I woke up in a strange place with a strange smell and a strange feeling. My mind was hazy, as was my vision, but the stench that hit my nostrils was immediate. It was awful. The haze began to clear and my surroundings became more real, and I realized that I was in some kind of cage in a dark place.
At first I was confused, but I'm not stupid. I realized what had happened. It's partly the reason why I- and many other cats- avoid humans. If you're not too careful, they'll grab you and take you away; and it would appear that I had found myself in one of the worst places possible to be brought. The animal prison. The place they locked up any unfortunate animal wandering the streets that wasn't human.
The distorted sound of raucous barking hit my ears as the buzzing faded, and all noise began to flow in. They sounded distant. I stood up. The only light came from a single little orb hanging loosely in the center of the room. It flickered on and off haphazardly, revealing dark stains on the walls and scattered garbage decorating the room. Cages lined the walls.
"Wakey, wakey..."
A long, dark shadow stretched into the cage, filling in most of the space between the shady lines. It was him again, that tabby from before, sitting on top of a large stack of boxes just to the side of my prison. He was staring at me with a stupid sort of grin, and a disturbing glimmer in his eye. I felt my fur stand on end, but I stood my ground, trying to look as intimidating as possible.
"Who are you?! Let me go!" I hissed, stalking up to the bars between us.
He laughed a stupid laugh and ignored my demands. I looked past his figure for a moment and across the way, noting the several dark, empty cages. In the row below, I could see figures crouched behind in the shadows, shaking, their eyes glistening in the dark. They looked... demented.
"Whassa matter, kitty? Didja have a bad dream, want me to hold your paw and make the nightmares go away?"
The simpleton then proceeded to laugh at his own joke, but there was a suggestive sort of undertone beneath.
I looked back into his face and felt the rage bubble within me, this close to boiling over. I hate being ignored.
"Touch me and I'll kill you, you freak!" My claws had come out now and were just waiting to tear into his flesh. "I mean it! You have no idea who I am..."
He seemed unaffected by my threat and laughed again like a kit entertained by chasing his own tail. "You're jus' the crazy she-cat living in that old buildin', that's all you are!"
"Yeah? Well soon I'll be the crazy she-cat who covered these walls with your blood! So laugh while you can. It won't be long now," I muttered darkly, stepping back to glare at the tom from the shadowy confines of the cage.
He cocked his head slightly and looked as if he was about to say something when another cat suddenly leapt up onto the stack beside him.
"I heard voices! Who's this?" Her attention turned to me almost immediately.
Never in my life had I seen an uglier looking she-cat. There was hardly a hair on her body, and her brownish-yellow eyes bulged outward, lined by dark rings of what could have been taken as fatigue or a lack of sleep. Me, I would have voted for insanity. The fat of her skin hung down in layers, wrinkling her figure, and her voice, her voice sounded like claws being dragged against a wall. The only thing on her bare body was an odd looking black collar, with what looked to be some sort of strange human invention on it. At first I wasn't even sure if it was a she-cat...
She looked like a giant rat to me.
"Are you flirting with this little mouse behind my back?" she hissed. The presence of the hairless she-cat had effectively caused the tabby to lose any interest in me and the two became locked in their own little conversation.
Her voice lowered dangerously. "'Cause if you did, I swear..."
"Me?" he started weakly. "You know I'd never do that, sweetie. You're the only she-cat in tha world for me. This is jus' a cat tha the master picked up today, and I think it's safe to say that she'll be joinin' us for dinner."
The she-cat narrowed her eyes. "For what?! Enunciate when you talk to me! You know all too well that I can't stand it when you talk like that! And make sure the master gives you your collar the next time you go out so you don't freaking lose it again!" she screeched horribly.
"Okay, okay," He submitted in an effort to appease her. I was listening to their conversation, but I was also more focused on trying to find a way out. There were two stone walls on the side of my cage, and two made of human material. The wall had a crack in it, but it was way too tiny to fit anything through, much less get a good look outside.
"I was just sayin' that she's here for dinner."
Now much calmer than she was before, the she-cat allowed her sneer to fall and she sat down. "Good. Dinner. I'm starving- And I'm sick to death of those disgusting pellets!"
Her mate, as I gathered, nodded to her and moved to leap off the stack of boxes. "I'll jus' go check on 'em and we'll wait until the Master leaves." He disappeared from sight leaving me alone with the revolting she-cat. Slowly, she turned to me and narrowed her eyes. Then she came up to the bars and bared her yellow, blackening teeth. "You nasty little rat! Trying to steal my mate- in my own home! How bloody rude..."
These cats were both demented! I had only a vague idea of where I was and what was going on, or even what would happen to me, and she was more concerned with me moving in on her stupid mate?!
"Who in stars name are you?!" I returned, feeling my fur bristle.
Her mouth twitched for a moment and I could see a psychotic rage growing in her eyes. "Shut up! Shut up you stupid cat! I know what you're up to!" She rambled on, voice growing higher with each word as her claws tore viciously at the cardboard of the box. "You kept staring at him with these big, amber eyes," she crooned. "You want him for yourself, don't you? You think you can take him from me?! Well! I've got just the solution."
I watched as she stood up on her hind legs and placed her paws up against my cage, pushing up a sort of lever I was unable to reach. The door swung open widely, and I saw my chance. But my body did not move as fast as my mind. It was still recovering from being knocked unconscious and I fell upon trying to dash forward. "You give me no choice...I can't risk losing him..."
She was coming toward me now, stepping dangerously closer, her pale claws shining in the flickering light.
"I have to make sure he won't be attracted to you anymore..."
My heart was pounding in my chest as her paws came to the edge of my body and her grotesque form came towering over me. A satisfied grin came upon her face, and her eyes narrowed into two tiny slits.
"You won't need these eyes, or this face, for much longer anyway."
I saw her leg begin to move and I tried in one last effort to move away, but it was pointless. The image of sharp claws flashed in my vision and I pulled my head back in an effort to escape them. This effort was a fruitless one however, and the world went dark, and my face numb. After a short moment the pain set in and I could feel a burning sensation along with the repeated tear after tear as thorn sharp claws dug into my skin. My body convulsed naturally in response to the pain and I managed to stumble back only by pushing off of my hind legs.
My breathing became unnatural and irregular as my body went into a panic. I remained pressed against the wall in an effort to get a hold of myself, and to work past the immense pain burning in my face, consuming it.
"No one will do it right if you don't do it yourself." A large slam made me jump from within my world of darkness, signaling the closing of the cage once more. Now that I was alone, my legs crumbled beneath me and I sat in a defeated heap, feeling numb to the world.
Everything was black, and my face was hot and sticky. And my eyes...
I don't know how long I laid there, shuddering in the dark. But eventually, I heard a cat jump up onto the boxes.
There was a short silence.
"I see my old sweetie took out her claws... Again. What a shame." It was him again. "I really liked your eyes. It coulda been the start of something for us, if ya know what I mean. A darn shame..."
I was hardly listening to him.
"She does that every single time! What do they call it...? Trust issues? Yeah, I think that's it. Well, never mind. Plenty more fish in the sea, eh? I'm not too fussy, but even I 'ave some standards. Ain't gonna touch a bird like you, I'll be honest, kitty. You look like crap. But I don't want you to think I'm not a kind cat. There's plenty of time before dinner, and you're in pain, so I've brought something to end your suffering. Think of it like an option. I've got this rat poison here- The master always keeps a full stock. You'd be long dead before you feel anything. Sounds good, right? I mean, it's just an idea, no pressure or anythin'".
His words made me sick.
"Ahhh, of course! You can't see it, those scratches turned your eyes into nothin' but jelly. So I'll just leave it for you here, feel free to use it. I better go now, we wouldn't want to get caught again now would we? You naughty minx..." He left the stuff outside the cage and turned away.
I could hear him beginning to pad away, preparing to jump off the tower of boxes, so I opened my mouth, only just able to speak in a pitiful, pained whisper.
"Wha' was that?"
The sound of movement stopped.
"You can't reach it?" A short silence overcame the distance between us. "Well what did you expect?" he intoned plainly. "Life's a real bitch sometimes."
My eyes.
I couldn't see a thing. That filthy, ratty she-cat! I managed to get up again despite the pain and walked blindly forward to where I would eventually reach the wall of the cage. How was I supposed to find it?
I stuck my paw out of several different openings until my paw knocked over some sort of box. Then I repeated the action, able to feel the powder coating my pads. When I felt I had enough, I pulled my paw back in and sat dully thinking of what I was going to do.
I had no choice.
"I'm sorry, Bailey... It looks like I'll have to break my promise."