Chapter two: Nightmares and a Raised Body Count

After that unnerving encounter, I decided to explore the neighborhood. By the time I got home, it was dark. As I approached the front door, I noticed something I hadn't seen before. There was a rectangular space, not a dirty as the rest. It was as though a nameplate had been there once.

"Maybe this place was once a doctor's office," I thought, scratching at the door. "That would explain the chemical smell."

The door squeaked open.

"Welcome home Misto!" Gustav bent over and picked me up. I went limp in his arms, purring. He carried me into the bedroom and set me on the bed. "I know you've had a stressful day bud," Gustav smiled, setting up a record player, "so why don't you just sleep here and listen to Mahler's resurrection symphony."

I purred gratefully as the dark, yet soothing notes entered my ears. I don't know how some cats sleep without music, because I sure can't. Gustav scratched my ears and headed back to do some more work.

I had just drifted off, when I heard an odd whistling sound. Getting up, I hopped off the bed and padded into the hall. I peered around and I saw the whistling was coming from a luminous orb, hovering above my head. It started to move slowly, drifting away from me. I followed it as it sidled up the stairs.

I hesitated at the top as door I had somehow never noticed before creaked open. A strange yellow light shone through it. I was just thinking it might be a better idea to head back to bed, when the door dissolved before my eyes. Now intensely intrigued, I wandered inside the plain white room, only to have the entrance to the hall crumble away behind me. The crumbled pieces swirled up and shifted. I walked a few paces back as the pieces solidified to form a white coated, middle aged man, his face as black as night.

"Come here little kitty," the man crooned, pulling something out of his pocket. "Look what I've got for you."

Cautiously, I stretched my neck forward, sniffing. Then I purred happily. The man slipped the rhinestone collar around my neck. Suddenly the collar contracted, gripping my airways briefly shut. I gagged, astonished as the collar changed into a steel choke chain. The end of the chain was clutched in the white-coated man's hands. That was when the white room changed into a veterinary office. I kicked at the chain, trying to get it off. The man whipped the chain as though he was casting a fishing pole and slammed me into the ceiling. I seized a hold of the wood with my claws, terrified. The man started pulling the chain, trying to reel me in. I gripped the plank tightly, but then the room started falling apart around me, reveling pools of lava below. The man's eyes were suddenly visible, yellow and silted like a cat. I yowled in fear as he yanked me towards him, towards the pools of lava.

With a thunk, I hit the floor. Startled, I leapt to my feet, staring around. I was still in the bedroom and the symphony was only in the second movement.

"It was only a dream," I thought, panting for air. "It was damn vivid for a dream."

The door to the bedroom opened up. I hissed, but stopped when I saw the black and gold mane coon sidling into the room.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, a touch too harshly. "You can't piss here anymore, I live here." The way he eyed me gave me another idea and I asked, "Has there been another killing?"

"How did you-" the mane coon stopped and scowled, "Yes, there's been another killing, but how did you know?"

"Educated guess," I smirked, stretching, "And here's another. Was the victim another tom?"

"Yeah," he growled, "This time it was Alonzo and he was only a little bit older than Munkustrap. Throat torn the same way, as though somebody was testing an ice pick."

"Tell me one thing," I asked, remembering the smell on the first victim, "Was Alonzo neutered?"

The mane coon smirked, "Nah, but he couldn't keep it up anymore."

"Hmm," I mused, walking around him, heading towards the bedroom door.

"Is that all you've got to say?" the mane coon asked.

I ignored him.

"You know you're starting to get on my nerves, wiseass," he growled, following me.

I headed back onto the porch, breathing in the cool night air.

"Where is Alonzo's corpse now," I asked, as the mane coon came up behind me. "Could you show me?"

"Sure," he grunted.

"Hey, what's your name?" I then added with a touch of relish, "Smartass."

"Rum Tum Tugger," the tom admitted, "And I've had more babes in my time then Henry the eight."