S.H.H.A.

My Choice

The lights cast a golden glow on everything they touched, creating a glare on the windows. Nothing but the stars which appeared as tiny specks of light could be seen through the darkness outside. However, Marshmallow's attention was focused on Brownie, and only straying towards the windows in thought.

Although the heavy topic weighed down on the room like a heavy cloud, it no longer created tension between the siblings. Smores leaned against the glass window, a light smile present on her lips that widened each time Marshmallow glanced her way.

Rocky subconsciously played with his tie. His eyes flicked between his siblings, and his face seemed stuck between a smile and a frown. Emsea, however, didn't hold back her defeated frown. If looks could kill, Ninja would have melted into a pile of goop.

If looks could kill, Ninja would have died only days after learning how to talk. But there she was, a triumphant smile gracing her lips despite the conversation. Her arms folded lightly over her chest, mirroring Emsea.

"As you've already heard," started Brownie, casting a glance towards Smores who grinned in return. "Squmpkin loved Yin and, luckily, the feeling was mutual. They were a couple of happy lovebirds."

"And they even adopted children," added Smores, hopping on her tippy-toes as if she were a child listening to her favorite part of a story. "Well, they were actually our cousins. Mom and dad didn't want us to know about them."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Asked Ninja, despite showing mild surprise on her face. "The only weird part is... how did you guys find out about them? Wouldn't our loving and caring parents lock that secret up and swallow the key?"

"My guess is they wanted back-ups. If Squmpkin didn't have a super good reason to adopt cats of a reasonable age to be taught the 'basics' then she wouldn't have," replied Brownie with a small shrug, but her eyes shifted towards the floor when she added, "Jokes on them. Those three kittens weren't the naive children we were. They'd already faced the tough reality of the world."

"Where are they now?" Asked Marshmallow, worry slipping out before she could stop it. If Squmpkin, a 21 semi-human year old adult, had ended how she had then what could have happened to three little kittens?

"We'll get to that," replied Brownie, still looking towards the floor. "Because the truth is, we don't know."

"They were just starting to warm up to us when everything went down," said Rocky solemnly. "That was only a little over half a year ago."

"Our Father Dearest devised a new plan. I'm not sure it went exactly how he wanted it to, but it certainly ended in his favor," explained Brownie, her tone deepening. "Yin was one of the heads of an organization concerning the affairs between humans and semi-humans. If Yin died and Squmpkin was capable of filling the position, then Squmpkin would take his place."

Ninja's triumphant smile dropped at once and Marshmallow's gaze out the window turned into a glare. Neither of them could say, "They wouldn't," because they both knew their adoptive mother and father would. Marshmallow clenched her fists, wanting nothing more than to waltz back into the very house she ran away from just to give them a taste of their own poison. Let them see what it's like to lose a loved one.

"Unfortunately for Father, his assassin's timing wasn't on point. Losing Yin would have turned Squmpkin into an empty shell, but walking in to see a knife being run through the most important person in her life? You saw earlier the results of that."

"Murder? I knew he was power-hungry, but to go as far as killing..." Muttered Ninja, her voice trailing off.

"And he got away with it too," grumbled Emsea, her nails digging into her tightly crossed arms. "We have no proof, only a crazed girl claiming she's lost him. And to make things worse, the only others who might have witnessed it mysteriously disappeared days later. I'm sure Mom or Dad did it. Scone, Belle, and Cuddles had nowhere else to go. They wouldn't have just left Squmpkin like that."