Just as a warning to anyone reading this, this story does contain references to depression, past abuse, self-harm, and possibly PTSD. If any of that is potentially upsetting to you, it might not be the best idea for you to read this story.

Chapter 2

This can't be happening. how could this have happened? Rachel had finally stopped screaming enough to feel the sting of Audrey's claws on her. She realized that she was holding her too tight and loosened up her hold.

Why did this happen? How did this happen?

Before she process what was happening, she heard the front door bust in, and was about to run for the bedroom and grab her baseball bat-which Howard had given them as a housewarming present-when she turned around to see Noah and Riley come in, armed with their own bats.

"What's going on?" exclaimed Noah as his eyes dashed all over the place.

Rachel didn't answer him immediately, and instead tried to calm herself down by taking several deep breaths. It didn't help, and all she could do was blabber out words that she was sure didn't make any sense. She felt numb, and wanted to curl up in a ball and hide.

Her girlfriend was a cat. Audrey Gail Jensen, the woman that Rachel loved more than life, was a cat- and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

Riley lowered her bat and walked over. "Rachel, what's going on?"

It took several minutes, and both Riley and Noah setting Rachel down on the couch before Noah decided that, despite it nearly being lunch time, it was best everyone have some coffee, and then they could try and get an answer.

Soon, they had gotten several cups of strong black coffee into her, and Rachel had to admit it had calmed her down somewhat. At least she wasn't a blabbering idiot anymore.

"You good to talk now?" asked Riley calmly and Rachel nodded.

"Why'd you scream?" As she asked the question, Noah had finally noticed Audrey and smiled.

"Rachel, where'd you find this kitten? She's adorable!"

Rachel pinched her nose before she began with, "I woke up this morning, and found her on my bed…"

She took a deep breath and finished, "It's… it's Audrey. She's… been turned into a kitten."

Silence came over them for a little, before Noah started laughing. Rachel frowned and was grateful his wife wasn't laughing at this very serious matter.

"That's a good one! There's no way that's…" Noah started but ending up screaming as Audrey leapt from Rachel's arms and attacked his face.

"Get her off me! Get her off me!" he yelled as Audrey started to bite his nose. Rachel rushed over and with Riley's help managed to get Audrey off of Noah.

"She understands what you're saying, Noah. And this definitely real," said Riley as she took it in.

That's what set Noah off.

"No way! That's not possible!" he yelled out as he covered up his bite with his hand, "Things like this just don't happen! Audrey is not a cat!"

As he spoke the words, Audrey hissed from Rachel's arms.

Noah would've continued his rant, despite Audrey being poised to attack him again, if Riley hadn't chosen at that moment to grab Noah's head with her hands, and kiss him deeply. Rachel had to laugh at how direct she was.

And how Noah was shocked at first, but eventually started to kiss her back.

When Riley broke the kiss, she said, "Noah, sit down, and let handle this."

He gave a goofy grin when he replied, "Yes, Ma'am."

As Noah sat down on the side of the couch furthest away from Audrey and Rachel, Riley said, "We need to make some calls."

She let the words hang there for a few moments, before Noah finally asked the question on everyone's minds.

"So…who gets to tell Howard?"

"What do you mean my daughter's a cat?!"

Rachel had made the calls to everyone they deemed necessary. Emma hadn't been called. Despite being friends with her, it had been too big a risk to call her. She might think they were crazy.

And after Howard arrived, only a few minutes ago, Rachel had decided to be the one to inform him that his daughter was now a kitten.

It went as well as they had expected.

Howard paced back and forth in the living room while Rachel and Riley listened to him rant from the couch. He hadn't really said anything that hadn't been said so far. But Rachel had never seen him this upset before.

Just then, a tiny red dot came into the room, and Audrey pounced on it. Rachel had to suppress a laugh as Howard pinched his nose and said, "Noah, stop teasing Audrey!"

Noah snickered a little bit before Amanda walked out of the kitchen. She took the laser pointer away from him, but not before giving him a slap to the head.

"Keep doing that, and she'll be pissed when she's human again."

Rachel got up from the couch and gently picked Audrey up as Howard asked, "And?"

The blonde girl put the pointer in her shirt pocket and replied, "You know I'm not a Veterinarian yet, right?"

Riley piped, "You're the closest thing we have, and you wouldn't have called us crazy."

The older girl rolled her neck a little and replied, "Audrey is perfectly healthy, as far I can tell. She is absolutely adorable and…she can understand what we're saying."

Before Rachel could ask how they could change her back, Noah snarked, "Of course she can! Look what she did to my face!"

Noah, you are NOT helping matters, thought Rachel before Howard angrily said, "You probably had it coming!"

Noah incredulously at the Minister, and asked, "Excuse me?"

"I know you. You're always that loudmouth who never knows when to keep his trap shut," replied Howard, his breathing becoming heavy.

Riley got off the couch as she said, "Howard, you need to calm dow…"

"Don't tell me when to calm down!"

"Hey! Don't talk to my wife like that!" yelled out Noah as she stepped closer to Howard.

"Why don't you not speak at all? It saves us all the trouble."

Rachel could do nothing as the two of them started a shouting match that caused her to drop Audrey to cover her ears. Howard snapping…the yelling…it began to take her back to horrible places. The constant shouting and beatings…Jason's absolute lack of any testicular fortitude to stand up to Pamela…

She started to breath heavily as everything began to blur. Rachel felt like screaming again, unable to focus on anything, or control what was happening.

"Come with me," the voice came with an arm, that gently took her and helped her into the hallway, away from the apartment. Rachel sank to the ground and put her hands over her ears and shut her eyes. She wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.

"Rachel, look at me," said the quiet voice.

She took her hands off of her ears and slowly opened her eyes to see Amanda kneeling in front of her.

"Rachel, you ain't at that bitch's house. Pamela ain't here, ok? You're safe."

Her breathing started to slow down, and Rachel tried to calm herself down. She was NOT at the bitch's house. Pamela was NOT there, and she could NOT hurt her anymore.

She looked at the older girl and asked, "What do we do?"

"We wait until everyone calms down, and then we try to find a solution…is that Audrey?"

Rachel turned around to see Audrey sneaking out the door of their home. She quickly yelled out, "Audrey, go back inside! It's not safe!"

As Rachel started to get up, Audrey seemed to just stare at them.

She quickly called out while patting her knees, "Come on, Audrey! Come here, girl!"

Maybe Audrey would listen, or maybe she'd just go back inside.

Instead, Audrey took off like a bullet down the hallway. Rachel instinctively grabbed Amanda as she tried to get up. She didn't remember what happened after that, because then both of them were on the floor, and the other girl had screamed out in pain.

Rachel looked behind her and grimaced. Amanda was clutching the nubs, hidden under her tactical pants, of where her legs had used to be. The tops of her prosthetics were barely covered by the pants legs.

She looked up at Rachel and said, "Go get her! I got this!"

Rachel nodded, got up and rushed down the stairs, in the same direction that Audrey had gone. To her horror, the door was open. Her breathing became quick and short as she ran out the door and started looking around. Her heart sank as she realized what had happened.

Audrey Jensen- her girlfriend and most recently, her kitten- had ran away.

What do you think? One more chapter to go.