‘I think that’s a good idea, we might be able to see them tonight after you meet the Emperor.’
They continued walking through the park under the giant jellyfish and laughed as Lou almost caught a pop fish. In the distance the sun slowly slipped down beyond the grey hills and as it grew darker they headed back toward the main centre.
***
‘Grace breakfast!’ Joyce called from the kitchen. She didn’t often make breakfast for the kids as she was usually gone by about six thirty, but this morning she wanted to check on Grace and give her a good start to the day. She walked down the hallway to her daughter’s room.
‘Come on Grace honey it’s time to get up. You have had quite enough sleep already.’ Even as she spoke the words she knew. A dark shroud of dread wrapped itself around her. She found her daughter still lying neatly tucked up in bed just as she had left her, still heavily asleep. Joyce sank to the floor beside the bed, sobbing.
‘Come on Gracie, just wake up. For mummy honey, do it for mummy.’ But Grace didn’t stir. Grace’s father came in and put his hand on Joyce’s shoulder, looking down at his daughter’s sleeping face as he spoke:
‘Let’s call the doctor.’
Joyce looked up, her eyes red with tears. She grabbed for her husband’s hand and squeezed it tightly. George looked at his wife, her mouth pressed closed and her lips white with the effort of holding back the sobs that wanted to break free. He gently lifted her to her feet and sat her on the bed. Fishing out the mobile phone he had in his jacket pocket, he dialled.
It took all of George’s tolerance to remain calm with the receptionist who wanted him to make an appointment and come in rather than speak with the doctor over the phone. After threatening to change surgeries, however, he managed to convince the woman that this was an emergency and was finally put through to Doctor Bennet. He explained Grace’s condition and history. The doctor advised urgent hospitalization and immediately arranged for an ambulance.
***
Grace had decided she needed a bath before meeting anyone else. She didn’t want to give a bad impression, so Boot took her to a lady friend’s house. Fredya was a warm-looking middle aged cat, much older than Boot. She took Grace inside and ushered Boot off the property while the girl washed and dressed. Boot stood sulking down by the gate, practicing his chopping and thrusting with his swords.
Grace’s kimono was put aside for cleaning and Fredya gave her a white dress to wear, it was pleated in the front with gold stitched into the edges.
‘Very Greek-sheik, Helen of Troy move over,’ Grace snickered looking at herself in the long mirror.
‘This was my daughter’s. It looks lovely on you,’ said Fredya. In truth the dress was a little small, and Grace had to hold her breath in. It cut above the knee too, whereas it was probably full length on Fredya’s daughter.
‘Where is she? Can I meet her?’ Grace asked looking around for signs of someone else living in the house.
‘I’m sorry dear, but she was taken a few years ago,’ Fredya replied with a little sadness building in her voice.
‘What happened?’ asked Grace, ‘If you don’t mind me asking?’ Grace always asked the hard questions no one else would. Her parents thought she might grow up to be a journalist one day.
‘It was the Drawl, during one of their attacks. She was a teacher and those filthy beasts attacked the school. Boot tried to save her. He fought the creatures, protecting the little ones but there were too many. He saved the kittens but the Drawl took my daughter, Alisha. Boot hasn’t been the same since. He volunteered to join the scouts and swore he would never let those monsters take another living creature as long as he was alive to stop them.’
Grace looked out the window at Boot, practicing his sword play. His movements, so full of grace and precision, concealed the power that flowed behind them.
***
Thaal followed Boot and Grace as they walked through the city towards the palace. He had to be very cautious as the damn scout was extremely good at noticing what was going on around him. He was constantly changing directions back-tracking and watching over his shoulder. All this appeared to be lost on the girl though as she followed Boot not questioning where she was going. It would be very difficult to snatch her while he was around. Thaal cursed under his breath and withdrew back into the shadows. He knew every inch of the city, the dark recesses, the quirky paths, which roofs would support his weight, how to zigzag through parts to lose a pursuer. It was all second nature to him now. It had been part of the training drilled into his brain from an early age. A cruel sneer appeared on Thaal’s lips as an idea formed in his mind, a way to get past that nasty looking sword slung about Grace’s protector’s hips and snatch her from him.
***
Grace enjoyed the spectacle at the palace. There was plenty to see and do. It was more like an open air carnival to her than a party. There were dancers who roamed the corridors; jugglers, acrobats, fire breathers, even clowns. The food just kept coming all night. White coated servants returned again and again, streaming in and out of the main dining area with trays and trays of food. Massive tables had been set up in an outside courtyard. A live band played music which could barely be heard over the voices of happy cats chatting away. There was a small moment of formality when the Emperor arrived and was introduced to Grace. He was very impressed with her and asked the young girl to sit with him at his table. This meant another guest was shunted out and forced to sit at the corner of the table rather awkwardly.
‘So are you enjoying your visit to our dimension Grace?’ asked Gleetus, as he reached for a roasted rib arranged on a large silver platter before him.
‘Oh yes, very much so. It’s really neat,’ said Grace unable to think of a better word on the spur of the moment. She was nervous because she had never met royalty before. The most important person Grace had ever met was her dad’s boss, and that didn’t come anywhere near a real life emperor. Gleetus smiled and reached for another rib. Grace surveyed the table, she was starving, and there were so many yummy looking things in front of her. To her left was a small bowl of clear liquid, Grace smiled smugly. A finger bowl she thought, I’ve seen these on TV, usually some uncouth person commits a faux pas by trying to drink from it, much to everyone else’s amusement. Grace reached out her hands and holding her cuff back, dipped her fingers into the bowl. The pain took a little longer to register in her brain because her mind kept denying it. Why should it be this hot? Gleetus looked on horrified and then quickly withdrew Grace’s red digits from the steaming liquid.
‘You can’t drink consommé with your hands my young friend, here take my spoon.’ Grace’s face was a match for her burnt fingers, bright red. Fortunately, the rest of the meal passed without any further drama.
Chapter Nine
Grace sat alone on a stone bench outside the room where the party was in full swing. She wanted a little fresh air and even though she liked a rowdy party, those cats were just too excitable for her. Dancing and singing, swinging and feasting, it was just too full on.
The night air was cool and invigorating. Grace looked up at the stars. I wonder what’s happening at home, she thought. Dr. Yang had explained the time thing to her but she couldn’t really understand how to work out how many hours or even days had passed in her dimension. Mum is probably home from work now. I hope she isn’t too worried about me. As Grace pondered her parents’ reaction to her sleeping body lying on the bedroom floor a cat joined her on the balcony, an old grey cat. Grace looked up.
‘Good evening, nice and cool out here isn’t it?’ she said. There is something familiar about him, thought Grace. She had caught the old cat staring at her throughout dinner so Grace had smiled sweetly but had not paid him much more attention. He ambled over and sat on the bench next to her.
‘Hello Grace, my name is Shadow.’ His voice was warm and kind.
‘Hello Shadow,’ she replied shaking the old cat’s paw. ‘Do I know you?’
‘I know who
you are, we have met before. You obviously don’t remember,’ the old cat spoke slowly as Grace looked hard at him, trying to remember.
‘No,’ she said, ‘I don’t think so, I’m sure I’d remember you if I had.’ The old cat scratched his whiskers and looked out into the night.
‘Let me remind you then,’ he began. ‘It was many years ago, about seven of your years. I was a younger cat then, a bit bigger and with a shiny coat. I was assigned to a young family to protect them, but their son wanted a dog for a pet, not a cat. They called me Shadow, but it still didn’t work out, the young boy wasn’t happy. Eventually the family replaced me with a puppy and the father took me to work. He was an orderly in a hospital and I was allowed to sit with the patients. They called it therapeutic. That’s where I found you. You were in a coma, there had been an accident. You had fallen through ice and drowned. They pulled you out and because of the extreme cold you survived. But you wouldn’t wake up. I was there with you, do you remember?’ The old cat paused to give Grace some time to think.
‘I don’t, I’m sorry. Sometimes I have dreams, but they are all a meaningless jumble. I don’t understand them.’ Grace thought about her dreams. She had had them since she was a kid, sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent and dark, so dark she would awaken with the sheets all twisted and soaking from sweat. She would run and sleep at the bottom of her parent’s bed.
‘What happened to me?’ she asked.
‘The first few weeks you spent in hospital were fine. Not much was happening, you were simply dreaming away. But soon the Drawl found you. You were easy pickings in your state. A Drawl would come in and feed on your energy, making it harder for you to recover. When I found you, you were very weak. I stayed with you as long as I could, but there were many patients and only one hospital cat. The nurses moved me around a lot, but I kept coming back to help you.’
It was like a switch being thrown in Grace’s head. Her mind filled with the memories of what had lain hidden for all these years. Since she couldn’t make sense of it, she had buried it, only it wouldn’t go away, and it haunted her subconscious in bad dreams or feelings of depression. Sometimes Grace would lay in bed, not wanting to get up, a fear of some impending doom weighing down upon her. But now the door was open and for the first time since her coma she remembered everything.
***
She remembered the cold biting water, the darkness closing in until there was nothing. There was nothing for a long time, and then slowly, it grew lighter. Grace found herself sitting in a garden. There were lots of colourful flowers surrounded by a little white picket fence. A lovely old house sat in the middle of the property. She sang and collected flowers, passing the days in the yard, happily.
One day while Grace was playing quietly outside it grew very black, as if a storm were approaching. As Grace watched, a deep darkness descended around the little cottage. Darkness so black it swallowed even sound. Grace trembled in fear hiding behind a large oak tree.
A voice called to her from within the darkness, beckoning her out.
‘Come to us.’
Grace squeezed herself into a little ball, trying to become invisible. But the voice called again.
‘Come to us.’
She just lay trembling behind the large oak tree. The darkness wouldn’t leave, it wanted her, and she could feel it pulling on her. The gate rattled, and shook, gently at first then more violently.
‘Let us in.’
‘Go away!’ she screamed.
‘Let us in.’
Grace looked up. She could see the door to her house. It was so close. The gate rattled again, and Grace decided to make a run for it. She pulled herself to her feet. She felt so tired as she staggered towards the porch.
‘Let us in.’
This time the gate rattled so hard Grace thought it would explode into a thousand splinters. She could feel herself getting more tired. Her legs were leaden, she could barely move. She forced herself to take every step. But the porch never seemed to get any closer. The gate banged again and this time Grace heard the latch give.
‘Come to us.’
She tried to run, willed her legs to move, but nothing happened. They simply refused to obey. The porch never got any closer. Grace was so tired now, everything was going black.
‘You are ours now.’
Grace’s mind let go, and the darkness fell upon her.
When she awoke, the darkness was gone and she was alone again. She felt so tired, drained.
Everyday now the darkness came, and each time after Grace awoke, she was more and more tired. Her body was wasting away. She had large black circles under her eyes and was now very thin. She didn’t play with the flowers anymore. She just sat on the swing under the oak and rocked herself back and forth.
One day Grace was lying on the ground under the oak, curled up in a little ball snivelling. She felt like she had a bad cold, her head was sore and her body ached. She heard the little gate at the end of her garden creak. A whistle cut a tune through the air, Grace rolled over slowly. There was something coming though her gate and it wasn’t the darkness. Grace rubbed the sleep from her eyes, it was a cat, walking and whistling through her garden.
‘Hello! My name is Shadow,’ said the cat cheerfully as he threaded his way through Grace’s wildflowers to the oak. ‘What’s yours?’
‘Are you a cat?’ asked Grace, sitting up slowly.
‘Yes, I think so,’ Shadow replied, looking behind him to check if his tail was still showing. He patted his pointy ears and rubbed his hairy belly. ‘Yes as sure as I’m covered in fur, I am a cat,’ he replied.
‘But how can you talk?’ asked Grace, starting to rise.
‘It’s your dream Grace all of this, the flowers the fence it’s all part of your mind, I can do anything you want me to do. For instance I can do this!’ And he pulled a bunch of flowers out from under his baggy sleeves. He handed them to Grace with great flair.
‘For you my lady,’ he said with a giant grin stretching across his face.
‘You just picked those from my garden,’ said Grace, watching Shadow suspiciously.
‘Oh you got me! You’re a bright girl! Tell me, err.…’ Shadow looked expectantly.
‘Grace,’ Grace replied holding out her hand.
‘And a lovely name it is,’ replied Shadow shaking Grace’s hand firmly. Grace noticed the very long, very sharp claws wrap around her fingers as Shadow shook her hand.
‘So Grace, what are you doing here?’
‘I don’t know. I can’t remember how I got here, everything is so foggy. How did you get here?’ she asked.
‘That’s a long story,’ Shadow replied taking Grace’s arm and leading her to a bench on the veranda. Shadow talked about his world, where cats walked upright and talked and read books. He also told Grace about the Drawl, the creatures that came for her at night.
‘Will you stay with me?’ Grace pleaded, her expression filled with fear.
‘I would love nothing more, but unfortunately I don’t have a lot of control over how much time I can spend with you.’
Grace’s eyes reddened and tears started to flow down her cheeks.
‘I’m frightened, they come and they do things and I don’t remember. It’s just so terrible.’
‘Don’t worry Grace; I’m going to protect you. I won’t let them hurt you. I have to go now but I promise to return very soon,’ Shadow reassured her.
‘Please don’t go!’ cried Grace, grabbing hold of Shadow’s arm. ‘I can’t bear another night alone.’
‘I’m sorry but I’ll be back as soon as I can,’ and with that Shadow left.
Grace sat on the bench for the rest of the afternoon, waiting for him to return. But when night came and Shadow still didn’t come she felt more afraid than ever before. As she waited she heard the noise, saw the darkness and then felt the vile creatures.
***
Shadow was dropped into his basket by the old night shift matron.
‘There
you go my lovely.’ She stroked Shadow’s little body. His silky fur glistened in the low light of the dim bulb overhead. Matron rubbed Shadow under his chin and he purred his appreciation loudly. ‘Yes you like that don’t you?’
After she left, Shadow looked about. Climbing up the storage shelves he jumped across to the window ledge. He managed to squeeze out the window and down onto the street below, then sprinted back around the building to watch and wait. The sound of a wailing ambulance caught his attention and he crouched down ready. As the ambulance pulled up at the emergency entrance and the doors burst open Shadow made his move. Sprinting around the side of the hospital, across and in through the open doors. Ducking under tables and chairs he made his way to the stairwell, and then waited again for someone to open the door. Instead, however, he seized the opportunity of a passing gurney to ride up in the elevators, getting off as it reached his floor. Cautiously Shadow padded quietly towards Grace’s ward, carefully passing the night nurse’s station and suddenly he was home free. Leaping up onto Grace’s bed Shadow settled down for the night.
***
Shadow found the gate to Grace’s cottage open. He hurried up the path and in through the open door. Grace was lying on the floor and there were several Drawl beside her, feeding from her energy, draining her life away. Shadow shut the door loudly and they stopped what they were doing and stared at the intruder.
‘Step away from the girl!’ hissed Shadow through exposed teeth. He pulled out two sai from behind his back. The sai was a favourite weapon of the police when disarming drunken sword wielding cats. It looked like a three pronged fork with the middle prong being three times longer than the outside two. It could be used for stabbing, or trapping a sword between the prongs, and was very effective against staffs, and the long spiky appendages of the Drawl. Holding a sai in each hand Shadow lunged forwards into action. The Drawl scattered, and Shadow pursued them, one at a time. The first fell easily, running into a corner it tried to escape but ended up impaling itself on Shadow’s weapon. The last two, however, were much smarter. They worked together to attack Shadow.