Chapter Twenty-Nine: Kit-napped

Munkustrap was as cool as a cucumber (as the humans say anyway) as he advised the naïve Victoria to go and find the other kittens so they can all play together, but Demeter couldn't let that happen. Her plan up until this point was to present the collar to Macavity; she didn't actually want to steal Victoria. She was going to fool Macavity like she fooled him about Bombalurina, but now that plan was spoiled, and Demeter had to think on her paws, quickly.

"Don't go, Tori! We're friends! Friends stick together! Come here by me." Demeter spoke, only somewhat panicked, reaching her paws out to the pearl-colored kitten.

Munkustrap's eyes grew in astonishment as the young kitten began to walk over toward Demeter. Soon, Victoria was clutching Demeter's side, and Demeter placed a paw on Victoria's back, pressing her into her own body to keep her close and still.

"Victoria, go find the other kittens, now. Demeter and I have to talk." Munkustrap spoke sternly.

Victoria looked up to Demeter, whose face brightened up as she had an idea to present to the young queen-kit.

"Hey Tori, what do you say we two friends get on out of here and go to my place? We can have lots of fun together. You can eat whatever you want, you can play with all of my toys, you can jump on all of the furniture - it'll be great fun! Only for a few days of course, so your mama doesn't get worried. Munkustrap could tell her where you are for you." Demeter spoke carefully, focusing on her tone of voice, and choice of words. She crouched on her knees to be at eye-level with the kit, and grabbed hold of her paws and held them, asking, "What do you say? Will you come with me, Tori?"

Demeter didn't know if Victoria would actually go for this, this had not been part of the plan whatsoever.

Before Munkustrap could protest, Victoria was smiling at Demeter, "That sounds like a lot of fun, let's go!" she was jumping on her paws in excitement. Demeter beamed at the kitten and gave a wink, then looked up at Munkustrap, she tried to tell him with her gaze that Victoria would be safe with her, that she was still sorry for breaking his heart, and that she wished he could understand why she was doing these things.

"Demeter, don't do this. Don't take away Victoria."

Demeter knew Munkustrap's words would worry little Tori, but she also knew Munkustrap would be worried once they were gone, "I'm Tori's friend, Munkustrap. I won't let anything happen to her."

Demeter leaned her mouth toward Victoria's ear and whispered, her warm breath causing the kitten to squirm at the ticklish feeling in her ear. "We're going to play a game, Tori. Hold my paw tight, count to 10, and then run with me as fast as you can. We'll pretend we're cheetahs!" Victoria giggled, and Demeter tapped her playfully on the nose.

"I don't know what you just told her but Demeter, I swear to Heaviside, if you take her away from here I'm going to have no choice but to make you an enemy of the tribe. You're kit-napping for Everlasting Cat's sake, not to mention I caught you trying to steal her collar – that's thievery! I also know what you tried to do to Bombalurina. If you leave then you choose to be a criminal and there isn't anything I can do about that, it's up to you. Please, don't-"

Before letting him finish, Demeter turned to Victoria. "Ready, Tori? Go!" The two of them were off like a rocket. Demeter held onto Victoria's paw and the two of them ran to the Warehouse.

Munkustrap was left behind the stove, holding his face in his paws. He didn't know how to explain this to the rest of the tribe and he didn't know what Demeter was going to do with Victoria. Something else he didn't know about was how he could ever treat Demeter like a criminal. She technically was one now: she kit-napped Victoria, and attempted to murder Bombalurina. Munkustrap would always love Demeter, no matter what she did.

As Demeter and Victoria ran in the direction of the Warehouse, Demeter couldn't help the thoughts from overwhelming her mind. She was a criminal to the tribe now, she was an official enemy. This meant her home could only ever be the Warehouse, this meant any chances of repairing her life and returning home were gone, this meant the unspoken line had been crossed.

At the Junkyard:

It had been a few minutes since Demeter had run off, taking Victoria with her. Before he confronted the tribe with this news, he went to seek Bombalurina's advice.

After telling the ruby queen what had happened, she sat still for a while, lost in thought, eyes dancing from side to side as she searched for an answer as to why Demeter would act this way. There had been hope before, hope that Demeter wasn't really in love with Macavity, hope that she hadn't truly chosen that scarlet devil's side over Munkustrap's, but now with the kit-napping of Victoria, things had been thrown out of order, jumbled like a pile of building blocks that moments ago formed a fantastic structure.

Bombalurina snapped her fingers, "I've got it, Munkus." Her eyes were ever optimistic. "Demeter said to you that she wouldn't hurt Victoria, right?"

Munkustrap nodded.

"Well then there's still hope! There's still a chance that Macavity is using her like a pawn again. You said as well that there was a confrontation between you, Demeter, and Macavity. He threatened everybody's safety unless Demeter were to go with him. Come on, Munkustrap, that has to be what's going on here! Don't lose hope." She reached out to put a paw on his shoulder, and he reached his silver paw up to hers and just held it, as a thank you of sorts. If Bombalurina could still have hope after all that had happened, then so could he.

Nevertheless, chances that endangered the safety of the tribe couldn't be taken. A strategy must be devised, for if Demeter returned to the Junkyard again, they had to be ready, they had to have questions prepared ahead of time, they had to have a plan to use against Macavity to free Demeter for good, and they had to also accept the fact that Demeter really might have chosen to be Macavity's mate, no matter how defiantly against the idea Bombalurina was.

At the Warehouse:

Macavity was going over his domination plans. So far, after the successful completion of task three by Demeter, the first phase would be over. The first phase was about gaining Demeter's trust and alliance. The second phase would require more of Demeter's help, but only in the beginning; it would involve more of Macavity's effort than anything else, because the second phase was about building up his army. As for the third phase, Macavity grinned just thinking about it… the third phase was all about the physical take-down of the Jellicle tribe. All of Macavity's past years of gambling and drinking and unlawful fun would be kitten's play compared to what he could accomplish ruling over the Jellicles. After the Jellicles, who knew? Maybe he would rock the world the humans resided in… only time would tell.

Demeter was coming into the room, but there was no kitten beside her. Macavity was curious, and rather concerned, figuring something must have gone wrong at the Junkyard.

"Demeter, what's wrong? Where's the kitten?" he held onto her arms once he approached her, searching her chartreuse eyes for any kind of clue.

"Everything went fine, Macavity. The kitten I… took… is in my basement. She's resting after the journey across town." Macavity was silent. "Will you please tell me now why you made me do that?"

"Of course, my dear. But first, I must see proof that you completed your third and final task. Fetch the kitten now."

"Why Macavity, when I can show you her collar instead?" Demeter took her arm out of Macavity's grasp and held her wrist to him, the pearl-like beads glistening by the light emanating from the industrial high bay lights above them. "Let the poor thing rest."

Macavity took Demeter's wrist into his paw, looking with a stunned expression at the exquisite, dainty piece of embellished cloth which served as a kitten's collar.

"What's the name of this kitten, Demeter?" Macavity had released Demeter's paw and now walked away from her with his paws behind his own back, taking large steps.

"Victoria."

Macavity inhaled sharply at Demeter's answer. "That's too fancy for a servant; you'll have to think of something else."

Demeter instantly became incredulous, and could not quite believe her own ears. "Excuse me? Servant?"

"Absolutely, my love. How can you be my Queen without having a servant of your own? That's why fetching a kitten was your last task, now we have everything in place to move onto the second phase of my plan…" Macavity mused aloud the last part, becoming lost instantly in his own ludicrous mind.

"I can't have a kitten here Macavity, you're out of your mad-cat mind. I can't raise a kit, these surroundings, they're deleterious, I can't subject-"

Macavity was in front of Demeter in a flash. He pressed a paw against her babbling mouth. "Hush, Demeter. Everything will be okay. If you don't want her, I could always… dispose of her for you." Macavity purred sinfully, moving his paw from her mouth to the side of her face affectionately.

"No! Macavity I swear if you hurt one fur on her head-" again Demeter was interrupted by Macavity, this time his lips were physically shushing hers. He kissed her quietly.

Demeter continued speaking without giving thought to his unwelcome behavior - she was more concerned about Victoria. "Macavity, I don't need a servant. Anything I need to do I can do on my own. Please, let me take her back to the Junkyard."

Macavity looked into her eyes deeply, touching her forehead with his own. "Demeter, you and I are in charge of the operations here. I'm the Napoleon of Crime and you're my Queen, if I have guards and hench-cats, then you'll have your own crew of servants and maids – consider her your first to practice with. Start telling her what you want done and she'll do it. Use your high status to your advantage." Macavity caressed her face lovingly… Demeter was repulsed.

"We're going to be great together, Demeter. I can feel it." He kissed her once again, this one briefer than the first. He enveloped her into a hug, and she simply rested her tired head on his shoulder. "Macavity, you mentioned a phase two to your plan… I still don't know what your plan is…"

"You'll know soon, Demeter, you'll know soon." Macavity spoke in a sing-song voice: low and melodic. He swirled his paw behind Demeter's head, his fingers wiggling like worms plucked from the ground by the beak of a bird. She could not see the magic consuming his paw, or the bright colors drifting towards her head. He was causing her to feel drowsy, so drowsy that suddenly she felt like she could no longer stand.

She gave a great yawn. "Demeter, darling, let me take you to your bed. You did well today, you deserve to rest."

Demeter groaned slightly, unable to fight the urge to sleep. Macavity effortlessly scooped her up into his arms, and carried her down to the basement, where a white kitten was anxiously waiting for Demeter's return so they could play together.

As Demeter was carried to her bed, Macavity spotted the pair of eyes peering out from Demeter's closet. Once the bed became occupied by Demeter, Macavity donned his best friendly persona, and approached the gleaming pair of eyes. "Hello in there, you must be Victoria."

There was no noise, no acknowledgement from the kitten, she merely blinked once, trying to remain as silent as possible. "Don't worry, little kit. I'm not going to hurt you. I would like to ask you a favor, though. Could you come out here?"

Victoria cautiously crept out of the closet, she was wearing a ridiculous outfit, and Macavity eyed the awkwardly-dressed kitten oddly. A straw hat was crookedly sat atop her head, and she was dressed in a long pink gown, slippers belonging to two different pairs on each foot, and sunglasses bigger than the kit's face resembled the disaster that was Victoria.

"Demeter told me I could play dress-up after I napped…"

"Of course she did." It took Macavity a moment before he could continue. "The uh, favor is this. You listening, kit? Just give this note to Demeter when she wakes up, okie dokie?" Macavity tried his best to smile warmly at the kit and speak with enthusiasm. Victoria returned the gesture and replied, "Okidy dokidy!"

The snowball of a kitten grabbed the note and hopped onto Demeter's bed, curling up beside her and instantly falling asleep, still dressed in her peculiar garb.

The Next Morning:

Demeter woke up, unsure of how she wound up in her bed. There was a tiny source of warmth beside her, and she turned her head to find Victoria curled up next to her. Demeter didn't know how she would get Victoria home, but she knew she had to. She knew she couldn't honestly have servants or maids, or raise a kitten that didn't belong to her in a horrible place like this. What was Macavity thinking?

Before she could delve much further into her own thoughts, a yawn alerted her to Victoria's awakening. "Good morning, Tori." Demeter greeted.

"Morning, Demi. I have something for you." The white queen slipped her paw beneath the pillow and retrieved a small piece of paper. The heart in the golden-ebony queen's chest dropped. Macavity had said the third task was the final one…

Demeter took the note, smiling at Victoria. She couldn't see the kit's eyes. Demeter reached a paw towards the edge of the straw hat that drooped over Victoria's face. She lifted the edge of the hat up and soon saw Victoria's little face. "There you are." Demeter grinned.

"I like this hat. You should wear this hat Demi, it's a good hat." Victoria began to bounce on the bed.

"If you like it so much Tori, you can have it."

Victoria stopped bouncing in an instant, like she had frozen into a statue. Her eyes grew to a size one wouldn't think possible. "I can have it?"

Demeter laughed softly, "Yes, Victoria. You can have the hat."

Victoria was thrilled and began to dance around the room in what would in the future be her signature routine.

While Victoria danced, Demeter opened the note.

Good morning my sweet Demeter,

I have another batch of potion brewing for you in case you need it. It should be ready by the time you read this note. I shall deliver it personally once it is ready. I am proud of you, my Queen.

Macavity

PS – Teach your servant how to dress appropriately before she isn't alive to be wearing anything at all.

Demeter shivered. More potion, more threats, more of being called his Queen - she hated every bit of what her life had become.

"Vic sweetie, come over here please." Demeter called to the frolicking kitten. Amidst her twirling and spinning and dancing, most of the kitten's attire had come off, except for the straw hat of course. Its weavings were becoming loose from all the commotion it endured and Victoria tried to bite at the loose strands dangling in front of her face, before Demeter gingerly removed the hat.

"Victoria, I'm afraid our play-date is going to have to be cut short. It isn't safe for you here. Don't be scared though, I won't let anything happen to you – I just want to get you home."

Victoria's innocence was painful for Demeter, "Then we can play in my mama's den, right? You'll still be my friend?"

"Sure Vic. Just stay close to me until I get you home, okay?"

Victoria smiled, "Okidy dokidy!"

Before Demeter could question where Victoria had learned such a strange phrase, Macavity had entered the basement, pulling back the giant purple curtain.

"Good morning, ladies." Macavity greeted, carrying a silver tray with a single vial on it. A guard rolled in a cart behind Macavity with food on it, the smell of which tickled Victoria's nose.

Demeter nudged Victoria away in a manner that instructed the kit to help herself to breakfast. The energetic kitten hopped away, her place soon taken by Macavity.

"How are you feeling this morning?" He kissed her hand in a gentlemanly fashion.

"Fine, Macavity. So fine in fact, I don't think I'll need this potion." Demeter picked up the vial off the tray, and turned it over in her paw. Standing up, she kissed Macavity on the cheek chastely, and placed the bottle in a nearby drawer. Macavity became slightly puzzled. "Aren't you going to take that, Demeter?"

Demeter feigned her enthusiasm, "Of course, Mac! I'll take it when I feel I need it most – no sense in wasting a perfectly good potion, is there?"

Demeter winked, satisfying Macavity thoroughly. Demeter continued acting out her charade as she had since the day she arrived. "Don't worry Macavity, I'm not going anywhere." She sat on his lap while his arms coiled around her waist. "Thank you for taking me as your Queen." She placed a gentle kiss on his lips, trying to make it seem as genuine as possible.

"You're a fantastic feline, Demsy. I love you."

Not able to return those words and the feelings beyond them, Demeter simply smiled appreciatively.

Macavity stood up abruptly, nearly knocking Demeter to the floor. He was pacing with newfound energy; he seemed anxious and excited at the same time. Demeter did not know why.

"I think the time has finally come! Phase two can now begin!" the red fiend finally announced loudly, so loudly in fact that Victoria almost spit out her breakfast in surprise.

"Phase two?" Demeter questioned the tom, bringing him down from his high spirits, only slightly.

"Yes Demeter, and there's only one small part of it that I need you for, then you can practice ordering around your servant like I suggested last night."

"Macavity, you said my tasks were done, you liar!"

"No, Demeter, listen to me!" the clever feline pleaded for her attention. "Please! All you have to do is visit the Junkyard. Just deliver a message for me, that's all!"

"That's all?"

"That's all, honest." Macavity clasped his paws together, palm to palm.

Demeter had a thoughtful expression on her face, "On one condition. Let Vict- I mean, my servant, accompany me."

"No, Demeter. That's not how it works. Servants don't go with you places. They don't take trips, they're not your friends, they can't protect you. They do chores and nothing else." Macavity sounded forgiving as he spoke. "You'll get the hang of it, I promise." Before Demeter could protest further, Macavity was leaving the room, his guard close behind him.

Demeter ran for the curtain, wanting to catch up with Macavity but as she tore the curtain back, the shadows on the wall told her that Macavity and his guard were already near the top. "What about the message? What am I delivering?" she shouted.

A voice called down the stairway: "Look at the note!"

"Now how can that make sense? I already looked at the note." Demeter mused to herself as she approached the note that was still on the bed, the one that told of the potion, picking it up off the ground and looking at the words. To Demeter's immense astonishment, as she looked down at the note in her paws, the letters that once told her of the potion to be delivered cringed and stretched, morphed and changed their form, and soon a new message was written on the paper:

Ask Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer to come back to work for me. If they agree, tell them to report to the Warehouse no later than tomorrow morning. If they deny my offer of employment, then they will die. Don't be gone too long or your servant will face the consequences. See you soon, Demsy.

'He must be addicted to threat-making like he is with almost everything else that's bad for him' Demeter thought to herself…

"I'll be back soon, Victoria. Stay in this room." Demeter told the kitten as she stuffed the note in her collar.

"Where are you going?" Victoria asked curiously.

"Just to deliver a note. Now promise me you're going to be a good kitten and stay here." Demeter held her paws atop the white kit's shoulders, and the kitten nodded.

"That's a good girl, I'll be back before you know it. If Macavity comes down here, hide under the bed. Don't be frightened, this is still my place, remember? You can eat whatever you like, you can dance around the room, you can jump on the bed, you can catnap for hours, just be safe." Demeter said, backing up toward the curtain.

Victoria giggled and ran to the closet. She began digging through the clothes in there, obviously feeling up for another round of playing dress-up. Demeter held the curtain steady as she whispered too low for anyone to hear her, "Be safe, little Vic."

Then, Demeter headed to the Junkyard.

A/N: I apologize for my out-of-character Victoria. I chose her because she seems to be one of the older kittens, definitely older than Jemima at least, who we haven't seen yet… and even though she seems too giddy and too playful for her character, she's still very young, so maybe that's how you can justify it in your mind, that's what I'm doing anyway. Good luck and happy reading/reviewing!