It slowly became two weeks and I had truly enjoyed my stay here. It was so difficult not to just get used to the swing of things, become used to the house and enjoy it. It was going to be a month soon and I was only now beginning to wonder if anyone I knew could have possibly looked for me or anything.
I doubted anyone I knew would have called the police because I honestly don't know that many people that wouldn't be wary of being around them.
Actually I'd run into trouble with the police my fair share of times as well. They act like hero's and throw you up against the wall like thugs.
The first time I'd encountered the police I'd been on a school trip. I was really excited to go because I'd made a couple new friends and I wanted to share the sweets I'd brought along with them. In addition to that there was this girl named Katie who apparently used to have a crush on me. A 'kid crush' so you know what I mean, I was like eleven.
Anyway I loved the attention I got from the boys because of her and when we were split into groups it was me, my new friends and Katie, Knechi, and Suha.
We were walking through the park round about three minutes from my house and I dropped my earphones, when I went back to search for them the teachers started yelling at me and I was going to be sent back to school.
Me being me I was like fuck this, this is so unfair, and walked off. I was just going to go home, there was no way I was going to get fucked over like that and have to go back to school on top of that.
I did stop though, I sat down on a bench, I was admittedly scared to go home 'cause my mom was dating a guy that was a bit unstable back then. He was really strict for all the wrong reasons and he had no problem with spanking the shit out of his girlfriends kids.
But then my mom called me up, screaming like a mad woman telling me how the police were at our house and they were looking for me. I was so fucking confused. I asked her if they'd gone through the park and she said yes.
Proof right there that the police can't perform the simplest task right.
I was an eleven year old kid, in school uniform, sitting on my own almost in tears on a bench in the goddamn middle of the park! They seriously couldn't fucking find me? How inept can you get.
Anyway I went home and they yelled at me some more but her boyfriend wasn't home so I didn't get in any real trouble and she never bothered telling him either.
But what really pissed me off was that this dip shit policeman comes up to my room and tells me how he's been to loads of homes where the kids are really bad off and abused and how my life is really good and I shouldn't take it for granted and run away.
Even my mom was standing there a bit like what the fuck are you on about.
These guys get their ego pumped way too high I swear.
But that wasn't even near the end of my list of horrible encounters with policemen. I got the cops called on me so many times for stupid shit, really stupid shit.
There's a quote from Russel Brand that goes; 'In England, we have such good manners that if someone says something impolite, the police will get involved.' True shit.
While I was enjoying my relaxing stay I was also constantly on edge. I hadn't seen Kerberos since we'd last spoken and without him it made the place feel just a little more strange. I just didn't fit in here.
Also knowing what I know about the pride members was messing with my mind. I would constantly stare at them from the breakfast table and try to spot the similarities between them and our feline friends.
But I was eating properly and the place had a gym that no one minded me using. I'd actually gotten into some sort of routine in these few days. Not an amazing routine but a routine at least.
In my old apartment I slept on a mattress without a bed frame. The mattress didn't have any springs so it sank in towards the middle making me constantly hunched while I was sleeping. It always smelled weird too, it had smelled bad when I took it but it got unbearable fast.
I'd always thought I just had bad insomnia because I really had such trouble sleeping that it got in the way of everything. I'd been taking pills for it too.
But sleeping in this bed made me realize why a bed isn't a bed without springs. It was just so comfortable, and my feet didn't hang over the bottom of it.
I did kind of miss my blankets though, there was nothing sentimental about them but I'd just like sleeping under the heavy weight of three or four blankets. It kind of felt like I was sharing the bed with someone.
Ker did say I could go back and collect some things though. I'd asked around if and when I could go to do that but everyone I'd approached had come up with the same answer 'you'll have to talk to Kerberos'. He the big man here I guess. The colonel.
When I thought about it my shit was probably already gone anyway, they'd paid off the debt on my flat right? That meant it had probably been leased out to the next piece of scum and they'd probably thrown out all of my shit like I'd done the last guy.
It had been really fucking dirty when I moved it, it had taken me years to get shit in some kind of order.
And whoever rented the room before me collected newspapers like a real creep, they just laid about everywhere in giant stacks tied together with sellotape. Giant molding sacks of paper everywhere, and they were so heavy to move, it was no wonder the room, a kitchen (that was directly under it) had a spiteful looking crack in the ceiling.
Enough about that. I never had anything worth saving anyway.
I watched the people walk in and out of the living room. I was sitting on one of the single sofas while others were crowded together on the three and four seat sofas. The television was garbling on about some nonsense to do with the magic healing powers of a particular brown rice that no one could possible care about if they actively tried.
No one bothered to change the channel though. There was popcorn on the glass coffee table and mugs of tea kiltered the edge.
There were about four of them huddled on the three seater and two both lying sideways on the three seater. They were sharing blankets and all of them looked as sleepy as I felt.
Wisp was no where to be seen, nor was the little girl I'd met a few weeks back.
And while I had get to even vaguely fit in this place still felt homely.
I would just lay there listening in on the silent chatter, sometimes hearing others talk about me from a laughable distance away. The people here liked to stare at me, I knew that, but they did so respectfully and only when they thought I wasn't looking. I didn't mind really.
A boy walked into the room coming from the kitchen, he looked around my age, he had long legs and a nimble stature, definitely taller than me, his hair was a bright dyed blond and it was shaped to form some kind of a bowl cut. He wore earrings with black metal skulls adorning them along with his Prescott black-blue shirt and black Adornie over leggings. He was obviously up keeping the emo trend.
He smiled at me and started making his way over, which was odd considering how little anyone here spoke to me.
"How are you fitting in then?"
I smiled a little. "Good," I replied, a little unsure how to respond to that.
He asked politely if he could squeeze in beside me and I nodded. It seemed like everyone was gathering in the living room and I wondered if there was going to be some kind of event or meeting of some kind.
If so I had to be sure to leave in time to miss it.
"I'll be there for the preating. I can't wait."
Oh. "That's nice I guess."
"Yep, it'll be fun. I've been to two and they loved it," He replied and immediately my mind began working overtime, imagining just what could be in event during a so called preating. It sounded like some kind of audition for American Idol, though I highly doubted Simon Cowell would show up. (I don't know if Simon Cowell was a judge for American Idol but in this universe he was.)
"What happens exactly?" I turned to him. "In a preating."
"No one explained that yet?"
"I don't really talk to anyone here. I mean I say hi an' that but nothing more than small talk y'know?"
"Yeah, well we're under orders, I just assumed Wisp would have told you when she found you."
"When Wisp found me?"
"She didn't?"
"Um..." I fumbled my fingers nervously, should I be lying here?
"Our cap' found you didn't he, I guessed as much."
I just stared ahead sideways at the TV, not willing to say anything wrong.
"Well the preating is really just a gathering for other big cats to come and check out the goods. Most of them will know the basics, you being male and that, your age of course-"
"Wait!" I interrupted. "Wait all of this is just being sent out to these random people?" I was fucking petrified. One thing you learn when you're poor and continuously making bad choices is that the world is a very small place and karma has a fucking rod up her ass.
If even one of those people knew my name before these guys told them they are not coming for me with roses and a box of chocolates that's for fucking sure.
He just nodded and continued. "You'll be asked a couple questions, nothing big, people will come up and meet you and try to win you over a little although in the end it doesn't really matter. The leaders tend to be a little more uhh... clinical about it. They aren't generally so nice, they want answers and if they don't like you that's it they're going home."
"And if no one likes me?"
There was a noisy bustling over at the other end of the room and then a loud shout. "Oi puta! Norman, Gabe! You two shut it, MKO is on!"
"Why don't you shut it Mix, you're the one shouting!" She just rolled her eyes and looked away.
He nudged me and grinned, sticking his feet up on the little leftover space on the coffee table.
"What's MKO?" I asked silently.
"Fighting show, real rough stuff so they don't air it often. It's fucking awesome."
"It's a wrestling show? And everyone here wants to see it? Even the girls?"
He nodded and gave me a look like 'duh'.
"It's not just a wrestling match though, this shit is right up there, guts spilling and all. Well maybe not guts but there loads of blood and if you're lucky a broken bone or two."
I couldn't comprehend how someone so cheerful and harmless looking could sound so excited and honestly unaffected by the idea of two men fighting blood and bones for entertainment.
On top of that there was an eight year old boy (one who's name I knew but forgot) sitting on the floor cross-legged in front of his brother who was only two years older. There was three girls in total gathered in the room and all of them grinning like this was a pony show.
Was this something shifters liked? Violence?
I was beginning to get a little nervous. It's not like I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I've had my own fair share of drugs, sex, and violence, but watching it for entertainment was something I'd just never found myself enjoying. Wrestling I mean, not porn.
And I had watched it before, high, that time it was alright I guess, I'd watched it with a couple classmates who were real fans of the stuff. I remember it vividly because I'd never seen so much porn just laying about on the floor in a kids bedroom.
Sensing my unease Norman punched my arm lightly, "You'll like it, maybe not yet but once you've been bonded you will. All big cats like a little fight now and then."
"I'm not sure I will."
"It's better than it sounds, these guys are really cool, look!" He pointed at the screen, "That there is called the Dentist, in the blue, he's taken out four teeth of his competitors and apparently he wears it on a necklace and he kisses each of them for good luck before a round.
"This other one is called Moocher, he doesn't have much muscle and his name sounds like a Pokemon but he's actually really good. He likes to hold them down in a choke hold until they go unconscious and then he spits on them.
"I don't like him 'cause he's cocky in interviews, at least Den holds his gob before a fight."
His voice was slowly rising as he talked so I started talking just to make sure we wouldn't get yelled at by Mix again.
"What do you like about it?"
"It's like a series of real life super hero's taking each other on, a battle of dominance. That guy is Jawbreaker, you get why from his name, and if you look behind him that really decked out woman is the ladies MKO frontliner, she's either dating him or they're friends no one really knows. She just shows up a lot for his matches. Her names Eyesore."
I grinned and chuckled, "Eyesore."
He grinned back and then the lights were out and the fight began.
The TV was too bright and there was a lot of noise coming from the others every time there was an attack they all seemed to think was potentially deadly. Occasionally someone would spill their drink or their snacks and someone would get angry and hiss at them.
I thought if I didn't enjoy the fight I might as well enjoy watching the action happening two meters away.
But each time I looked at the two half naked guys in a rage on the screen and looked away I found an absurd craving to turn back to them. There was some odd satisfaction I got, an ugly head in me grinning through the darkness.
Slowly I realized just how exciting the fight really was, by the end of it I was trying really hard not to bounce out of my seat like Norman was.
It was intense and Dentist hand the guy in a head lock and was punching his in the face repeatedly, there was blood oozing out of his victims mouth in ever increasing quantity. It was dreadful but fucking hell was it awesome.
I wanted him to win, I wanted him to crush him so that he'd never dare oppose him again. After actively thinking these thoughts I began to feel an overwhelming sensation of guilt.
Was I fucked up for really getting into this?
The adverts started before we got the conclusive result. I laid back in the sofa as Norman leaned over and offered me other peoples snacks and began to think a while.
Did this place feel like home because it was the only place I'd been offered free food, shelter, and comfort or was there anything more to it?