Stranger Danger

This is my entry for Spidey and Rainy's fan fiction contest! It's a teensy bit over 1,000 words though :P I hope you guys like it!

-Cheetah

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I let myself sink into the soft, fluffy nest. I felt my fur splay out around me, and sighed in contentment. I couldn’t begin to imagine how I could live without the comforts of my home. Resting my head on my paws, I buried my nose into the plump, white material next to me.

Letting my claws sink in and out of the soft material, I opened my jaws in a wide yawn. Letting my ice-blue eyes close, I gave out a sharp hiss as my name was called, shattering my relaxed stance.

“London!”

I silently rolled my eyes, and got to my paws. As I padded across the soft surface, my paws began to sink into the bedding. Ignoring the urge to lay back down, I hopped off of the bed. My paws scrambled on the hard wood floor as I found my footing.

My fluffy white tail swished lazily behind me as I padded through the wooden door frame. My paws automatically guided me through the winding labyrinth of the house, which I had walked through more times than I could count.

I saw large hands pouring a steady stream of food into my bowl as I entered the kitchen, and I purred in delight at my owner. Her gaze found mine, and she bared her teeth in joy. I took this as a sign of affection, and let her hands travel along my soft pelt. As she found a specific place along my spine, I arched my back and purred.

Having had enough of my owner’s adoration, I slipped past her and crouched next to my food bowl. The pellets travelled down my throat dryly, but I gulped them down with relish. As always after my meal, my owner opened the screen door to let me out of the house so I could make dirt.

I hated the outdoors, but padded outside either way. I cringed as the door slammed shut behind me. I knew that my owner would let me back in, but the trickle of fear I always felt that I would forever be trapped outside stayed with me.

After I had finished, I padded back to the door and began to meow loudly, making sure that my owner could hear me. Still, she didn’t come. My heart began to beat wildly, and I paced back and forth on the patio, my paws beginning to grow sore.

I began to wail, my chest tightening until I couldn’t breath. Where was she?

“Are you okay?”

I whipped my head around at the voice, my ears flattening in fear. A large mottled brown tom was sitting on the fence, his striped tail wrapped lazily around his paws. I sighed in relief that he didn’t look dangerous.

“My owner isn’t letting me inside!” I wailed miserably.

Instead of softening in pity, which I thought he would do, his eyes just narrowed in thought. I cocked my head, disgusted that he would be so vile as to not apologize to me for my horrible situation.

“What’s your name?” He finally asked, his tone curious.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m London.”

“I’m Cobra.” He meowed.

I sat on my haunches, sure talking to this strange cat would be better than wasting my voice meowing outside of my door. “Where do you live?” I asked. I hadn’t seen this cat around before, so his housefolk could have just moved to this town.

“In the alley.”

I gasped, backing up a step. “You’re a stray!” I hissed.

“At least I’m free.” He meowed contemptibly.

Rolling my eyes once more, I gingerly took a step forward. “So, Cobra, what do you do during the day?”

“Well, I usually just run, hunt, or have fun with the cats that I live with.” He meowed. “You know, normal stuff.”

“Are you implying that I’m not normal?”

He coughed, looking like he was trying to hold back laughter. “London, you’re definitely not normal.”

I felt a flutter of warmth in my chest, taking another step towards the tom. “Can you show me?”

“Show you what?”

I glared at him. “You know what I mean.”

Cobra shrugged his wide shoulders, merely motioning towards me with his tail before jumping off of the other side of the fence. I felt my paws tingle in apprehension. I had never been outside of my yard before. I clawed at the fence, hoping I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of the tom. I finally managed to get atop the fence, my chest heaving in exhaustion. I jumped down, a jolt of pain rippling from my pads when I hit the ground.

Cobra was sitting near a shrub, his eyes twinkling in what I thought was approval before he disappeared into the bush. I huffed, following the mottled brown tom through the twists and turns of the town.

Strange scents greeted my nostrils as I passed by certain spots, and I felt the urge to explore the whole town. Still, I followed Cobra closely so I wouldn’t get lost. Finally, we entered a dark alley. Trash bins piled up near the end of it, and three shapes slipped out of the shadows.

“This is Typhoon,” Cobra meowed, motioning to a gray tabby tom. “Falcon,” He jerked his head to a ginger tom. “And Forest.” He finished, and a tortoiseshell tom dipped his head.

I felt anxious being around this many strays, but I introduced myself to them anyway. They were nothing but friendly, asking about my life and telling me about theirs.

“I should probably get going.” I hesitantly meowed later. My owner would probably be worried sick about me.

Falcon glanced at the sky. “But it’s already getting dark.”

“And we can watch you try your first mouse.” Forest added.

I shuddered at the idea of eating mouse, but then decided that I would stay. It would be fun to be a stray for a night.

The night was filled with fun and laughter, and I did surprisingly enjoy the mouse. Once it was what the strays called “moonhigh”, Cobra led me to a small pile of rags in the corner of the alley. I barked a laugh. “What’s this supposed to be?”

“Your nest.” He meowed, voice devoid of humor.

“I’m not sleeping in that.”

“For me?” Cobra meowed hopefully.

I snorted, but reluctantly climbed into the nest. It wasn’t comfortable, but I told Cobra that it was to make him happy. After a long while tossing and turning, I fell asleep to the steady hum of monsters hunting in the night.

*****

I jerked awake to a sharp flash of pain in my shoulder. I yowled and opened my eyes to see a long scratch in my flesh. I turned to see Typhoon standing over me, his eyes glittering with hunger.

“What’s going on?” I whimpered.

Instead of getting an answer, I was greeted with Typhoon’s claws sinking into my flesh, and I yowled in pain. “You’re hurting me!” I wailed.

Typhoon dragged me out of my nest, leaving a trail off blood on the ground. I clawed at the stone on the ground, but all my claws did was leave scratches. The gray tabby finally stopped dragging me when he got to a clearing. I shivered in fear and pain, looking up at him with tearful eyes.

“When Cobra finds out—” I growled, but was cut of by an achingly familiar voice.

“I already knew.” Cobra meowed, slipping out of the shadows. Soon two more figures emerged behind him.

I sighed in relief. “Thank goodness! You have to get him away from me.” I whimpered, glancing at Typhoon standing above me.

Cobra’s eyes softened in mock sympathy. “Why would I do that?”

My heart stilled as the realization hit me. They had lured me here to kill me. “Please don’t kill me…” I sobbed.

Cobra stepped forward, his claws beginning to slide out. “Oh, we’re not going to kill you.” He meowed smoothly. “We’re just going to hurt you.”

They all converged on me as fast as lighting, and my flesh ripped as claws began to sink into it. Tufts of my long fur were ripped out, and I felt long claws rake my tail, ripping off most of my fur in the process.

I had never felt this much pain in my life. All I could see was a haze of red, and bolts of pain ricocheted through my body, into my limbs, up my spine. Fear coursed through my veins. I didn’t know how long they were torturing me, but it felt like a million seasons and one moment at the same time.

Then everything was a flash of white, and then darkness.

*****

I awoke next to my house, thinking it had all been a dream. Relief flooded my senses, and I gave out a long sigh. But then I attempted to stand, and collapsed to the ground as a bolt of pain pulsed through me. It really was real. I sobbed, but found that my voice was hoarse from screeching for so long.

I stumbled to my paws, ignoring the pain that I felt. Hobbling to the nearest puddle, I stopped next to it to look at my reflection.

What I saw made my heart stop for a moment.

Clumps of fur sticking limply to my pelt were the only things left of what had been a long coat of fur. One of my eyes was permanently screwed shut, a large gash below it. My ears were shredded all the way through. Half of my tail was gone, and what was left hung limply and hairless. I collapsed to the ground in a chorus of sobs.

“Who will want me now?” I whispered.