silhouette | jhs ✓

23. Protection

Seren's eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment, seeing his mouth open, hissing at something the camera didn't show.

The clip ended with him quickly sprinting in the opposite direction, leaving Seren with hundreds of questions and suspicion flowing through her veins.

"What are you watching that has you looking like that?" Jimin's chortle cut into her focus.

Seren looked up from her phone. "I-I was trying to look through the clips the camera captured through the night to see if Pluto came by, and- and he did but-"

"Wait," he carelessly interrupted. "Since when did you have a camera?" His index finger was pointed to the ceiling, uncertainty coloring his voice.

"I got it a few days ago." She informed, shaking her head. "Makes me feel safer." She muttered, replaying the video to show her brother.

"Here, just watch the clip." Seren walked to his side of the table, handing him her phone.

He held it horizontally, pressing play.

Perhaps Seren was overreacting, the possibility of it being another stray wasn't too far-fetched, especially with the number of strays that roamed around her neighborhood.

Still, Pluto's reaction sent bone-chilling shivers down her body. It wasn't like him to act such a way, even when he did encounter other strays, he stood his ground, never faltering and showing that he was scared of them.

Seren remained hovered over Jimin's left shoulder, keeping her left hand glued above the corner of the table, watching the video a second time. Only, she would keep her eyes open for any movement coming from the direction opposite of Pluto.

Jimin hummed after a moment of just staring at nothing. "What am I looking at? Because I really don't see much."

"Here, you don't see the little shadow?" Seren pointed at the splotch near the driveway.

Jimin became silent when he noticed the splotch of darkness was actually the cat his sister had been referring to.

His lips shaped an oh, "Righ, I remember Pluto. Yeah, he's the cat that always comes around,"  he gently nodded his head, eyes pasted on the surveillance footage.

"Okay, but just watch." Seren ordered, pointing at Pluto in the video.

Pluto repeated his skittish actions once more, hissing as he took off running in the other direction.

Her lips mashed into a thin and bitter line, unable to see what he ran away from.

Jimin turned to his sister, his dark brown eyes analyzing her indecipherable expression. "So... you're scared because he... ran away?"

"Jimin, did you not watch the clip or something?" Seren asked incredulously, her eyes wide. "Play it again." She ordered, reaching for the phone.

He put his hand up, stopping her from grabbing her phone. "No, I saw the clip. I mean- Seren, he's a cat. Of course he's gonna have the tendencies of one when he senses danger."

"There you go, see?" She pointed, Jimin proving her point. "When they sense danger, right? So, what the hell was it that sent him running off? It looked like it was something near the right side of the porch."

He mumbled something beneath his breath, wavering his head. "Honestly, it could have easily been another cat. Maybe a dog?" Jimin suggested, shrugging.

She huffed, taking the phone from his hands again.

Jimin watched as she dragged her finger on the line.