Cat-Napped
Blackness was all she could
see. Blood was all she could smell. Pain was all she could feel. The only
sounds she heard were the echoes of dripping water and a distant moan. Zuri
could just barely feel the cold, hard concreate floor against her bare stomach
and the cold atmosphere on her whiskers. The last thing she remembers was
getting repeatedly punched in the face until she blacked out; she never felt
anything after that.
Zuri slowly started gaining
back consciousness, becoming more aware of herself and her surroundings. There
were concrete walls, ceiling, and floor, and the door was a tall, thick steel
door with a tiny window barely low enough that she could just see out the
bottom. Just in front of her against the far corner from the door was a rusty, twin-sized
bed frame with a dingy mattress on it. Next to the bed was an old, porcelain
sink with its rusted faucet and valves and calcium buildup. Huddled in the
other far corner was a grimy, green bucket with dark brown and black stains all
over its top; they looked like they were slowly making their way downward on
all sides of the bucket.
After becoming aware she was
in a prison cell, she noticed how cold and naked she felt. She couldn't find
her clothes or belongings anywhere in the cell, and her spotted fur could only
keep her so warm. Clutching onto her tail didn't help much either.
She soon noticed a large
gash across her upper chest near her right shoulder. It felt fresh, barely
healing on its own. She tried the only natural thing she could do and started
licking it, but the exposed wound only hurt worse as her rough tongue licked
it, so she left it alone hoping the bleeding would stop eventually. The blood
in her nose spread over most of her face and the smell of it dominated her
sense of smell, even though it was dry on the inside and on her nose and matted
in her face fur.
What the hell happened? Where the hell am I? Why do I
always trust others so easily? It's only brought me pain...but I've never felt
anything like this before. She thought of these
and more questions as tears started welling up in her eyes.
Not knowing what else to do,
she crawled towards the bed and climbed on the mattress. She curled up in the
fetal position as tight as she could to keep any natural warmth she could
muster from her thin body.
Sleep came easy despite
having a torrent of thoughts and questions attacking her mind.
While she was deep in her
sleep, a short, dark figure slowly stalked down the prison hallway. It stopped
in front of her door.
"You were a hard kitty to
catch missy," it muttered to itself, "and feisty too. I like that." Its voice
was deep, masculine, intimidating.
The dark figure found the
key for Zuri's cell and unlocked the door. It's rusty hinges squeaked as the
figure slowly opened the door.
The dark figure looked down
at Zuri. "They're so cute when the sleep like that," it cooed.