Piper

Don't Touch!

"Don't be afraid of being scared. To be afraid is a sign of common sense. Only complete idiots are not afraid of anything."

― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel's Game

Entering the pearly gates of wrath, the quad and puss in wannabe boots set out for action.

Lenore found some boots fit for a small animal as they entered the wax museum as if they were waiting for her. She stared at the golden pair as if they hypnotized her. It was like something out of a mythological story that the boots just showed up in front of her. Even if they were just made out of wax, Lenore wanted to try them on.

Carefully, she walked around them as if they were one of a kind.  But like a cat, putting these shoes on herself was  quite a task. She asked Tabitha to do it for her, but her friend refused to put them on her.

"It's a trick, Lenore. Don't you see it? And I thought you were wiser than me? Why out of the blue would a pair of cat boots show up?"

The cat refused to look up to her friend and faced to see if the others for help.

A willing James came to the front and volunteered to help Lenore out, yet he was aloof of what the outcome may be.

He was ready to grab the first boot when Tabitha tried to stop him.

"James you fool! No, don't ... !"

But before she could finish her sentence, it was too late as the damage was done. 

James stood still like a bent statue grabbing for a bowling ball, which caused a feline to smirk. 

He turned into wax just like those boots. Yellow with a bit of grayish mold.  Tabitha had a hunch who was mixing certain chemicals to do a stunt like that. At first, she pondered to think that it was magic but to think that an evil spirit could easily turn a human into wax just like a wave of a wand was rather preposterous. Piper had to use something to formulate those boots and possibly it was too add them to her dummy 'collection' in this museum. 

"Look what you did! I don't want to point fingers, but that could've been you, Lenore! You may be older than me, but the rule is don't touch anything ... keep your paws off! Do you want to be punished again?" Tabitha scolded the cat just as her own mother would.

"And it's not funny!" Seeing the others behind her snicker, Tabitha couldn't help it, but smile along with them.

"Poor James, he doesn't deserve this even if he can be annoying. I'm scared now Tabitha. We shouldn't have gone in here. I have an odd feeling that we aren't alone."

"That's nonsense, Hansel. Are you a man or a mouse? Have some courage! Stick with me and Astrid, we'll get through this and somehow bring back James to life."

Seeing that Hansel wanted to touch James the wax figure, Tabitha added a rant, " And don't touch anything.  We don't want to lose another person."

Hansel turned around to see celebrities and colorful fictitious figures around him. He trembled and gulped inside.

"And these dummies look like the real thing?"

His legs began to shiver in fear.

"That's what wax museums are about dumb, dumb. They hold wax figures, and they show famous people. So, in a nutshell, they help their legacy live on forever. Ain't that right Tabitha?"

The little witch nodded. But as the trio talked, a voice was heard through some speakers that weren't visible.

" Help me!"

"Did you hear something?" Asked Astrid.

"Yes, I heard it too. Tabitha ...! "

And that's when they saw someone chipping away a molded statue shaped like a female figurine.