Chapter 24 – Unrecognizable and Misunderstood

There stood the gold and black queen next to Macavity, a mob of cats and kittens beneath them who lunged, hissed, spit, and caterwauled. Some were turning against each other. Others looked intently up at Demeter. As she looked out, she could see two mounds of orange and black fur, motionless. The crowd had forgotten about them, leaving the Jellicle the last one watching them, praying they were okay, as tears fell down her horrified face.

When she finally drew her attention away, she saw the form of a cat she loved dearly on the other side of the street, a silver gleam of hope in the black night and firey rage of the cats that waited for their next kill. Her mouth opened, and as though she were watching herself from afar, she screamed and screamed for him to come for her. But he didn't bother to turn around. She tried to move away from the ginger cat beside her and crawl over to where the silver tabby could see her, but every step she took made her feel like a weight was pulling her down more and more, until she couldn't even move.

She gave out one last cry, hoping that he would hear her finally. But to her surprise, when he turned around, there was a look of annoyance on his face. As Demeter was picked up by Macavity and held over his head, above the rebellious crowd, she watched in alarm, no longer able to speak, as her would-be savior simply walked away. He didn't even bother to look at her.

That's when Macavity threw Demeter's body down into the pit of claws and teeth, and fiercely glowing eyes. No one could hear her cries. All she knew was pain. And when she thought she would finally die, a blur of red, ginger, and orange jumped down, and the crowd backed away. She thought for one moment she would be saved.

He turned on her, smiling deviously, almost as though taunting her. She was terrified and paralyzed, unable to defend herself against the predator that stood over her. Finally, he went in for the finishing blow…

Demeter opened her eyes, again surrounded by orange fur. Panicked, she moved to get away, whimpering to herself and pushing against the cat in front of her, but the "OW" from Mungojerrie reminded her of where she was. She shot up and backed up against the wall, as she gasped for breath. Mungojerrie coughed slightly and rubbing his stomach where Demeter had pushed against. She saw red forming under the bandages, and felt a knot in her stomach at having re-bled one of his wounds. Rumpleteazer woke up and spun around to see her brother holding his side.

"I'm so sorry," Demeter breathed, still trembling. Rumpleteazer seemed to ignore Demeter's apology as she watched her brother with worry. (He didn't seem to be doing well.) Nuzzling her brother, she then jumped up on a trashcan and dove in. Demeter sheepishly walked up to Mungojerrie and nuzzled him on the cheek as Rumpleteazer had done. "I'm so sorry! I had a bad dream…"

He sighed, and then tried to laugh lightly, though he was hardly his old self. "If you're always like that, I'd feel sorry for your mate." Demeter bit her lip as she looked the cat over. Then, without warning, she began to cry. "Aw, no, I didn' mean to make you cry! I was just jokin'! I'm fine, really!" But Demeter was convulsing with the tears she was trying to hold back. "Gah…I hate it when queens cry. Come on, love. Please don't cry! I was jokin' really!" Demeter hiccupped and tried to pull herself together.

When Rumpleteazer came back with a half eaten sandwich, she looked between the two, oblivious to what had happened. "Teazah, I made 'er cry," Mungojerrie said, looking pleadingly to his sister.

"Don' be mean to 'er, Jerrie," Rumpleteazer said with a stern look. She inched over to Demeter and gave her a quick hug, patting her shoulder, before tossing Mungojerrie the sandwich.

"I didn' mean to make her cry!"

"Just eat your food, Jerrie. It was all that was there. You need your strength." Mungojerrie looked pleadingly to Demeter. She tried to avoid eye-contact, but it was obvious he was trying to get her attention. When she looked up, he gave her a silly smile, clasping his paws together in a "please" position. Demeter gave a shaky laugh, and tried to smile to him. She managed to stop crying as her wounded friend gave a satisfied nod and began picking at the food he was given.

As Mungojerrie ate, the two queens watched him with sorrow and pity, as though they were expecting him to pass out at any moment. When he looked up suddenly (probably because he felt the eyes boring into him), he chocked down what food he had in his mouth and sighed. "Come on, you two! Look, I'll be as good as evah when we get Demetah back to 'er junkyard…okay?" The two nodded, and let the tom eat the rest of his breakfast in peace.

Demeter tried to occupy her time by scoping out the neighborhood. She was looking for something… anything…that was familiar. "Maybe if you call for them," Rumpleteazer offered, sitting next to the gold queen. "I don' think I can smell any of Macavity's agent around. And if we're close by, your friends might 'ear ya and come get ya!"

Demeter nodded, biting her lip. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves some more, then braced herself. But as she was about to call out Munkustrap's name, the dream crept into her mind, and she lost her nerve. She didn't want to think about the possibility of being ignored when she really needed him. However, she had to call someone as Rumpleteazer was watching her. "Bombalurina!" she shouted. "Mistoffelees! He always seemed to have a knack for appearing out of nowhere," she explained to the tabby queen, who nodded in approval. "Alonzo!"

"What about that one chap you're always tellin' us about? Spinaltap?" Rumpleteazer suggested.

"Munkustrap," Demeter corrected. But when she went on to explain why she was afraid to call for him, she knew it would sound insane. So instead, she turned back to Mungojerrie. "Are we anywhere nearby?" she asked.

He looked up from licking his paws. (Apparently he liked the meat, but the bread was discarded on the side.) "Oh, pretty far for a cat to walk injured," he said somewhat moodily. He then made to get up, but Rumpleteazer raced to his side to help him. Demeter followed and went to his right side. Rumpleteazer's fur was getting covered in blood from his freshly opened wound that was seeping through the bandages. He looked very pale…

"Did you enjoy your breakfast?" Rumpleteazer tried for a cheery effect. It came out like a mother cat talking to her kitten.

"Thank you, Teazah," Mungojerrie mumbled. "I feel a bit bettah," he admitted. This made Rumpleteazer puff up with pride.

The cats continued on their way. But they were hardly moving at lightening speed. On the contrary, they seemed to adopt a slow amble, as the two tired queens supported the injured tom. After a while, Demeter felt she was about to pass out, both from the pain of her own injuries and the burden of carrying Mungojerrie. Sure, she would gladly take on this burden, but she was never that strong of a cat, and was now cursing herself for her weaknesses. Everyone was always taking care of her, and she needed to be strong now for them. She must not pass out!

So Demeter decided to change the subject. "How did you end up at Macavity's?" she asked. She had never bothered to ask them, and frankly had no idea why she considered this a good time to ask. "You're too nice to work for him."

Both the tabbies smiled sadly. "We were kicked out of our 'ouse," Rumpleteazer explained.

"The mum of our owner didn't like us much," Mungojerrie continued. "We broke 'er Ming vase, and…uh…that was the last straw for 'er."

"Though it made a very nice sound as it crashed to the floor," Rumpleteazer tried to say brightly. "But, after that, we were on our own for a while. It was just me and my brother…so we got really close." At this, Mungojerrie weakly batted at his sister's ear. She turned to frown at her brother. "We weren't that close to begin with," she went on to say. Mungojerrie laughed lightly as this before groaning and holding his side. Rumpleteazer frowned at her brother, but he simply shrugged.

"We were all each othah 'ad," Mungojerrie said, ignoring his pain. "I couldn' 'ave my sistah getting 'urt, so I found Macavity's tribe. It was bettah than being on the streets…at first." The two looked away from each other, any last attempt at trying to be cheery wiped away.

"Then we just got stuck there," Rumpleteazer said finally. "Even if they were brutish. We didn't want that to 'appen to us again."

"Want what…?" Demeter trailed off before she could continue her inquiry, but they seemed to understand her want of knowledge. Mungojerrie glanced at his sister before looking to Demeter.

"You're very innocent, Demetah," said the tabby in a very serious tone, causing the gold and black queen to become transfixed on the suddenly wise Mungojerrie. "You don't deserve to live the life we 'ave." Demeter nodded in understanding, before looking forward again. She felt bad for her friends. Surely, the Jellicle tribe would accept them in! But then again, she didn't even know what would happen to her…

After a long while of silence, Demeter began looking around the area. Some things started looking really familiar. And the scent of the area…were they close by? "Bombalurina!" she called quite suddenly, causing Mungojerrie to start and Rumpleteazer to cover her ear with her free paw. "Deuteronomy! Somebody!" She was sure she knew this place. Maybe not from any time recent, but from a long time ago…

Rumpleteazer looked over to her brother, then to Demeter. Then she thought to try her paw at it. "Mipcophenclees!" she yelled.

Demeter burst out laughing suddenly, causing pain to her sides where her wounds were deep. "It's Mistoffelees," she corrected between giggles. What was wrong with her? Was she so tired she could fall into a fit of giggles at the mispronunciation of a name? After regaining a bit of sanity, she tried again. "Alonzo!"

"Try Snookerdoodle," Mungojerrie suggested. Demeter nodded and took a breath, ready to call the name before stopping and realizing what he had said. Again, she laughed with the same over-zealousness. Mungojerrie smiled weakly. "Well, I don't know what their names are!"

"Skimbleshanks!" Demeter tried.

"Close enough," Mungojerrie shrugged. Rumpleteazer bit her lip, trying not to laugh. For a moment, the three were acting normal, as though there was wrong. But they all stopped at the same time, the fur on the back of their necks standing on end.

"Macavity…" Demeter said in shock, and Mungojerrie sniffed the air. But before he could confirm the Jellicle's warning, the two queens raced over to an alleyway, practically dragging the injured tom with them. They gently placed Mungojerrie on the floor, before they started looking around nervously. The raspy breathing of the tabby tom was all that could be heard at the time. Demeter wore a look of horror, while Rumpleteazer seemed very worried and agitated.

"He's going to take me back," Demeter whimpered. "What if he takes me back? He'll have me killed for sure." Rumpleteazer seemed to shrink down at the thought. They couldn't fight him off. What were they going to do? She was so close…he couldn't take her back! He couldn't! She wouldn't let him.

The three looked around frantically as a sinister sounding, un-catlike laugh reverberated though the air around the alleyway, the sound bouncing off the walls and echoing the menacing laughter. Demeter was curled up, on the ground, fur on end, eyes wide open in fright, as Rumpleteazer raced over to her brother, hissing, and standing over him, ready to protect him if need be.

A drop of blood fell to the ground between Demeter and the other two, and they froze for a moment. Then Demeter looked up at the fire-escape above them.

She had never seen that look in any cat's eyes, not even for Macavity. He may have never been "all there", but he was certainly gone now. He looked as though he had lost all reasoning, and the wild look in his eyes that bore into her sent chills down Demeter's spine. She thought if she looked into his eyes any longer, he could kill her by pure hate alone.

Demeter tore her gaze away from that insane looking glare and raced out of the alley so quickly, Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie only saw a blur. She could hear the sounds of paws hitting the ground behind her. The adrenaline pulsing through her veins carried the frightened queen down a few blocks, across streets where cars barely missed them, near houses where Pollicles barked furiously at them, and into an uninhabited back-alley. It was here that Demeter's adrenaline gave up on her, as it wasn't enough to carry her beaten body anymore.

Macavity pounced, grabbing onto her around her waist, and they tumbled and spun on the ground, skidding to a stop, Demeter scraping her nails raw on the pavement. Macavity was at this point on top of her, his paw around her neck. "I'm not going to hurt you," he hissed, though he was handling her roughly at the moment. "Come back, and I won't hurt you."

Demeter did her best to push him off her with her hind legs, scratching into his belly until Macavity withdrew momentarily from the pain. "MUNKUSTRAP!" Demeter screamed, as she had given herself just enough time to dive behind some large garbage cans against a wall. Macavity lunged after her, but since Demeter was a small cat, he wasn't able to fit in the tiny spot she had hidden herself in.

He grabbed Demeter's paw, and tried to forcefully pull her out. "I'm not going to HURT you," he said fiercely. "Just come back with me!"

Demeter pulled back, whimpering, "You're going to kill me! Let go of me! Let me go!"

"I can't do that," he said in a deep voice that cut right through her. He tugged forcefully on her arm again, and Demeter let out a yelp, trying her hardest to back up into her hiding place again. Macavity was covered in bites and scars, which still seemed to be oozing blood that dyed his fur even redder, yet he still pursued. What was wrong with him! Demeter knew that if he didn't regain his senses, they would both surely die: He from his wounds, she from his uncontrolled wrath. And injured as he was, he had never seemed stronger! Whether he wanted to kill her or not, one wrong move from either of them, and that would be it. She didn't want to die…she didn't want to die.

"MUNKUSTRAP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. But that seemed to make him angrier. Then her mind went to the ones she knew were closest. "MUNGOJERRIE! TEAZER!" But they could hardly do anything in their state. "BOMBA! Please…anyone! HELP ME!" Macavity managed to grab a stabbing hold onto Demeter's arm, and the tug of war ended with Macavity dragging her out of her hiding place. "NO!" she cried.

A flash of fur, and his grip on her arm was released. Demeter scooted as far back into her hiding place as she could and curled herself into a ball so tight, she thought she would suffocate herself, if not open her old wounds. It hurt to even breathe. With her head tucked away, all she could hear was the noises: yelling, screeching, and the sounds of a cat fight. Some voices called to each other. She thinks she heard some calling her name, but she did her best to block that out. Demeter yelped in shock when something was slammed hard against the trash cans.

She peeked for a moment from her little shelter of a ball to see flashes of fur; black, white, red, orange, and eventually silver. She closed her eyes after that as the sounds continued to carry on in her head, and her mind brought her back to the moment all the cats were piled on top of her and Mungojerrie. Se could see the wounds, the helplessness of her friend, all over again. "Stop!" she screamed as she relived her nightmare. "You'll kill him!"

The shuffling and shifting began to slow down, until mercifully, it stopped. Demeter didn't want to look up. She didn't want to see Mungojerrie hurt and bleeding on the floor again. She didn't want to see the frightening form of Macavity again. She didn't want to see any of it. "He's badly hurt," said a female voice between catching her breath.

Demeter peeked from her little ball and saw a black paw visible between the trashcans she was hiding behind. It was lying limp. Who was that?

"He shouldn't have been fighting," said a strong male voice. At this, Demeter shot up in a sitting position. So many emotions were brought up with the sound of that voice, she thought she was going to burst, not knowing what to do but whimper. After all she had been through; everything was finally flaring up on her with the sound of that voice. "Get them to Jenny, Skimble."

Demeter nervously licked her left paw. She bit at the pained paw, before getting up, sitting down, and shuffling her feet. Something! She had to do SOMETHING but she was too scared to go outside. All the while, there was scuffling, grunting, and groans of pain, then the sound of paws walking away.

Then a shadow took over the opening of the hiding place. "Demeter?" said a soothing, shaky voice.

"I hate you!" the words came out like an explosion from her mouth, as she submitted to her shaking and shivering. She didn't even recognize her own voice. She couldn't even recognize her own emotions. "Where were you? I needed you!"

"I…I couldn't find you," said the voice, shaky and obviously hurt. "Please come out, Demeter. You're safe now. We drove him away. He won't come back for you." Demeter didn't move. The owner of the voice knelt down and looked through the small opening, his green eyes meeting with hers, and the shock on his face upon looking at her turned into one of sadness. He seemed to be looking for words to say, but was at a loss. After a moment, he composed himself. "Please. We all missed you so much."

Demeter fidgeted upon seeing him again. The words didn't do much to quash the surge of emotions ready to explode right out of her, but rather, agitated it more as she bit nervously at her paw. "Don't do that," the silver tabby said to her with worry in his voice, as the queen began to taste blood on her left paw. Demeter thought for a moment that he reminded her of Rumpleteazer…

The thought made her jump up, and she raced out of her hiding place, brushing past the fur of the tom who had been trying to coax her out. Demeter saw the fuzzy form a red queen watching her from the side, seeming shocked and surprised at the same time. But nothing seemed clear anymore. "Which way did he go?" she asked frantically, looking around the area. "He'll kill them if he finds them! You have to find them!"

"Demeter?" the red queen asked, gently approaching the shivering gold queen. "Who are you talking about? The tribe is safe. They'll be okay." Demeter stared at the bloody footprints that were leading away from the area where she left her two friends. With a sigh of relief, she finally gave into the exhaustion that had been nagging at her since she left her prison, and fell into the open arms that would finally bring her back to safety.

A/N: Oh, I feel I'll have alot said to me after I post this...Ahem..Anyway. I am a might upset at the fact that the hit counters reset. BUT I'll live. I was afraid to post when the stats crashed, or whatever it was that happened. But it gave me time to work out the frames of the last chapters. For those of you wanting to know, It should be atleast 33 chapters long, give or take a chapter, depending on if I want to seperate or merge certain chapters. I originally planned for around 25, but I added alot because Macavity ended up intriguing me more than I thought he would. I hope you stay with me for the time being!

Tiger Lily: I'm glad you liked the chapter! BUT I wonder if anyone noticed about the content of the chapter and the title of it.
Demo: Thanks for asking how long it would be. It made me sit down and actually type out the ending I had in my head, and gave me a rough estimate for myself. Oh, and I'm glad they were funny! I missed funny with all the seriousness going on!
Enkeli-kitsu: Give a person a kitten, and suddenly they don't review! ((sniffle)) I see how it is. Just kidding. Hmm...Happy ending? But I love the dramatic so much! Haha..heh...yeah, you'll see ((wink))