Chapter 4

I felt a chill run down my spine.

My nails were digging into her wrist as I raised my voice.

“You— do you know Nolan!? Do you know where he is!?”

She seemed more terrified of me than dying.

I didn’t care. I tugged on her arm violently.

“Answer me!”

I was not going to let her go.

“Where is he!”

Her eyes started watering, then she brought her other hand to her head, shutting her eyes closed. She seemed to be in a lot of pain.

“Aaahh… aaah…..”

Quickly, the employees decided to come to our aid.

But this, unfortunately, startled her, and I felt how she slipped through my grip.

Her dress fluttered beautifully like a freshly cut white petal as she made her way to the ground.

I saw the whole thing.

It only lasted a second, but it felt like hours.

Just like that time when he pushed me out of the way.

Boom.

The glass-like sound of breaking bones.

I don’t remember much else after she hit the pavement.

***

“I don’t really like cats, you know”

Nolan said to me one day, long ago.

“Huh? You don’t?”

“Nah. They’re not as smart as dogs, because you can’t train them. They’re always sleeping, and they don’t show love as much as dogs.”

“I’m pretty sure you can train them,” I defended them.

“What, do you like cats, Ray?”

“I prefer dogs as well,” I shrugged, “but I don’t dislike cats. I actually think they’re smarter than dogs.”

“In what universe!”

“Think about it. If you were an idiot, I could tell you right now to go fetch me some juice from the vending machine at the end of the street, and you’d do it without question because you’re an idiot. But if you were smart, there’s no way you would go. You’d be like ‘huh? Get it yourself!’ Right? That’s exactly how cats are.”

“.........Huh. I guess so.”

“See?”

“Okay, okay. You convinced me, Ray. I like cats now.”

“Hahaha. That easy, huh?”

“Hahaha!”

***

This time, my entire closet was filled with clothes I didn’t recognize.

I put on something that looked like a bright yellow school uniform and took my usual route to campus.

The school was still as weird as it was yesterday, but everyone was wearing the same clothes I was this time.

Oh, and this time we all had animal ears and tails.

I think I was some kind of cat.

Sam, the creepy kid that sits next to me, also looked like a cat.

Actually, I think we were all cats.

I didn’t have the strength to ask about it.

About the school being different, or our clothes, or our appearance.

Truthfully, it was kind of shocking how much I didn’t care about any of that.

There’s only one thing I cared about, but it seemed like nobody else did.

This time for sure I would go to his house and get some answers.