Francis and I emerged from the upstairs bathroom window, and to my surprise, Jesaja was gone. The Old Persian, for one reason or another had left the scene even though I told him I would come back. I doubted that he didn't believe me. But instead, maybe he wanted to explore on his own. For all his life had been led by someone else.

Francis and I spent the rest of the afternoon talking, sleeping and walking around together. Mainly in the warmth of the sun behind the house, where we were hidden in the tall grass and away from Francesca. When night had fallen, we returned back inside, and waited on the second floor for the two adults to retreat into their bedroom. When I heard the door close, I raced down the stairs and turned into the living room. A bowl had been left out for Francis, but being the kind cat he was, he offered me some. I was glad to break my habit of catching small things like mice and rats.

I sank my teeth into the left overs of cooked fish, cod to be exact. A thin lair of spice covered the top, which made the meal all the more delicious. As I dove into my next bite, the soft patter of rain began. I licked my lips, and raised my head.

Francis came around the corner at an even pace. I only took one look at him to know he was upset. Over what was not hard to imagine.

"That traitor!" He suddenly spat. His eyes were giving away to the faintest of tears. I perked my ears and stood, turning my attention away from the bowl. "That double-crossing two-timing traitor!"

"What happened?" I asked, and Francis leaped up to the left kitchen window, that was left open. He huffed and said "Gustav finally gave into that witch…" I leaped up next to him, and pressed my pelt against his.

"What are you going to do?"

"Leave."

"Leave?" I echoed and looked out to the stormy weather in front of us. Francis nodded and said "Find a new life, a new beginning. Someplace that isn't here." I looked back, and around the kitchen. The cozy walls, the life with his 'owner', giving that up? Well… when you look at the two options.

Stay here, and off goes the nuts! Leave and a new life that could be a gamble between good or bad. And leaving tonight? Couldn't he wait till morning when the storm had at least somewhat passed?

Nope.

Francis leaped out the window, and landed on the long tall grass. In surprise, I leaped after and landed next to him. The rain beat down on my fur, beginning to smooth it down. Francis then raced towards the wall and leaped over, disappearing on the other side.

"Francis!" I called and followed. Leaping up onto the wall divider between gardens was a challenge. For it was cracked in several places, missing parts and slippery from the rain. But I leaped down to the other side and caught up with my one way ticket friend.

I looked back, looking at Francis's former house. The paint peeled off, exposing grey stone. The ivy plants grew like veins, the dark windows looking like eyes. It gave me a depressing feeling inside. Why I am not sure. But a glance down the left of the row of houses, my eyes rested on a building that was not in as bad of condition. Ivy grew, only making it up the old oak tree. The house itself was untouched by the plant. The window, darker than Francis's house, and nothing was held inside. This house had been empty for some time… A long time. I had only stayed in that house a few times myself. How I curled up next to a kind human. Sleep in the warm bed, relax on the couch under the sun and receive a portion of her homemade dinners. How quickly things can change…

I looked back around and found Francis gone. Looking around at the walls and houses, I twisted and turned, trying to figure out which way he had gone.

"Novalee!" I heard his voice come from my right side. I turned, and saw two houses close together, having only a few feet in between space.

I darted forward, slipping past the two houses, and down the alley. Francis was waiting at the other end. His fur stuck to his body, outlining every detail. I knew I looked the same. This weather was not the best for our kind. Now, it is not true that we hate getting wet, we just hate getting baths. We can keep ourselves clean, unlike humans.

Francis, and I continued our little night journey through the neighborhood. Francis led the way, through winding paths, across streets and around houses.

"Can't we wait the storm out?" I asked as a crack of thunder went out. Francis stopped, in the middle of the street. I stood next to him, pressed against his side to keep warm. He looked around, his green eyes looking at the houses, and street signs.

"I don't know…" He started then shook his head and continued "… were we are." Were lost… Well, that was just great!

Water rushed around my legs, as I was standing in paw deep floods of rain water, and possibly river water too if there was one nearby. The rain beat down on us, like we were its only target. "Maybe we can…"

My voice was drowned out not by thunder this time, but a roaring sound of something else. Lightning flashed, and ahead I could see a wave of flood water heading right for us. It was at least a meter high if not bigger!

"Run!" I screamed. Francis turned on his heels and we both darted towards the sidewalk and the bushes on the other side.

A sudden burst, as water erupted from a manhole cover, caught our attention briefly and we stopped, even if we had started running again, it would be too late.

The wave crashed over us with full force, and knocked me off my paws. The water pushed me back, causing me to twist and turn, and preform death defying acrobats. I opened my eyes only to see darkness, and bits of trash, sticks and other items.

My paws found the ground and I pushed up, taking in a quick of breath. But I was quickly shoved back under. I hit the ground, scraping my side. Again I was tossed around, but then, something happened. I felt like I was falling- no, I was falling!

I plummeted into darkness, the light fading away. I briefly thought I would fall forever, but I quickly dropped down into more water. This water was thicker than before, and deeper. I kicked and stretched out, feeling for any object.

Nothing.

It was so dark, even with my eyes open I couldn't make heads or tails of where I was at, or which way was up.

My lungs screamed for air, and I became frantic. Then, the water calmed down, and I hit stone. With a panic I rubbed my paws against it till they hit an edge. Gripping it the best I could, I pulled up. I emerged out of the water, and gasped for air. Then, with what strength I had left I pulled myself half out of the water, and onto the stone. It was still dark, very dark. Even with the best eyesight in the world I still couldn't see where I was at.

Not that I needed too. After a moment of taking in gasp of air, I sniffed, trying to catch any sent, and god… it was horrid. The stone pathway, rushing water, dark tunnels, horrid stench… Dear God! I was in the sewer!

The water must have washed me down here- but what about Francis? I lifted my head, looking to the side to see if I could locate him. My eyes widen, not in surprise but to allow as much light as possible to come to me. The faint, very faint outline of the walls and pathway formed before me. The water rippled past, waves calming down, the splash of the flood and rain water from down the way slowly vanished. Leaving all but dark silence.

Then, I saw a small figure- a figure leaning against a rail that was rising out of the water. There he was, his body draped over the bar. He was further down the water way, I was too tired to actually walk that way, not to mention he was on the other side. Looking down at the water, I huffed and pushed off the stone wall, dropping into the mixture of floodwater and waste. I kicked, and rode the current sideways, moving closer and closer.

When he came in reach, I had made it to the other wall, and let it carry me to him and the bar. He was soaked to the bone, and was breathing deeply.

"Francis?" I asked and pawed at his side carefully, not wanting to press to hard in case of any unseen injury. That fall and the wave battered the crap out of me, most likely the same for Francis.

"You okay?" I asked again and he took a breath and said "I will be… I just need a minute to rest." I huffed, and pulled myself out of the water and onto the stone pathway. I leaned over and grabbed his scruff, pulling him up and onto the stone next to me. His ears twitched, flicking water droplets in all directions.

I lay down next to him and began licking my fur, combing my teeth through my fur, and spitting out bits and scraps of god knows what. As I did this, Francis slowly sat up, and began the same process that I did.

"Where are we?" he asked and I sniffed, and replied "In the sewer." Francis had no comment to my reply, just stood and stretched. I copied him.

"Let's find some light." Francis said and began to walk back the way we came. I shook my pelt, scattering the remaining water, and quickly followed.

While we were walking I couldn't help imagine that little sewer rats would be making their way, quietly stalking us. Rats, big as we were, coming down in groups of five or six. Sharing their prize equally among members….

"I see light up ahead!" Francis called back to me and picked up his pace. I did too. But that light was coming at an angle, up above. I knew even before we would reach it, that it was not a way to escape.

An open sewer drain, let in the light of dawn, illuminating the underworld around us. I could now see clearly the walls and oath. Seeing how old, dirty and cracked it had become. Francis looked up, sighed, and looked around as well, looking for another way to go.

The place around here wasn't really that bad, once you got past the smell. It offered a dark, calm and peaceful place. The flood water left a layer of water at the top of the tunnel, casting down drops, constantly dripping into the water, leaving perfect background music to this underworld. The water- as dark and murky as it was, showed our reflection with calm ripples, the light casted a beautiful glow around the area, and- …and something was coming towards us.

It was white, bright white considering the filth it was floating in. It turned slowly, around and around in the water…

"What's that?" I asked and Francis only replied with a shrug. He padded up closer to the edge of the pathway and sat.

"It's an animal." He called out. I perked my ears and quickly padded up next to him, but I remained standing. He was right. That bright whiteness to it was actually fur. Matted, wet fur. It was coming closer, swept up in the current. Now, it's size made things a little harder to make it out. For whatever the creature was, had been dead a while. And floating down in this river of filth and water had caused the body to bloat.

"It's one of our kind." Francis suddenly said, just as the body twisted a bit, revealing a broken off tail that clearly belonged to a 'cat'.

"So a member of our own drowned… I wonder if he was washed down here the same way we came." I said and Francis only replied with a small noise. His eyes resting on the drowned body. He was probably waiting for the face, as it will give away our white stranger's breed to us. Not that it mattered. We didn't know them, they didn't know us. He- or she had died a natural way. It was their time to go…

The body drifted closer, and so did the horrors that followed. The body had drifted so far to the left it came close to almost touching our pathway. And as it did, it turned fully to reveal the identity of the drowned feline.

Only to my surprise and to great horror was that the corpse had no head! "My god…" I whispered as the full details of the body were presented to us like a slap in the face. The light from above gave us the ability to see every detail, but god! I wish I hadn't!

Where the head once had been, had simply been torn off. Yes, torn, not cut. It was obvious by the rim of the neck… how the blackened pieces of flesh hung down, gently swaying to the water with the whole body.

The body continued to turn, showing us more than what we expected now. There were several bite marks, that before had been hidden by the matted clumps of fur. But now, standing in front I could see these bite marks were deep, very deep. Whole chunks had been ripped out of the victim. You could feel the hatred that went into this murder.

As quickly as it came, it left. But not the pictures in my mind. The victim went on turning, swaying with the flowing water, back down into the depths of the stinking underworld. It went on and on and soon disappeared into the darkness.

Whoever had done the deed had dumped the body in the sewers; they must have to hide the evidence. But I am sure as hell they did not plan for a brother and a sister to find it-

Wait, I'm thinking that this could be one of our own. While the possibility rest out there, there is others. While we have no natural enemies, there were still other things out there. Foxes, Badgers, Dogs, and yes, Humans.

All of a sudden, Francis stood and called "Goodbye, white stranger," He huffed then added "We shall meet in heaven." How true that would be… "May you find peace there, where you couldn't find here!" I added, casting my own final words to the unknown brother.

That was it. Our white stranger was gone, and so was our prayer with it. I had little doubt on what would become of the body. There were other things down here. Rats… Dear Lord those rats would get him. They dine off of him. Or maybe, maybe it wouldn't end like that. It really is sad, to think of what becomes of us in the end.

Almost like the rats had escaped my thoughts, I heard a noise in the distance. It had broken up the natural silence of the sewer life. Francis had noticed too. His ears perked, and He padded around me, staring off into the darkness. Before our fur could even bristle, another sound, a rustle came from a different direction. I wasn't able to pin point it this time. But I hate to say it. But it sounded rather close.

We weren't alone…