Curiosity Killed the Cat

Chapter 2 - The unknown world

It's hard to understand what's going on around them. Their mind is almost imprisoned by static, which prevents them from thinking clearly. Throughout the world of endless blacks and greys, distant whispers erupt. They seem to have entered a void and are trapped there.

A breeze blows past them, burning yet ice-cold at the same time. It gives them a feeling of terror, utter fear that grips their heart and compresses their lungs.
They find it hard to breathe and look around frantically. It's the same. Everything is the same.
They can't even see if there's a floor beneath their feet, but they know it's there. It has to be there.

What else would they be standing on?

Their senses are overwhelmed by the growing static, which prompts them to desperately grab their heads to block it. The voices become more distinct as the breeze blows. However, they cannot still hear what they are saying. What are they even trying to say? Are they merely mutterings of agony tossed about by the wind with no significance?

"[Name]..."

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??? - Strange Room?

Your eyes snapped open, inhaling deeply. You groaned, squinting. You could feel cloth covering your arm, face, and neck. Was it cloth? You sat up, biting your lip this time when a shock of pain went through you and reached your hand up to your head. You could feel thin layers of rough yet soft material. 'Bandages..?' Yeah, that had to be it. You let your hand drop to the side. When your eyes adjusted to the dark, only using the moon as your light, you could see you were in a room, not your own, of course. It was... Weird. The space was empty, maybe a broken drawer and table near the walls. Your gaze rested upon the next thing close to the walls and minimal furniture, a window. You could deal with that later.

You then looked down to be met with a bed. Your brows furrowed at that, grabbing the thin blanket in your hands...

Getting up, you shifted your legs. You only noticed the familiar pounding in your head and the tingling in your body at that point... Were you bleeding earlier? You had a fleeting memory of the sensation of falling and being struck by something. Hopefully, nothing was broken, but your left wrist felt much more tender than it should. The pain coursing up your arm made you wince as you gave it an experimental roll. 'Fantastic.' You Scowled at your left wrist for causing you additional stress.

"I don't think frowning at it will make it magically become better, human."

Your dizziness returned at the worst possible time and caused you to fall to the left as you jumped a foot in the air and turned your head a little too quickly. You were fortunate to land on the small person's arm, but you instinctively grabbed them with your left hand and gritted your teeth when the pain suddenly got worse.

"Do not move too fast, human. I heard you hit those trees pretty hard." The thing looked up, and you met its amused gaze. It was a little girl. Her green eyes were bright and attentive, and they matched nicely with her long white and purple robe..? She was a strange mix of a fox and human, shaped like a human but distinctly having fox traits that weren't human at all. You couldn't tell if that made you uncomfortable or not.

"Um... Hello." You realized you stared at her for too long and stammered a quick greeting. The corners of her eyes crinkled in delight at your meek voice.

"Hi! Human! I am glad to see you awake! I am Kei!" she said while climbing onto the bed, "one of Crowley's helpers. Trey saw you stuck in those trees and rushed to assist! I would inform you to be more careful about flying in the future." Her voice was lighthearted when recalling events; she looked more entertained by the whole thing than anything else. Her attitude caused you to relax naturally, feeling relief that at least you survived the fall.

'....She didn't mention a cat; did the cat die? Or did this "trey" miss it?'

"You look concerned," Kei interrupted your thought, "Though I suppose that is only natural. After all, you did end up in a strange place, possibly with no memories." You blinked at her, suspicion sharpening your awareness. The first part of that statement was correct, but you don't think you're missing any memories? Man, you hope not. "What do you mean?" You asked, tone laced with caution, trying to get a feeling of what the strange child fox knows before you reveal too much about your situation.

"Well, you aren't the first confused human to find their way into our world." her ear twitched, and she turned, jumped off the bed, and walked over to the door, grabbing one of the circular handles and knocking it against the wooden surface a few times. Not even a second later, the door slowly opened a crack; you managed to see a set of hands place a bundle of something you couldn't see into her arms. The door shut quickly; after that, you heard a calm voice that you couldn't make out what they said, then a loud voice soon after. "HUH?! What do you mean?! Kick them out! I cleaned that room!"

Now you're starting to want to leave. You wouldn't be able to handle any of it. That window is a tempting option if the door is closed. The child silently approached you with the cloth-wrapped bundle in her hands while you were distracted and contemplating launching yourself like a madman out of a stained glass window.

You were so preoccupied with your irrational thoughts that you didn't realize she was standing in front of you until she sat down on the bed and handed you the cloth.

"Crowley brought you food here. I'm sure you're starving." As you realized you had drifted away, you cautiously removed the wrapping from the warm object and discovered that it was a loaf of bread. Your eyes widened. "Thank you." You hesitated, briefly considering the possibility that the bread had been tainted, but the rumbling in your stomach quickly overruled that thought. Most likely, not everyone in the world wants to kill you, and if this creepy kid was going to do it, she would have already done it.

At least it's not poisoned...

"Now! Since you-"

Thump

Crash

Kei's ear twitched; she jumped off the bed and got into a fighting position. The door opened with such force that you scrunched your nose at the loud impact.

To be continued...

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Bwhaaaaaaa!! I'm sooo sorryyyyyyyyy I'll try to keep this book updated but if you haven't already seen the golden hour has been released!! I'm making the youkai outfit design. (Which is quite hard!!) I also have someone helping me with this AU!! Much stuff has been cut (it used to be 4087 words), but thank goodness my second writer fixed the story's timeline! It wouldn't have made any sense if I kept the OG story 😄  A couple of things have changed!! If you look at my profile There is more than me!!