Plasma Cat

Ch. 9: Seventy-five Drachmas

"Soooo, you like an angel or something?"

No.

"Ah, gotcha. Escaped mad science project. Right?"

No.

"Oh, of course, you're... what's it called? A witch's cat? I mean... you're a black cat. That has to be right."

I told you, I do not know.

Estella was getting frustrated. She had gotten up this morning with a mix of emotions. She was somewhat happy to see that the cat was there when she went outside, and she was somewhat excited when the cat did in fact speak to her. But now she was just confused.

"You know," Estella began, the frustration evident in her tone, "I really thought meeting a talking cat would be more interesting than this. You don't know what you are, where you came from, or why you're here. You just have to kill people. For... some reason."

What are you?

Estella was surprised by the question. "I'm human, obviously."

Then I am a cat. Obviously.

"Normal cats don't speak English," Estella remarked.

How do you know?

Estella was annoyed that she couldn't answer the question.

"Look... cat," she began, "I'm sure your mission of revenge is justified, but leave me out of it, OK? Murder is generally frowned upon in this town."

I just need information.

"Being an accomplice to murder is also frowned upon," Estella said with a note of finality.

I am not asking.

Estella felt her heart skip a beat at the sudden threat. Which was ridiculous. It was just a cat.

"Whatcha gonna do, cat?" she mocked. "Scratch me?"

Yes. Every night. Every single night. Until you break.

Estella had thought a talking cat would be cool. She had even considered showing it off to her friends. Now, she was starting to doubt her sanity again.

"What the hell do you want from me?" she asked in an exasperated tone.

Information.

"Go ask someone else! I'm just a high school dropout. I'm not really prime "back-up dude with a computer" material."

You have a computer, yes?

Estella groaned. "You know what, fine. Let me go turn Claire off, I'm sure she'd flip out if she saw a talking cat. Or me talking to a cat."

Thank you.

"Oh no," Estella shot back as she got out of her chair, "you don't get to threaten me and then try and be all cute and nice, buster! You had your chance, you could have just played along and this would have been a lot of fun. I was going to take you to the park, we could have pulled pranks on people, I was going to show you off to my friends..."

Estella continued to mutter under her breath as she entered the house.

"You still playing with that cat?" Claire asked as she looked up from the dishes she was washing. "Please be careful, it might have rabies or something."