Cat N' Mau5

Chapter 18: Closer to the Truth

I couldn't find the account but it's still dedicated.

***

Mikey squeezed his way in between two very tight pieces of debris, wiggling his shoulders through first, closely followed by his hips. Panting, he pulled his long, lanky legs out from between the massive metal poles that were welded together to form the large steel frame of the dome. He leant up against them, taking a moment to catch his breath.

Eyes closed and head lolling back, Mikey began to think about how badly thought out this plan had been. In his mad rush to find his beloved brother, he hadn't bothered to pack a bag. Right now, he would do anything for a bottle of water.

The low hum of machinery broke up his thoughts and he glanced around, looking for the source. The spot he was in now was hollowed out; opening up into a large room-like area. What should've been so dark under layers of shrapnel was lit up with a soft, blue glow. To Mikey, the glow was comforting and unnerving at the same time.

Pushing himself off the ground, Mikey stood up and began to inspect. His too-big shirt hung half unbuttoned across his torso, and his black skinny jeans hugged the skin on his legs tightly. He stretched out the kinks in his spine before going on to see what was producing the light.

"Hello?" He called out, his voice uncertain. The metal echoed and it seemed so loud and piercing in the usual quiet.

"Is anyone there?" Louder this time, he peered behind a corner, only to be met with nothing.

A sly miaow came from his right, high up in the piles of debris. A shudder racked his body, and he began to approach the sound.

A small, robotic cat made itself known; coming out into the open. Mikey let out a sigh of relief. It was only a little cat.

"Here, kitty kitty kitty," he coaxed. Suddenly the cat hissed, raising the plates on its back and tail, which was waving through the air like a cheese slicer. Startled, Mikey tumbled backwards, landing on his bum. He quickly got up again, regaining his balance. The cat took a step towards him, yowling wildly. Mikey flinched, putting sticky hands on his face. Hang on, he thought, sticky?

Looking down at his hands he saw they were covered in a reddy-brown colour. The thought of what that might be horrified him, more than the hissing kitten. He glanced back at where he had tripped before and his worse fears were confirmed.

A bloodied t-shirt lay down in the dirt.

Suppressing a sob, he turned away. The robo-cat had gotten closer but that didn't matter to him. What if that were Gerard's?

The cat yowled again, screeching extremely loudly and snapping Mikey back to reality. It lunged at him and swiped its sharp nails across his face.

Mikey backed away quickly, face stinging. The cat stalked after him menacingly, and it wwasn't long until his victim broke out into a run.

***

When Mikey didn't open the door is when Ray really began to worry. Bob reassured them that there wasn't anything wrong, but the tell-tale wobble in his words revealed that he thought something was up.

Frank, on the other hand, was too worried about getting hurt again, and therefore became impatient.

"Look, he's not answering, either he's not here or he really hates us." Frank tugged on Ray's shirt. "C'mon, let's go back to my place and eat skittles and jam to Misfits or something."

"I think we should go in," Ray decided. Bob looked uncertain, but he knew something was wrong, so he nodded his head slowly.

"What?!" Frank was exasperated. "Break into Michael's house when the last time we saw him was yelling and shouting and kicked us out?!"

Ray rolled his eyes at the use of Mikey's proper name. "We're not breaking in, we're just... Checking up on him. Bob, you saw him last; he wasn't acting quite himself, was he?"

"Yeah, he just kinda... Moped around," Bob confirmed.

"We could watch a movie or something? I'll even let you guys pick."

"Right, that's it then. We're going in to make sure Mikey, our friend, hasn't gone and done anything stupid."

Folding his arms, Frank sat down cross-legged on the front step. "I'm not going in. I don't want to be held responsible for this."

"What if it was his life in danger?" Ray tried to reason, but Frank was unmoving.

"Fine," Bob sighed, "we'll call you in later. For now, Ray, lets just check on him."

Ray grasped the door handle, twisting it and walking straight in. Bob followed, a little nervous.

"Mikey?" Ray called out, making himself known. He called again, but still no answer.

Frank sat sulking on the doorstep. Why was Mikey so insensitive? Frank loved Gerard with as much brotherly love as Mikey did. He wasn't trying to stir up trouble, simply bring fourth an idea of hope and promise.

A bull ant crawled over his leg, and he flicked it off. Maybe, he thought, he could just go back go back to his place on his own. The kids had a friend round, and he knew heaps of great games to play with them.

"Frank! Get in here!" Frank's head whipped around at the sound of his name, and he pushed himself up off the ground quickly, sprinting in to join his friends.

"What is it?" He said breathlessly.

"Look." Ray thrust a note into his hands. "It's from Mikey."

Bob watched the small bloke's eyes dart over the page as he read it anxiously. No matter how upset he was at Mikey, he would always care.

"He's gone..."

"Yup." Ray took the note off Frank. "Off to find his brother."

"I shouldn't have left him by himself," Bob fumes.

"It wasn't your fault," Ray reassures, placing a comforting hand on him. "You couldn't have known."

"Anyone would've seen it coming; I should've known!"

"No use bickering now," Frank said. "That's not gonna help him."

"Frank's right," Ray agreed, a hint of surprise in his voice. "There's gotta be something we could do."

"If he went to the wreck site, there might be some news about it on the tv," Bob suggested, making his way over go the television.

"Exactly!" Frank jumped onto the couch, wriggling himself into a cross legged position as Bob turned on the tv.