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I tossed and turned as I fought with my thoughts. I just want to get a little sleep! Why is this so difficult! I sat upright as I made the spontaneous decision to go on a walk. Maybe that could clear my head, I decided, desperate. I might as well try it anyway.
Slipping out of bed and into my shoes, I made my way to the front door. Now standing on the edge of the sidewalk, I began to think, maybe I should’ve just stayed in bed and continued wrestling with my brain, as out here was eerie and quiet. As I reached the end of my street and rounded the corner, hands reached out of the darkness, and pulled me into the darkness between the houses. Flailing, kicking, and screaming wasn’t enough, however, to ward off this attacker, and I was plunged into darkness. Breathing became more difficult, as I continued to struggle, and eventually, I felt myself drifting out of consciousness as the darkness began to seem darker and darker. At least I can finally sleep, I joked as my last bits of consciousness slipped away.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a dimly lit room, presumably a basement. The floor was cracked and dirty, and there were cobwebs in the corners. The shelves were dusty and crumbling, and some of the shelves had even collapsed on each other. Then, my eyes finished adjusting, and I saw a figure in the corner. They were leaning against a wall, next to a shelf. The figure was a bit taller than the shelf, but the shelf was leaning a bit, and so were they.
“Finally, you’re awake,” came a dark, smooth voice from the corner.
I flinched, as the sudden voice caught me off guard.
“Aww, are you scared? I haven’t even done anything yet.” The figure mocked, and
stepped into what little light there was. As they did, their short, red hair glinted, and their brown eyes shone. They were in casual attire, the jeans and a dark gray hoodie look. That would be good for blending in, and sneaking up on their victims, I inquired.
“If you’re done visually exploring, I would like to remind you that you aren’t here for no reason. I would like to ask a few questions. And if you give me an answer I don’t like, I will cut off one of your fingers. Deal?” They stated, slyly. They walked at a medium pace, clearly not in any hurry to take the binding off my mouth.
They are confident no one will find us here, I realized, which meant that I clearly hadn’t made enough noise for them to think I attracted any attention to us.
“Now that you can talk, I have my first question for you,” my kidnapper questioned,“have you seen a tan cat anywhere?”
I tensed up.
My form was a tan cat, and I had once forgotten to shift before leaving the house. Are they talking about me? Thankfully, they were turned the other way, meaning they didn't see my reaction.
My captor kept talking. “I would like to get them out of the eyes of the public. Those ugly two-legged animals need to be exterminated, because they have, on many occasions, attacked civilians, and that one, most likely, is not an exception. So, have you seen it?”
“No, I haven’t seen a tan two-legged cat anywhere.” I was trying to stay calm.
“What a shame, I was looking forward to seeing an ugly furry face behind bars. The fact that no one who has seen the dumb cat has reported it drives me nuts. Who wouldn’t want to lock up a threat, and also possibly gain gratitude from the government, no less?”
Because we aren’t threats, I thought, digging my nails into my palms. Then, I realized I could instead be digging my nails into the ropes keeping my hands bound together. I adjusted slightly to be able to reach the rope, and turned my hands into paws, to claw at the rope. My claws met the rope, and I started picking at it.
“That no-mouthed freak is a danger to society.”
My claw scratched through the first few layers of rope.
“And the other two-legged animals, too. They all are dangerous.”
Another layer of rope broken.
“They all deserve to either be sent to jail or killed.”
Snap.
In an instant, my hands were free, and I couldn’t contain my anger anymore. Unable
to think, I pounced, and allowed myself to fully transform.
“So you’re the no-mouthed freak—ack!”
I scraped at their neck and chest. I was blinded by rage. My claws were stained blood
red.
By the time I could think again, I was staring at a corpse.
I heard sirens. Immediately, I sprinted up the stairs, to the door, and out of the house. The building was fairly close to where I was abducted, so I quickly transformed back, and began the trek back home.
I stared at my hands. I had hurt someone. Not only that, I killed someone. No matter how bad a person they were, I would now have to live with that guilt. Forever.
Arriving at home, I plopped onto the couch. The weight in my chest felt too heavy to carry myself up the stairs. Absent-mindedly, I turned on the news. And of course, the first channel was reporting about the murder.
“-but there were no weapons found in the area. This death may have been caused by another two-legged animal attack, though the rope on the ground tells of a possible kidnapping. But, no matter what happened, the safest thing that our local police department has proposed is that all public spaces, such as malls and schools, have monthly form-checks to ensure the safety of the public. Now, back to the chief of police for more information-“ I shut off the TV. Because of me, there will be form-checks.
I had read about them before. They used a special kind of taser that could shoot electrodes about 3-4 feet, and if one hit you, you would be forced into your animal form, which is already painful. But, because it's a taser, you also have to feel the pain of the electricity. And I would have to endure that in about 3 weeks. Great, just what I needed while I’m trying to mentally repair myself after killing someone. Just great.
-*A few weeks later..*-
The day of the form-check arrived, and I was trying my best to stay calm. Maybe I can
hide in the bathroom to avoid it, I thought. But regardless, that day would be the day when
my identity would be revealed, and there was no avoiding it. I could only postpone my fate so much.
“Alright, kids, it's time for the form check. Get in a single file line.”
I tried to go to the back of the line, but was pushed further forward, so I was around the middle of the line. Dang it. Now I can’t slip out and hide in the bathroom. I guess I'll just have to accept my fate, and hopefully not get killed.
When it was my turn, I could feel my heart rate rise. “Next.”
I could feel my hands shaking as I stepped forward. All eyes were on me as I walked onto the platform.
“If you’re a human, kid,” the officer announced, suspicious, “this won’t hurt a bit.”
I tensed up instinctively. Moments later, rippling pain shot through my body, as the taser electrode struck my flesh. My hands turned back to paws, and in an instant, my identity was revealed to the surrounding crowd as the room began to spin.
It was over.
I opened my eyes groggily. Everything ached. I sat up, and found myself in what appeared to be a holding cell, but not quite a prison. There were no bars, just one camera in the corner, and an iron door on the other end of the wall. I was on a cot in the adjacent corner, and there was a toilet with a divider, hiding it from the camera’s view. At least I get some privacy, I thought, and flopped back down on the bed.
“Number 020, it's time for your tests,” a woman said after she opened the door and poked her head inside my room.
“Coming,” I grumbled. What do they want from me?
She put handcuffs on my wrists and held onto the chain connecting them, probably so I couldn’t run off, and led me down the bright corridor. There were many other rooms like mine, dotting the walls, each with a small plaque outside it with their room number on it. She then turned and continued leading me down a smaller hallway. We arrived at a door, identical to all the others, with a plaque that read, Testing Room. She sat me down on the chair in the middle of the room, but she didn't unclip the handcuffs. Instead, she walked over to a small table. The table had test tubes, syringes, and some tools I didn't recognize. She put on some gloves from a box on the side of the table, and, picking up a syringe, began walking back over to me.
“I’m going to be taking some of your blood for a test. Do not fight against me, or I may accidentally hurt you.”
She let me prepare myself.
“3, 2, 1.”
Sharp, achy pain stabbed into my arm, and the woman began slowly filling the syringe. Once it was full, she carefully pulled the needle out of my arm. Emptying it into a test tube, she looked back over at my arm, presumably to check if I needed a band-aid. She reached for a band-aid, but paused. The woman instead gave me one of those small, circular band-aids that don’t really stick on your arm well.
“Come on,” she said, grasping my handcuffs and starting towards the door.
Back in my cell, I flopped back down on my bed. How long do they plan on keeping me here? I can’t stay here. I need to escape. But, I should stay for a bit, to plan and figure out how things work here.
-*A week or so later...*-
I was being taken to the testing room again, and I saw my chance. I had been obedient thus far, so the woman wasn’t holding onto the handcuffs, and the elevator door was open. I made a run for it. I was over half way to the elevator before she realized I wasn’t behind her, and whipped around, as the elevator doors began to close. She ran for the elevator, but it was too late. The doors were closed before she was within 10 feet of the elevator, and I was headed down to the first floor.
Thankfully, no one got in the elevator as I was going down, and I even managed to pry off the handcuffs. I left them in a corner of the elevator, and turned back into my human form for the first time in about a week. It felt strange, but it didn’t matter. If I was caught, I would be sent back to that cell, and I had only been seen as both cat and human at school. I just had to hope that no one here would recognize me.
No one even looked up from their desks as I walked briskly past. The door leading outside slid open, and I stepped out into the chilly evening air. I even recognized the street I was on. I was an hour from home.
As I turned onto my street, I saw my house. There were two police cars in the driveway, lights still flashing, and one of the officers was talking to my mom. I knew immediately what this was about. My mom knew that I was a cat, and that I had escaped the testing facility. She knows. She knows.
I made a split second decision, and made a sharp turn, sprinting into the forest, knowing I would never belong again.