• Chapter 1

    “Mother! Mother, come see the flowers I picked!” I run towards my mother, anxious to show her my brand new peonies. “No! Mother!” I see a man on a pitch-black horse riding ever closer to her. I run as fast as I can, but I can barely move. It’s like I am running through sand. The man nears her closing the gap between them. It seems like hours and seconds at the same time. My mother screams and she is gone. “Mother!”

    I wake up in a cold sweat. I’m sopping from all the moisture. It was only a dream… I look around and remember where I am…the same old prison cell. The lime-stained stonewalls mocking my every action, I feel trapped. “He…ACK! Ha!” I hear a raspy laugh in the corner of my containment chamber. “You dreamin’ about getting’ outta hea’? I got news for you…you AIN’T getting’ outta hea’ no time soon!” Oh…it’s only Herschel, my guard.

    “You gonna ansa’ me?!” He shouts at me, spraying his saliva, browned with chewing tobacco, all over my face. “No. I would never dream of getting out of this palace…” I reply sarcastically. I unintentionally smirk a little. I instantly regretted it. “You tryin’ to use that crap wit me?! I’ll show you Hell on Earth if you want it like that!” He yells louder, spraying my face again. He gropes for his rusty keys and unlocks my cell slowly, his fingers stumbling from his drunken body.

    He comes inside and undoes his belt. He pulls it out of the loops and starts beating my back. I feel searing stripes coming along my back.. It hurts more than any of the other beatings. It’s probably the whiskey from earlier working his system. “You wanna smart off about that, you insignificant piece of worthless filth?!” The beatings continue mercilessly, hurting more with each lash. I want to scream, but no sound comes from my mouth. I can almost bear it no more. Lucky for me tonight is my night, the night I become one with my nature.

    Here it comes. My blood is pulsing and I feel my eyes focusing. My tawny brown fur emerges, and I feel exhilarated. My claws are coming out, painfully. Nevertheless this is euphoria. Herschel is cowering in the corner, making it better. Clutching his dip and bottle close, he whimpers pathetically as I saunter toward him and get in front of his nose. My feline face scares him. He lets out a horrible scream and I rip my claws through the air. I have finally repaid him for the pain he has caused me. I’m not the murderous type, but this is different.

    I was captured by the LCD army one month ago…the night after my last phase. The LCD (Legendary Creature Defense) army is an evil organization and the reason Humans don’t know about us…The legendary creatures that is. They particularly hate my kind…the neko-onis. Nobody really knows of the existence of neko-onis because we are very rare, created by humans and Chinese tiger ladies falling in love and having children. Anyway, my friends and I have been fighting the LCD since we were toddlers, and my mother was the one teaching us of their evil ways. We live in tiny villages according to the LCD scum’s rules.

    I hear a screech outside. I look down from my third-floor window and I see a silver car with electric blue accents that I would know anywhere. “Mike!” I shout. (It comes out as more of a feral growl). Mike is my mate…the one I’m destined to be with forever. I jump down and creep towards him. I rub gently against his leg and growl lowly, our sign of affection. “Good to see you too, Kat, but we gotta get outta here! I broke the safety perimeter and the LCD will be here any minute!” He says, obviously in a rush. I hop into the car and we’re off. Mike drives really fast, which is just how I like it.

    We pass through the forest at 170mph, thanks to his tricked-out car. We go home to Oakwood Prefecture and arrive to a horrible scene of burning and destruction. As we get out of the car Mike falls to his knees and I could swear I saw him shed a few tears. “This is all my fault,” he says “Why did I let this happen?” I kneel down and put a hand (well…PAW) on his back . I nuzzled his cheek and tried to comfort him. Purring gutturally I licked his face, but he pushes me away. He’s never acted this cold to me before. His emotions were obviously colder from the scene, but I still felt stung.

    I change back slowly, putting my paw on his back again and feeling it turn back into my pale, hairless hand. “Mike?” I say in my bell like voice. No reply. “Mike.” I repeat, more imperative this time. Still nothing. I am about to repeat it again when a piece of parchment slips toward my hand. I remove my hand from his back and unfold the paper. Let’s Go. That’s all it says. I touch his shoulder and nod.

    We stand up and walk back toward the car. I open my door and flop down on the seat, abnormally tired. It was cold outside. I hadn’t noticed through all the excitement (the bad kind) the night had brought. Mike is just standing outside staring at the ruins of the place we once called home.

    “Mike, sweetie. Please get in the car. You don’t need to look at this anymore.” He just nods and steps into the car and thumps onto the seat even more carelessly than I had. He puts the key into the ignition and waits a minute to turn it. He looks at me through tear-stained eyes and smiles. Not the “Hey, this is awesome” smile he usually gives, but one that appears to say “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me”. I return his smile and grab his hand and squeeze. “Well,” he says quietly “What do we do now?” he asks cautiously. “Well, this we’ll think about that tomorrow. Right now let’s eat. I’m starving.”