The Kitty and the Cutie

Chapter 9: The Confrontation

"It's TRUE! Jones is a cat now!" replied Alex, "Good luck with your search, let me talk to you later, I still got a round of duel unfinished!"

Then, the conversation ended, followed by multiple beeping sounds emitting from the mobile phone.

Lowering her mobile phone, Ophelia was still dumbfounded by the surprising outcome, while the cat with silvery fur was still staying near the youth, looking at the startled girl.

Thanks to Alex's explanation, Rosie's prediction was justified; Jones was really turned into an animal; or into a cat precisely due to the curse. And right in front of her, was a blue-eyed cat that 100% matched with the description the tech expert provided: Silvery fur with black stripes throughout his whole body.

"JONES!" exclaimed Ophelia, she couldn't take it anymore. After few hours of rushing and searching, she finally discovered her lost, beloved partner. She immediately embraced the cat, tears of joy flowing down her eyes. Witnessing that his soul mate finally recognized him, Kitty Jones gladly accepted the hug, licking the teardrops sliding down her smooth face.

However, something seemed not yet solved....

Shortly after Kitty Jones's runaway, the coddled kids and their parents were searching the whole Square again. Without any outcome, they decided to check whether Jones has wandered out of the Square. They met a helpful stranger who had saw Jones's route and followed his guidance to reach the kitty.

But when they reached to the cat's current location, what appeared in front of them made Veronica's blood boil, "Mister Fattie", or Kitty Jones was staying in a complete stranger's hands, while the young girl was stroking his back as he purred comfortably.

"Aww, your hair is so silky...." commented Ophelia with glee, without paying attention to the family approaching her from her back.

"Hey! What are you doing with my kitty?" boomed Veronica from her back. Ophelia then turned around to see a young lady, who was curling her arms in front of her chest, glaring at her with displease with a younger boy, a middle-aged lady and a bald, stout man with a mustache, whose name was actually called Mr. Daniel Fox, and he was a wealthy businessman and the father of Veronica and Jamie Fox.

"Uh, excuse me, young lady?" replied Ophelia, with Kitty Jones in her both arms.

"Why do you take my Mister Fattie away?" the spoiled girl inquired.

"Mister Fattie, who is he?" wondered Ophelia. Upon hearing this, a surge of anger ran through Kitty Jones' mind, as not only did he hear that weird name again, but also realizing that the family won't leave him alone. Now, they were even bothering his soul mate too! At this point, Kitty Jones was also glowering at the family.

"That's my CAT!" growled the rude girl with freckles. "And you dare to steal it away from ME?!" she shouted, while her dad tried to calm her down.

"My little angel, please calm down. Maybe I can help you." He patted the infuriated girl's shoulder as she stepped aside to her parents.

"I'm terribly sorry that my young lady has quite a temper." the sturdy man apologized and cleared his throat. "Actually, we just met the cat at the Town Square this afternoon, and my daughter has keen interest on it, so we planned to take it back home and keep it ourselves. Now, could you please hand it over to me so that we can return home to feed him?" he demanded.

"I'm afraid I can't." replied Ophelia, "Because the kitty is actually my partner. He was originally human, but turned into a cat by a curse and I cannot give him to you."

"What do you mean, he's your partner? He was just a stray cat wandering around when we found him. Is this an excuse for you to take away the kitty? Then I won't allow it." stated Mr. Fox sternly. "If you don't leave him alone, I shall call the cops." He warned Ophelia, without realizing that she actually was a cop since her black blouse covered her police badge.

"Please, let me explain what happened..." said Ophelia, gripping the annoyed Jones with her slender arms.

"I won't believe this! These curses are just nothing! And you are going to pay your price if you don't return it at once, young lady." demanded Mr. Fox, pointing a finger at Ophelia, which angered Kitty Jones so much that he snarled and waved his claws towards him, scratching his forehead at the process.

"Ow!" he yelled, his wife and his children immediately came for his rescue. Using the chance, Kitty Jones lured away Ophelia to leave the scene quietly.

A few minutes later, the girl and the cat has disappeared from their sights.

"Where did the girl go?" inquired Mr. Fox.

"I just saw them turned right, and they are heading to the Cooper Park." Another helpful stranger pointed towards the end of street for them, with sign that wrote: To Cooper Park.

Realizing that the smuggler had fled, everyone was totally furious. Therefore, the Fox family along with some other citizens decided to go to the Cooper Park to capture them.

Indeed, Kitty Jones had lured Ophelia away to the Cooper Park. To avoid being discovered, both of them hid behind a huge artificial rock, not far away from the Statue of William Cooper, the founder of Grimsborough.

When she didn't see anyone coming, she turned to speak to Kitty Jones, "You know, Jones. I originally planned to go to the Town Square to look for you after a nice, fortune-teller told me that you are at there. But, I really didn't expect you actually came here to look for me, perhaps you've smelt the scent of the cookies?"

Hearing the word "cookies", Jones' eyes widened with elation. He really hoped to have a cookie ever since he was cursed.

"Actually," Ophelia continued, "I've bought a can of them for you as a gift." She then took out the blue, flower-shaped cookie can and showed it to Jones. "You are my best friend I've ever had and you're truly a gentleman, you're just like a precious gem to me." she blushed as she confessed. Seeing his partner blushing, Jones walked to her and pecked her cheeks with his face even though he couldn't talk in his cat state.

"Aww...you're welcome..." smiled Ophelia, still blushing. But then, something struck her mind as she realized that she needed to reverse the spell on him with an action of true love, and she and Jones also needed to go back to the Station at the same time. Noticing nobody had found them yet, she decided to leave the hiding spot.

"Come on, Jones. Let's go back to the station, Chief King is waiting for us now." said Ophelia as she stepping out from the huge rock, holding Kitty Jones in her hands.

"There she is!" a little boy's voice called behind no sooner had them walked out from the rock.

As they both turned around, they noticed a mob of furious people standing behind them, those included the whole Fox Family and some citizens who paid sympathy to the rich family, and were willing to help them to get the kitty back.

'We're...gonna....RUN!" Ophelia screamed as they both scurried away with the mob chasing behind them, trying to shake them off by hiding behind bushes, fences and walls. After enduring a series of chases, Ophelia decided to rush to the exit near the Town Square with the kitty.

Panting from exhaustion back at the Town Square, she was still wondering what she can do to change Jones back to normal before the mob could get them both. "Rosie told me that only love could change his fate, but how?" she wondered, while Kitty Jones was busy licking his paws.

"Wait! What if I give him a kiss, just like those in the fairytales, then he'll turn back to a human?" an idea popped into Ophelia's mind. But then, she heard the shouts and screams from the back, the mob has already tracked down her to the Square, and the exhausted girl didn't have a choice, but to stay at the spot with the kitty as she was too worn out to run...

A/N: Wow! Another long chapter! Hope you enjoy this chapter filled with twists and with a little romance... can she rescue Jones in the nick of time?

Next chapter will be ready soon~~ Ciao!! ;)