The Smiling Cat: CatNap

Chapter 5: CatNap

The next day, Theo was taken to a different room, away from the other children. He was told that he had been chosen for a special game, a final game, a reward game. He was told that he had to wear a special suit, a white suit, a clean suit. He was told that he had to lie on a special table, a metal table, a cold table. He was told that he had to stay still, stay calm, stay quiet.

He was not told the truth.

He was not chosen for a game, but for an experiment. He was not given a suit, but a uniform. He was not put on a table, but on an operating table.

He was not going to play, but to be played with.

He was going to be experiment 1188. He was going to be turned into a monster, a mutation, a shadow of what he once was. He was going to be cut, stitched, and implanted. He was going to be changed, altered, and transformed.

He was going to lose himself.

He did not know any of this. He did not understand what was happening. He did not realize what was going to happen.

He only felt scared.

He saw the scientists, the staff, and the guards. They wore masks, gloves, and coats. They had tools, machines, and devices. They looked at him with curiosity, excitement, and greed.

They did not look at him with kindness, compassion, or love.

They did not care about him.

They only cared about what they were turning him into.

They hoped that Theo would become better than the other experiments, better than the prototype.

They didn't want a repeat of Experiment 1006.

Theo did not know that the prototype was his friend. He did not know that the prototype was alive. He did not know that the prototype was watching him.

He did not know that the prototype was waiting for him.

The prototype was still in the lab, locked in a cage. It had not escaped, but it had not given up. It had a plan, a risky plan, a desperate plan.

At that moment, dark red gas blurred Theo's vision, he couldn't see where it was coming from, but knew it was near.

It put Theo to sleep, to see what was hidden from him.

He felt a wave of calmness, of peace, of happiness.

He appeared in a room filled with that red smoke, and he couldn't see his surroundings.

"Hello?" Theo whispered out to the smoke.

"Hello?" Responded a deep raspy voice.

Theo was in shock, was the smoke talking to him.

"Wh-Who are you...?" Asked Theo, he feared whatever was out there.

"Wh-Who are you...?" Asked the voice, showing equal fear.

Theo was confused, was the voice mocking him?

Theo walked forwards, and as he did, he saw small white glowing eyes come closer.

Theo stepped back, and so did the creature.

He was confused on why this creature was mimicking him.

Theo stepped forwards, and the creature does the same, and eventually they meet.

The young boy comes face to face with a purple slender cat – like creature, who possessed a stoic smile. He came face to face with CatNap.

Theo felt a rush of recognition through his veins.

"You look familiar..." Theo whispered to CatNap.

"You look familiar..." CatNap whispered back.

"What are you doing here...?" Asked Theo.

"What are you doing here...?" Asked CatNap.

"My name's Theo. Theodore Grambell..." Theo responded.

"My name's Theo. Theodore Grambell..." CatNap responded.

Theo is taken aback.

"I- Wha...?" Theo murmurs in shock.

Just after those words, the hand of the prototype breaks through a vent in the ceiling.

Theo and CatNap step back in shock.

"Theo..." The Prototype whispers in a light friendly tone, "I'm here to save you."

The Prototype holds out his hand to Theo, and the boy approaches.

"You're back..." Tears started to form in Theo's bright childlike eyes, "...I knew you would come back..."

He ignored CatNap, who was no longer mimicking him, but watching in silence.

Theo reached out to grab The Prototype's hand, when he felt four sharp spears stab into his face.

Theo's vision is blurred, all he can see is the colour red, all he can feel is the rigid cold metal stabbed through is head. The sharp fingers of The Prototype...

Theo feels The Prototype lifting his body upwards, into the unknown.

Theo wakes up, but not where he fell asleep – but instead in a large field of poppy flowers.

He felt his face and was relieved that his death was just a dream.