Digital Mysteries
CH. 1: Black Cat Mania
At the age of 17, I encountered a strange cat. This cat was unconscious and beaten bad when I found the cat. I examined the cat close and in the black fur were a couple deep wounds, scratches, and other injuries hidden to the oblivious eye. Assholes probably beat this cat just for entertainment. Seeing an animal die in front of me was not something I desired after a long day of work kicking my ass. Gently, the black cat was wrapped in my arms. As I walked through the dark and empty parking lot of the grocery store I worked at, I watched this sleeping cat breath tiny pieces of air at a time. All focus from my being stayed on this cat. Even while I sat in my car with the cat resting on the passenger seat, I constantly kept my eye on the little guy. I made sure my jacket kept the cat nice and warm while covering the body as a blanket. The furry head was resting on a second jacket I keep in my car on occasion that acted as a pillow. My driving was slow, smooth, and gentle or at least I tried my best ensure my driving was smooth. I have no idea what happened to this black cat or who tortured the animal, but I refuse to allow this cat to die on me.
This drive home felt longer than it should have. All I wanted was to heal this cat back to perfect health. This short drive home of 15-20 minutes turned into a damn near hour due to my mind constantly wanting to rush and get a move on. My mind was playing tricks on me time wise. Luckily, the sanctity of my own home did not play tricks on me. The cat, still breathing (thank god) was placed in the living room couch in my house while I prepared food and water for the creature. Although to be honest, I have never owned a cat in my life so I had no idea what to give as healthy food. I had a mini freak out while frantically searching. My eyes eventually eyed an unopened package of deli meat turkey. I knew immediately the turkey belonged to my older sister. She makes it deadly clear that turkey is hers. Under normal circumstances, I'd stay the hell away from it, but this cat was dying on my couch and I am unsure what human food to feed a cat without poisoning the damn thing, I am willing to endure my sister's wrath later. This cat comes first. I at least know cat's eat deli meat all the damn time.
Turkey meat placed in front of cat, check. Water in bowl ready to quench the cat's thirst, check. Frantic walking around waiting for this cat to wake up, check. While I waited for this cat to regain consciousness, I brought out a first aid kit and cleaned the cat's wounds in the black fur. Or rather, black and… purple fur? Now that I calmed down and focused more on the cat's body, I for the first time achieved a deeper look at what I brought home. At first glance, this looked to be a pure black cat. This cat had long ears with fluffy purple tuffs of fur at the tip of them. Even the tail had fluffy purple fur at the end with purple stripes to accompany the odd color. The front paws were purple with red stripes on the sides of each paw. The front paws looked almost glove like with-
"Holy fuck, look at those monster claws! You are bigger than average house cat but for god's sake, those claws belong to a fucking lion or tiger."
I seriously hope you do not injure yourself with those claws. Those paws are bigger than my large hands. You appear to be a normal house cat how did you get these? That should be impossible.
While I continued to clean up the cat's wounds, I eventually discovered a long scar across the cat's throat. Thanks to family being members of the medical field, I easily discovered this scar was fresh and still in the process of healing. One wrong move and I could reopen it.
"Damn, what asshole has the balls to hit your vocal chords?" I said talking to myself. "How fucking low can you get?"
I made sure to bandage up the scar on the cat's throat just to be on the safe side. If that scar reopens, I would not have the tools needed to give it the proper care to close it back up. Once I finished cleaning the bloody fur to the best of my ability, I finally leaned back and relaxed on the couch sitting next to the sleeping cat.
I let out a sigh of relief when saw more visible breathing from the cat's furry body. That sight was promising to my eyes. At this point, the only thing I can possibly do is wait. I put food out, put clean water in a bowl, cleaned the wounds, bandaged the wounds, and made sure the cat stayed warm with an actual blanket covering the furry body this time. I did everything I could. I stayed by the cat's side regardless and switched the TV not far from the couch. I would glance at the cat every few minutes checking on the furry creature. I know earlier I calmed down, but the nagging feeling constantly spiked in the back of my mind. This was a feeling of paranoia stubbornly refusing to leave. I knew I did everything I could possibly do to heal the black cat, but if this cat does not wake up soon, it would be wise to take the cat to the vet and obtain professional help.
This paranoia feeling lingered for two hours. I was tired, yet restless. I knew there had to be dark circles under my eyes at this point. It was 1:00 AM and still no good news surrounding the animal I brought home. My eyes struggled to stay awake. My determination was overpowered by the urge to nod off and wake up whenever my body feels ready to awaken. At one point, my eyes were almost completely closed. I fought hard to wait for the cat to awaken. I will check back in tomorrow when my energy has been restored.
*splish, sploosh*
Just seconds before I passed out, my eyes were hazily drawn to the sounds of water moving. To my right, a pair of glowing yellow eyes barely staying open belonging to a black cat stared at the bowl of water while a pink tongue slowly let clean water to enter the cat's mouth. Instinctively, I grinned while stifling a chuckle. The cat finished drinking water and with tired yellow eyes, stared into my own brown eyes equally as tired. Unfortunately, those bright eyes were all I saw before I finally passed out from exhaustion.
The next morning: 10:30 AM
"Hey, Griffin, wake up."
In my light sleep, a female voice entered my ears. Disturbing my slumber.
"It is time to wake up Griffin."
The voice was not enough to wake up my sleeping form so whoever called out to me resorted to shaking my body slightly. The forced body movement was enough to bring me back to the light. My brown eyes were met with another pair of brown eyes except these were lighter, were behind glasses, and belonged on a woman's face. This woman, was my older sister.
"Tired much?" My sister said as a joke. My response was a mere eye rubbing while standing up from the couch.
"I assume work got to you good?"
"You have no idea." I said with a tired voice. "I do not understand why I agree to cover for lazy co workers who do not wish to work 10 hour shifts."
"Usually people in their twenties welcome those hours despite their complaining. It's teenagers your age who are lazy or come up with every excuse in the book to get out of it. Not the other way around. You are a rare species." My sis said while chuckling lightly.
"You cannot talk big." I began while grinning. "While you worked as a busser at that restaurant in high school, you would on occasion call out for no reason other than to be lazy."
"Shut up." My sister said with a laugh. Both our laughs were heard in the living room for a couple seconds before she spoke up again. "Where did you find the kitty by the way?"
"Kitty?" I asked in confusion. "What kitty?"
"The black cat you brought home last night? By the looks of what I saw, this cat was badly injured. You did a good job caring for the cat despite using a first aid kit. I'm impressed."
"…" I searched for what she was talking about in my brain but nothing came out. Eventually, the image of the injured black cat quickly appeared.
"Shit." I cried out in a worried tone. I looked at the living room couch and found the cat I cared for was gone. "Where is that thing at now?" Before I allowed my sister to speak her sentence, I dashed on ahead and barged in the kitchen to begin my search. Fortunately, my eyes quickly found the same cat on the kitchen counter. The difference; the black cat was awake and eating another strip of deli turkey meat. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw that familiar black and purple fur. The cat saw me with those large, bright, yellow eyes and nervously backed away a little.
"Hey, there's nothing to fear." My sister said reassuringly to the cat as she walked past me and picked up the furry animal. The cat's face was dug into my sister's chest nervously looking away from me. "My brother Griffin saved your life. He patched you up nicely and brought you to our warm home." The cat still refused to look in my direction.
"She's a shy girl. It took over an hour for her to finally warm up to me. I assume she isn't used to being around humans."
"It seems that way." I said staring at the nervous cat. "I was not paying attention to the gender last night. Too busy cleaning her up." I said the last sentence half serious, half joking.
"You did a fantastic job helping her heal. She should make a steady recovery within the next week or two. Where did you find her? What happened to her?" My sister asked concerned.
As I explained to my sister (her name is Jackie by the way) how I found the strange cat in my store parking lot, the injuries I discovered, the possibilities on how this cat got her injuries, and the strange body type this cat possesses, this black cat slowly revealed her yellow eyes to me. I don't know why, but I am under the impression this cat can understand human language on the same level as a regular human. I already knew this cat was beyond the levels of ordinary house pet, but the possibility of an animal understanding human speech was too good to pass up and look more into once my sister left the room.
"Poor little kitty." Jackie said as I finished my story. "You've been through it rough." Jackie nuzzled her cheeks on the cats head affectionately. The cat just continued to stare at me with curiosity. I stared back into the cat's yellow eyes and offered a light smile. Jackie noticed the cat's curiosity and walked towards me.
"Want to try holding her?" Jackie said with a grin. "The kitty is ready to get to know the rescuer."
I reluctantly nodded in agreement and delicately, Jackie and I exchanged the furry cat. I stood taller than my older sister so the cat must have been slightly surprised by the sudden height gain. For a 17 year old, I am tall by standing at 6'0. My sister is nearly half a foot shorter than me. She stand at 5'7. The cat, once comfortable in my arms, just continued to stare with those yellow eyes. She almost seemed to be stuck in a trance staring at my brown eyes. I think she was studying me. Unlike my sister, I am not what you call natural with animals. I just do not know how to interact with them. Even now, I am not sure how to act with this black cat.
What happened next took me by surprise. This cat out of nowhere smiled and began nuzzling her head into my chest. I stiffened up slightly I will not lie, but it still made me happy this cat accepted me.
"Awww, you two are adorable." I looked up and saw my sister snapped a picture of the two of us on her phone. I sighed in annoyance.
"I am so proud of my little brother. After all these years, we finally found an animal you can connect with." Jackie said with excitement.
"Our last cat was a complete asshole and you know it." I said chuckling. Jackie just ignored me and scratched the cat's head.
"Well, I am going to call mom and tell her about our new friend. Chances seem high she'll let us keep her. What do you think Griffin?"
"…Yeah." I said with a smile as I watched the cat breath as she rested in my arms. "I believe she'll fit right in."
"Yes!" Jackie said in excitement. "Even my brother agrees. I'll be right back."
Jackie left the kitchen and made her call as she left to her bedroom. After she left, I heard soft squeaky noises. I looked down and saw the black cat in my arms was desperately trying to use her regular voice to get my attention but did not have much luck in amplifying her voice. She realized she could not speak normally and tried to speak normally to the point her throat began to hurt.
"Take it easy." I said to the cat. She stopped making noise and gave me her undivided attention. Something I have never seen a cat do before. "You're still recovering. Your throat was cut deep. Deep enough to the point your vocal chords took serious damage. It will take years for your vocal chords to recover properly. Even then, you won't speak normally ever again."
The cat had a complete look of sadness when she learned the news. Her ears were bent back and her eyes were visibly upset. At this point, I am convinced this cat can understand human language at a human level. Since my sister was gone, I felt comfortable acting idiotic to confirm something.
"Hey." I began hesitantly. I cannot believe I was going to talk to a cat as if I am talking to a human. I am a fucking moron.
"Can you… understand what I am saying right now? Do you know human language?"
"…" The cat stared at me and simply nodded after a few seconds passed by. I widened my eyes slightly in surprise. My doubts are nearly gone at this point.
"What are you?" I asked instinctively. The cat on instinct began to speak completely forgetting momentarily she can barely utter a sound. However, she stopped. Not because she can't, but she had a look of confusion on her face just as she was about speak up. She looked down in worry and confusion as she thought hard. Even after a minute goes by, this cat still seemed to be scrambling her thoughts.
"Can you not remember?" I eventually asked. The cat stopped her train of thoughts and shook her head in response. She seemed embarrassed because she would not look at me in the eye when she responded.
"Can you remember your name?" Again, the cat shook her furry head. I was surprised. I have never heard of a cat developing amnesia before. Is that even possible? I would ask more questions, but due to the cat's embarrassment, I should leave her be.
"Well, since you can't even remember your name, we should give you a temporary name until you remember. You like that idea?" I asked with a light smile. The cat as a response gave off an excited smile. I could not help but widen my own smile. Her excitement was contagious.
"Glad we agree. We'll need to figure out a way to communicate properly as well. That is for a worry for another time." I thought about names to give to a cat. Honestly, I suck at names. Somehow, I feel she'll not like my ideas at all.
"Alright. Hmmm… How does Smokey sound? Trying to be clever since you have black fur."
The cat just gave me a look of disappointment. Damn, tough crowd.
"Do you like Leo?" Head shake. "Abby?" Head shake. "Lola?" Head shake. "Goddammit, how about fluffy?" Head shake and tongue sticking out in disgust.
"Fine, how about sassy bitch?" I said in annoyance. The cat just looked away despite still being held in my arms. We both just chuckled at our predicament after that last name.
"You are impossible." I said jokingly. "But you're right. Those names were terrible for a cat. I should take it seriously."
As I was deep in thought, the cat stared in anticipation. Waiting for me to come up with a proper answer. Eventually, I found my answer. I had the perfect name.
"How about we name you Kili?"
The first chapter is complete WOOOO! I know this chapter seems slow, but this was just here to set everything up. Next chapter should pick speed a bit. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and future chapters to come. All reviews are greatly appreciated along with advice on how to improve my writing. Please let me know how I am doing so far.