Take Me Down

6

We went into another room, a walk-in closet and she cussed, running her hands nervously through her brown hair. This room was about eight by six feet, lined from the floor to the roof with selves and hangers. Clothes hung around the room and were all designated by color. She had three racks of shoes and I wondered if this was only her closet. How could one person have so many clothes to themselves? Did she actually wear all of them? I ventured in further, noticing how some of the clothing still had its original price tag on it. $300 for a pair of black trash bag jeans? What a waste of money.

All the clothes Avery and I ever got were hand-me-downs from other dorm residents. Tamara had given me a blue frilly shirt that I never ended up wearing due to it being a little too small for my arms. We had gone shopping at the thrift store for clothing once, but after that, we never needed to. We only had what we needed for practicality and seeing all these clothes that weren't even worn made me speculate how spoiled Cassie was, even if she hadn't a clue.

Looking back at Cassie, I realized how scared she must be. Her hands shook slightly as she folded them in front of her. I wondered if this mansion actually had a panic room and if so, why she wasn't there.

"Aria, I forgot my phone in the other room. Could you go get it?" She questioned quietly in a panic, cussing again. For someone who had all these clothes, she didn't have a spare emergency phone stashed away?

"This is why people think I'm crazy. I ask the impossible of animals." She said quietly, and I went out the second door before she closed it. She gasped quietly and watched as I pushed the first door to her closet open slightly and she turned off the light in the big closet.

I went over to her bed, jumping up quickly and grabbing her phone in my mouth. It didn't really fit, so I had to drag it a little ways. I looked to see if she was watching and she wasn't, so I shifted my mouth bigger so I could fit it inside. I hopped off the bed when the door to the room opened slowly behind me. I quickly dropped the phone and started to play with it, like a normal cat should. I kicked it around until I turned and saw a man sticking his head in the room. I slowly moved forwards, trying to hide the phone under my small body.

He looked down at me and I turned my head to the side. The man in front of me was scraggly, very thin, and wore dark clothing. If he was trying to be discreet, he was doing a really bad job of it. Coming in broad daylight, dressed in black.

He came into the room and bent down, picking me and the phone up. I internally growled, not liking his hands on me. He put the phone in his pocket and I knew I had to get it back somehow. He pet me for a couple seconds, which gave me enough time to reach my back foot into his pocket to try and pull the phone out. I hoped Cassie was locked in the second closet and well hidden from sight. All she had to do was stay quiet and somehow, this man wouldn't find her. Not if I had anything to do with it.

Even though I hadn't known Cassie for very long, I still felt some sort of connection. Plus, she had tried to feed me pristine sushi. It was more than anyone had done for me in the past three months.

"Where's your master little cat? Show me!" He said, patting my head and putting me down. As he put me down, I quickly pulled my foot out of his pocket. Dammit. I'll get it from him if I have to shift and rip it out of his cold, lifeless hands.

I glanced back at the closet which stood semi-open, and I turned to head out of the room. I waited to see if the man would follow me and he did, walking down the hallway. He followed closely, which was almost crazier than Cassie thought she sounded. I glanced back at him, her phone now in his hand. He was trying to unlock it, tapping on the screen a few times.

"I wonder how much the pictures on this phone will be worth," he yammered on, talking about everything he was hoping to steal. From jewelry to art to toothpaste.