nodded then remembered what he had said to me before. I hesitantly looked up at my grandfather. I didn't know if I should ask him or not.

"Something wrong, Macavity?"

"Grandpa..."

"Yes?"

"He... he told me that I was a mistake. That my father never wanted me... is that true? Is that why I was left here?"

Old Deuteronomy stared at me for a very long moment. He didn't answer. I felt sick to my stomach. It was true. My own parents hadn't wanted me. I let out the air I hadn't realized I had been holding in a low rush of disappointment.

"Macavity? Look at me."

I looked. He put his strong paws on my shoulders. I wasn't sure if I wanted his comfort, but I didn't dare to shove him away.

"You're wanted here. Your aunt Jenny loves you very much and so do I."

"What about my father? My mother?"

"Macavity, I don't think it was that they didn't want you. They just couldn't have you."

"Or Munk and Tugger?"

He paused a little before responding. "Or them. You're much better here than with them."

"But why? Why would they just abandon us here?"

He patted my arm. "In time. I wish I could tell you all that you want right now, but you're still too young to understand fully."

"But, Grandpa-"

"No buts. I'll tell you when you're old enough."

I wanted to shout that I was old enough to know why my own parents hadn't wanted me, but I knew better. He would tell me when he felt that I was ready. Not before. It didn't stop me from being upset, though. I blinked and turned my face away from his eyes.

"Yes, Grandpa. I understand."

I could see him smile out of the corner of my eyes. "Good. I knew you would. Now, go play with your brothers. They've missed you while you were so ill."

I sighed and headed away and out towards where the other kittens were playing.

Mystery Cat is a 16 part story which I began writing in late 2001. I first published the story on my CATS website (which is still up and being updated, time permitting) in Janurary 2002. The story was completed in September 2002. This was a landmark fan fiction for me because, while not being the first one I wrote, this was the first attempt I made at a long, in-depth story that I actually finished. Major revisions are being made to each chapter in order to improve the quality of the story, but it will remain the same story overall.

NOTE: I am also desperately looking for an artist/illustrator who would be interested in illustrating this novel. I'm sure we can work out something privately, but please, even if you only want to do a picture or two, I would adore having this story illustrated. Thanks so much in advance to everyone who responds.