Brother: Paul Gray and Joey Jordison

𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐬.

Okay, so this is the first chapter I guess... Or the prologue or whatever. Yes, this chapter is centered around Joey's cats. I promise the whole thing is not going to be like this. I just really like cats, okay? =) Anyway, this is just a fic, I'm not trying to be disrespectful to Joey's and Paul's deaths or anything. I'm just sad and obsessed with him and his cat's Instagram thingy. :)))

Joey Jordison

"Meow!!" 

A bunch of loud meows echoed around his house. He could tell which cat it was by the sound of their meows. Merlin was definitely getting it in the morning. He would never phatically hurt his cats. No. He wasn't an abusive cat daddy. But he would talk to them and promise them that they would be on the naughty list this Christmas.

"MEOW!!"

Joey covered his head with his pillow. It was too early for this shit. What time was it? It didn't really matter. He didn't want to get up right now anyway. He didn't care if it was ten already. There was no way he was going to budge from his comfortable bed. It was still pitch-black outside at the moment. He was way too tired to check the time. But his cat still persisted. Why did he have to have so many cats? It was a pain sometimes.

"MEOOOOWWWWWW!!"

He pulled the pillow off of his face and sat up, spotting Merlin sitting at the foot of his bed. The black cat was nearly invisible in the dark room, blending in perfectly with the shadows. Only the cat's green eyes glowed, that was how Joey had seen him. He sighed. "What do you want at," He reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone, checking the time. "Four in the morning, Mr.?" The cat stared at him, not moving an inch. It was as if he was staring into the man's soul. It scared him a bit.

Joey got up from his bed, walking over to the cat and picking him up. The cat let out a squeak of surprise as he was lifted into the air. He started to flail dark limbs around, scratching Joey's shoulder. "You're a naughty boy, you know that." He whispered to Merlin, when the cat stopped. Merlin let out a soft 'mew', probably agreeing with his owner, that made a grin appear on the man's face. 

He walked through the house, making his way to the room he kept for his cats. Yes, he kept a whole room for his cats. They were his precious babies. Not to mention how many of them he had. There was no way he was going to let them crowd around him in his room at night and hunt him. Within the first week of having Merlin, he had so many scratches on his face he thought he would just have to wear his stage mask everywhere.

It wasn't too big of a room though. He was surprised all of his children fit in there. Joey put Merlin on the ground, picking up a bag of cat food instead and giving him some of it in his food bowl. Soon some of his other cats rushed into the room, hearing the noise of their bowls being filled up with kibble. If anyone walked in at this moment, they would have thought he was summoning a secret goth cat cult. Joey laughed at the thought, putting the bag of cat food away and walking into his living room.

There wouldn't be any point in sleeping now. It was nearly five now and he was already fully awake, thanks to Merlin. He knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep before his alarm would go off. Plus, another one of his cats would probably wake him up before his alarm did. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't exactly play the drums at five am without waking up his neighbors. Why not put this free time to good use? 

Joey picked up his computer, setting it on his lap and going onto Instagram. Everyone said he spent too much time on there posting about his cats. Well, they were probably right. But Joey would never admit it. He settled for looking through his email. There wasn't really anything interesting, something from Corey, probably trying to give him a suggestion for a new song or some shit. 

The man rolled his eyes. But why did he send it at... four in the morning... His eyes widened. Corey never woke up before ten. That man could sleep forever and through anything. Joey opened the email, speed reading through it.

NATHAN CALL ME RIGHT NOW. SOMETHING HAPPENED.

What could possibly happen at four am? And why the fuck was he calling him 'NATHAN'. He knew Joey hated that name with passion. Joey scrambled off of the couch, grabbing his phone and dialing Corey's number. Of course, he wouldn't pick up. Basic Corey. He tried to call with no answer. He was starting to panic now. What could have happened? Was Corey ok? 

"Mew." A soft sound came from next to him. Joey turned to see another one of his cats sitting next to him. What was it with his cats interrupting him while he was doing important things. "Milo, off." He commanded, pointing to the ground. 

Milo swatted at the man's hand and hissed. Joey pulled his hand back. But his reflexes weren't enough to avoid the cat's sharp claws. He glared at the black and white cat. "I told you already. You're not allowed on the couch. Your hair gets fucking everywhere." He sighed, wiping some of the blood on his pajama pants. He was used to being abused by his cats. He loved them anyway.

The cat crawled into his lap. This time Joey didn't resist. He wrapped his arms around the cat, cuddling him. Milo started to purr softly after a few minutes. There was a loud beep that scared both Joey and Milo.

*beep* "Welcome to your voicemail. Your message will automatically be sent to voicemail-" 

Joey angrily pressed cancel on his phone. Corey had him on the edge of his seat. He was scared. He had no idea what was going on and the other man wouldn't even answer his damn phone. Idiots.

He stroked Milo's long fur as he tried not to panic too much. He sighed, calming down a bit. His eyelids were starting to droop, he was getting pretty tired. Milo stayed laying down on his stomach, trying to comfort him. His cats were annoying at times. But they were worth it. 

A loud crash sounded from somewhere in the house. 

I take that back. He thought bitterly, getting up from the couch. "Merlin! You better not be in the treat bag!" He grabbed the other cat and sat it next to himself. He was about to scold Merlin. But then his phone started vibrating. 

He huffed, grabbing the phone and picking it up. "What is it? Why don't you pick up your damn phone you ass-" Joey was cut off by Corey mumbling something to him that he didn't quite hear. He scoffed sitting up taller and letting his cats crawl into his lap. "I can't hear you." He said, scratching his head. "Your usually really loud and crazy I don't know why you-"

"Paul's dead." Corey choked out.

And that was when Joey's world got turned upside down.

First chapter finished! 1233 words!