Curiosity almost killed the cat

Chapter I: “The cat’s out of the bag”

“You can’t keep doing this to me”

A serious atmosphere suddenly could be felt in the room.

Both girls looked at each other and one of them mumbled

“What happened? Why are you so upset?”

“OMG what do you think?! 

You went missing FOR AN ENTIRE DAY, care to give an explanation for that?

……..

For a MONTH now you’ve returned late at night and are gone very early in the morning, did you really expect me not to worry about it? I don’t know what is going on, but I need an explanation." 

Benita sighted with annoyance.

“Look Aldini, I’m not in the mood for your paranoia right now, can we discuss this another time? 

“No! Obviously not, you can’t just disappear and come back whenever you feel like it.”

“Don’t worry everything is…..”

“Alright”

“You say, but it isn't"alright ". Put yourself in my place.

What if something happens to you? You keep avoiding touching the subject, but I can’t just ignore it anymore. Stop avoiding your problems, for once!

“And I will, this is just truly not the right time. I promise I will explain everything once it’s resolved, give me more time.”

“BUT I CAN’T DO THAT, look at you..

Each day your health seems to be deteriorating more and more. Should I intervene until you drop dead? please don’t do this to me to yourself, what on earth can be more important than your wellbeing?

“You know what? I can’t deal with this, call me once you're done with your drama, you're clearly not in a place where we can discuss this calmly. I’m leaving.”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault, why can’t you talk to me like before? Before all the disappearances, all the lies and…..

I know…

It's because of that stupid cat, isn’t it?” 

Aldini pointed to the cat that was next to the window.

“Don’t include the cat in this, you sound crazy right now.” 

Benita grabbed her things and opened the door.

“So now I’m crazy too? Since you brought it home you started with the suspicious behavior, but you know what? If you want to go then do it. I really don’t care; I mean, you are never here anyway.” 

“Fine” 

Benita silently grabbed her backpack and left the house alongside the cat, not without slamming the door behind her.

Aldini stood there outraged, she couldn’t understand why Benita would do that to HER of all people.

There sure was something fishy going on, but what could it be? Despite just using the cat to vent out her frustrations, she couldn’t convince herself that she was entirely wrong.

“Now that I think about it, everything did started when Benita found that stray cat”

She thought for a moment

“Ok I get I can hear the crazy, why am I even saying I should go out and take a breath of fresh air; I’m exhausted.”

Just as she was getting ready to cross the door, a metallic noise in the kitchen caught Aldini’s attention. 

More irritated than she was concerned, she went to the kitchen to fix the broken handle that had also been bothering her for some time. Benita was the one who took care of all these details..

“What a bitter thought”

Annoyed, Aldini turned on the kitchen lights.

“Why does this happen to me now?”

A gray cat sitting down on the fridge, staring straight into her eyes.

“Too late the nice cat lady already left, get out!”

The cat stood there a little longer and pulled out its tongue, before jumping from the fridge to the counter and then fled by the window. 

“Why you little.”

With no time to think, Aldini walked down her apartment stairs and ran after the cat.

She ran through many alleys trying to keep up with the cat’s pace.

“You got nowhere to run pal, it’s a dead end” 

And as Aldini tried to grab the cat, it clipped through a wall, instantly disappearing after. At this point she didn’t even stop to think about what just happened.

She just jumped to the wall and crossed it just like the cat did. 

Chapter II: “Catastrophic chase”

Aldini’s vision started to become a little blurry, everything seemed distorted.

Little by little things around her started to become unrecognizable, even her own sense of self didn’t feel quite right, but this sensation wouldn’t last for long.

“Unbelievable…

“HEY! wake up, you can’t stay like that, you’re going to get us in trouble" Snap out of it, I said!” The same gray cat that Aldini tried to catch was now squizhing her face. 

“W-what is this place?” 

Aldini shaked her head in confusion.

“I’ve got no time to deal with this foolishness. Put this on as fast as you can. Your neck and most importantly my neck is on the line” The cat handed her a bag with some clothes.

“Is this a cat costume?.....”

“Just shut up and listen to me, I promise I will clarify this predicament later but for now we can’t stay here, not while anyone could look at us at any time.”

Aldini was still processing what the cat said when a deep voice shouted at them. “Hey you, is that what I think it is?” An inquisitor-dressed-like cat pointed at Aldini and started running towards them.

“Are you deaf? I told you to put on the costume!” 

the gray cat whispered.

“Now what?”

“Scram!”

“STOP RIGHT THERE, I WILL CATCH BOTH OF YOU AND HAVE TO RESPOND TO THE LAW!”

The gray cat pulled Aldini and sprinted in the opposite direction. The unusual pair run along different sets of streets each more peculiar than the last; past a bakery full with different greenish pastries, various torn fabrics where little cats could be seen playing, and most disturbing of all a giant structure covered with sand to the brim.

After a while they were able to mislead the inquisitor by hiding underneath a cart with a bunch of corpses piled on top of each other. They waited a little bit to see if the inquisitor would return and when they were sure it was safe to come out the gray cat stood up.

“Why did I have to be so noisy? If only I wasn’t the most kind and generous cat I know” the cat sighed “Let’s get going we have to walk a long way back home.”

All this time Aldini tried to comprehend just what was going on. A second ago she was chasing a cat through a lonely alley and now she was running away from a cat with a silly custom. None of this made sense in her head whatsoever, I need to talk to Benita about this…

“Ow right..”

“we’re here” said the gray cat

The cat’s house was a small room on top of an old building. All the furniture seemed to be an oversize version of what you could expect to find in a fancy pet store.

Aldini walked around and noticed various objects that appeared to be from the human world.

Why on earth would a cat need a collection of stamps?

“Not everything needs to make sense to be, for example why on earth do you have a brain if you can’t use it properly? Anyhow I really need a big glass of milk after this, want something? We are about to have a very needed insightful conversation ”

Chapter III: “A purrfect escape from the city of cats”

“Aren’t you going to ask me anything?”

The gray cat stared at Aldini while taking a zip from his milk.

“Oh! you’re right….

 care to explain what is going on?”

“How rude of you, such a horrible question to ask; but I supposed it’s better to get straight to the point”

The gray cat stood up from its chair and opened the window, revealing a really depressing scenery.

By the looks of it many cats were agonizing and the ones who weren’t were running around trying to deal with all the increasing amount of bodies in the street.

“For a while now this city has fallen victim to a dangerous disease that has proven to be almost impossible to contain, much less cure. And that’s when your girlfriend Benita, was it? comes into play.”

“BENITA!? You know her? I …

“Your lack of politeness truly outstands me… 

As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, she apparently knows an effective cure and has been paying visits to a diverse array of patients around the area.”

“Benita has been doing what?”

Aldini started to put the pieces together. So that’s your big secret? What do I do with you?

A sudden feeling of regret invaded Aldini’s body as she continued to listen to what the cat had to say

The gray cat on the other hand was getting increasingly annoyed with it’s distracted guest.

“Good grief, to think I vowed my life to study humans. If all of them are like this I might as well quit my research, but still I reiterate, your girlfriend is in danger, human girl. She is doing such good for all these felines but I’m afraid that the Inquisition doesn’t share my beliefs regarding human generosity.”

“What will happen if they find her?”

……

The gray cat found itself for the first time with a loss of words.

“I… I need to find her”

Aldini jumped out of her chair and ran towards the busy streets before the gray cat could stop her.

Aldini started running without knowing where to go, bumping into several cats along the way, but it didn’t matter. All she could think about was Benita. Until she was faced with a dead end.

The gray cat took this chance to catch up to her.

“Uf… uf… your speed… is…. the only thing… that is… uf… positive about you.”

After recovering his breath the gray cat took Aldini by the hand and quickly guided her towards a small store that featured a rich variety of scritching poles at a very low price.

“Thanks to your little race, we caught the attention of an inquisitor, we need to lay low for a while and then…”

“Aldini? What are you doing here? alongside…. Julius?”

Aldini looked at Benita and immediately hugged her.

“I’m so sorry”

Benita, still confused by this, stood still for a second before giving in.

“I’m sorry too…

but that doesn’t explain why are YOU HERE?!”

Julius replied.

“If I may, I can give an explanation for this. I’m deeply worried about you, it’s been harder and harder to hide you from the inquisitors as the word of your magnificent work spreads out. I figured that if I brought your girlfriend here we could convince you to reconsider all the risks you are taking for us.”

“Oh, my dear Julius I..”

Another cat entered the scene interrupting what Benita had to say.

“Your patients are waiting Benita, I already have enough considerations with you to let you leave at night, but I’m starting to think that I shouldn’t be so lenient.”

“HEY! Who do you think you are to talk to Benita like that?”

Aldini stood in front of the cat.

“Who brought this puny human in here? I have enough problems with this one already.”

The cat grabbed Benita by the arm.

“Let me go, I need to sort things out with Aldini!

“I am not going through all this pains to have you chit chat all day with your girlfriend, remember what your mission here is, all these felines need you, and I won’t let this annoyance get in the way.”

“I said LET ME GO!”

Benita in a rush of adrenaline bit the arm of the cat, letting her go immediately.

“YOU LITTLE…”

“RUN!”

Aldini, Julius and Benita got out of the store and started to run away. At the distance the cat could be heard yelling at them, demanding Benita to return.

In all the frenzy the inquisitors took notice of the group and joined the cat with the chase.

“How far is the exit?”

Benita cried

“Just a couple blocks away I know a shortcut”

Julius grabbed them both by the arm and made a sharp turn.

The group of friends ran through small alleys past the commercial center where different varieties of fish and mice were sold, some of them were so extravagant that Aldini never heard of them before.

But despite their efforts the group wasn’t able to lose their pursuers.

“I have an idea!” 

Shouted Benita.

Soon after she threw down a stand that selled fish flavored treats. The inquisitors and the cat tripped over one another.

“Well done my darling! we are almost there!”

Julius guided them through the commotion and at last they were able to get to the exit and went through the wall one last time.