Lord of Cages - Vessel

Chapter 6 - Fight or Flight

Chapter Six

Fight or Flight

Before she could properly acknowledge what was happening, Naya was already squeezed between Matt and Kayla around the small table in the living room, a plate with food in front of her, completely alienated from the light, cheerful conversation the humans were having. She observed their easy interactions with hungry interest and wonder, not daring to say a word or react, afraid to break that wonderful spell that involved them, perfectly happy to be forgotten.

Their shadows danced in the walls, elongated and beautifully dark, courtesy of the dozens of candles spread throughout the house, and yet, despite all the darkness and cold that surrounded them, the house felt warm, safe and cozy. Naya couldn't understand how this was possible, her cage had always been cold, empty, rough and silent.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

It took her a while to understand that Nicole was talking to her and her heart jumped slightly once she finally did.

"Oh, yes, sure!"

Naya looked at her plate, carefully inspecting all the food in it. She had never eaten anything before, as a Keeper there was no need for it, but now, as barely more than human, she probably should. Although she'd never done it, she knew what it was and how and why humans fed, so she gently grabbed her fork and stabbed what should be a vegetable with it. Slowly, she brought the food to her mouth and chewed.

Her eyes widened as Naya felt the pleasure of flavor in her tongue. It was a whole new sensation she had never known and it felt amazing. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was repeat the same action over and over, her body begging her to keep eating. Naya realized she must've been hungry, only she hadn't known it.

"It's not much," Nicole continued, "just some leftovers from two nights ago, but it's-"

"Delicious!" Naya said, finally understanding the meaning of the word. She attacked the rest of her meal, drank some water and eagerly repeated the process, not being able to suppress a happy moan and a pleased smile. "I love it!"

"You know what?" Nicole said with a grin, "I like you already."

Her eyes immediately abandoned the dish and landed on Nicole, widened, but before Naya could further react to that amazing statement, something black and elegant suddenly jumped on the table, catching everyone off guard. The feline gracefully landed right next to Matt's plate, startling him into spilling his drink all over himself and choke on what little of it he had managed to swallow.

"What the hell is that?" Adam asked, after a slight jump.

"It's my cat, Luke," Naya happily replied as she tried to help the still coughing Matt by tapping his back.

"Oh, yeah, right... Forgot to tell you about that," Kayla mumbled, smiling apologetically.

"He's really sweet and calm," Naya reassured. "You won't even notice he's here."

Ignoring them all, Luke shamelessly started to eat Matt's dinner directly from his plate.

Adam narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, sure. He seems very... unnoticeable."

Kayla giggled at his remark and Nicole flat out laughed, which had a soothing effect on the Keeper. She found herself returning their smiles. Everything seemed to be alright, they all accepted Luke's presence very easily, which was a relief.

Soon enough, Luke was going through everyone's plates and no one seemed at all bothered by it, the conversation continued to flow in a natural and easy going way and, for a brief moment, Naya felt completely relaxed. It was when the topic went back to her Fall that it all came crashing down again and her nerves returned in full blast.