I know, I'm kind of taking this story in short bursts. But it's only to start! I'm sure as soon as I have the plot thickened up and stuff, I'll be writing longer chapters, and more in depth.
Well, I think this is my favourite chapter so far, so...
Enjoy! And thank you all for the reviews! They're always welcome. ; )
CHAPTER 3 - All for a Kitten
A loud clap of thunder jostled me from my dreamless sleep and I automatically sat bolt-upright in bed, holding the pillow I had fallen asleep hugging close to my chest. It was a violent sort of thunder, and the lightning followed it only seconds after, making my heart beat irregularly against my rib cage. I felt queasy and weak with fear, a low whimper making its way through the lump in my throat.
The rain beating on my window was relentless, and I pondered on whether it was actually rain or hail... I glanced in the direction of my alarm clock and groaned at the absence of the usually bright luminous numbers.
Great. Power was out.
It made this stupid phobia even more fun to deal with, as I wasn't too fond of darkness, either. But that fear seemed dismal compared to the anxiety I was feeling towards the storm raging outside. I shakily grabbed for my phone and flipped it open, squinting as the bright light assaulted my retinas, and read the time on the tiny screen.
3:02 AM.
Shit, had I really slept that long? It explained why I didn't wake up tired, and it also hinted that I would not be going back to sleep any time soon. I sighed and looked back at my bed, assessing the comfy looking cocoon of blankets and pillows, and decided to get up. I was really hungry, as I hadn't really eaten much at all that day, and food was sounding glorious. Before I left my room, I turned to glance out the window, a shudder ripping through my body at an ominous flash of lightning. It was raining really hard... It hadn't really stopped since it started the day before yesterday, had it? I frowned, and my curiosity got the better of me. I crept slowly toward my window, taking a few cautious steps at a time, as if the lightning would lash out at me menacingly.
I got to the window and peered down at the street, my eyes widening at the scene displayed below. The street was nearly flooded, with tiny mini rivers coursing roughly down the pavement, following the tiniest indents in the road and building up wherever the ground dipped. I couldn't see the curb that separated the sidewalk from the road and gulped, wondering absently how work would be the next day. Maybe they'd have to call it off...
I let out an involuntary squawk as a roll of thunder that sounded like a shotgun fired through the sky above and I ducked, clinging to the window sill. I was about to turn and flee into the safe haven of blankets when something bright caught my eye, clashing against the black waters flowing down the street. My hands found their way back to the wooden frame of the window and my breath caught in my throat.
What I saw was a small kitten, shivering and curled into itself, trapped on a soaked and sagging upturned cardboard box in the middle of the rough stream coursing down the street. I didn't need to think twice as my infamous instinct took affect.
I fled from my room before I knew what I was doing, stumbling down my hall and through my front door into the apartment corridor, not caring that I was only clad in pyjama pants, forgetting entirely about shoes. I pulled the door shut behind me, slamming it in my haste, and ran to the elevator, slamming on the 'down' button a few times and waiting a mere second before darting towards the stairs, loping down them two at a time. The lobby was dark and empty when I spilled through the stairwell doors and I ran to the glass threshold, nearly plastering myself against the see through doors in my rush. I pushed at them impatiently, my eyes scouring the streets for the tiny soaked kitten, and my fingers found the small knob that kept the doors locked.
I didn't think twice on my fear of storms, nor on the fact that I was half naked running through the streets at three in the morning... I didn't think, really. I just remembered seeing the small, fragile creature stuck in the horrors of the storm on a box that didn't seem very stable, and I remembered the overpowering urge to save the thing. I was drenched the second I stepped from the doors, thanks to the flat wall of the apartment, but I didn't care. I was splashing through the water in the direction I had seen the small creature, squinting through the impossibly thick rain.
"Kitty?" I called uncertainly, raising a hand to shield my eyes from the rain. My heart wrenched and I forced myself onward as I heard a desperate mewl, tiny and high pitched with a mixture of fear and hope. I followed the tiny meow and found the kitten, its head facing my direction, its ears perked. I breathed a low sigh of relief and stepped away from the apartment wall, my bare feet slapping against the water. I let out a tiny strangled yelp as I stepped off the sidewalk and onto the road, unable to see the dip through the dark water. My feet were fully submerged in the icy water, now, but another hopeful mew forced me onward.
"Hold on, kitty, I'll be right there..." I sloshed toward the tiny thing, my arms outstretched. As I reached it and picked it up carefully, the box floated away easily, no longer kept there by the kitten's light weight. The small animal clung to my chest desperately and I sheltered the tiny creature with my hands as I walked back to the apartment, cooing at it soothingly.
I gave the apartment doors one tug. The glass door resisted.
Well, fuck.
As if holding off until the most dramatic and horrifying moment, a huge flash of lightning burned in my peripheral vision, followed shortly after by an equally terrifying shot of thunder, making me sick to my stomach. I pressed myself to the glass doors of the building, squeezing my eyes shut and rattling at the locked entrance, before another flash and rumble drove me to start pounding on the doors, begging for someone to hear. But why would they? They were all snug asleep in their nice, comfy beds. Of course they wouldn't get up at three in the morning because they heard a door rattle and clang during a storm. Because in storms, that's what doors did best. They rattled and clanged.
I kept trying, though, until my muscles grew weary, and I sunk to my knees, my forehead making a squeaking noise as it dragged down along the wet glass. I looked down at the soaked kitten in my hands, my expression desolate, and it looked back up at me, its wide eyes impossibly blue. It gave me a tiny little mew and craned its neck to look around, its claws digging into my skin as if it were afraid I'd put it back down onto the wet and flooded pavement.
It ducked against me and I huddled over it as another monstrous clap of thunder sounded, rattling me to the bone.
I know now it seemed like an irrational thought, but at that moment, I seriously thought I was going to die. If not from a lightning bolt magically finding its way through the tall buildings of Twilight Town to my body, huddled pathetically against my locked apartment, then from fucking pneumonia. I tried to glare down at the tiny animal in my hands, to put the blame on it, but my hard expression melted immediately as it looked up at me innocently.
I allowed myself a tiny half-smile as I noted the kitten had the same colour eyes as him. Huh. Who would'a thought? I shuddered and closed my eyes as my phobia was fed by the flashing light and loud clap, like gasoline being poured onto a fire. Once I thought I had control over myself and my stupid fear, I let myself study the creature in my hands.
It looked smaller than usual kittens because its fur was plastered to its wet quivering body. It looked to be an orange tabby, maybe muted, but it had a very strange colour... It was a very light cream colour, almost blonde, with a pure white shade under its belly, muzzle, and on three of his paws. Hmm. Same colour as his hair, too. Really weird.
I had started to think of its home and how the thing had gotten itself into such a predicament, but I was suddenly hit by the cold as if it were a speeding semi-truck. I gasped and curled into myself, doubling over the kitten, nearly crushing it in my desperate attempt to keep myself warm. My breathing was irregular and my eyes were wide, blinking uselessly against the rain that still hammered mercilessly on my back.
I had to find shelter.
I staggered to my feet, still holding the kitten to my chest while ignoring its protests as it curled its claws into my flesh, and ran along the apartment building, disoriented by the rain that was falling even harder (if even possible).
I found my destination after clumsily sloshing my way through the shallow currents, leaping into the hollow doorway of the general store beside the apartment and stepping gratefully onto one of the concrete stairs, blessing the feeling of getting out of the icy water. I set the kitten down on the moist (but not flooded) step and plunked against the brick wall, hissing as it scraped against my bare back.
What have I done? Ran out into a mother fucking thunder storm at three in the fucking morning for a little kitten? Probably an orphan? I tried again to turn my fury on it, needing something to fuel the anger that would help drown out the helplessness in my gut, and again my resolve melted like butter in Mt Vesuvius.
"Don't look at me like that. This is your fault."
Mew.
"Ugh! Do you WANT to give me diabetes? 'Cause that's what you're doing! Stop giving me that sugar-coated look!"
The kitten tilted its head. If I would've known better, I would've thought it quirked an eyebrow. As if I were crazy for talking to something that couldn't talk back.
Exactly the look he would've given me.
"Why do you look so much like Seifer?!" I growled, taking the kitten and holding it in front of my face, giving it the tiniest of shakes. It merely reached forward, pawing at my wet nose in amusement. I glowered at it. "No, you're too cute to be like him."
We both ducked as a particularly loud crack of thunder rumbled overhead, seeming to send vibrations through the very air we breathed. I whimpered, and the kitten let out a tiny keen.
"You got that right..."