My cousin hurried us out of the house, shoving us towards the rumbling white van that stood at the curb. Someone in the front seat was making hurried motions. Millie shoved us a little more. Maggie and I ran across the yard. As we approached the van, the side door flew open, and Millie all but picked us up and threw us in. Needless to say, we were both out of breath as we tumbled into the car. Millie leapt in after us, and with a flick of her tail, the doors slammed shut. Whoever was driving slammed on the gas, causing Maggie and I to rocket to the back of the car.

The van had been emptied of seats, and instead had several unlabeled boxes. I pulled myself up, a struggle against the speed that the vehicle was traveling. Once I was up, though, I was able to see the insane driver. And that driver was none other than another cat.

Maggie let out a gasp as she took in the feline in the driving seat. It was a black and white cat-human, with black and white fur that looked like a tuxedo. It felt like I had seen it before, that nagging feeling that I wasn't remembering something I should.

"You know, we aren't cat-humans," Millie snapped from the passenger seat. Obviously, she had read my mind. "And Mistoffelees is not an it, either. He, and I, are Jellicles." I stared at her. She swelled. "The group of magical cats? Known only to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Thomas Stearns Eliot? Our story out in the open, by the musical Cats?"

I shook my head, but Maggie gasped again. "You're saying they're real?" she screeched, permanently damaging my hearing.

"What else would I be saying, human?" Millie hissed, turning around to face the street.

Maggie shrunk back, hurt by the Jellicle's comment. I swelled, still clueless, but angry that Millie could go from babbling away with Maggie to hissing at her in a matter of seconds.

"Tantomile," Mistoffelees, the Jellicle in the driver's seat, said softly. His gaze didn't drift from the road, hands-or paws, but they looked like hands- tight on the wheel. "Take it easy."

Tantomile huffed, crossing her arms and sinking in her seat in an unhappy way. Her position wasn't more than set, however, when loud, rapid sounds filled the air. The Jellicle I had as a cousin shot up in her seat. The sounds didn't stop, and I realized that they were gunshots. Mistoffelees cursed. "Not good," he muttered, leaning forward and putting more pressure on the gas pedal. The van lurched forward, gaining more speed.

The gray girl-cat in the passenger seat's eyes widened. "How did they find us so quick?" she asked no one in particular. She looked back at us, and her eyes widened like she had just realized there was something wrong. She urgently turned back to Mistoffelees. "We don't have Teazer!" she hissed.

Mistoffelees seemed to have known this. "She was supposed to be here. I don't know what could have held them up-"

He was interrupted by the loud ring of a phone. Tantomile snatched the cell phone that sat on the dashboard. She listened for a moment, then yelped. "Turn around!" she screamed. "They're under attack!"

Mistoffelees needed no encouragement. He dared glance from the road and into the side view mirror. Whatever he saw, he didn't like it. "Switch, Mil," he said. Then he jumped out of the driver's seat, abandoning the wheel for the millisecond it took Tantomile to slip into the seat and grab it once more. The van screeched into a U-turn that I'm pretty sure was illegal, and sent Maggie and I tumbling to the right.

"Aren't we going towards the guns now?" I pointed out helpfully.

"Shut up," Tantomile snapped. "Misto has it covered."

Indeed, when I looked over at him, Mistoffelees was holding his hands on the window, and a pulsing blue light was starting to spread over the van. I assumed that it was a protective force field or something of the like. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. "Wait a second! What about my mom? And Maggie's parents?"

"Not right now," Mistoffelees said. It sounded like he was straining to speak. I wanted to argue, but I figured that now wasn't the time to do it.

We drove for about two minutes in tense silence, save for the continuing gunshots and screeching of the tires as Tantomile skidded around turns. I watched out the window, wanting to do something to help but having no idea how. Every couple seconds, whoever was chasing us caught up. They were in a small black car, with dark windows rolled down far enough to allow the point of a gun to but stuck out and fired.

Suddenly, amid the chaos, Tantomile's cell phone- God, that was a creepy thought. A cat using technology. -rang again.

"Answer it," she instructed me.

As I looked at her phone, I found that she had received a text. "Open door, jumping" I read. I looked at Tantomile. "What does that mean?"

"It means," she said, the vein in her temple popping out, "OPEN THE FREAKING DOOR."

Maggie, bless her, had understood quicker. She was already straining to open the door against the wind. I grabbed it with her, and with our combined strength we managed to yank it open, and just in time. As soon as the door was ajar, Jerrie was tossed into the van, closely followed by a creme and orange tabby cat that I recognized from the Christmas party. Maggie slammed the door shut and Tantomile put the car through another burst of speed, leaving our pursuers in the dust.

"'e's shot," Reagan cried, doing a little dance around Jerrie, who was lying on the floor of the van, unconscious. "They shot 'im, they shot 'im!" Then she collapsed next to him, sobbing. I stared at my best friend, trying to register what had happened. His jeans had a ragged hole below the knee, and were covered in blood. Hopefully, he had only passed out from seeing the injury, and not because...I didn't even want to think about it.

"It's okay, Teazer," Tantomile said. "Just a couple more miles," she prayed. "Please, Bast, just a few more miles till we're in Jellicle territory."

When Maggie grabbed my arm, it took me a second to realize that I had been about to fall over in a dead faint. I was surrounded by mythical human-cat creatures that apparently were real, my cousin was one of these weird things, I had just been hurled into a van traveling at double the speed limit while another car shot guns at us, and my best friend was lying on the floor of said van with a bullet in his leg. A guy can only take so much in one day.

I ended up kneeling next to Jerry, slapping his face and trying to get him to wake up while Reagan or "Teazer" sobbed next to him unhelpfully, wailing and pretty much freaking out. Which I don't blame her for. "What do I do here?" I yelled, trying to be heard over Teazer's wailing and Tantomile's mutterings and Mistoffelees straining to keep up the force field or whatever and the gunshots of whoever the hell was pursuing us.

"Not, now, Cory!" Tantomile shouted. That was the last straw. I leapt up and slammed my hands on the back of her seat.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON, MY FRIEND IS GOING TO DIE AND YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AND THERE'S PEOPLE FREAKING SHOOTING AT US AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING THAT'S HAPPENING. I WANT ANSWERS!"

Dangerous? Yes. Irrational? Yes. Did I care? No.

In fact, my little outburst brought silence to the van. Teazer (I decided this was her name) actually stood up and came close to me, looking up into my face with a concerned expression. She stared for a few minutes, then made a noise almost like a scoff. "You can' be Coricopat," she said, looking at me with an expression of disbelief. "He never yelled." Then she reached up and took my face in her hands and moved it around. "Oi see 'im...but, is he in there?" she asked.

I looked back at her, and at her green eyes. "Try tuh remember," she coaxed. Then, suddenly, her face changed. It was still orange and looked like she was wearing facepaint, but it was a different expression and a different background. She was looking at me with fear and sadness all balled into one. And then Tantomile's face appeared, streaked with tears. Her lips moved, but I couldn't hear anything. And there was another face, another Jellicle or whatever. A pretty one. Then I was ripped from the vision, pulled back into reality where I saw Teazer's eyes that were red from crying and heard the van skidding along the streets. My head was pounding, and my vision swam.

"Who...who are you people?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter right now," a tight voice said. I looked over and saw Tantomile, her grip still tight on the wheel. "We just need to get to the junkyard."

"The guns stopped," Mistoffelees whispered, collapsing down into his seat. "Goodnight." And then he started snoring. Tantomile eased up on the gas and went slower, hovering at just over the speed limit instead of far faster.

"Is that normal?" Maggie asked. I started a bit. In just a few minutes, I had forgotten she was there. Poor Mags. She was sitting in the corner of the van, back pressed against a cardboard box and hands latched around her knees, which were pressed to her chest.

The Jellicles seemed to have forgotten, too. Teazer sighed, sitting back down next to Jerrie, who hadn't stirred. "Yeah," she said. "Magic tires 'im out. 'e woulda lasted longer 'ad he 'ad good rest 'stead of the little naps 'e's been takin'."

"Oh," Maggie said in a small voice. I instantly felt bad. I'd gotten her dragged into a mess that she didn't belong in, and now she was stuck here until we could figure out what to do.

I walked over and sat next to her. "I'm sorry, Mags," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me and attempted to smile, but it slipped off her face too quickly. "Really, I am."

"It's fine, Cory," she said, not looking at me. She picked at the hem of her greek dress, which had come loose in the chaos.

"No, Mags, really-"

"Cory," she said, stopping me. "I'm fine. I don't know what's going on, but I'm okay. Go worry about Jerrie, okay?" She looked at me with a sad little smile on her face, and I could feel the bonds of our friendship snap right there. We didn't belong in the same world anymore. Then Maggie turned her face to look out the back window, and I knew the conversation was over.

And I felt horrible about it.

"Okay," Tantomile said, putting the van in park. "We're here."

I looked out the window. We were stopped in front of an old junkyard, in one of the oldest parts of town. "Um...you know we're in front of a junkyard, right? With a guy that has a bullet in his leg? Couldn't he get rust poisoning or something?" I asked.

If looks could kill, I would have been a goner with the one Tantomile gave me. Other than her glare, she paid my question no mind, and instead started giving orders. "Teazer, see if you can wake Misto up. Cory, carry Mungo-"

"Who's Mungo?" I asked, rather stupidly.

Tantomile took what seemed to be a calming breath, forcing herself to remain civil. "Jerrie. Carry Jerrie into the junkyard."

"Okay," I said, and set about the task of gathering up Jerrie, who is all limbs.

"Can I do anything?" Maggie asked, playing with her fingers. If I knew Maggie at all, she was feeling guilty and wanted to do something to help.

Tantomile studied her. "Can't send her home," she muttered. "Just come along," she said, louder. Maggie sighed as she slid out of the van. "Into the junkyard, everyone," Tantomile announced. I struggled towards the gates, Jerrie completely deadweight in my arms, Maggie shuffled along behind Mistoffelees, whom Teazer had managed to wake. Tantomile lead us all to the gates. She was stopped by another Jellicle leaping out of seemingly nowhere. This one was black and white and patched.

"State your business," he growled.

Tantomile rolled her eyes. "Bast, don't you recognize one of your own?"

The Jellicle stood up suddenly, no longer growling and bearing his fangs. "Tantomile? Who are..." He looked at us, his face paling a little. "Bast, you found them." He took Jerrie from my arms and threw him over his shoulder.

Teazer gave a shriek and kicked him in the shin, which caused the cat to buckle. "Be careful!" she screeched. "'e's shot in the leg, you-" She called him some names that I'm choosing not to share.

"Who is that?" I muttered to Tantomile.

She sighed. "Alonzo," she said. "Second protector. He's annoying."

"I see."

"Okay," Alonzo said, in a commanding tone that made Teazer stop yelling at him, but she continued to glare at him and gripped Jerrie's limp hand. "You all can come. Except-" he pointed at Maggie. "-her. She's a human. Can't come in."

"Oh," Maggie said. "Okay, I'll just go-"

"No," I said. "She's coming." I grabbed her wrist to keep her from leaving.

Tantomile gave me a pleading look. "Cory, it's not safe. The last time a human came into the junkyard-"

"She's right, Cory," Maggie said, tugging at her arm to try and get out of my grip.

"No," I repeated. "She's coming. I don't care what the rules are, she's coming because she's the only one I trust that's still conscious," I said. Maggie looked at me, somewhat confused.

Tantomile just sighed. "I'd forgotten how stubborn he is," she mumbled. Then, to Alonzo, she said, "Just let her in. Honestly, how much more damage can be done here?"

Alonzo frowned, but he didn't argue. "Come on. We'll go to Jenny's den." And then he lead us into the junkyard. We weaved through towering piles of junk and trash, along paths that seemed to have been traveled many times. Then we came to what seemed to be a home that was literally part of one of the piles of junk. Alonzo walked in fearlessly, saying, "Jenny. They're back. And this one's wounded."

In the den, there was a seemingly middle-aged Jellicle. She was short and matronly-looking. "They found who, dear?" Then she saw us. A hand went to her mouth. "Oh, my. Oh, my goodness. It's them." She laughed a little. "They're back. Rumpleteazer, sweetheart, give your mother a hug."

"Not now, Mum," Rumpleteazer said. She stroked (yes, stroked) Jerrie's hair that fell on his forehead. Alonzo had laid him down on a cot. "They shot 'im. 'e's got a bullet in 'is leg, and you need tuh get it out."

This seemed to jolt Jenny. She shooed us out of the way and set to work. She clucked her tongue. "Why isn't he in his Jellicle form?" she asked. "Misto, would you please turn him?"

"Jenny," Tantomile said. She glanced at me. "We...we haven't told them yet."

Jenny frowned at her. "Why not?"

"The timing wasn't right. Just...fix him. I'll explain to Cory right now."

The older queen sighed, then nodded. "As you wish, dear. You can use my den."

Tantomile sighed, and with a nod, grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards a doorway in the back of the room. I thought of grabbing for Maggie, but Tantomile said, "No. She doesn't need to hear this. Just let me tell you. You can choose your way of explaining after. Please, Cory."

After a moment's hesitation, I allowed myself to be pulled into another room to hear what she had to say.

A/N: Holy moley this has been in progress for almost two years. '^.^ whoopsee. This is one of my most popular stories, too. PLEASE, READERS, FORGIVE ME FOR THE TARDINESS OF MY CREATIVE FLOW.