Juniper's Mystery

Chapter Four

Juniper opened his eyes. They were tired, but he was still up for the morning. The cat stretched his body.

He then saw Livie walking away. Juniper felt concerned about her as he twitched his tail. He caught up to Livie.

"Why did you leave me behind?" Juniper asked.

Livie barely gave any eye contact. Her green eyes were still dull looking at front. "Easy, you're a slow slug." She spoke with a teasing manner.

"Like you being slow to find the murderer," Juniper muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," Juniper replied. He dipped his head slightly. Juniper was quite irritated by Livie's attitude.

They kept walking and walking. Juniper was already getting ready to give up this unfaithful hope. He felt like there were days passing, but it was only a few hours.

"Wait, I smell something," Livie presumed. She shifted her head towards the closest alleyway.

Juniper leaped behind. Is it another rat? He thought. But to his surprise, it was not. There were two dead animals. Livie looked at the bodies with no grief or surprise. She looked at Juniper with the same old serious face.

"What?" Livie asked.

"There's a dead dog! And a cat!" Juniper's eyes widen in fear. He could not express his fear in words. The blood looked fresh, and there were signs of a fight everywhere.

Livie walked closer. She crouched even closer to the bodies. Lowering her head, she sniffed the scent of the two dead animals. "It's the same scent for both of them. It was a different cat, but where?" Livie stood up to her four paws.

She looked above and around her surroundings. Juniper looked at Livie. "Can we just get out of here?" He asked urgently. The cat did not enjoy looking at the dead guts and souls from the two animals.

Livie ignored Juniper. She investigated the scene. Giving a close up, smelling the scent, and ignoring Juniper's whines.

Something shocked Livie. She turned her head everywhere. "The scent!" She said. Juniper was confused, he did not know what she meant by the scent.

Livie jumped down, her eyes moved to the direction of Juniper, "This scent suddenly feels familiar. But who was it?"

Juniper felt confused. What was she talking about? Juniper felt scared, confused. He had no idea why this had to happen. "Familiar scent?" Juniper asked.

"Yes!" Livie raised her head.

Juniper looked around, he turned his head. Facing the way they both came in. "How about we ask someone or more?" Juniper insisted. Livie faintly nodded her head in a slight agreement.

Livie walked off. She padded forward, outside the scenery. Juniper felt tense whenever he's around her. But he's still around her, why is that? Juniper looked at Livie. Her expression looked bold and dull. What happened?

"Oh wait, who are we suppose to ask?" Livie asked. She shifted her head towards the anxious cat. Juniper hesitated. He looked around. There weren't many cats nor were dogs. Juniper replied with a soft tone, "I think we should just look around."

Livie nodded slightly again. She started to walk somewhere. Juniper followed. At least I managed to get us both out of that dead alleyway. But why was there a dog too? How did they both manage to die? Livie said it's the same scent, so it should be by the same murderer.

Juniper kept thinking about the scene. He could not get it out of his head. It was as if it glued onto his memory. Just as Juniper zoned out, Livie starting running somewhere.

He was left confused when he woke up from his thoughts. Juniper ran after Livie. What were they chasing? Who were they chasing? Juniper couldn't see. Livie was going too fast and was blocking Juniper's sight of who they were following.

"Where are we going?" Juniper nervously asked. Livie delayed her reply. She shifted her head left to right. Getting her stiff paws ready, she ran quickly to what seems to be a suspect.

Juniper ran late. He panted heavily from running too quickly. As Juniper raised his head, he noticed a scrawny feline in front of them, being cornered and trapped.

Livie smiled devilishly, "Hah, you thought you could get away from me?" She walked closer, slowly. Juniper felt uneasy by her smile. This is the first time I've seen her smile, but why make it so evil? He leaped towards the brown cat.

Juniper hesitated on what to say. He opened his mouth, "Didn't I suggest to ask, not to kill?" He looked at Livie with eyes even he couldn't tell. Livie stopped her smile and her padding. She looked directly at the suspect's eyes.

"What is it that you want? Go on, ask me whatever! Not like you're going to tell me anything useful", the cat snarled. His ginger fur flowed within the breeze, his orange eyes were filled with determination and hatred.

There was a small growl beneath Livie's voice. She looked directly at the cat. "Listen, we're not here to fight. Besides even if we were, I would've ripped you in pieces," She threatened.

Juniper on the other hand did not feel any proper negotiation between the two. "We wanted to ask you if you had witnessed a recent murder," He questioned.

The suspect looked a tad bit confused. He stood up properly on his four paws. "Even if I did, would I say yes?" The cat snarled. Nonetheless, the suspect was right, everyone in the streets weren't so bold enough to answer truthfully.

"This was a waste of time," told Livie as she walked away. Juniper felt a bit tired from running, but he padded along as well. The orange cat placed a small smile as he turned his head towards Juniper.

Juniper felt creeped out. He continued to walk with Livie somewhere else.