The Luna Cure

FORTY-NINE

i don't ever link songs, but this one is PERFECT for this chapter. also, i love sam smith.

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That stupid, fluffy cat was going to get me killed and I could do absolutely nothing about it.

He hadn't stopped prancing his way through the thick, freezing snow, and I had tried sprinting to snatch him, but he only sped up and twisted around rocks and through shrubs. With it being three in the morning, I could barely see the cat, and the last thing I needed was for him to disappear into the darkness.

So I had followed after him, into my personal nightmare, shaking and absolutely terrified but knowing that I could not lose the cat. If I was the cause for another loss to this family, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Especially with all the problems I was already bringing to Dante. This cat was a mistake I couldn't afford.

I had jogged at first, trying to run only for him to sprint, but it had been so long that I had slowed to an eventual walking pace. I was so weak.

But it had only been now, when my feet were well past numb and my skin was paining with the harsh bite of cold, that I started to realize how big of a mistake this had all been. I had ventured so far into the awful, horrifying forest that I couldn't see a single light from the warm house, nor could I see much of anything besides snow and shadows.

This is where I lost everything. Batilda got to me here. My life ended here.

"Damnit Felix! Please, stop!" I begged the stupid cat, speeding up my steps. He flicked his ginger tail before he hastened his pace as well, staying just out of my reach.

Goddess, my feet burnt in this horrid frost. "You're going to get us both killed!" I added in a hiss, stepping around a large rock. How long had I been out here? Certainly long enough to get hypothermia, that was for sure. If I didn't die out here, that was. I wasn't too certain I'd survive another venture out into this forest.

Batilda was here. I was ruined here.

That was another thing. I couldn't help but feel a consuming terror that left me not only shaking, but absolutely ready to vomit. I hadn't truly survived my last trip out here, chasing after a stupid cat. There's no way I'd be able to handle this much longer.

Felix slowed, lifting his little nose up to smell the area around us. He let out a little clacking sound with his teeth, and just as I lunged forward, he took off in a short sprint.

"I hate you!" I quickly caught up, feeling more pain in my thighs and feet. I was so, so cold. I had no wolf to shift into to deal with the cold, nor the ability to mindlink anyone.

Dante would be absolutely furious to find me out here, all alone, this late.

I took another step forward, and ended up stepping through the snow onto a branch, fumbling and almost tripping but barely staying up. I let out a deep breath. "Please, Felix." I stupidly tried, glancing around at the dark, dark forest. Menacingly tall trees isolated me from everything, a reminder that even if I got the stupid cat, I'd have no way of getting back to the house.

I'm going to die out here.

"Please, come back!" I had to speed up to make up for the distance Felix made when I stumbled, and my breaths came out labored. I was exhausted, and far past freezing, and in the middle of the woods that stole everything from me. Why was I the absolute dumbest person on this planet?

Felix let out another little sound, a meow this time, before he made a quick left and jumped into a bush. Now's my chance, I realized as he stopped for the briefest of moments. My legs propelled me into a sprint, and mere steps before I would've been able to sweep him out of the tiny shrub, my foot caught on a root hidden under all of the snow, and I flew into the cold ground.