Back to Human

Chapter Six

The rest of the week went much the same way only with the new addition of listening to Grace crying every night. Wake up. Get dropped off. Follow Jaeden around. Get picked up. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

The days bled together into an endless film. On Friday things changed though. That day started like any other. I woke up. I was dropped off. I followed Jaeden around all day at his work. It was a running joke now at the construction site.

Each worker had tried to get me away from Jaeden with food and affection but I still followed him everywhere. He left early as usual. Picked up his kids. But instead of going straight home like Jaeden and his kids had done every day, they made a detour.

They stopped at a park and the kids raced off towards the jungle gym. I saw a sea of dead and dying flowers and stopped in my tracks. A large framed photo of me was sitting against one of the big boulders I used to always climb as a kid. Around the photo were burnt-out candles and cards. It was a shrine. My shrine. I got closer and looked at all of the cards.

"You will always be in our hearts" "Such a beautiful soul, gone too soon." Every single letter was like a punch in the gut. I wanted to scream to the world that I was still here. But was I still here. Soon they would bury my body and all that would be left of me is a memory in my families hearts. If the witch was right, I would be bound to do her bidding until death do us part.

Until death do us part. I looked at the river. The river sliced through the city, a large ever moving presence before it came out to sea. What have I got to loose?

Everyone I ever knew thinks I'm dead. Do I live my life, hoping to one day have the chance to escape, watching as I'm used to do the witch's bidding? Or do I end it all now? Do I put an end to all the fear and suffering now?

I don't realize I'm standing on the edge of the river until I see my own reflection rippling in the murky water, staring back at me. I look around me. No one is paying a second glance in my direction. I put my paw in, checking the temperature.

I didn't know if I could do this. Suddenly visions of my family danced before my eyes.

If I died here and now, I would never see them again. But if I lived, there was a chance. No matter how small, it was there. I had to cling to that if I was going to retain my sanity.

I made a decision. No matter what, I was going to survive. I turned back, ready to keep spying on Jaeden and his kids.

But my way was blocked.

Three teens, who I recognized from school stood behind me. One had their phone out and was obviously filming me. I didn't personally know them, or even know their names, but I had seen them smoking behind the music department.

"Here kitty, come here." A boy who looked younger than the others crouched down and held his hand towards me.

I warily walked forward. I had to survive, and part of that was doing everything the witch said. I walked up to the boy and rubbed my hand against his hand.

His hand smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. It made me cringe. Before I could walk away, the boy scooped me up.

"Who's a disgusting little shit?" He asked in a childish voice. How dare he-

Without warning, the boy threw me in the river.

Below the surface, the water is freezing. It felt like nothing I've ever felt before. Immediately my whole body locked up.

The current dragged my body further under, further away from the surface.

I try to get my body to move. My lungs are burning. I open my eyes and try to swim towards the light of the sun above me. The current is dragging me down still and fighting it is making me tired. I fight harder against the current as the burning in my lungs increases.

My vision starts going dark. I'm so close to the surface. Finally I break the surface and gasp for air. I briefly can hear the sound of the teen's laughter. The current drags me under water for a couple of seconds before I am able to fight it off and break the surface once more.

I'm still fighting for air as I look around. The current has dragged me into the middle of the river and is pushing me slowly but surely down stream. I try to swim back towards the bank of the river. I'm tired, fighting the current has drained me. My muscles are burning from the effort of keeping myself above water. Just as I am about to succumb to the current once again, a woman yells to me.

She is crouched on the side of the river and has a long tree branch she is holding out for me. I struggle against the current, using the last reserves of energy in my tired body. Finally, I'm close enough and I grab the branch.

I clung to it as the woman drags me in from the middle of the river. The woman kneels, hoping I will be able to crawl out of the river myself but when it becomes apparent I am exhausted she grabs me by the scruff of the neck and pulls me out of the water. I have no energy as I lie on the ground, the light breeze chilling my soaking wet body.

The woman sits by me, watching me. My whole body hurts from the cold and I start shivering. The woman hurriedly takes off her denim jacket and wraps me in it before picking me up again. The denim jacket protects me from the wind as the woman starts to walk swiftly.

I am so tired I lean my head against her warm shoulder. Some dark red hair tickles me in the face. Her bare skin is so warm. I fight to stay conscious but I'm so tired. I end up lightly dozing against her shoulder.

"Shit shit shit." The woman mumbles. I hear her fumbling with what I assume are keys before a door opens. I open my eyes and blearily look around. I'm in a small unit. The woman rushes forward and opens the door to and bathroom before setting me down on the counter. I am too weak to move.

The woman is rushing back before I realize she left. She has a bunch of towels in her arms. She unwraps the soaked jacket from around me. Immediately the cold air makes me start shivering. Immediately I am wrapped in warm fluffy towels. The woman picks me up again and walks out of the bathroom and into a bedroom. The woman put me on her lap and immediately grabbed her phone from a pocket.

"Lee, get over here, I found a cat that nearly drowned...Of course I brought it home, it needs help...See you soon." The woman says before hanging up. The woman strokes my head softly and starts cooing at me. "Hey kitty, you're going to be all right okay? Don't you die on me Hun." She whispered. The sound of her soothing voice and the warmth of the towels lulled me to sleep in no time.

I was woken not to long later by the door opening. "Where are you Charlie?" A masculine voice asked. "In here." She replied loudly. Immediately I heard footsteps thudding towards the room. "Geez, got enough towels around that thing? You're going to suffocate it." Lee said. I peered over at him. He was quite tall with dark blonde hair. He looked worriedly at me. I yawned as Lee walked over. He made a gesture asking permission before picking me up and taking a look at me. He scrutinized my face for a couple of minutes. This close to his face I could see some dark stubble on his cheeks.

"She's healthy as far as I can see. Exhausted, scared and something else I can't identify but with a little TLC she'll be fine." He said affirmatively. Wait, how does he know that? "Thanks Lee, I wanted to make sure she's alright, and you're better than me at that stuff. She could barely move after I dragged her out of the river." Charlie said from behind me, she sounded relieved. "The river in the middle of town?" He asked Charlie. "Yep. I'll have to give her a bath, the water was filthy." Charlie affirmed. A warm bath sounded nice, but I wanted to get some sleep first. I wiggled around, I wanted to lie down and sleep. Lee put me down and I nosed my way further into the towels. The two awed at me before talking about food and bedding for me. I drifted off to sleep to the sound of them talking.