Chapter 3
I just wandered. I saw all of Paris, and nothing got in my way...until nightfall. The dogs came out at night to find food. That is why a vulnerable cat could no longer sleep at night; we were under constant threat from dogs and people. I will always remember the butchers, and my family...a tear wet my fur (A/N: Yes, cats do cry, if you don't believe me you should have seen my cat Phantom after my bird Jingle died...Those two were very close sniff) and I journeyed on, wary of my surroundings. Howling in the distance set me off into a run, looking behind me just to see the two bloodhounds from last night gaining. Then I crashed right into a man, who looked down at me, surprised. His face was covered in black, and he picked me up and tucked me in his cloak. He carried me off, and I felt strangely...safe. Safer then I had ever felt before. The man stopped and looked around, then entered a building, quickly descending the steps, and boarding a boat. Great. Boat means water, and water means...
I fell in the water with a great hiss. The man fished me out with his rowing stick and I gave him a look of great detest.
"Well, I'm sorry you can't stand the water. Where I live, we live right on a lake, so I think you should get used to it!"
I growled low in my throat as he brought me back into the boat. I started licking my paws because the water was just filthy. The strange man just laughed and I gave him a glare. Then he hopped out of the boat and reached back, picking me up whilst I was in the middle of cleaning my face. I rolled my eyes as he carried me into a house, setting me down on the floor, quickly getting up and then leaving. Where was he going? I just pushed the thought away and continued cleaning myself, when a big piece of meat was placed in front of me.
"Eat up," he said, and I did not need telling twice. I started nibbling at the meat, knowing that for a street cat like me, these kinds of meals were once in a lifetime. The man chuckled and went to the wall, where a trunk was located. He took out a collar, encrusted with jewels like my mother had described that had been worn by the royal cats in Persia, before she was smuggled away by a traveler and left here in Paris. The man fastened the collar around my neck, where it hung down, not fitting. I slid out of it.
"It's a bit big for you now, little one. Do you like it? I stole it in my days in Persia,"
I started to feel drowsy from so much to eat.
"Here, little one," He said, picking me up, "Erik will take care of you."
He placed me on the couch, and slowly walked into another room. I slept soundly for what seemed like the first time in my life. Now I hoped that I would not need to leave again.