A/N: Warning – there's character death in this chapter.
Forever Until Now
Chapter 12;; Deadly Knife
Macavity narrowed his eyes. "I'll see you tonight… at my farewell party, you know?"
Victoria didn't know where Macavity was taking her, or for what reason she was even walking with him. But he'd told her to trust him and so, grudgingly, she decided to do as he said. Until he showed any reason that he was untrustworthy anyway…
"I'm taking you to meet someone," he told her finally as they walked. "A… friend." Victoria blinked curiously at him, but said nothing on the matter. The thing was, she hadn't thought that Macavity even had friends. Or perhaps that was why he had hesitated before uttering the word.
"Wait here," he told her suddenly, stopping. Victoria stumbled, not expecting the sudden halt, but regained her grace easily enough and nodded silently. He padded on, leaving her behind in a spot far from the main part of the Junkyard. It wasn't as comfortable or familiar there. Various items of furniture had been discarded all around, and Victoria made herself at home on a tattered old armchair. She sneezed at the cloud of dust that rose as she sat on a cushion.
Macavity took a while to come back, but he did come eventually. Victoria almost hadn't expected him. In tow, he had a queen… a queen that looked uncannily like…
"What? But you look just like me!" Victoria exclaimed without thinking. It was true – the queen behind Macavity was pure white, her every feature impossibly similar to Victoria's own. Just the white fur was a shock to Victoria, because Jellylorum had told her that pure white fur was very rare. To have pure white fur was a precious privilege, for whatever reason.
The look-a-like smirked at Victoria. "Yeah, I've been told. Good to finally actually meet you." She extended a paw, and Victoria shook it as an instinctive response.
Looking closely, Victoria saw that there were a few differences between them. She had green eyes, not blue, and a much rounder, sweeter face. Yet, she didn't act sweet. She acted more like Macavity, just… Victoria searched for the word. Well, less evil.
"How do you know me?" Victoria asked the queen.
She smiled secretively, as if laughing inwardly at an inside joke. "Oh, I know lot of things, darling," she winked, tinkling a laugh. Victoria raised her eyebrows, but decided she wasn't going to get a proper response from her.
"Then… what's your name? Since I don't actually know you and all, even though you somehow know me…" She kept her voice level with just the tiniest bit of sarcasm.
"The name's Alyana. Don't go forgetting it," Alyana smiled brightly. "And seriously? If you want to know why I know you, then I'll tell you." Victoria perked her head. "Later, that is." Victoria rolled her eyes.
"Done…?" Macavity inquired. "I have plans to carry out, you know…"
Alyana turned on him. "Now, don't be so impatient," she scolded him. Macavity sighed, and Victoria stared at the pair. How did they know each other…? "Macavity, it's been days since I last saw you, and when you finally come find me, you offer me no explanation? Come now, I think I deserve one."
Macavity glanced warily at Victoria, who looked intrigued. "Can't this wait?"
"No."
"I've been busy," Macavity said, looking Alyana squarely in the eye. "Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't concern you."
Alyana sniffed. "Well, you could've warned me before I went searching for you. I was worried."
Macavity let out a laugh. "Worried? Ridiculous. Why would you be worried about me?"
She stared at him seriously. "You know well why. You need at least one person to care, silly."
Macavity lowered his eyes. "We'll talk later…right now, we need to help Victoria here."
Victoria was startled at so suddenly being the focus of the conversation. She smiled nervously. "I don't even know what you're trying to do here, Macavity."
"That's how he operates," Alyana shrugged. "Now, your problem…I heard you and Plato aren't going so smooth anymore?"
"What? Where… how did you hear that?" Victoria cried, sending Macavity an accusing glare. He shrugged.
"It wasn't me, kitten."
"No, it wasn't him," Alyana affirmed. "I just know things." She winked, which only succeeded in unnerving Victoria.
"I'm not going to ask," she sighed finally. "I just want to know what you have planned, Macavity."
He grinned, showing his yellowed teeth. "I have something great planned," he stated, looking both queens in the eye. "For all of us." Alyana tilted her head, an interested gleam in her eye. Victoria just frowned warily. "You see," Macavity added. "The Jellicles… they don't care for me. I'm not going to last here much longer."
"The hell you aren't!" cried a new voice. "I'll see to it myself!" Misto stalked out into the opening, ears back and fur on end. Macavity frowned at the tuxedo tom.
"And what do you think you're doing?" he drawled, cocking an eyebrow. Misto wasn't shaken, and Victoria had to admire him for it.
"I'm stopping you from whatever you're doing," Misto snapped. "Your plans never end well – I know it! Someone always gets hurt. I can't let you do that again." He sent a fleeting glance towards Victoria. "No, I won't."
"Fool!" Macavity sneered. "You didn't even wait for me to reveal my plan…"
Misto made a face. "Oh well. I know you. And I know that it'll end up ruining everything for someone." He sent another glance towards Victoria.
"If you're worried about Victoria," Macavity said, waving his tail at the white queen in question, "Her everything has already been ruined. It can only get better from here on out." Victoria lowered her eyes.
"Not if she gets mixed up with the likes of you." Misto turned to Victoria. "I'm trying to do the best for you here," he said gently. "Macavity… he's a bad idea." Just then, he noticed Alyana. After a moment of just staring in shock, he spoke. "I'm not even going to ask…" Alyana's lips curved upwards and she let out a little giggle of amusement.
"You always were the most annoying little tom, Mistoffelees," Macavity growled, rolling his eyes. "You try to be so noble… you think you're on the side of good, don't you?"
Misto raised his eyebrows.
"Well, good isn't always right," Macavity laughed. Victoria pricked her ears. "Sometimes, you have to side with 'the likes of me'."
"Evil is sexier than good anyway," Alyana put in flippantly. Macavity smiled a very dark smile. Misto rolled his eyes at them.
"Whatever. Macavity, I really hate to ruin your plans," he said sarcastically, "But why don't you come with me? Your father will be very interested in what you have to say for yourself. After all… you promised you wouldn't go near her." He gestured towards Victoria, who stared back at the tuxedo tom in confusion.
"I couldn't stop myself," Macavity sighed. "You know how it is. You feel it yourself, don't you?"
"What the hell are you two on about?" Victoria snapped.
Alyana gave her a small smile. "Darling, it's best not to ask. You're sheltered – oh-so-sheltered. We can keep it that way for a little bit longer. Macavity, go with him. I'll stay with her." She wrapped an arm around Victoria, who flinched at the contact.
"I knew I wasn't going to last much longer," Macavity mumbled as he followed Misto away. Alyana kept a tight hold on Victoria for a few moments, then she stood up.
"C'mon, Victoria. Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Victoria asked as she got up, brushing the dust off of her rear.
Alyana raised her eyebrows as if it were obvious. It was obvious. "We're following them," she grinned.
"Why exactly do we need to follow them?" Victoria grumbled. Alyana was making a huge deal out of staying hidden, and it was beginning to grate on Victoria's nerves. She barely knew what was going on.
"You'll see," Alyana replied simply, not even bothering to look over her shoulder. Victoria sighed and hurried to catch up with the other white queen. "Gosh, that Mistoffelees fellow smells good!" Victoria gave her a strange look.
"That's not an answer. And don't try to change the subject!"
"It's good enough. You need to hear this. And I wouldn't mind knowing either, but that's beside the point."
"I need to hear this? Why do you say that?"
Alyana rolled her eyes. "Curiosity killed the cat. Can't you just be… you know, a little patient? Wait… shut up. We're here."
"The vicarage wall?" Victoria mused, puzzled.
"Well, they are here to see Deuteronomy. Now shut up! Or else I'll throttle you, alright?"
The pair snuck round to a place where they had a good view of the entire scene. Old Deuteronomy sat in his usual place upon the vicarage wall, frowning down at the cats before him. Misto was seated on the ground with a triumphant air, and Macavity…well, Macavity looked bored. How can he be so disrespectful to Deuteronomy? Victoria thought in horror. Munkustrap was there as well, sitting atop a garbage can. He watched everything with a wary eye.
"I did warn you," Deuteronomy sighed. "Yet now, you have been brought before me again… barely any time has passed, son."
"It's good to see you too, father," Macavity said dryly. "Did it ever occur to you that I'm not causing some sort of trouble?"
"I know you, Macavity. And I know that you're not here on a social visit."
"But father! Don't you wish to see me? I miss you…" He grimaced a little as the sarcastic words flowed out.
"Stop it, Macavity," Munkustrap ordered quietly. "Misto, what seems to be the problem here?"
"Well… I was worried about Victoria, you see," Misto frowned. Munkustrap narrowed his eyes and Deuteronomy nodded his head silently. "She's been acting strange, you see. She stumbled into the Junkyard one day looking high on catnip… yet, I realized that catnip wasn't the case there. She'd been hypnotized, pretty heavily too."
Macavity looked away, eyes hardening. "So that's what it's about, is it? You accusing me, Mistoffelees?"
Misto ignored him and continued. "Well, I immediately assumed that it was Plato, as they were…well, together…"
Victoria made a tiny noise of surprise and distress, which caused Alyana to thump her heavily. "Shut up."
"But I couldn't see why Plato would do such a thing. I mean, she really was… head over heels for him… you know." Misto blushed a little, and Victoria cringed in her hiding place. "So I did some investigating. I was worried. I went looking for Victoria… and I found her with Macavity."
"Ah… so that is what you are here about?" Deuteronomy inquired. Misto nodded.
"Yeah. Macavity's been messing with her head!" he accused.
"Have not," Macavity muttered, his tail flicking in annoyance. His golden eyes smoldered.
"I'm not going to bother to get into that argument," Misto growled. "But you can't deny it."
"Look. I might have messed around with little Etcetera, but Victoria? Never."
"You know full well that you did, and why. Admit it!" Misto cried.
"Victoria?" Deuteronomy asked quietly. "Macavity, I have to admit that considering the queen involved, it's highly likely that you are the culprit here."
Macavity made an angry noise. "Why can't you just trust me?"
Misto rolled his eyes. "You haven't exactly given us any reason."
"Shut up, brat."
"Don't talk to me that way!" Suddenly, Misto's paws were flashing with lightning. Victoria found it impossible to keep watching, because the lightning was impossibly bright. Everyone present let out cries of pain.
"Misto! Please!" Munkustrap yelled. "Control yourself!"
Misto could be heard grumbling as the scene returned to normal. "I'm sorry, Munkustrap," he apologized. "Macavity provoked me."
"Yes, we can understand," Munkustrap sighed.
"Well, that was an exciting interlude," Macavity said dryly.
"So, Macavity… tell us what you did to Victoria." Deuteronomy's voice was firm.
"I might have accidentally dazzled her. A long time ago. Back when the love of her life was dancing, not some loser of a tom."
"I'm the magician here! Dazzling people… that's my job!" Misto protested quietly.
"Yeah, as we just saw." Macavity rolled his eyes. "But that aside… it was an accident. And yeah, I've been stuck in her head ever since, but what's the problem? I kinda like her. Once you get past the whole Plato thing, she's a good queen."
What's wrong with Plato? Victoria thought indignantly. Aside from the fact that he left me for Etcetera… Etcetera! Of all queens he could've gone after. She was deliberately ignoring the fact that Macavity was confessing to 'dazzling' her. Whatever that meant.
"You've been… stuck in her head. Oh, Macavity. And you didn't bother to mention this in our earlier discussion?"
"I didn't think it was necessary. After all… it was an accident. Do you get me?"
"It's never just an accident with you, Macavity," Munkustrap said, raising his eyebrows. "Tell me, how do you accidently dazzle someone?"
"Well, you just saw it in action. A different type of dazzling, of course, nonetheless…accidental dazzling!"
Munkustrap snorted.
"But you were with Victoria just now?" Deuteronomy asked, brow furrowed.
"And he was planning something!" Misto put in.
"Ah… is that so?" Deuteronomy sighed. "I did warn you last time, my son…do you remember?"
Macavity stiffened. "You're sending me away, aren't you…?"
Deuteronomy hesitated, and then nodded. "I'm sorry, Macavity, but I simply cannot allow you another chance. You've proven to us that you're far too dangerous and being around others will put them in danger. I can't let you hurt the Jellicles. You have to go."
"That's not something a father does to a son." Macavity's eyes were hard. "This is wrong."
"I know." Deuteronomy's eyes filled with regret. "I wish it could have worked out differently, believe me. But nothing's going to work."
"I wish I wasn't your son," Macavity spat, eyes flaring with anger. Munkustrap hissed.
"It's an honor! Don't say things like that."
"I'm free to say what I want… especially since I'm not a Jellicle anymore, it seems." Macavity narrowed his eyes. "I'll see you tonight… at my farewell party, you know?" He stood up and turned around.
"Wait! Macavity!" Deuteronomy called. The red cat stopped in his tracks. "I'm sorry. And please don't go near Victoria again."
Macavity simply smiled suggestively and left.
"Good riddance," Misto commented. Munkustrap stared after his brother thoughtfully.
"I know what you mean."
"No… don't speak of him that way." Both toms looked up at Deuteronomy in surprise. "He wishes he could be better… but his magic prevents him from living among others. He's bitter."
"I have magic, and I can live among others," Misto argued. "I'm pretty sure Macavity's just messed up in the head."
"He's very intelligent, actually… pity. Such a waste, losing him like this," Deuteronomy sighed. "But it can't be helped. The Jellicles come first, always."
"We've heard enough," Alyana muttered. Victoria jumped, startled. "C'mon. Let's get out of here, before Macavity returns and finds out we're gone."
"I thought he wasn't meant to come near me…"
"You really think he's going to obey his father? Let's go."
"Wait! Alyana… what's going on?" Victoria's eyes were wide and pleading.
Alyana sighed. "I'll explain everything to you later. Alright?"
Victoria nodded. "Fine. Keep that promise."
Night had just fallen, and the Jellicles were about to settle down. The news on Macavity was being kept strictly secret – only a few cats knew, but it wouldn't stay that way. Not after that night.
A couple of cats murmured in surprise as Victoria trotted right into the middle of the Junkyard. She seemed a little different from usual.
"Not again," Jemima murmured, eyes wide. Evidently, she thought that Victoria was acting weird again. Victoria didn't say anything though – she just kept her head low, her face hidden in the shadows.
Just then, a flash of red seemingly just appeared right behind Victoria. Macavity gripped her tightly around the waist, a knife gleaming at her throat. She let out a cry of shock and tried to twist away, but Macavity was far too strong. She went limp in a faint, the knife still at her throat.
"Well, Jellicles," Macavity said pleasantly. "Does this sight please you? Hmm?" To the white queen, he added in a whisper too quiet for anyone else to hear, "Don't worry, Victoria…" Her lips twitched.
The Jellicles were frozen. None of them had expected this – they didn't know what to do. Finally, a scream was heard. "Munkustraaaaaaaaaaap!" Etcetera wailed. The silver tabby shook his head, and warily moved towards Macavity and Victoria.
"That isn't such a good idea," Macavity warned, indicating the knife. It gleamed terribly in the silvery moonlight.
"Don't do this, Macavity," Munkustrap said quietly, his voice almost pleading. "Please…"
"Oooh, the Jellicle Protector reduced to begging. What a pity, what a pity," Macavity sneered. Munkustrap looked away.
"Demmie? Is there anything you can do?" Munkustrap suggested quietly to his mate. The golden queen moved forward, but Macavity shook his head warningly, cutting the blade slightly into Victoria's throat. She visibly flinched, and Macavity chuckled.
"I just have to prove I'm serious," he breathed into her ear. She relaxed again, a tiny frown on her face.
"What are you trying to do?" Munkustrap cried.
"I'm showing you that you should regret forcing me to go," Macavity snarled.
"STOP!" It was strange to hear that particular voice raised so loud. Old Deuteronomy hobbled into the Junkyard, Misto trailing behind. The tuxedo tom's eyes were wide with terror. "Stop… Macavity, you can't do this."
"You can't give me orders, old man," Macavity snapped. "Stay back, or she gets hurt."
Deuteronomy stopped. "Macavity… son…"
"I already told you I don't want to be your son," Macavity hissed. "So stop calling me that!"
Deuteronomy just shook his head sadly.
Just then, another cat stepped forward. Sparkling green eyes… eyes to match Macavity's own. The red tom frowned as Plato got to his paws, a strange expression on his face.
"Stop it, Macavity… are you really going to hurt her?" Plato's eyes were shining protectively.
"Bast… don't tell me you broke free?" Macavity swore. Plato glared.
"Don't hurt her… I won't let you!"
"Oh, Heaviside!" Macavity let out a grunt as he took the full force of Plato's stare. He retaliated quickly, his golden eyes flaring, and the two toms engaged in a mental battle, both breathing heavily. The Jellicles stared in utter awe at what was going on between them, and Deuteronomy let out a groan.
"This is meant to be kept secret," he said under his breath.
Just then, Plato let out a terrible cry of pain. He twisted away as Macavity stared him down, swearing loudly.
"Still too weak," Macavity taunted.
Plato snarled in fury and turned around. "Shut up!" His eyes seemed to have dulled slightly, but just because he was exhausted mentally didn't mean he was out of ways to attack Macavity. Putting his all into the movement, Plato flew across the Junkyard, shouting defiantly. Macavity's lips pulled up in satisfaction. His expression turned malicious. As Plato skidded to a stop in horror, Macavity gripped the knife tightly.
"I'm sorry, Victoria," he breathed gently into the white queen's ear. She stiffened, her eyes opening, just as Macavity slashed the deadly knife into her throat, the blood soaking into her pure white fur as she slowly went limp.