Night Cat | Night Cat #1 (CURRENTLY EDITING)

Night Cat - Chapter 14

Dead Ends and Explanations…

As I leapt over a trunk of a fallen tree, I thanked God for the fact that, even in my human form, I was a faster runner than Keegan was. I’d only gotten a two minute head-start, but Keegan still hadn’t caught up with me.

Though, I guess the fact that I’d knee-d him in the groin had something to do with that, too.

I ran as fast as I could- which was actually pretty fast – trying to escape Keegan. I had no idea what he wanted with me and I had no intention of sticking around to find out. For the third time in the last ten minutes, I closed my eyes and searched for my switch.

It wasn’t there.

“Crap!” What the hell was going on? Why couldn’t I find my switch? Why couldn’t I shift?? The pounding in my head increased with each breath I took. What the hell was happening to me? Xander had never mentioned that you could lose your switch. Had it ever happened before? Did it happen to every werecat, or was it just me? Why was it happening to me? What was causing all of this?

A loud roar echoed through the forest, and the fear that rippled through me at hearing the sound nearly brought me to a halt. But some rational part of me urged my legs to keep running. And so I did.

I picked up speed, ignoring the profanities that my limbs were screaming at me. I had to get away from Keegan, I just had to. The fact that one of my oldest friends was a werecat who had killed so many people was freaking the living daylights out of me, and the fact that he was after me? Well, that certainly wasn’t helping me calm down, let me tell you that.

While I had been so heavily lost in thought, I hadn’t been paying attention to where I was going. As I jumped over a large protruding root, a small part of me realized that I was heading for a dead end. I skidded to a halt.

I was trapped between some deadly-looking thorn-bushes and a large rocky wall. There was no way I would be able to get through those bushes without coming out looking like paper that had been sent through a shredder – and the only way I would have ever been able to scale that large wall was if I could shift. And that definitely wasn’t happening.

Trying desperately hard not to panic, I looked around for some other means of escape. When, after a few minutes of fruitless searching, I came up with nothing, I allowed myself to panic. Keegan had killed people. Innocent people. Campers, Rangers, Scouts, Old men and women, kids, parents… My friend had blood on his hands. And now he was after me.

I closed my eyes one last time, praying that I would see that strand of dancing gold light. My heart sank when all I saw was blackness. My switch had left me.

“Finally.” A harsh, panting voice behind me caused me to nearly jump out of my skin. “I thought you’d never stop running.”

I spun around. “Keegan…” I started, trying to keep the fear out of voice. “Don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what, Ave?” He looked amused – if the grin and the raised eyebrow were any indication – but he sounded very casual. But I was pretty sure that was just to mock me. “I’m not doing anything. We’re just talking, aren’t we?”

“Let me go Keegan.”

He tsk-ed at me. “Now, Ave. You know I can’t do that.” He took a few menacing steps closer. “You know my secret. I can’t let you go and tell everyone, now can I?”

“You know my secret too. Let me go.” I thanked God that my voice wasn’t shaking. If Keegan had sensed my fear, well, I didn’t want to think of what would have happened.

He grunted, holding back a laugh. “Your secret? What? That you can shift? Please Ave, compared to what you know about me, that’s nothing.” He cocked his head to the side, closing the gap between us with a few large strides. “If you only knew about my ability to shift, there wouldn’t be a problem. But since you’ve learned about my, um, ‘nightly activities’, I’ll have to deal with you.”

I gulped, taking a small step back. “I don’t know anything Keegan. I just came out here to clear my head, and then the next thing I know, you’re shifting in front of me.”

“I’m sure your little friend told you everything he knew about me.”

“I haven’t seen Xander since your fight. I have no clue what the hell you’re talking about, Keegan.”

“You… You don’t know…?” For a moment, his features softened and he looked thoughtful. I brightened up a little, hoping that he’d fallen for my lie. Then, as quick as a flash, his expression turned murderous. “Do you think I’m a fool?” He yelled. I cringed, my heart sinking lower and lower. “You’re a smart girl, Ave. Of course you’ve figured it out. Why would you have run otherwise?”

“Ugh, because I’d just seen a bobcat transform into a friend of mine, and watch him come running at me? What the hell did you expect me to do? Smile, scratch your ears and call you a good kitty?”

My words just pissed him off more. “Shut up!” He grabbed a chunk of my hair and pulled me towards him. “I always told you that your smart-ass mouth was going to get you in trouble.” He hissed, before releasing the hold he hand on me, and throwing me onto the moss-covered floor.

I decided that there was no use pretending anymore. “Why did you do it, Keegan? All those people… how could you?” I was surprised to see that there were tears in my eyes. Apparently, finding out that your oldest friend was a cold blooded killer wasn’t as easy to deal with as I’d thought.

He shrugged, sighing. “I don’t know. It was just the thrill of it all. Some animalistic need to hunt, I guess. It was so exhilarating, Ave – watching those people run, sensing the fear that was pounding in their blood…” I shuddered at the look in his eyes – those eyes that I’d once thought kind and peaceful.  Boy was I ever wrong.

“What about me, then? I know that we didn’t meet tonight by accident. You were waiting for me. Did you want to kill me too?” By this time, my voice was definitely shaking. Whether it was from fear or sadness, however, I didn’t know.

He looked horrified. “Kill you? Oh my God, Ave. No! I’d never want to kill you.” Despite myself, I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. He didn’t want to kill me? Then what the hell were we doing here?

I guess he saw the confused look on my face. “I’m not here to kill you, Ave. I’m actually sorry that I had to involve you.” Astonishingly, he looked sincere. “but, I needed your help with my next, um, hunt. I need you to be the bait.”

I blinked, confused. “B-b-bait?”

“Yes” He nodded.

“Bait.” I said again, as if confirming it to myself. “For whom?”

The next words out of his mouth literally stopped my heart.

“For your little friend - Panther-Boy.”