The Illusion of Danger

Chapter 2

Ivy brought Rocky back to her dormitory to watch over the lunatic who became living roadkill that night. Those dealers had done a number on him, and even though one of their wives had patched him up, Ivy didn't want Rocky sleeping in his car tonight. They had already taken Calvin home and she didn't want to bother him or his mother with a messed Rocky and a story about running hooch and whatnot.

"Ughhh, Rocky, you're gonna be the death of me, ya crazy."
She laid the tabby down in her own bed, taking the couch in her room that night to sleep on. He had stitches and a large bandage on his head; thank goodness no one saw her bring the guy up looking like that.

About two days had passed and Rocky finally was coherent enough to at least walk on his own. Ivy had been bringing him fluids to at least keep him hydrated between classes, but eating was out of the question. He wasn't awake enough to chew or he'd choke on his food.
The tabby was still a bit wobbly, vision nice and blurry. He rubbed his eyes trying to focus on his surroundings. What he saw was his aunt's house and began to sweat. The cat knew he wasn't allowed to bunk there and he had no idea how long he had been out for.

"Oh, nerts!"
Rocky cursed under his breath.
Not wanting to alert his aunt, he slipped quietly through the room and out the door. His bandages were soaked in blood from the previous night, the stitches most likely not done up very well. As he wandered the halls of the dorms, the cat began to realize something was a little off about his aunt's house.

A certain cat happened to be wide awake at this ungodly hour of the morning, skimming through the book titles that lined the mass of shelves of the extravagant college library.
With his particular skill of picking locks and such, paired with his presentation, no one would be any the wiser with such a man in the library at that time of the morning, naturally thinking he was a professor of some kind and had a key to the rooms.

Mordecai was searching for something in particular. He wasn't quite sure where to start looking, but he did have all day to find it, so he sort of let himself get distracted and gravitate toward one aisle that held fiction. Normally, he wouldn't dabble with nonsense such as that and only read non-fiction, however, there was a book that he wanted to look into while he had the time to do so. His research could hold off for a little while so that he could broaden his horizons.

Plucking the book off of the shelf once he'd found it, the black and white cat found a nice spot to perch, flicked the lamp on that sat on the small round table that sat beside his chair, crossed one leg over the other, and opened the book to the first page.
Mordecai didn't exactly care that there was the sound of footsteps moving down the hall just outside. He was certain whoever it was, they would continue on their way and not question the light being on. It was like that every other time he'd been here.

If he was honest, he would have just stayed home to read, however, he didn't have many books there. The few that he did have, he'd read through far too many times to count. One hundred and twenty-two. Yes, as a matter of fact, he did keep track and he certainly wasn't ashamed of that either. Mordecai knew those books word for word and could recite them off by heart at this point.

Rocky was wandering down the halls of the university, still seeing his aunt's house, wondering why he didn't recognize any of the cats in the family paintings on the walls.

"Wait a minute... paintings?"
The tabby stopped and stared at one of the paintings on the walls. He rubbed his chin with a clawed finger but froze when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Oh no, the bulls are afta me!"
Rocky searched frantically for a door, hoping to see the one that led to the front yard, but he'd have to settle for the cracked one that led to the dining room. He hurried behind the door and closed it as quietly as possible. Once closed, he leaned his head against the wood and let out a sigh.