Chapter One: Inside the Light, Inside the Dark

Alonzo came awake wondering what was wrong. He had slept lightly and fitfully, and now he felt more tired than he had when he had gone to sleep sometime in the early morning. Slowly, it dawned on him what was wrong: Cassandra was conspicuously absent.

He knew she had been with him when he went to sleep, which meant she must have gone off on her own somewhere during the morning. But why? Things had been going so well, or at least he thought they had. She had seemed so much more calm than normal, had looked almost happy when he complimented her and said sweet things. There had been the faintest trace of a smile on her lips.

Which made it all the more frustrating that she was gone. He forced himself to stay where he was, resisted the urge to hunt her down and demand an explanation. It hurt, yes, but he reminded himself that he was guilty of doing the same thing to a few queens in the past. She would turn up again when she felt confident enough to do so, and when she did return, he swore to himself that he would be waiting for her. After all, what kind of suitor was he, if he would just abandon her when she needed to be alone for a while?

Still, it hurt. He rested his head on his paws for a while, and just let his thoughts wander. He could not quite work up the ambition to hunt some breakfast.

He was still lying there, half dozing, when Mistoffelees came upon him. The small tuxedo tom looked very upset, but Alonzo was not about to ask what was wrong. He knew that no matter what it was, it was always more trouble than it was worth to help the conjuring cat. Of course, he knew that if it was a matter that would affect the whole tribe, he was duty-bound to help out. Until he knew for sure if it was, he was not volunteering anything.

Instead, he tried not to move overmuch, and hoped Mistoffelees would think he was asleep. No such luck, of course.

"Alonzo," Mistoffelees began, in that perpetually rushed tone of his, "I've been looking all over for you! Something's wrong, very wrong!"

Alonzo cracked an eye open and glared balefully at Mistoffelees. "If something is wrong, why don't you go ask Munkustrap for help? I'm trying to sleep here, you know." He sounded angrier than he had meant to, but that would teach Mistoffelees for being so irritating so early.

The conjuring cat did not react. "I, well, I thought you would be more concerned about this than Munkustrap would," he confessed. "See, it has to do with Cassandra, and I know you've been really, uhm, into her lately."

The mention of Cassandra's name had Alonzo wide awake in an instant. "What about Cassandra?" It was all he could do to keep from grabbing Mistoffelees and forcing the information out of him; his words did not sound good at all.

"She's, well, she's gone. Completely gone. Suddenly gone. Poof! Like that."

"Wait, she left the junkyard? Why? What happened?"

"She didn't leave the junkyard," Mistoffelees insisted. "At least not by any normal means. Like I said: poof! Gone."

"Talk straight, Mistoffelees," Alonzo growled. "What happened?"

Mistoffelees started to shake. "I don't know. I felt something, prickly almost, so I went to have a look. Cassandra was there, and there was something dark. I don't know what it was, or even if she summoned it, but when it disappeared, so did she. I didn't have time to get close enough to hear anything, I don't even know if she said anything. This is awful."

"It'll be okay. Don't worry about it. I'll get Munkustrap and we'll find out what happened to her, and everything will be fine. Come on."

"Are you sure?"

"Have I ever been wrong before?"

"Well, no, except that once –"

"Then come on."

Alonzo led the way to Munkustrap's den, hoping to find the other tom in residence. He was nowhere to be seen. Alonzo swore under his breath.

"Did you say something, Alonzo?" Mistoffelees asked.

"No, nothing," Alonzo denied. "Follow me." He took off, heading for the trails he knew Munkustrap patrolled every day. If he was not in his den, the tabby tom would be somewhere on those trails, and Alonzo could only hope they would run into him somewhere.

They did find him, but it was much later than Alonzo would have liked. Munkustrap was pacing listlessly along the trail, some distance from the central clearing. It almost seemed that he was not paying attention to his surroundings, because he did not notice them until they were practically on top of him.

"Munkustrap!" Alonzo called, for seemingly the hundredth time. The silver tabby finally looked back, saw them, and stopped to wait for them. Alonzo skidded to a halt beside him, and watched Mistoffelees lose his balance as he tried to stop. The conjuring cat finally managed to stop, but could do nothing but pant for several long minutes. Alonzo was winded, too, but it was not so readily apparent in him, his body was used to enduring long runs. He and Munkustrap waited patiently for Mistoffelees to catch his breath.

Munkustrap gave Alonzo a questioning glance, but said nothing. Alonzo merely shrugged. It was up to Mistoffelees to explain this latest madness.

"Munkustrap," Mistoffelees panted, finally impatient with waiting, "something bad happened this morning. Something very bad. I, I don't know how to explain it, exactly, but –"

"I know. I've felt it all afternoon. That's why I'm out here, actually. I think Macavity must have something to do with it," Munkustrap told them.

Alonzo thought on that for a second or two. "I think it's a good possibility. Mistoffelees tells me that Cassandra disappeared some time early this morning. Gah, why am I telling this story? You're the one that witnessed it, Tux, you tell him!"

Mistoffelees cast a worried glance in Alonzo's direction, took a deep breath, and told Munkustrap what he knew. Throughout the tale, Munkustrap remained silent, though he bore a thoughtful expression. Alonzo wondered what he would make of it all. In a way, it sounded devious like something Macavity might do, but in a way it was something completely different and wholly unlike anything the stories claimed Macavity was capable of.

"Hmm," Munkustrap thought aloud. "I don't know quite what to make of that. I mean, I've never heard of something like that happening before, it's very strange."

"I know," Mistoffelees agreed hopelessly.

"It's probably a dead end, but do you think you could show us where it was?" Alonzo asked. "Maybe there's some sort of, I don't know, explanation, at the scene of the crime."

There was hope in Mistoffelees' eyes again at that. "Of course I can show you," he said. "If," he added pointedly, "we can walk there."

"Anything you want, Tux," Alonzo agreed, knowing the nickname would annoy Mistoffelees.

They were able to take a short cut through the junkyard, so they arrived at the scene of the crime in considerably less time than it had taken to find Munkustrap. They had been walking a while when Alonzo felt his fur stand on end and knew without being told that they were getting close. A few minutes later, Mistoffelees stopped in his tracks and said, "This is where it was. A big black thing, over there. Cassandra was standing more over that way." He pointed in the direction of the central clearing.

"The black thing," Munkustrap began, "What did it look like, exactly?"

Mistoffelees thought on that. Finally, he decided, "It was like a big black fog. Kind of. Yes, like a fog, only it stayed in one place and it was completely pitch black. And it was sort of round shaped, but not like a perfect circle or anything."

Strange, that. Alonzo remembered Cassandra going on about shadows. In fact, she nearly always talked about shadows, especially when she was sad. Shadows and moonlight. Very, very odd.

He did not mention any of this to the other toms.

"I think we should investigate any connection this might have to Macavity," Munkustrap proposed. "If he is involved, we have to get Cassandra back as quickly as possible. I hate to say it, but it sounds like if Macavity is not involved, then Cassandra may have simply left on her own. If she did, there's nothing we can do about it."

Mistoffelees had a weird look on his face. Alonzo pretended not to notice and voiced his agreement with Munkustrap, but as soon as they were heading back to the clearing, Alonzo whispered to Mistoffelees, "What's wrong?"

"It wasn't like that, I swear," the conjuring cat whispered back. "She did not leave on her own, I'm sure of it. Her, uhm, I shouldn't say."

"Tell me, Mistoffelees, or you'll regret it."

"Her aura disappeared all of a sudden. If she had left the junkyard by normal means, it would have faded, not just vanished like that."

"Whoa, you can tell where people are by their 'aura'?" Alonzo asked, perhaps a bit too loudly. Munkustrap shot him a curious glance, but he just shook his head. Not know, Munkustrap. More quietly, he continued, "What's an aura, anyway?"

"It's hard to explain," Mistoffelees groaned. "It's a sort of magical imprint that everyone has. It's stronger in some than in others, but it's unique for each one of us. If it's really strong, you get a cat like me, or the twins. Someone that can use their aura to do magic. At least that's what I think happens."

"Wow."

"Not really."

"Yes, really, you dolt. Wait. You can't find Cassandra by her aura?"

"Not anymore," Mistoffelees admitted. "That's why I was so worried in the first place, remember? I told you she disappeared. She didn't just wander off, she was just gone! Poof! Gone! Remember?"

"How could I forget?"

"Will you two please stop arguing?" Munkustrap asked mildly, a bemused expression on his face. "We're all worried about Cassandra. Arguing will get us nowhere." Alonzo felt suddenly ashamed; he had not realized their whispered conversation had escalated into a shouting match.

"Yes, sir," Mistoffelees said, saluting. Alonzo cuffed him over the head.

"Knock it off, Tux."

"Yes, sir!"

Alonzo groaned. "I said knock it off."

He was about to take another swipe at the conjuring cat when Tantomile and Coricopat emerged out of the shadows. The twins looked distinctly worried, something which was unusual for them. Normally, they appeared completely at ease, as if they knew exactly what was about to happen. Now, something had changed. Alonzo was afraid he knew what that something was.

"Munkustrap, we must speak with you. Something very important is afoot, something very dangerous," Tantomile, the female twin, said. Her voice was oddly disconcerting. Or maybe it was her words that were frightening, rather than her voice. Or that, for once, she spoke without her twin.

"Something that happened this morning? And Cassandra is involved?" Munkustrap guessed dryly.

Neither of the twins looked very surprised. "Yes," Coricopat murmured. "I imagine Mistoffelees has already told you what he knows. But there is more to this than meets the eye."

"What do you mean?" Alonzo demanded. "You know what's going on?"

"Somewhat," the twins told him, speaking in unison. The effect was eerie. Tantomile continued on her own. "Something dark came to the junkyard last night. We do not know what it was, but we do know why it came here. To the trained eye, it is obvious that it came here to find Cassandra."

"It is impossible to know why," her brother continued, "but considering she disappeared in its presence, it is reasonable to guess that it came here to take her somewhere."

Alonzo blinked. Mistoffelees was strangely silent.

"What are you talking about?" Munkustrap asked, finally.

The twins bore the same expression, though Alonzo was not quite sure what that expression was. Certainly, it was somewhere between amusement and consternation, but exactly what it meant was unknown to him. Those two certainly were weird.

"We believe that it came here to transport Cassandra somewhere else. It is as simple as that. There is no other explanation that fits. If it had come here for any other purpose, Cassandra would still be here. But the fact remains that both she and this thing of darkness are gone, which means she must have gone somewhere, and it must have been the path, so to speak." It was Tantomile that spoke this time, almost as if the twins were taking turns.

"But," Alonzo protested, "Why? Where? I don't get it."

"We do not claim to understand any more than you do," Coricopat told him. "We merely came here to be certain that you know what is going on before you get yourself in any deeper."

"Get myself in any deeper? What do you mean?" Alonzo demanded. The twins both turned and looked at him, identical gazes that were frightening in their understanding. He flinched away from those twin gazes, knowing it was both pointless and offensive to do so.

"It is for you to understand, Alonzo," Tantomile said, compassion audible in her voice. "If you search hard enough, you may find the answer, but…"

"We do not believe it is our place to help you. At least not now."

"Hey, wait!" It was too late; the twins had made up their minds. When they made up their minds to do so, they could vanish into the shadows almost effortlessly. Alonzo growled in fury.

Suddenly, Mistoffelees seemed to snap out of his trance. "I think I know what to do!" the conjuring cat announced, his voice all but crackling with excitement. "We have to somehow bring that thing back here and find out what it did with Cassandra." Alonzo rolled his eyes.

"And how, exactly, do you propose we do that?"

"May I offer a suggestion?" Munkustrap asked, walking over and standing between the two arguing toms. "How about we don't do anything until we find out more about this thing. I still think it would be worth it to see if Macavity is connected in any way. And who knows, maybe Cassandra will come back on her own." They all knew that was not likely, just as much as they knew that even if she did return on her own, nothing would be the same.

Alonzo sat down, feeling defeated. "Whatever, Munkustrap. You go check out Macavity, or whatever you want. I'm going to wait here and see what happens. Who knows? Maybe things will go my way for once."

"Don't pick a fight, Alonzo," Munkustrap suggested as he stalked off. Mistoffelees looked after him.

"Go with him if you want, Tux. I'd rather be alone right now, anyway."

"Er, okay. I, I guess I'll be back later then. See you." Mistoffelees knew how to disappear every bit as effectively as the twins. Good riddance.

Alonzo sighed and lay down uneasily. Something about this place put him on edge, but something altogether different gave him the feeling that if Cassandra did intend to return, this would be the place where she would return. He began to grow bored with the waiting, nothing seemed to change in the slightest while he lay there watching. All was still, and quiet, and he was so, so sleepy all of a sudden.

Someone poked him in the shoulder. Why was it so cold and so windy? He growled and squeezed his eyes shut. Someone whispered his name, urgently. "Go away, I'm trying to sleep," he muttered.

Again, his name. This time, even more frantic.

Finally, he sat up and opened his eyes. "Jemima? What –"

She was not even looking at him any more. Her gaze was focused on the swirling mass of darkness that drew ever closer. She just stood there, staring at it. "Alonzo," she whimpered. "What is that thing?"

Alonzo was on his feet in a second. He drew in a deep breath and nearly panicked. This had to be that evil thing Mistoffelees and the twins were talking about, it just had to be. And now that it was here, he did not know what to do. Except he did. "Jemima, get out of here. Now."

"What? No. You can't expect me to go when –"

"I said get out of here. Do it."

"I –"

"Go," he roared.

Eyes wide, she turned to flee, but in doing so nearly ran headlong into Mistoffelees. The conjuring cat glanced at Alonzo, then stared at the mass of shadows that was writhing behind him. "I knew it," he murmured. "I felt it. I knew it would come back."

"What are you talking about?" Jemima asked, bewildered.

"This, this thing," Alonzo said, watching it out of the corner of his eye. "It came here this morning and took Cassandra away, and now it's back." Jemima's eyes went wide. She backed away slowly. The wind grew in intensity, almost howling with fury. Alonzo stared at it, daring it to do its worst. Almost as if he had always known it was there, he realized there was a doorway of some sort at the bottom of it, a single patch of stillness in the mass of moving darkness.

"We have to get out of here." There was urgency and no little panic in her voice as she spoke.

"Then go," Alonzo told her. "I'm going in."

"What?" Mistoffelees and Jemima shouted in unison.

"There's a door," he pointed. "Cassandra went through it. I'm going after her." Ignoring the protests of his friends, he strode toward that small black doorway. The wind grew fiercer and the air more frigid the closer he got to the door, but he did not stop until he was through.

He was through, and then he was falling. Falling, falling, falling. An endless descent into empty black space.

There had to be ground somewhere. Somewhere, somewhere…

When he hit the bottom, he hit hard, and knew nothing.