I follow the cat for what feels like hours. Protesting and complaining does nothing, she just glances back and shrugs.
"What if the teacher finds out I'm missing?" I sigh for the fiftieth time.
"It will be a blessing to us all," she replies passively.
Finally, she stops in front of a cast iron gate. Long spikes protrude from the ends of each rod, and the slow wind causes it to swing with an eerie creek. Alice leaps through bars, easily sliding against the metal, leaving me to heave it open for myself.
"Thanks," I mutter.
"No problem!"
I groan and follow her up the stone pathway leading to the door of a small mansion. It's the size of a modern home, but the architecture is much more prodigious; faded bricks instead of aluminum siding, stone railings rather than plastic, and two towering wooden doors. I run my hand along the rail absentmindedly, breathing in the cool polished stone underneath.
Ominous oak doors loom over us, with rusted metal knockers gentle swinging into them. I reach for one, but the cat hisses.
"You'll make too much noise." Her ever-calm demeanor bothers me. She doesn't react, she just runs and expects me to follow. She nudges the door open and slides in, leaving me to do the rest yet again.
"Okay." She sits down on a white-wood floor as I enter. In contrast to the mansion's exterior, the inside is new and modern; a white balcony hangs atop one end of the room, a stone fireplace burns on the other end, and various doors line the walls.
"We're going to walk over to that door," Alice flicks her tail towards the opposing side. "And do it quietly."
"I'm not two," I mumble.
She sighs. She glares at me and goes to say something, but her ears prick up. "Go!" she hisses. I race to the door, holding it open for her.
"Alice?" a male voice calls from inside. We continue running until I collapse onto the ground. Cherry blossoms fall over my head. They litter the green ground, despite it being winter. I allow the pink petals to shroud my body. And before I can ask any questions, I drift asleep to the gentle purring of the cat, the one who called herself Alice.
YOU ARE READING
Nine Lives
RomanceHave you ever wished that could live forever? That each time you die, you just come back, alive? Of course you have, every normal human would. But Alice isn't normal. She doesn't have to wish to live forever, because she does. She is a Shifter, and...
