Corruption
I woke up curled into a ball, no pillow below my head, just my hand. My tail locked me into my position until it began to move again. I stretched out, exercising my fingers. I slowly got up and put my clothes back on.
I walked out into the courtyard again. Remembering the man telling me to come outside early for our first day. I was ready for the work though. Somehow, I felt like I could finish at least today. Luckily for me, I wasn't the first one out. Who else would be out but Vok? He smelled the flowers, picking them too. I walked over to him. He noticed me, and stood up. "Here you go." He says. I blushed. "For me?" I asked. He nodded. I took the flowers and smelt them. Roses. "Thank you." I told him. "How did you sleep?" he asked me. "Good. Did you wake up in that position?" I carried on. "What position?" he asked. My tail somewhat answered for me. It curled around my right leg a bit and twitched. He looked at it. "Oh, yea. I woke up in a ball." He realized. "So did I!" I exclaimed. "That's to weird." He said.
Everyone else began to file into the yard.
I whispered to him: "Vok, I think they gave us more than just ears and a tail. What if they gave us more? Maybe they gave us actual cat genes." His was surprised. "What, no way!" "Just think about it." I told him. "Remember last night, when I hissed at you? And when you were brushing my hair, how I purred? And just this morning, how we both woke up, curled up like that?" He cupped his chin in his hand. "Yea, now that you've explained it, it is sort of weird." We looked around a little. The different species had already separated into their groups.
I saw the dogs starring at us.
I poked Vok and pointed at them. He examined them. "No, you don't think…" I cut himself off when we noticed them walking towards us. I clinched my fists. When the dogs stopped in front of us. we found ourselves on the ground, looking up at them. "What do we have here?" asked the boy. "Looks like two cats." Answers the girl. Vok glared at them. "What do you want, Nexy?" I turned back to him. "You know this girl?" He nodded. "She lives in my acre. Not to far from my house either. So what do you want? Still haven't answered me." The boy smiled. "Can't you tell? We're dogs, your cats." "Yea," I said. "What about it?" "We're only here to make sure your life here is miserable." Snapped the girl. "Go ahead and try it." I said. She growled at me. I hissed back at her. I flinched my hands, and drew out my "claws", which must have also been morphed to me. "Whoa, whoa!" said Vok as he held my arms back. "Don't stoop to her level Heje, it's not worth it." I very slowly eased back, still on my guard.
"Yea Heje, you wouldn't want to lose one of your nine lives!" Nexy screamed back at me. I hissed again. "Pull her back Vok! Yea, get that trash away from her!" ordered the boy. "You shut up." Ordered back Vok. "Make me!" he argued back. Vok let me go and did the same thing I did. We both hissed at them. They barked and growled at us. Right then, I was sure everyone in the courtyard was watching us.
We were at each other's throats by the time we were all forced off each other. I had scratched Nexy before we were to far away to reach. "I'll kill you!" she screamed. Vok and me were thrown into a small, dark room. But we could see fine. I began to feel guilt build up. I had lost myself too easily. Vok had put his head into his knees. A man walked into our cell. We both looked at them. "Tell me," he began. "Why did you fight those people?" I began to respond. "Sir, they threatened us, we were just defending ourselves." "I don't want to hear it." He shook his head. "I'm giving you this one chance. But if I see you act up again, in the slightest way, we will have you released. Do you understand me?" We both shook our heads. "Then get back out there. And work extra time for your actions.
We both walked back out into the courtyard. Everyone was already gone. A man was standing in the middle of the walkway with a pen and paper, when we reached him, he didn't even look at us. "Name?" he asked. "Heje Icanash." I answered. "Female," he starts. "Cat, your first day is on the pole. Glenna will escort you there." A women in a big red dress came out of a door from across the courtyard. She took me by the arm and forced me to the hallway which she came from. "You disappoint me young lady. How late you are for your work. Did you know the men are beginning to throw their bottles at the stage? Waiting for you? Their waiting for their pussy cat!" she slammed at me. "Sorry, I had a little set back." I apologized. "Well sorry doesn't give the men what they want, and those set backs of yours will only get yourself killed!" I didn't say another word until she brought me behind a red curtain, where other girls were sitting at mirrors. My mind began to race, and think, recognize what was going on. But I couldn't quite put my finger on it. One of them notices me. "Finally! I've gone out like 4 extra times because you weren't here! Go, just go out there already!" Glenna pushes me towards the curtain. "Just do what they want, but trust your instincts." She tells me. My mind was still running. When she pushes me through the red curtain, I hear screaming, cheering, and whistling. Everything rushes through my mind. The pole, "young lady", Madam Glenna, mirrors, red curtain. For a reason, I don't think she was referring to the fact I was a cat when she said "Pussy cat." And all I see is a pole. One word goes through my mind.
Prostitute. Vok found me curled up in my closet, bawling my eyes out. "Oh my God, Heje are you ok?" he asks as he knells next to me. "No." I barely get out. "What happened?" he demands. My tail rubs against his arm. He scooted closer. I cried into his shoulder. "They, they, they made me dance Vok." He looked confused. "Dance? Well that's not to bad." He says. "Pole dance." I add. "They prostituted me. They made me strip down, in front of all of those men." Vok rubbed my back. "Heje, I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine the pain you must be going through right now." His tail curled up over mine. "Why are they doing this?" I scream. "Why are they doing this to us?" I hugged him. "I don't know Heje." He said. "I don't know. But I know its hard for you. I swear, I swear I'll do anything to help you through it. Ok?" I silently nod. Vok brushes my hair again. For the first time, I felt security in his arms. I hugged him tighter, and purred for a second time. Our tails bumped against each other and twitched."Vok, I never even learned your age." I tell him. "16" he responds. "Yours?" "16" I repeat him. "When's your birthday" I ask him. "July 10th." He says. "No way," I smiled. "mines on the 10th too!" We both laughed. I snuggled up under his arm and leaned against him. Safety, shelter, security, runs through my mind. Vok, the only other person outside my family besides Niccoli that I care about, sits next to me, in a closet.
Midnight struck. Vok had gone to his quarters an hour ago. I said I needed to go to sleep. I had even curled up into a ball, because in knew I would only wake up like that anyway. But I couldn't go to sleep. Vok kept ringing through my mind. I closed my eyes, and pictured him, sitting alone at the beach with me. The water rose, and sank at our feet. The sun reflected off the water, and into his eyes. I lay against his leg, lying in the sand. He was stroking my hair like always does. The sun went down, and the sky was pinkish-orange. My stomach exceeded a weird feeling. One I had never felt before. It was stronger than the feeling of security I had before.
Far stronger, far closer than that.
I no longer felt scared, or alone. I felt connected to someone. This is what I was missing in life, this made me feel happy. This feeling, it could only be one thing.
Love.