CHAPTER ONE

"S-Stop!" I cried out, struggling against the two men who had their arms around me. "What do you want from me? Let go!"

They said nothing and merely tossed me into a non-descript black van with tinted windows. Inside, I was bound and blindfolded, heightening the fear the brewed within me.

I didn't know what was happening. I was on my way home from work when they grabbed me out of nowhere. They never said a word. It was eerie. Half their faces were covered by the strange robe-like garb they had on. All that was visible were their mouths.

"What do you want?" I quietly sobbed. "Is it money? I – I don't have any!" I was neck deep in student loans and was barely making rent!

The men remained silent, until the van finally stopped. I couldn't even tell how much time passed while I wondered how I was going to die and who was going to miss me.

"Take her to our Saviour," one of them instructed, pushing and pulling me into the unknown.

I could feel my tears soak into the course cloth that scratched my face and was glad that I hadn't peed myself. I couldn't figure out why they would even want me. I was nothing special. I didn't have any enemies. Could it be human trafficking? The thought struck fear deep into my core. How could something like this happen to me?

Was I…

Was I going to be sold?

Suddenly, I was pushed down on to my knees and a gentle hand stroked my cheek. It was soft and warm, but nothing could take away the fear.

"She is perfect. He will love her." It was a woman. She didn't sound malicious, at all. In fact, there was something innocent about her voice and the way she spoke.

When the blindfold was lifted off my face, it took me a moment to realise that I hadn't died and gone to heaven because this woman with her long, flowing blonde hair was stunning. There was just enough light in the room to form a halo around her.

"Rika…" A blue-haired male stepped up behind her. He was in the same brown robe, but his hood was drawn down. "Are you sure we should do this? You could kill her!"

Rika merely smiled. "It's fine. Don't you trust me? You want him to be happy, too, right? We all want him to be happy."

He looked pained as he stared at my pleading eyes. "Rika…"

"Take her to the circle." She stroked my cheek one last time before instructing her men to rag me over to what appeared to be some sort of satanic ritual. There were strange markings all over the stone floor, drawn with red liquid. In the middle was an altar with suspicious stains on it.

"N-No… No, please! Let me go! Please, let me go!" I sobbed, vision blurring, until it was almost impossible to see.

They strapped me down on the altar and left me futilely struggling.

"Begin!"

I could hear them chanting all around me before bright light exploded in the room. It was quickly accompanied by sharp agony. It felt as if I was being torn apart from the inside out.

I screamed and screamed until I could scream no more. My voice was gone and I was lying on the cold, stone slab. My body had gone numb. The pain was nothing anymore – just bursts of nothingness.

Was I still alive?

Had I truly died this time?

As my vision blackened, I could see the blue-haired man, one more, crouching down and reaching out to me.

When I woke up, I was on the streets. My head was so fuzzy that it took me several moments to even remember my own name.

It wasn't until I stood up did I realise how wrong everything was. The world was enormous and the ground was so close to my face. It smelled strange.

I lifted my hand and froze.

…

… What…?

Why was it a paw?!

"MEW?!" I yelped, jumped and landing back on my four legs.

No…

No, no, no, no!

This was all a terrible dream – a nightmare!

I was kidnapped and turned into a cat?!

That was impossible. There was no such thing as magic, so the only reasonable explanation had to be that none of this was real. I was dreaming!

That, or I was losing it!

"Mew… Mew…" I sadly paced the alley, hoping for this nightmare to end. "Meeeew!"

I curled up into a ball and began to cry.

How could I continue living like this?

This was wrong.

All I wanted was to go back to my mundane life.

I tried to find my way home, but everything looked so different that I became scared after several blocks of going nowhere. I quickly returned back to my alley.

As night came, every sound made me jump. More than once, I had to hide from wandering canines and rowdy people who began to kick garbage cans. They narrowly missed striking me along the way.

Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky the evening after. I was starving after not eating or drinking the previous day and was caught unaware as a group of college kids walked by. They were very obviously drunk and seeing a defenceless kitten in an alley, they immediately gravitated towards me.

The redhead female picked me up first, laughing t how dirty and pitiful I looked before dropping me back on the ground. That was where a male delivered a swift kick to my soft stomach.

I rolled from the force, stopping when I hit the wall.

With a soft mew of pain, I tried desperately to get away, but another kick left me dazed and in pain.

I curled up as tightly as I was able to, wrapping my tail around my body to try to protect myself, but it was useless. I could feel my consciousness fading as I was hit over and over again.