Forbidden Shadows Chapter Nine

Stormcloud felt herself burst out of the cave and into the pouring, beating rain. The rain slashed her pelt so hard it scratched her, but she ignored the shrill cries of pain. Instead she focused on running. Running far away.

She wasn't sure what she was running from, but she did know that it was the most evil thing in the entire world. She had to keep running.

The gray she-stray pelted across the shadowy plains, the sounds of rain the only thing she heard. Suddenly a sound shrieked out, calling for attention. Was it the creature behind her? Stormcloud could only guess so. Finally her inquisitive brain got the better of her. Stormcloud turned around, her eyes waiting for the blast of surprise she would get as she saw the creature. But she saw nothing. The cave was a dot on the horizon, and nothing was behind her. This painful rain was for nothing! The cave was still safe, yet she had abandoned it!

Stormcloud let out a cry seething with anger. She shut her eyes tight. But when she opened her eyes, the pain was gone. The wetness was gone. The shadows on the plains were all gone. Instead a dim memory was imprinted on Stormcloud's soul. She looked around. She was in a cage again, but there weren't any other cats crying out for help as gas guns ended lives by the second. Instead she was in a small room.

The ceiling and the walls were both white, topped off with white tile flooring. In the dark of night it was dim, but Stormcloud could still make out several desks with equipment on them. Stormcloud felt her fur stick up and her body shudder as she noticed gas masks and gas guns on top of one of the desks.

She shoved the memory of the gas terror back on the plains out of her mind, but that only made room for another painful thought. Where were the other strays? Were they okay, or had every last one of them met their disheartening fate? Shuddering, Stormcloud tried to stop thinking about that possibility. Instead she looked downward. She observed she was on a shelf. She got a glance of some other cages, but she guessed they were empty. Looking up, she noticed she was on the top shelf. To her right there was no one else. But to her left...

"Bluejay!"

Stormcloud meowed his name over and over again, for she was sure it was him in that cage. She just had to wake him up. They needed to talk. "Bluejay! Bluejay, wake up! Please! Bluejay... It's Stormcloud!"

Stormcloud. That one word. Bluejay's eyes shot open. "Stormcloud?"

"Yes! It's me! Look! To your right. I checked out the room from the view of the cage. We must be in some sort of laboratory."

Bluejay's memory instantly clicked. AIS! They were trapped. Trapped!

"Bluejay?"

"Stormcloud. Do you know what this means? We're done for. The strays! The field! The gas guns! The evil humans! The truck! We're in AIS, that old Animal Investigation Study or Society, or whatever that last S meant. The place the strays, and all animals, avoided. Remember the old stories? Cats went in here and never came out!" Bluejay panicked.

"Bluejay, SSSSSSHHH! Don't you know that some scientists sleep in their labs? If he hears us meowing at three o'clock in the morning, he will know something's going on."

"Okay, you just gave me a lot of questions. First things first, though. Who's 'he'?" Bluejay whispered.

"Didn't I mention I saw somebody here? A human. Based on his figure, I guessed it was a male. I think he lives around here, and he probably works in this lab. At least that's what I guessed. But no worries, he's out cold. Asleep, I mean. And your other questions?"

"Well, how did you know it was three in the morning? We can't read human numerals... Can we?"

"Well, at first I was confused too. But look at that digital clock. Stare at it for a minute or two. Then you get the picture. It says 3:15 now. And since it's dark outside and I could see the starlight, I knew it meant in the morning."

Bluejay did as Stormcloud said. Realizing he could do that was a major breakthrough for the blue tom. The digital numbers read 3:15. Knowing these numbers, Bluejay realized this. What if he could read the words of the humans? He and Stormcloud would be sacred!

"Did you try?"

"Yes. Stormcloud, what if this means we're... special? What if we have abilities no other cats do? I mean, reading numbers is one thing. But if we can read... Think of the other things we could do if we did it, if we read their letters. Their words. Sentences. Paragraphs. Books! Think of what we could do," Bluejay said. Getting lost in thought, he shut his mouth. He began to slip into a daydream. Stormcloud and Bluejay, the world's smartest cats, have just been elected to be rulers of the world...

"Bluejay? Yoohoo, you okay, buddy?"

"Erm? Oh, um, yes, perfectly fine. Um, you wonder... Are there any human signs around here? And I bet you know why."

After about an hour of searching for signs to read, Bluejay fruitlessly gave up. It was now 4:30 and the strange man was tossing in his sleep. Stormcloud and Bluejay decided they should just go back to sleep. After all, the man could do no harm to them while he was sleeping.

~Later, sometime around 10:00 AM~

A thud, another thud, a third thud. Stormcloud and Bluejay sat up. Blinking, their eyes finally focused. The strange sleeping man had awoken, and the thuds were his thundering footsteps. Stormcloud yawned, then snapped to attention. Bluejay did the same. They were still in the dangerous AIS, and now the man was hooking up equipment. The man, thankfully, fumbled with the equipment, giving the cats some time to think about what the equipment was for. Was it another gas gun? Had the scientist given up on them and lost interest, deciding to kill them after all?

The scientist headed towards a door. Switching on the lights by the door, the man turned around and headed back to his equipment.

Bluejay adjusted his eyes to the newly lit room. Seeing everything in bright light was less nerve-racking, but now the two strays could see what equipment the man was piecing together.

A gas gun.