A Pride of Werecats

Chapter 35

Naoko's POV

With nowhere else to go the Pride had to return to that place. Despite everything going on Naoko was personally concerned that they would be locked up again. She closed the door nervously behind them as Alkira and Cale carried the new girl in as well as guiding Nyarai who looked like a ghost of herself and hadn't said a word to anyone. Naoko tried the handle again and thankfully it worked and they weren't going to be locked in. She took a mental sigh of relief and with that worry out of the way she turned around to see the Pride dealing with everything that had happened. 

Cale and Alkira had laid the new girl down on the couch, Nyarai sat in an armchair facing the wall, her face blank and eyes unfocused. Though, Naoko could feel the deep sadness coming from their link. As well as shock but I think that came from everyone including herself. How could they process the fact that they were really dead to the world? The mortal world at least. That was the world they had grown up in and had their lives in.

Naoko felt completely and utterly uprooted. Though somehow it didn't quite seem real. Maybe she was just struggling to process. It had been so confronting and confusing seeing her dead body on the news, the mere words of Pan confirmed their fears but they were still just ... words. 

It was almost impossible to fathom never seeing her friends and family again. That was what Pan had told her and all of them. 

"You should thank me for the detachment"

More like we should punch him for that. Those words rang out in her head, and she knew they were weighting down on everyone else. 

She looked at the new girl and pity filled her. To be brought into this, she didn't deserve any of it. None of them did really. Naoko hoped that her death wouldn't be faked but she knew she should not get her hopes up. It had likely already happened. That boy at the party had seen them drag her off perhaps they would be seen as her murderers. everything just seemed so sick and twisted a bad taste filled Naoko's mouth.

Silence hung over them and they all were frozen in their positions of shock. Naoko leant against the door, her black nails digging into her forearm. Alkira sat on the coffee table by the new girl, a contemplative smile twitching at the ends of her lips. Cale sitting on the armrest with his arm around Nyarai trying to offer some comfort to her despite his face looking even paler than normal. Nyarai hadn't moved, she'd barely blinked or breathed. 

It hurt and Naoko pushed off the door and walked over to them, she had no idea what to say but was desperate to break the silence, "Well what now?"

Cale and Alkira's heads perked toward her, Nyarai remained with her eyes locked on the wall. 

"We stick together," Cale said, "I think that's all we can really do."

Alkira shrugged, "We could go get revenge on Pan."

"How do you get revenge on a god?" Naoko asked.

Alkira shrugged again, "mess with his timeline and reveal ourselves to the mortals."

Cale shook his head, "I don't think that would work. Surely that would put so much attention on us our lives would be ruined anyway and then there would be the fact that we are werecats too."

"I suppose we just do that then," said Alkira, "Just be werecats."

There was more silence. Pan hadn't exactly taught them how to do that or anything really. He had just dumped them in the forest like 'good luck hope you don't die lol'. Naoko sighed angrily and walked over to the tiny circle window looking at all the mortals below. What were they supposed to do with these new powers? Protect a world they could never return to? Defend a world they were thrust into? Caught between worlds Naoko was grateful that at least she wasn't alone.