Chapter 5

The next morning, everyone was at the dining room enjoying their breakfast. Well, almost everyone. One of the cats, Babbit, was missing.

Penelope was the first cat to notice that Babbit hasn't arrived at the dining room yet.

"I wonder where is Babbit," she said to Kitty. "It's not like he doesn't want to eat breakfast." Kitty was sitting next to Penelope at the main table.

"Yeah, he's usually here by now." Kitty replied while drinking her glass of milk.

"Beats me." Benny shrugged indifferently while eating a toast. "Maybe he had a rough night." He was on the opposite side of the table, facing Penelope.

Kitty looks at Claude, who was quietly sitting on the opposite side of the table, to see if he knew where Babbit was. Claude just shrugged and went back drinking his orange juice.

George, who was sitting next to Benny and Claude, was looking at his phone. He had just completed his breakfast. Sylvia, who was sitting next to Kitty and Catstello, was eating bits of pieces of sausage on her plate.

Sylvester, who was sitting at the end of the table, was taking turns smoking his cigarette illegally and drinking his coffee.

"So how bout those Longhorns-" Sylvester begin with the lit cigarette in his right paw.

He was interrupted by a slamming door.

The felines looked up from their activities to see who have entered into the dining room. Turns out it was Babbit, looking tired. He also appeared to be in a somewhat foul mood.

Babbit went over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup of coffee. After he got his cup of coffee, Babbit went to the main table and sat down next to Claude without saying a form of greeting. He didn't even touch his coffee cup.

Babbit must had experience some kind of haunting. Claude thought to himself while the others ate their last pieces of breakfast in awkward silence. Sylvester secretly put away his cigarette.

Unfortunately for Catstello, he didn't realize how bad Babbit's mood was. He asked bluntly across from the table, "Hey Babbit, did you drink at least six coke cans again? You know those aren't good for you, right?"

Benny hides his snickering by putting his right paw on his mouth. Sylvester put his head down to hide his own snickering. The other cats just looked at them at disbelief.

Babbit would usually ignore Catstello's thoughtless questions, but instead, he snapped, "Does it look like I drank six cokes to ya?"

"Uh…" Catstello hesitated.

"Do I?" Babbit asked loudly, nearly yelling.

"No." Catstello shrank back to his chair.

Babbit also noticed Benny and Sylvester were snickering and asked them quite irritably, "What's so damn funny?"

"Nothing, Babbit." Benny said gently not trying to show his nervousness. "Me and Sly were laughing at some chick we saw at the bar yesterday who was with some cat-"

Babbit cutted him off impatiently. "I don't want to hear that, especially early this morning! Keep that smut talk to yourselves." He suddenly stood up to leave. "Now if you excuse me, I need to smoke a cigarette." Seconds later, he was gone. Sylvester and Benny stopped snickering.

"I thought Babbit doesn't smoke." Sylvia said quietly after Babbit left.

"He usually doesn't," said Catstello wearily. "He smokes when he's stressed out about something."

"Wait," Penelope said with interest, "I thought smoking was addictive."

"Only for some cats," Catstello said trying to sound intelligent. "Other cats, like Babbit, can smoke time to time and never get addictive to that smoke. I forgot what you call it."

"Nicotine?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, that's the stuff."

…

"Okay, Penny, I'll be ready in ten minutes!" Sylvia called out to Penelope from the restroom.

"Okay, I'll be waiting in the lobby." Penny called back.

Sylvia was checking herself at the mirror to make sure that her purple dress, black 1920s hat, and black shoes were all adjusted properly.

While she was fixing her bow necklaces, Sylvia suddenly feels if someone was touching her shoulder. Surprising, Sylvia doesn't pay it no mind. She was thinking that it may be the wind from outside since she had her window half open.

Sylvia was getting ready to reach for her purple purse when something in the mirror catches her eye.

It appeared there was another reflection on the mirror besides Sylvia's. The reflection appeared to be of a petite gray cat with green sparking eyes. She was wearing 1920s attire, a black dress and a black hat. She also had a weary and solemn expression on her face. The gray cat also had some kind of wound on her ear.

Calmly, Sylvia looks at the gray cat on the mirror for a minute, then turns around to see if anyone else was at the restroom. When she looks back at the mirror, the gray cat's reflection disappeared.

Not sure about what she had just experience, Sylvia quickly gets her purse and walks quickly out of the restroom.

When Sylvia meets up with Penelope in the lobby, Penelope can't help but notice Sylvia's shocked expression on her face.

"Oh, it's nothing really," Sylvia said trying to hide her anxiety of the experience. "I think someone's playing a stupid trick on me."