Fourteen
The area swirled around him. He put his paw to his face, and felt something sticky on his cheek. There was blood on his paw. His silver fur was matted with sweat from the fight. He gasped as the Pollicle lashed out, and kept going, and then someone else was there, a blur of black and white...and then a blur of orange. 'No!' he yelled, as the screams from across the yard met his ears again and again. Blindly he rolled over underneath whatever was on top of him, trying to crawl away, trying to regain his footing, but his vision was shaky, blurred almost. He realised all of a sudden that one eye was half closed, he could feel the blood dripping down the side of his face as she threw herself towards him and held him as he sagged, wordlessly, back to the floor.
The orange blur whipped past him and he heard another yell, saw Alonzo and Tugger in the corner, trying to save Demeter. He saw her lash out, saw the orange cat's grip tighten around her waist as he attempted to drag her away...then his attention focused on the red queen above him...little Electra was licking his cheek, whispering, "Daddy...Daddy," to him, while the older red queen was holding his head in her lap, crying as his other eyelid flickered closed...
Mike came round, disturbed. The others were all looking at him, none moreso than Demi, who was slowly piecing together what was happening to them. No wonder he had felt a connection to the sisters. He had been there for most of it, he realised with a start.
As he dragged himself into a sitting position, Dr Haynes gestured to Adam. "Your turn," she said firmly. She was just as curious as all of them, Mike thought, as he gave up his seat on the chaise for Adam, who lay down and let Mary work her magic on him this time.
He could see it so clearly. There was his beautiful Jemima, looking at the moon. There was Munkustrap, fighting a Pollicle. Macavity, trying to steal Demeter out from under the watchful gaze of Tugger. Macavity was pushing Tugger to one side, and Alonzo jumped across to help, noticing Bombalurina and Electra sobbing at Munkustrap's side. With a yell Alonzo pounced on Macavity, who swung round, knocking the black and white tabby off him, and advanced, claws unsheathed, and paw raised to do some serious damage. He pulled himself upright, and his last view was of Tugger helping Demeter to her feet and running with her into the shadows of the junkyard. Then he looked up again to see Macavity snarling over him, 'I'll get you where it hurts most," he heard him say, and as Macavity jumped over him, he suddenly saw Jemima in the middle of all the confusion...and Macavity had her in his clutches before he could get to his feet. He saw her gasp for breath as Macavity held her around the throat...he heard the scream coming from his own throat, watched the scene, felt himself leap forward...
He woke up still screaming, pummelling the couch with his fists, as the others looked on. It was starting to get more and more complex as they regarded each other's hypnosis, through which they were hearing each other's thoughts, dreams, and emotions played out in the strictest detail.
Demi was the first to speak. "So..you...and you?" She looked between Adam and Jemi, the latter of which blushed furiously.
"It would explain why we never went any further than we did, Demi," She looked up to see Adam's eyes locked on her, and she smiled in agreement.
"I heard you say something the night we dated, that was similar to what came up in my trance state," she explained, and Adam looked puzzled. "You said you would always be my protector," she added shortly, and he nodded, not knowing what to make of it.
"So...we should really get your sister and Tucker over here, shouldn't we..." Mike stated, and Mary looked surprised.
"I have a feeling this Tucker you speak of may be the clue to the whole puzzle, actually," she said thoughtfully. "Although I can glean from what I've heard about this Munkustrap and Bombalurina, you two were quite close. But this Tugger..I don't know much of him."
"The lion maned cat," Demi added, "He was with me the whole way through the fight." She got up. "I'm going to call Bomi." She pulled out her phone and hit a few keys before pressing the phone to her ear. "I'm going to call Tucker," Adam added, watching Demi on the phone. He pulled out his own phone and dialled Tucker's number using speed dial.
In his pocket, Tucker's phone shrilled. From his seat reading the newspaper, he shifted, and retrieved the phone. "Adam? Why are you calling me from upstairs?" He hollered, before picking up. "Hello Adam, what is it this time? Did you wet the bed?"
"Tucker, you are on loudspeaker, thank you very much for asking me that." Adam's irritated voice came down the phone. Tucker chuckled.
"Oops, sorry. Hope you're not with a girl."
"I'm with three actually." Came the terse reply, and Tucker's eyes widened. That was a one up for Adam, the sleazy son of a...
"Tucker," Adam's voice broke through his thoughts, and he returned his attention to his brother on the other end of the phone. "Can you get down to Woodward Street in Bloomfield Hills?" His voice was urgent.
"When?"
"Right now."
"Sorry, Adam, look, I know I woke you up this morning, and I disturbed whatever you were doing, but come on, this has to be some kind of joke," Tucker said, getting up and starting to pace towards the stairs. "I swear to you," he continued, walking along the landing, "If I come in your room and I see you in bed without a girl just 'cos you couldn't bring yourself to tell me I'm more of a stud than you..." he flung open Adam's bedroom door and saw nothing but a empty room.
"Tucker, I'm being serious. I'm here with the two girls from the bar at Dr Mary Haynes office."
"The hypno-therapist?"
"Yeah the hypno-wait what did you say?" Adam's tone changed.
Tucker ruffled his hair with a hand. "Look I didn't wanna tell you bro," he began.
"Tell me what?" Adam's voice changed again, this time he sounded stern.
"Tell you I've been seeing a hypnotherapist once a week. When I said I had band practise, it was a elaborate lie. I've been using her to get to the bottom of the problems I seem to be having over my commitment issues."
There was a dead silence on the other end of the phone.
"I guess I better get down there, right?" Tucker asked, walking back downstairs, and reaching for his jacket.
"Yes, I think you better," Adam retorted, and hung up.
He turned to Demi, who had her phone in her lap and a worried expression on her face. "I can't reach Bomi," she whispered.