Crimson and Furs

"Meow"

Chapter Eight: "Meow"

17th Woodbury, Crimson Springs.

This street was among the quietest streets in the city. Not only did it have few vehicles running around, it also had few people walking about. In a hot afternoon such like this when it was supposed to be bustling with activities, the street was empty of people as if it had been abandoned. If not for the few pedestrians who walked by the sidewalks one would think an alien spaceship had beamed everyone away.

Daniel walked along the sidewalk as he pushed his bicycle. His face wore an exhausted look and he was covered with perspiration. To be honest, he was very much tired from the whole event today. Who knew Walter would be so bent on getting him? How the heck did he even know the route he was gonna take?

Daniel wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead with the back of his right hand as he heaved a sigh of relief. If he hadn't been a pro at riding bicycle, he probably would have been caught and dealt with by Walter and his gang of idiot bullies. Apart from being intelligent, he always considered himself clumsy in everything else. But after the incident today—the whole bike chase fiasco—he knew he was good at bicycling. He genuinely felt glad that there was something he was good at again apart from academics. He was so proud of himself that he felt he should immediately sign up for the next bike racing competition that would come up in Crimson Springs. He was filled with happiness and almost jumped up for joy. It wasn't embarrassment that stopped him from jumping up. Hell no, there were no people around on this part of the street anymore; Woodbury Street had always been like that. Rather the reason he didn't jump was because he put the condition of his poor bicycle into consideration. This companion of his had been through such a great ordeal with him and he felt it should be given a special treatment. He couldn't have escaped without it!

He slowly walked by the several terraced buildings in the street, counting all the house numbers habitually as he walked. All the buildings here were not painted and seemed to be made of stones—ones that could be found in the medieval times. Any time Daniel walked down the street, he would have the feeling that he was in the medieval times. Although he didn't know why he had such feelings, he didn't probe any further.

He soon came to his house. It was a bungalow which had the same fashion as other buildings around. A short wooden fence surrounded the bungalow which was not so big, a wooden gate propped up by its hinges at the front of the compound which wasn't that big.

Daniel reached his hand into his pocket and took out the gate key, unlocking the big padlock. He pushed the gate open and proceeded in. As he walked to the garage he admired the compound in a habitual manner. The lawn at the front of the bungalow, the mango trees scattered about and the garden at the right side of the bungalow always made him drawn to nature.

He walked to the garage which was at the left side of the bungalow and placed his bicycle on its stand before heading to the house in delight. He couldn't help feeling happy about how he had escaped from Walter.

"Hahahahaha!" he couldn't help but laugh like a clown as he walked past the sitting room and dining room straight to the kitchen. He was so hungry right now and no amount of tidiness OCD would make him spend time in doing house chores (the latter part of the sentence is clearly a joke.)

There was a large food flask standing on the counter as he entered the kitchen. He didn't need anyone to tell him what it was as the fragrance from the flask was already making him salivate.

"Mum left some mushrooms for me," he muttered to himself. Since mushroom was his best food, he always drooled over it. Whether it was fried, steamed or cooked, he would eat it any day.

He dropped his backpack on the counter as he walked towards the flask, opening the lid. The aroma hit his face directly, causing his mouth to water as he stared at the contents. They were mushrooms soaked in chicken soup with oily chicken flanks floating about. He forgot about his manners and immediately reached out his right hand to pick a mushroom. Just as he was doing that, something caught his attention from outside the kitchen's window. Something was down there behind a mango tree.

"What's that?" he muttered to himself as he narrowed his brown eyes as if doing so would enable him to see well. His curiosity was satisfied as a golden object rolled out from behind the mango tree. No, it wasn't an object. It was something covered in golden fur.

Daniel's eyes narrowed as he tried figuring what that was. Soon the figure's appearance became clear as it moved slowly towards the kitchen.

This is how a horror movie seems, Daniel told himself as he observed the creature, his heart beating fast. He almost developed a heart attack till he saw what the creature truly was. It was a cat. A beautiful cat.

Daniel's eyes became filled with adoration as he stared at the cat for some moments. It seemed to be limping as it walked towards the kitchen. It seemed as if it was injured or something.

The cat stopped some meters away from the kitchen's backdoor and sat down. Obviously it could not continue its journey again and decided to die right behind the door.

Daniel's heart was filled with sympathy as he stared at the adorable cat. Where did this stray cat come from? Who could be so merciless to allow such an adorable thing to go out alone? How was it injured?

So many thoughts ran on his mind, making him to pity the poor and injured creature. Not able to tolerate the feelings anymore, he moved towards the backdoor and opened it. Then he walked towards the cat and made to touch it but it shrank back in fear.

For a baffling reason, Daniel felt he could understand the poor creature. He didn't know if he could truly understand the creature or not but that wasn't the matter. The matter at hand now was saving the poor little and fragile cat.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, buddy," Daniel said as he wrapped his hands around the cat and carried it into his arms, walking towards the kitchen. He could feel that the cat was saying, "Thank you."

"What's your name?" Daniel asked as he shut the backdoor. "Oops, I forgot you can't speak. Here, let's do this. Since you're a female I'll name you, Caroline."

Hearing the name, the cat couldn't help but purr affectionately as it rubbed Daniel, burying itself in its hands. Daniel couldn't even see its head anymore.

Daniel chuckled as he stared at the cat in his hands. He felt the name was not suitable for a cat. Caroline, seriously?

Daniel quickly reached out his left hand to his backpack, unzipped it and brought out his black smartphone. It was a gift from his father last year before he left for another of his adventures. Mr. Stark was an adventurer who embarked on several thrilling adventures. Sometimes he wouldn't return for years. Just last year around June 22nd, Daniel's birthday, Mr. Stark had gifted him with the smartphone before going on his socalled adventure. Till date he had not returned.

Thinking about his father, he couldn't help but sigh. He always did this so many times, not spending enough time with him so he was used to it. When he returned they would discuss about a lot of things and catch some fun. His father was someone fun to be with.

He soon logged on to f******k and went to his group chat which was named Curious Mythologists. He actually created this group chat for mythology purposes last year and since then it had been doing well. For now th group chat only had five members. Daniel didn't know whether to add more people or leave it like that.

Daniel shrugged as he went to check the active status of the members. Only two members were active in the group chat right now.

"Hi," he typed very fast. "I know this ain't related to mythology but I want to ask a question."

"Shoot on," it was a 16-year old boy like him who replied. His username was Crying God. "It's not like we don't talk about boobs and all down here."

"Shut up," a girl named Sexy Peacock quickly typed. Apart from her username, no one knew anything about her as she refused to disclose anything about herself—even her age. All the group chat members were always puzzled as to why someone with such a cold attitude would go by the name, Sexy Peacock.

Daniel had even suggested a name for her. It was: Cold Lucy. Well, the Lucy was a short form of Lucifer. He couldn't be that polite while suggesting nicknames, would he?

"Let's not argue now," Crying God typed. "Crimson Wolf has a question."

Crimson Wolf was Daniel's username. He had always been obsessed with wolves.

"I don't argue with fools," Sexy Peacock typed.

"..."

Crying God sent an ellipse to indicate that he was speechless.

To prevent further arguments, Daniel quickly typed, "How do I treat an injured cat?"

"Just use first aid," Sexy Peacock typed without any emotion.

"..."

Daniel wore a blank look as he stared at the message. This girl is so cold. Ignoring her attitude, he typed, "Thank you."

"No problem," Sexy Peacock typed.

"Don't tell me you've adopted a stray cat?😕" Crying God typed. "A stray cat 🐈"

"I can't stand your nonsense😂" Daniel typed as he laughed. "I have to go. See you."

Then he logged off, placed the phone in his pocket and hung his backpack. Then he took the flask and went to his bedroom where he had a first aid box. He dropped his backpack on his bed and inspected the cat to see where it was injured. It was its right forelimb. There was a cut there. He wasn't stingy with his first aid equipments and administered first aid to the poor cat, bandaging the cut thereafter.

"I think you're hungry," Daniel said as he showed Caroline the flask of mushrooms. "Do you like mushrooms?"

Daniel could feel that she was saying yes. He quickly opened the flask which was already placed on the ground and showed Caroline the contents. He was actually sending a straight information to her: Here's what we call mushrooms!

He quickly took out his phone again, logged in to f******k and then went to Curious Mythologists to ask another question.

"Do cats eat mushrooms?" he typed.

"What happened to your G****e?" it was Sexy Peacock.

"..."

"..."

Daniel and Crying God sent ellipses to show their speechlessness at the same time. Not wanting to embarrass himself any further, Daniel bade another goodbye and logged off.

"What? You don't like mushrooms?" Daniel asked as he stared at Caroline which was still in his arms. At that time he realized the problem. He was holding her too tight. He released his grip immediately.

Caroline purred as it quickly leaped out of Daniel's arms towards the flask which was placed at the foot of the bed.

"No!" Daniel yelled but it was too late.

Caroline fell right on the flask, causing it to tumble. The whole chicken soup and mushrooms were spilled right on the floor. The damage had already been done.

Daniel felt like screaming as he stared at Caroline helplessly. He looked at her before looking at his delicious mushrooms, a few words slowly escaping his mouth, "What the fuck?"

At that time the cat stared at him with her large eyes, blinking them as it spat out a word, "Meow."

Daniel couldn't help but kept instantly. He had found an adorable pet.