Milo

Chapter 3

Cass woke up later than she has before - normally she wakes up early in the morning to experience the day fully, but today was different. Her father was gone, leaving an imprint of his body on the cardboard that they were sleeping on. The arms that caressed the cat from last night went limp - it took her a moment to realize that the cat had left her. She got up from her slumber and started searching for her father.

"Dad? Where are you?" she called, getting a little worried that she had lost her father.

"Young lady, do you need help with something?" said a familiar voice. It was Walter, an elderly homeless man who had known Cass and her father ever since they lost their home on that tragic day.

"Have you seen my dad?" Cass questioned, having a little hope that Walter would know where her father was.

"Hm . . I saw a troop of men clothed in black take him away at about 6 in the morning. I'm not sure what reason for, but I haven't seen him since then." he explained, scratching his rough, whiskered chin.

Cass was in shock. She never knew someone so close to her would be kidnapped one day, and then, it happened. Right then and there. She felt like her jaw was about to drop to the ground. Disappointment overwhelmed her - if she were up earlier than she was, then there could've been a possibility that she could get her father back.

"Thanks... for letting me know." Cass muttered.

She walked away without any momentum in her step, no emotion leaking out of her - she realized there was absolutely nothing she could do to get her father back. She had lost it all. All hope, all faith, all of it. Gone. Walter saluted Cass as she walked back to the closest thing she considered home.

When she arrived, she leaned up against the wall and sat down in a slump. She wanted to cry, but there was no desire to now. All she could do now was sleep. Normally she would dream during her slumber, but there was nothing to dream about. Nothing that was worth dreaming about, because she knew that her dreams would all be shattered in the end.

When Cass finally woke up, the sun was starting to set. She had a 4 hour nap and was feeling a tad bit better, now that she had some time to relax after the traumatic news she recieved earlier. She sat up and leaned against the brick wall beside her. Most of the homeless had gone to the dumpsters to get tonight's dinner - Cass wasn't one of them. She was starving, and she could feel it. However, there was no desire for her to go scavenge for food. She just sat there, with no motivation to do anything. Cass heard footsteps and saw old, beaten up brown boots walk to her. It was Walter.

"Young lady, I managed to get a pizza crust out of the dumpster... Would you like some of it?" he questioned, holding out the pizza crust with bite marks along the edge of it.

Cass shook her head. Walter looked at her strangely, then walked away and got back to what he was doing before. Cass held her head in her hands and just sat there, motionless. Hours started to pass by. The sun went down and the moon made its first appearance for the day. At this time, most of the homeless would've been in bed by now, but Cass wasn't. Her empty stomach kept her wide awake most of the night.

She was most active at halfway through the night - the mysterious presence was felt again. She shrugged it off again, assuming that it was still that same cat again. She felt that it rejected her when she approached it, so she left it be.

Five minutes later, the cat started meowing, loudly. Cass didn't mind it at first, but it kept on meowing . . and meowing. . and it started to get on her nerves.

"Stupid cat! Can't you learn to shutup?" she yelled, not caring if the other sleeping homeless would wake up from her outburst.

She got up abruptly and stomped towards the aura of the cat - still in the same spot as last night. Her fists tightened and her teeth gritted together as she got closer to the cat. When she arrived, the cat stopped meowing and looked up at Cass with large eyes and a cute face. Cass looked down at the cat, frowning. She raised her hand and stroked the cat's cheek, causing the cat to start purring in response.

Little did Cass know, she too would end up like her father on this very night. Kidnapped and afraid. And that's exactly what happened - a gloved hand closed over her mouth, and a muscular arm clamped over her neck. She was pulled backwards over towards a white truck, thrown in and was locked inside it. She noticed that the cat she was petting earlier was in the same situation as her.

Wherever this cat was from, whatever motive it had - Cass would have to trust it until she figured out what was happening to her.