"The Benevolent Doctor"
19. Feline Instincts
Sometime in New New York
They had spent the last few hours in relative silence, where they either sat and stared at the ground, or the ceiling, or the bars around them, or they stared and prodded at themselves, inspecting their faces, their hands, feet… There was this odd sort of dual reaction in that what had happened to them was both absolutely terrifying and surprisingly fascinating. Whether they wished to stay this way or not was a question all on its own, the answer to which was a resounding no. The actual problem was that they were trapped and, unless they could get out, there was no way they would ever be returned to normal. As far as they knew, no one knew where they were yet, which left their options, as far as rescues went, entirely up to the two of them.
Brittany was still flexing her new cat hands, but Agnes, who had been a cat all her life, was looking on to bigger and better things.
"Brittany," she whispered, and the girl looked up, briefly startled to see Agnes and her human face again. "Look," she directed her gaze with her own eyes, at once pressing on the fact that she needed to be discreet, and Brittany did as told. As solid and imposing as the bars were, they did not actually go up to the ceiling. There was a space in between the top of the bars and the ceiling, and Brittany quickly thought that a person might actually be able to fit through there… Then she knew what Agnes wanted to do.
"But it's too high," she whispered back.
"If you can get on my shoulders, I can boost you up, and…"
"Wait, why am I the one climbing?" Brittany protested. Agnes frowned and picked up her hands, palms up.
"Because right now I couldn't make it, but you might have a shot. I can show you how to do it." Brittany looked at her hands, and Agnes could see the curiosity rising in her.
"Okay, I'll do it," she finally agreed.
They had to wait until after lunch would be brought to them, knowing it had to be soon. From what they'd heard out of the others, their meals were prompt, which they supposed was one thing they had going for them. This then left them a little while for Agnes to explain to Brittany what she would have to do, as they sat huddled in the corner of their cell, whispering. They weren't necessarily looking to keep the others out of the loop, but then what if Benedict was listening?
Lunch came and, now that they knew it was safe, the girls did not hesitate to eat up as soon as they received their meal. Now all they could do was sit and wait for the dishes to be taken away, and they could start looking into putting their plan in motion.
The other prisoners had not kept too close of an eye on the girls, seeing their retreat into the back of their cell as showing they needed more time on their own. But once they saw them standing on their feet, with the newly human girl making oddly specific gestures in between pointing to the top of the bars, they finally intervened.
"What are you doing?" Erlin asked. Agnes and Brittany turned to look at her, looked at each other, and Agnes shook her head.
They didn't answer. Instead, Agnes positioned herself, clasping her hands together to give Brittany the boost she'd need. The girl who had become a cat had also given some pointers from her time as a cheerleader, hoping it might be useful in getting her over the bars.
"Get down from there!" Risha told them, trying not to be so loud as to alert anyone.
"What's happening?" Mr. Arpen asked, unable to see.
"You're going to get hurt!" Erlin added, alarmed.
"Will someone tell me what they're doing?" Arpen sounded like he'd never missed his sight more than he did in that moment.
"She's going to climb over the bars," the second man provided.
"What?" Arpen grappled his way nearer to the bars of his own cell. "Can you really do it?"
"Don't encourage them, it's suicide!" Risha scowled at him.
"I don't see you coming up with a way out of here. Unlike you, I don't plan spending the rest of my life cooped up here."
While they'd been arguing, Agnes had been instructing Brittany, and before they knew it, she had gotten hold of the top of the bars and was hoisting herself over.
"She's doing it!" Erlin spoke when she saw her, and now they watched in silence.
They had barely had time to register one thing happening that the other happened, too.
Just as Brittany was aiming to leap on the other side, which would have so happened to leave her standing in front of the door through which all their 'visitors' thus far had entered and left, that door had opened and shut behind one of their attending guards. Brittany had not realized this, and when she let go, she came crashing down on top of the man, who crumpled to the ground, unconscious though he'd cushioned her fall.
No one dared to speak for a moment, before Agnes crouched down in front of the knocked out guard and the slowly rising Brittany, on the other side of the bars.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"I think so, yes," Brittany grunted and then hissed.
"He could wake up any second!" Risha pointed out from her cell. "Or someone else might come. So if you're going to do anything, then you better do it fast."
"Get his keys!" Agnes whispered, and Brittany carefully searched the man until she had what she was looking for.
"You guys still use keys?" she remarked to herself.
"Sometimes," Arpen replied. "Hurry and let us out!"
Most of the others wouldn't move, too afraid of repercussions, but one by one Brittany would open the cells and release Agnes, Mr. Arpen, Erlin, Risha, and the still nameless man. When she was done, she looked at them all, standing haggard as they were.
"Now what?"
TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)