Cotton. Fuzzy. Muggy. Oh, her head felt thick with pudding. Never mind the ability to even know what that felt like, Saoirse opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn't. She blinked several times slowly, her gaze traveling around the room. Cautiously, even though it felt like her hand was being controlled more by strings than herself, light as a feather, she rubbed her eyes.
She was…she was…
Saoirse sat up slowly, wincing at the case of vertigo that hit her.
She was…in her bed…home.
How?
What happened? Was it…all a bad dream? Saoirse looked around once more, noticing that it was dark outside. Her light was on. Was she…had she been sick? Did she fever-dream it all? Or did she…she blinked and looked down.
She was still wearing that dirty dress. Ick. Okay, so then…that meant…all of it had been real. So then why was and how was she back here? Saoirse swung her legs over and stood on shaky limbs. Fuck. Saoirse would have fallen over had she not grabbed the edge of her nightstand. Willing away the brief wave of nausea that hit, she walked over to the door and opened it.
How did she get home? Where was Katz? Who saved her? What happened after he had drugged her?
She walked with her hands against the wall, slow and sluggish. Damn, it felt like she was walking through sludge. What did he spike her drink with?
On habit, and perhaps a subconscious desire, she paused at her owners' bedroom and glanced in. Still empty, the bed messy. Yup, definitely not a dream.
When she got to the staircase, she hesitated. Her legs were wobbly and heavy…this wouldn't end well. Struck with an idea, she sat on one step and slowly pushed herself down to the next. Part of her felt silly, but the other part was just glad she wasn't falling down the stairs.
Once she reached the bottom, Saoirse stood and nearly fell over. "Fuck." She hissed. Pushing through it, she kept her way to the kitchen. Was that…the kettle she heard going off?
Poking her head in the kitchen, she saw that yes, there was a kettle on the stove and yes, it was whistling. No one else was in the house with her. So then…how? Why? Saoirse went to turn off the stove and move, although weakly, the kettle aside. Tea…
Katz.
She felt a chill travel down her spine. She walked over to the drawer and just before she opened the drawer, she swore she heard the softest hint of a shuffle behind her. Footsteps. Tense and more alert than before, Saoirse grabbed the large knife in the drawer and spun around, using the counter to keep herself balanced.
What would have been a lovely plunge into flesh was stopped short by a hand at her wrist!
A short cry left her more from the surprise than anything. She blinked and looked up into bright yellow eyes. Crismon hair slicked back and pointed with ears. A sweater with purple swipes, like large claw marks, on the side. A tail that twitched off to the side.
"Katz." His name left her lips in a whisper.
"Sluggish still, I see, hm, dear girl?" That velvety voice rang out, breaking the silence that had otherwise settled. "Don't worry, the drug should leave your system within the next hour." He gripped her wrist tighter, forcing her to drop the knife. Katz released her and stepped away, going to the kettle. "Tea?"
Saoirse stared for a long moment, mouth agape, processing it all. She kept herself leaning against the counter. "What…what are you doing here?" She managed to speak at last. "How did we…?"
"Get here?" He glanced up as he poured himself a cup. "Hm, I was wrong, perhaps the drug will take another hour and a half. You're talking awfully slow, dear girl. Tell me, how quickly are you thinking?"
Saoirse swallowed thickly. She was talking slowly? Her mind was reeling. "Explain!" She snapped, panic overtaking. Anyway, she was in a familiar place where she had freedom at…until now.
Katz raised a brow in a slow, questioning manner. He sipped his tea before going to sit at the table, clearly unbothered by Saoirse's stance. "Those filthy dogs that you called 'owners' before may have let you speak to them in such a way…but I will not. Take this as your first and last warning."
"You aren't my owner!" She snapped, fear gearing her up a bit.
"You're right, I'm not your owner." He took a long sip of his tea. "I am your Master." When Saoirse remained silent, he continued on, "As I said before, I was the one who placed the envelope in the mailbox. I had expected those dogs to appear as well so I could make more of a game of taking you…but…it seems like someone beat me. Nevertheless, they are gone. Given the certain types of books I've seen in their library, I suspect the government took them. To have rebels amongst the rest, tsk, tsk. It explains so much as to how they raised you."
The library? He was in the library? Wait, government?! So then, where were they being held? Were they…dead? Saoirse felt her legs give out at the idea. She sunk to her knees, horrified.
Another sip. "Hmm, yes, I rather like you in that position."
That snapped her out of her trance. Saoirse looked up and scowled, forcing herself to stand on wobbly legs once more. "What are you doing in my owners' house?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Katz scoffed. "I used that filthy truck to drive us back here. I hadn't planned on making this our little safe house, but seeing as how your owners are gone…well. I was curious as to why they were taken and decided to look around. Don't get too comfortable, we'll be leaving tomorrow. Say your farewells to the house."
Saoirse picked up the knife and flung it, her aim shot. Despite the drug, however, the weather flew by his head and cut off a few hairs that dared to stick out. He froze, processing, perhaps horrified himself that such a thing just happened. She swore she saw a change of color in his face.
Clink!
He set the cup down harshly, a bit of tea sloshing out of the edge. He stood and instantly Saoirse regretted her emotional behavior. Katz took two long strides to her and grabbed her arm, glaring coldly. She winced at his bruising hold, but refused to look away from his hypnotic, fiery eyes.
"You shall pay for that, you little minx…but for now, this will have to do." He dragged her like a rag doll without much resistance or effort. When she heard a door open, she understood what he was doing. A second later, she found herself tumbling down the basement stairs into the darkness.
Her head hit the ground and, like before, the last thing she saw was Katz on the top of the stairs.
It was dark. Cold. Loud.
Flash of light. Tap, tap, tap, tap, BOOM.
Saoirse gasped as she shot up in a sitting position. She looked around wildly as thunder clapped again. A panicked sensation took over until she remembered what had happened in the past…well, who knew how long.
She was in the basement. It was storming outside. It sounded really bad, actually. She glanced up to the window, wondering if she could slip through. Katz…Katz was still here. Her owners weren't. Katz…her 'Master'. She scoffed at the very idea.
How long had it been since she was down here? She looked around, taking in the area when lighting would flash and light the place. Katz didn't know she was awake. He…where was he in the house? Probably in the library, she thought with a bit of disgust.
The window would be the best way. She was thin enough. The dress…the dress might snag, but it was filthy already. Swallowing thickly, she stood and was relieved to have strength. Get out, get to the truck, leave. She'd find Courage's house, take shelter there. He'd understand…
She climbed onto the washer, thankful that the thunder covered the way the metal warped underneath her. A simple flick of the lock and a pull of the small window, and she had a way out. Glancing towards the door once more, Saoirse carefully pushed herself through, pulling herself out.
Oh god, she nearly screamed. It was freezing! The rain was freezing! And the mud…ugh! Ew. It ate her hands immediately. Fuck!
When she finally managed to pull herself out of the basement, she was caked in mud. As she stood, she winced – the window slammed shut. There was no thunder that time to cover. Fuck, better run now. As she did, struggling through certain parts of the yard, the rain washed off most of the mud.
There was the truck! Great! All she had to do was get in and…
Her heart sunk when she opened the door. The keys weren't in it. Naturally it wouldn't be so easy.
Okay, fine, fine…there was…there was wiring, right? Oliver had showed her once. So if she could just…
Shivering, she shut the door and locked it. As she leaned over to toy with the wires underneath, she paused. Could she be hurt doing this, especially while soaking wet? Well, maybe if she was really careful and…
Tap, tap, tap!
She jumped, hitting her head on the steering wheel. "Fuck!" She hissed and looked up. Lightning struck, illuminating the creature that stood outside of the truck. Saoirse screamed.
Also, I've decided to have the animals with animal characteristics (ears, tails, habits, traits) but generally look human-ish. A good reference/inspiration would be: on ferretforrent's tumblr.