Shattered

Chapter 7

(Samuel's p.o.v)

Samuel watched impatiently as his master undid his nightly tin. It was past his feeding, the strange markings on the circle hanging on the wall were not the same as they usually were meant to be when he was fed. He was late, this the cat knew as soon as the man picked him up. His tail flickered briefly, silently wishing for the man to hurry, but he was as slow as ever. When he did plop the meat into the bowl, he went to throw away the metal tin. And as soon as he did, the cat rushed to get the food to his friend, nearly slipping on the tile in his rushed actions.

The cat hurried to push the bowl to the other being in the living room. It smelled like him, but didn't look like him entirely. She looked like him and his master in one, but with a different color than his own coat. She wasn't another random human for him to avoid and hiss at, instead she was something he knew needed to care for. The cat was compelled to help. The fact that she smelt like she was having a litter didn't help, smelling like the other cat from across the street. A few days later, the Siamese came back, smelling sickly sweet, her pregnancy well known. He made it to her head, nudging her muzzle softly and licking her nose before hopping on to the couch above her, careful not to disturb the blankets around her as he did. He watched intently as she tried to move closer before stopping.

His own ears perked as he saw the master watching him, and her, with interest. Sam flicked his tail a few more times before curling his tail around his paws neatly, glaring at him for interrupting her progress. The human didn't see that, however, because he simply came closer. Samuel stood quickly, hurrying to stop him. He ungracefully jumped down from the couch, and sauntered to the man and nipped his pant leg. He didn't stop and wanted to see her. But Sam was trying to prevent it. He could tell she grew tense and uneasy with his presence, and she was not going to get better unless he was gone. He got between them. The man was about to step over him, and that was when he hissed and clawed at him, his sharp nails snagging at his pants, successfully stopping him. They stared at each other for a long moment, before the man tried again. But Samuel couldn't allow it.

Sam managed to scratch him, even though it wasn't hard enough, or deep enough, to cause blood, they both hissed for different reasons. Sam's threat was clear. But it should have been received sooner if his care taker could smell his anger as well as Sam could smell others'.

He watched as the man left after looking at his leg, clearly angry, to the door where the cat never ventured. He took all the humans down there and they never came back up until they left for good. But not this one. He looked back at the other being, watching her for moment before coming to her head and licking her nose a second time, reassuring her the man was gone. When she didn't move, he pushed the food close enough to where the bowl itself touched her muzzle. She had the most beautiful eyes, silver blue like his own fur. She blinked at him slowly, tired. He meowed, and she gave her own small, deep one in return. He would have smiled if he could, but he nodded his head to her, his paw touching the bowl, indicating her to eat. And again, she still didn't make a move.

He pushed the bowl away from her, only to take a mouthful and plop it down right beside her mouth. She licked it, and he had to nudge it closer as her tongue pushed it back. As soon as that was gone, he went for another mouthful and continued until she could eat no more. He ate half of what was left in case she would want more later, licking both paws clean as he finished. He came back to her, and crouched closer to the floor as he snuggled up next to her. He pushed his body closer to her chest, brushing his mouth over her upper body to claim her as his. Scent marking to make sure other cats around knew she wasn't theirs. That, and to reassure everything would be alright.

He needed to protect her, whether she was pregnant with his kits or not, she needed him. And he wouldn't let her down.

Suddenly, loud rattling came from the closed door, before being thrown open loudly. He hissed, while above him the female shook almost violently. He knew what a cage sounded like, having been in one in his first two years of life. Her breathing sky rocketed when they saw the man dragging the cage out the door, and he did his best to calm her, which didn't seem to help. He felt wetness on the top of his head, looking to see her tears falling while she tried to shuffle further into the blankets. He got up slowly, licking away the small droplets from her warm cheeks and went to the blanket behind her. He bit it and dragged it further over her face, muffling the sounds and blocking her view. He shuffled back under, doing all he could to help but she wasn't having any of it. It was getting worse. And he did the only thing he could think of, he purred.

He purred loud and deep, pressing himself into her neck and chest, his head rubbing her to soothe her, try to make her calm. And it was working, slowly but surely. Seconds turned to minutes, but she calmed enough for her breathing to go back to normal, only to be suddenly jostled like a plastic bag in the wind. Startling, he automatically scurried away with a loud hiss, and yet remembered why he had been there. He hurried back, only to see her being picked up and carried up the stairs. He dutifully followed a few steps behind, having to practically run because of how fast his master was going up the steps. Being fat didn't help, his belly brushing against the edge of each stair.

The fat cat was puffing by the time he reached the top, which is why he often stood up on his back legs and reached for him, his master always coming to the rescue. But didn't allow himself to stop, desperately following his mistress. The man turned into the room he occupied nightly, Samuel following suit. The cat stopped at the door, panting as he saw his owner bend down to the metal cage, slowly adjusting the blankets around her. He hurried over after a moment, and just before the man closed the door to it, Sam managed to dart into it.

The man didn't notice the cat rushing into the cage, just automatically locking it shut before taking out his phone and playing on it. After a few moments of just watching him, the man spoke those strange words he couldn't understand after he had put the phone up to his ear. The cat ignored him as he himself settled closer to his friend in the cage, stretching himself along the length of her front, subconsciously protecting her. The man left, for quite some time before the sound of the door opened, then practically slammed shut.

Samuel looked at her, seeing that her breath was slow and even, sound asleep with a relaxed face, he slowly shuffled away, squeezing himself through the bars, groaning at the tight fit around his midsection. He darted out of the room, nearly slamming into the wall in the hall in his haste. He was forced to slow when he reached the stairs. Turning around, he began taking one step to take on at a time backwards. One. At. A. Time.

Panting by the time he reached the final step, he turned back to watch as his master and another spoke. The women he was forced to visit many times to get poked and prodded. The first time he went, he was never the same. With narrowed eyes, he crouched as he backed away. They were going to hurt her, and he couldn't let them. With renewed energy, he ran upstairs and hurried into the bedroom once again, going behind the door and pushing it closed. He stared at it, almost wide eyed, as their footsteps came closer. He went into the cage, burrowing under the blanket and twisting around, hiding under it, waiting. The girl jolted awake when he nipped her, her own eyes wide as she looked at him. The door suddenly opened, and she shrank back, and he could tell how weak and tired she really was.

Small, thin and her bones felt aweful against him, like they were stabbing at his sides when he shuffled closer to try and soothe her as she started shaking. As the man and woman came closer, he hissed and clawed at them, startling them both. They spoke softly to one another as Sam pushed her further back, as far back he could to get her away from them. But there was nowhere for the two to go. She was too tired to move, or fight, and he wasn't big enough to keep them away. But he was determined to do his best.

Seconds passed, then minutes, then half an hour to an hour of watching them. It was late, and he was usually asleep long before the sun goes down. It was well into the night, and he couldn't stop his eyes from closing, over and over and over again. He blinked once, only to find it morning. He jumped up with huge eyes and mouth open as he turned around to find her, but she was gone. In fact, so were the blankets. He failed her.