Time Stood Still

Phalentino

*Phalentino*

(Phil Manansala + Tino Arteaga)
-&-

Sitting in a cage for days on end can get boring. Very boring. Very fast.

Living the life as a mix of two species isn't welcomed here.

I'm "deformed".

I'm "unnatural".

I'm "bizarre".

I'm a candy shop for child-like scientists.

I decided to end my life. With the beatings I got when I wouldn't do something correctly, I had scars covering my body. They say that animal cruelty isn't a big thing anymore. They're right. It's worse. Whips and chains along with this cage is enough to make any "animal" want to die.

I stopped eating. I drank a ton of water everyday to simulate a full feeling in my stomach; stomaches were common.

I was trying to fall asleep in my bed, when I heard a conversation between two of the scientists and began to eavesdrop, pointing my ears towards their way.

"Y'know what we haven't checked?"

"What?"

"To see if he has a clock."

An unnerving silence took place and I picked my head up and looked at them. I pulled my bracelets down to see I had one, indeed. I've always known I had one. It made me terrified, though.

Who would love such a freak like me?

Who would love a man with scars covering him from abuse - too weak to stand up for himself?

Who would love a man with all of his ribs, both of his hip bones and collarbones showing?

What I didn't expect was to see the orange numbers with a tan background almost near the end.

18 hours 15 minutes 7 seconds

I pushed my bracelets back up to cover it and began to feel a panic attack ready to pounce and claim myself. I grabbed my tail and stroked it, knowing it would calm myself down. In the two weeks I've been here, I never expected to make it out alive. What else would I expect? Almost nothing came out of this facility alive.

I looked up to see a lab-coat-wearing doctor approach me. He put the keycode into the keypad and unlocked it. After I figured out how to unlock a bolt lock from the inside of the cage, they replaced it with electricity.

I scooted towards the back of the cage, trying to escape from him, but his hands grabbed my anorexic waist and slammed me into the concrete floor of the lab. He strapped me onto the examination table and he put on his glasses. I squirmed, trying to get out, but it was a fail, to no avail.

He began to poke and prod all over my body, looking for my clock.

"I am half human." I think to myself. "My clock is exactly where yours is." I roll my eyes and huff at his ignorance.

In determination, the scientist had checked everywhere. Even my noodle. He finally looked under my sleeves and pushed all of my bracelets off and onto the surface of the examination table next to me.

"I found it." He said to the other scientist in the corner, reading a book.

"Where?"

"On his wrist."

"That's normal. I guess he's more human than we thought. What's the display time?" The second one asked as he began typing into the computer.

"Um... In the next sixteen hours..."

The typing scientist had taken a sip of his water, only to proceed to spit it onto the screen. "WHAT?! He must be put under quarantine. Not hazmatically speaking, but no other animal must come into this room. Only other staff. Got that?" He demanded at the examination scientist who nodded.

They threw me back in my cage and I sighed, tired of their shenanigans. I closed my eyes as I curled up in my bed, waiting for the reaper's arrival tomorrow.

-&-

I was jerked awake from my light slumber with doors slamming open and close. I scrambled to the wall of the cage farthest away from the door. The slamming kept getting closer and closer and my heart rate kept getting faster and faster. I put my hands over my face and I trembled as the handle to the room opened. I looked through my fingers an listened to the scientist who was examining me yesterday.

"...an this is our main project. A half human, half cat. His name is Phil." He led a new scientist into the room.

I slowly let my hands fall as the new scientist's gaze caught mine.

Beep, beep.

Beep, beep.

Beep, beep.

Beep, beep.

I wrapped my fingers around the small, metal bars keeping me from my clockmate.

Is he a reaper in disguise?

Is this my death?

Everything was happening so quickly that I felt another panic attack coming and this one would need more than tail-hugging for me to be calm.

My breathing quickened and I closed my eyes and put my head in my hands. My lungs were drowning for air, but as much as I tried to breathe, it wasn't enough. My eyes began to prick with I shed tears and I began to shake wildly.

It wasn't until I felt myself being cradled in warm arms that I became aware of my surroundings.

"Pretty little neko,

With your swollen eyes,

Would you show them to me?

I know I'm not that perfect,

But you stay a while,

Then baby,

You'll see..."

I felt a few tears roll down my cheeks and into his purple shirt. I looked at the name tag to see "Valentino Arteaga" in bold letters.

"How you doin', Phil? I'm Tino." Tino introduced himself to me.

"He's an optional mute..." The other scientist said to Tino.

"Why?"

"We don't know. He stopped eating, too." The scientist explained.

"Can I lift up your shirt for a moment, Phil?" Tino asked me softly. I looked into his eyes, the familiar terrified feeling making my stomach flip. "Just for a sec?"

I gulped and nodded. He sat down on an office chair and lifted up my shirt, still holding me. Tino gasped and I began to cry silently into his shirt. I knew he could see my hips, my ribs, and the scars that littered my body from beatings and whippings.

"What the hell are these scars from?" Anger dripped from his words as he looked at the scientist.

"Th-They're from my boss. He beats Phil when he doesn't get his way. I always leave the room when he whips Phil." His lip quivered and I could tell he was about to cry.

"What's your name again?" Tino asked him.

"Shayley."

"What's your boss's name?"

"Harry."

"I'm going to get him fired. I am going to shut this down. I just need you to resign from this job so it will not effect you. Got that?" Tino demanded. Shayley nodded an ran out of the room.

Tino looked at me and I looked away. He kissed my forehead and I yawned, the kitty half of myself craving sleep. I putted and curled up into a ball on Tino's lap. Tino scratched my ears and petted my tail, making me feel safe around him.

"This will be a new beginning for you, Phil. I swear."

-&-
Ayyyyy
If you didn't get it:
Phil is a neko
Don't know what a neko is?
Look it up!