My Little Neko Boy

Chapter X

Calmly, I surveyed the battlefield in front of me. I took a sip from my soda and pointed. I saw flinches from around the table. My target was within range and was close to death.

"Kastor Arches twirls his hand, and develops a spear of black energy.  He pulls back and throws it at Kendrick."  I mimed throwing a spear before picking up a D20, giving it a good shake before rolling it. It landed on 17. I double checked the attack bonus and calculated.

"It's 23. A definite hit. Roll strength to see if you can break it or are impaled."  Levi, Kendrick's player picked up a d20 of his own and rolled.

"Seven," he grumbled.

"You're impaled by the spear of energy and can't move." I picked up three six sided dice.  I gave them a shake, rattle, and roll. Snake eyes and a five looked up at me. "Eleven damage," I announced, after adding in the damage bonus. "How you looking, Kendrick?"

Scribbling on his character sheet, Levi subtracted the damage from his current hit points. "I'm up. Barely. One hit point."

Combat continued with Kastor making another attack on a different character and then we went through the initiative order. I was holding a one off while our regular DM (Dungeon Master) was on vacation. One off was a generous term. We'd been playing it for two years, whenever the players were available, but the DM was on vacation, sick, or otherwise unable to run the session.

Finally, the evil Kastor Arches was defeated (or so it seemed, as he always found a way to come back to life) and we wrapped the session up. The players packed up their dice, papers and everything else and headed for the door. I left everything out on the table and walked them out and shut the door behind them.

Heading to the den, I opened the door. Domino sat there, playing team death match on a first person shooter. I sat beside him, and watched as his eyes narrowed, ears twitching in excitement, tail flicking as he stalked his prey. We had discovered that he had a knack for first person shooters, and they helped ease his anger when his past threatened to overcome his emotions.   I picked up the second controller as the match ended.

"How was DnD?" Domino asked as he backed out of the lobby so I could join in.

"About as well as you'd expect. Fight fight fight, stab stab stab, kill kill kill, bard gets drunk and so on."

"Just another regular session?"

"You could say that," I said as I selected my weapon load out for the upcoming match.

We spent the next hour, teaming up against enemy players. Domino had a natural instinct on where people were once he'd learned the maps, and I backed him up. We had a great time. Finally, after midnight, I was yawning, he was yawning, and we turned off the console.

"Time for both human and Neko to sleep," I said, shuffling into the bathroom. Domino came with me. Changing out of our clothes, we got ready for bed. Soon, he was curled up next to me, doing that happy rumble/purr I loved so much.

Two hours later, my phone rang. I fumbled around with my hand, my coordination lousy as I was wakened from my slumber. Keeping one eye closed, the other was squinting against the bright glare, I could see it was X. I slid my thumb across the screen to answer the call.

"Mmgh," I worked out, trying to come fully awake.

"The cat person has been linked to you definitively. Government agents want to examine him." X paused before saying the words that would kick start my adrenaline. "Your location has been compromised."

Not even hitting the End Call button, I dropped my phone, and shook Domino's shoulder. I considered flicking on the lights, but decided against it. I needed night vision.

"Wake up, Domino. We got company coming. The bad kind."

Domino shot up, the sheets puddling against his waist. Fear shone in his eyes, even in the darkness.

"I'm not going back! I don't want to go back!"

"You do as I say, and you won't go back. I promise." Having watched too much television and movies, I was prepared for any eventuality. I just always hoped it wouldn't happen.

Not even bothering to get dressed, I pulled Domino to the basement. As we descended the stairs, I could see red and blue lights flickering against the front window. I was grateful for X's warning. It was standard procedure to attack in the middle of the night when the enemy's guard was most likely to be down, and they could be easily captured. Or killed.

Locking the basement door behind us, for whatever good it would do, I hustled the obviously scared Neko to a certain corner by the circuit breakers. Pushing a panel down, it actually made the whole wall go down into a panic room. I didn't plan to stay. Any dog would get a sniff of us and point us out.

Pausing a brief second to flip a row of switches on the wall, I explained what was going to happen.

"Okay, so, an EMP is charging and will erupt once fully charged. That'll erase our phone, computer, and game console hard drives. Any evidence such as pictures or extra gamertags will be erased permanently." I was about to continue when Domino spoke up.

"But your writings?" He said, knowing how much I loved my job as an author.

"All backed up off site. I can get them no problem. Next, we'll go down a metal slide which I'll spread oil on to make it easier to go down. It'll drop us out about fifty yards away into a river. From there, we can get to a car stowed which has clothes and supplies. We do this now, we'll escape. Got it?"

Looking scared, Domino nodded. Then he squared his shoulders and put on a brave face. My little Neko boy. So brave. Trying to be so strong. Turning, I opened a hidden keypad and typed in a code. The secret exit opened. We saw a metal downward slide, and a five gallon bucket of oil. I pried the lid off, and poured it onto the slide. The oil would be enough to get us enough momentum to go at a good clip. It was a straight shot to the river. It would wash off.

As a sat on the slide, with Domino in front, I thought of the saying "Si vis pacem, para bellum". If you want peace, prepare for war. I remembered X telling me I was crazy when I wanted an escape tunnel. But I didn't want to get kidnapped and held for ransom when I got wealthy. I pushed off, and we began to slide. The oil coating the backs of our legs and our butts served to eliminate any friction.

With a splash, we dropped into the river. A helicopter hovered near where my house was. I was glad I could escape. Soon, Domino and I had swum to shore. We began to walk. A few minutes later, we found the place where I'd stashed a getaway car.

"Here," I said, opening the trunk with the key hidden under the frame. "It's a backpack with some clothes."

The warm night air had us mostly dry and we got dressed. Soon, I was driving us out of town. As news does in today's world, the late night radio announcer had a bulletin.

"Local police and federal agents raided the house of Aries Fenix tonight. It appears Fenix got away. Authorities are telling people he is armed and dangers and possibly has a kidnap victim with him. If you see Fenix, do not approach. Rather, call the police at-"

I snapped off the radio. Domino and I were wanted. That was certain. I held his hand as I merged into the interstate. Though I may have gone overboard with planning for emergencies, I was glad I had. It looked like it could pay off.

Author's Note: Well, this doesn't bode well. Will the government get their fugitives? Or will the good guys triumph? I don't know. You don't know. Even the future doesn't know! Speaking of the future, I hope you're happy, healthy, and well. Now and forever. I'll see you next update!