Ooh! This is getting so good! What will happen next? No seriously, I have no idea. I'm just going with whatever happens to pop into my mind... :)

Chapter 26 - A Sudden Realization

A powerful strike across my face did not break my jaw as Macavity intended, but my resolve was definitely beginning to weaken.

"Where is she?" he roared. "I don't give a damn about the younger one, but Demeter, the beautiful one, where is she?" He struck me again, and I moaned in pain.

"I don't know, I don't know. I've never seen her. There's no one called Demeter in our tribe..."

"You lie..." hissed Macavity. He grabbed me around the throat and hoisted me into the air, slamming me against the hard stone wall. My feet dangled uselessly in mid air. I couldn't breathe. "Where is Demeter?"

"Don't...know...not...Jellicle..." I sputtered.

Macavity threw me to the floor with a careless ease. He stood back for a few minutes, watching me gasp for breath with a serene interest, as one might calmly examine an interesting curio. After allowing me to catch my breath Macavity strode over to me, flipped me onto my stomach with one easy movement, and twisted my arm behind my back so hard that I thought it would break instantly.

"Where is Demeter?" He asked in a low, threatening voice.

"I don't know! I swear, I don't know!" I cried out in pain as a sickening crack of breaking bone rang out. "Please! You have to believe me!" I begged. "Stop hurting me!"

"Then tell the truth!" Macavity roared. "For once in your dammed Jellicle life tell the truth! All of you Jellicles are the same! You're weak! You protect somebody, even if it means getting hurt yourself! Well, Jellicle, how far will you go? Tell me, how much will you endure for the sake of your friend Demeter? Torture? Death? What will you go through to protect another out of loyalty? Loyalty. What is it? It's nothing but suffering at the hand of one for the sake of another! It's not worth your miserable life to protect hers!" Macavity's voice became quieter, gentler, but there was still a raw power hidden beneath it. No matter what this monster said, he was not to be trusted. Macavity knelt by my side, and lifted my head up in his paws. I tried to turn away but his grip was vicelike. "This can all end. All you have to do is tell me where Demeter is. Then there will be no more pain. It will stop. I won't hurt you anymore. You're at my mercy. It's not worth your life to protect hers. Show me that you're different from all of the Jellicles. Show me that you have some self respect, some dignity. Don't be a martyr. Just tell me where Demeter is."

I finally broke down. "She's is the junkyard, with the others. They keep a close eye on her, to make sure nothing happens to her." I hated myself for what I had just done, but I wanted the pain to stop.

Macavity smiled, and whispered in my ear, "Thank-you."

Macavity leaned over my face, and I got a glimpse of his hidden eye. It was a pale, foggy blue. The same colour as one of my bi-coloured eyes. Suddenly it occurred to me. That hazel of Macavity's other eye...it was similar to Munkustrap's, yes, but...

I gasped in horror. I felt a sudden hard thump on the back of my head, and I remembered nothing for a very long time.

When I awoke, I was lying out in the street on my back. It was raining lightly. Drops of water fell onto my face mingling with the blood that poured out of my nose and mouth, and dripped onto the pavement beside me. I ached all over. I had the feeling that Macavity had not simply thrown me onto the street after knocking me unconscious. I did not care to know what other indignities I had suffered after being knocked out. I hoped that he had only beaten me.

I gazed at the cloudy sky above me. The streetlamp cast a gentle glow on the pavement around me, and a mild wind scattered withered leaves along the wet sidewalk. Tears leaked from my blackened eyes as I thought of the trivial occurrences that I had been so worried about these last few months. It had now just occurred to me that none of that mattered. I needed to go apologise to Misto, because there was no point in trying to spite him or make him jealous. I was acting like a kitten. It was time to grow up. I was nearly four, nearly an adult, and I needed to act my age. I was so sick of the drama. It was this horrible event that Macavity had forced me to endure that had knocked me to my senses. Suddenly I remembered something terrible. Macavity knew where Demeter was. My mother. Those two words hit me like a shockwave. I needed to go get help from the others.

"Just swallow your pride and do it, Calypso." I murmured as I forced myself to my feet. Summoning all of my strength and courage, I began racing back towards the junkyard.

*hides* Please don't shoot me! I only made Macavity beat up Calypso so that she could have her sudden realization of what an idiot she really is.

Ha! Bet ya didn't see that plot twist coming! Demeter and Macavity are really Calypso's parents! Sorry if that twist is a little Mary-Sueish and totally cliché, but I finally put in that tie-in to Calypso's eyes. See? It wasn't just a pointless detail, it was foreshadowing! :)

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