Original Image source: Design vector created by macrovector - www.freepik.com
CW: Strong language, abuse of power, cat attack
Have I told you the one about how I got my first pet? No? Oh, you’re in for a treat.
I lived a pretty normal life back then. Just a high school kid with a dead-end job, absent parents, and more mental instabilities than the whole of the Glennbrook Institution. You can bet I’m glad that madhouse didn’t exist when I was that age. The stories that come outta there…Tales for another time, eh?
Anyway, I walked everywhere because damned if I could afford gas. Or a car. Or a bike. Like I said, dead-end job. On top of that, my parents decided since I had a job, I should pay rent and shit. They said it was to teach me “responsibility” and “frugalness”. You know what it actually taught me? Landlords are dicks. Remember that lesson, kid. It’ll come in handy. Trust.
So, I’m walking to work. It’s this little shithole office with gray walls, gray carpets, and gray people. It didn’t help that the place was poorly lit. When I first started working there, I came in with a smile and a goofy bowtie covered in purple rubber dupkies. I thought it would make a good icebreaker with my new co-workers, and maybe I could make some friends for once. All I made was a scene when the boss man flipped his shit about it being loud and distracting. Good thing I need the job more than I wanted to sock that ass right in the nose. Now I learned that bosses were dicks, too. Another solid lesson.
Hm? What’s this got to do with my first pet? Gimme a minute, kid. Geeze. You first years are so impatient.
Anyway, so, I’m walking to work when I hear a cat screaming. Sounded like a fight. Normally, I wouldn’t bother investigating that kinda thing, but something didn’t sound right. Like, this fight wasn’t gunna be a fair one. I glanced at my watch. I was ahead of schedule. There was no way this would take longer than a few minutes. Just had to scare off a couple of cats, maybe a street dog or something.
So, I round the corner and that’s when I realize there weren’t just two cats facing off back there. It was a whole mess of cats, dozen or so, ganging up on this scrawny tabby cat who they had cornered between two buildings. These cats were mad. I had no idea what that one cat had done to piss off a whole colony, but I was certain it wasn’t going to survive this encounter.
I was considering booking it when the cat’s eyes locked on mine. One was blue, the other green. I could see how scared it was. Pits, I could almost feel how scared it was. My survival instincts, what few I had, disappeared and all I could think of was rescuing the tabby cat. I barreled my way through the crowd of felines, scooped their target up, and ran like it was my life on the line. When I heard the colony hissing and spitting behind me, I was no longer sure it wasn’t my blood they wanted. The tabby hissed over my shoulder, its tail whipping about and smacking me in the face as I fled.
I yelled in agony as one of the cats lept upon me, digging its claws and teeth into my skin and ripping my work shirt. I threw the offender off and picked up my pace, my heart pounding harder than I’d ever felt before. I winced when the cat in my arms dug its nails into my shoulder, but my pain was forgotten when a shot of adrenaline hit me. I sprinted down the road faster than I’d ever gone before. I wasn’t sure how I was pushing myself that hard, but I didn’t care. I needed to get away from that crazy colony and maybe I could still make it to work on time.
I practically tumbled through the building’s entrance, scrambling away from the door when razor-sharp claws swiped at me from beneath it. I backed up until my back hit the reception desk.
~~~~~~
“Might wanna change up your cologne, hun. Looks like you’re attracting the wrong kind of pussy.” Maribelle grinned at me, but her expression fell when she saw my back. “They were out for blood, weren’t they? Better grab a shirt from lost and found before the boss sees you. Why were those cats coming after you?”
I moved to lift the cat I’d rescued to show her, but it was gone. I didn’t remember it leaving, but I figured the chase still had me on edge and I could have missed it. “Um, I guess I just pissed them off.” Before Maribelle could ask any further questions, I darted into the storage closet, found a shirt that would fit me, and made my way to my desk like it was any normal day. I sat down and began my data entry, losing myself in the monotony.
My concentration was broken when I felt something brush against my leg. I looked under my desk to find the eerie feline staring at me. “There you are. How did you get up here?” I looked around before scooping the cat up and placing it in my lap. It purred louder than my brother’s motorcycle. I’d never had a pet. My parents were both allergic to pretty much every animal. I tried to talk them into getting me one of those newfangled Fazyn since they’re designed in the lab to be hypoallergenic, but they also cost more than my family made in a year.
I smiled down at the content creature. “If you behave and stay hidden, you can stay.” It settled in my lap, purring in great contentment as I pet the cat. I didn’t let myself get too distracted. I still had a job to do and the end of my shift was hours away. Despite the mountain of tasks on my plate, I calmly meandered through them, taking a moment to pet the tabby after every few files.
“Gravtik!”
I fell out of my chair when my boss screamed my last name, looking up at the red-faced Dwarf in utter confusion. I whipped my head around to find the cat, but it had disappeared.
He glared down at me with his hands on his hips. “You’re behind on your daily quota. I told you the next time I caught you slacking off that your ass was on the line. I do not have time for lazy losers like you. Get up, get back to work. You’re working through lunch.” He stomped away before I could respond.
I righted my chair and moved to sit in it, but stopped short before I sat on the tabby cat. “You certainly have a knack for disappearing at the right time.” I shooed the cat from my chair and sat down. I held a hand in front of its nose when it tried to jump into my lap again. “No, no, no. I need to focus. You’re bad for my focus.”
It blinked at me and tilted its head one way and then the other, its ears twitching. I stifled a yelp when the cat bit my ankle. I leaned down to scold the animal but was suddenly hit with a wave of energy like I’d downed every coffee in the city all at once. I gazed at my computer in a daze and placed my hands on my keyboard. My fingers went into overdrive as I ran through the documents I was working with. I completed more in ten minutes than I had in the last week. I panted when all of the assignments were complete, my hands all but useless. The tabby rubbed against my leg before leaping into my lap again and I laid my shaking hands on the feline’s back, its warmth and purring soothing the aches in my joints.
“Gravtik!”
I closed my eyes and sighed when the burly man in a suit stormed over to me. “What’s up, boss? I finished all of my work.”
He crossed his arms. “I saw that. You even did it with higher accuracy than is actually possible for a person. What did you do? What program did you download on our computers?”
I shook my head and stared at him in bewilderment. “What? I didn’t do anything that I don’t normally. I guess I just really wanted my lunch today.”
My boss grinned at me with a wicked look in his eyes. “I actually came down here to tell you that since you did such a fast, efficient job, the execs want you to work through lunch anyway. I told them you wouldn’t mind.”
My computer beeped and my task list filled in an instant. I felt a mix of anger and despair which burned in my chest. I watched my boss leave, my hands clamped around the arms of my chair. The cat mewed at me and the heat of my rage cooled. “How did he not see you?”
I watched my coworkers shuffle away to eat their gray food in the gray breakroom and my stomach growled. “I really could have used that lunch break. Gilbert’s is still open and I could go for some nice hot chili.” I closed my eyes and imagined the mild, smokey smell Gill managed to balance just right. I could practically smell it.
That’s when I realized, I did smell it. When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by an enormous takeout container filled to the brim with chili, steam wafting into the air. I looked around and tried to find whoever left this feast for me. There was no one. No one but me and the tabby. I narrowed my eyes at the cat who had an oddly satisfied look. “How did…did you…? No, that’s not possible. Maribelle must have snuck up here.”
I knew I should have just gotten back to work. If the boss caught me eating at my desk, that would be it for me. My belly growled to remind me I hadn’t eaten at school. Or before leaving my house. The delicious scent was too enticing to resist. I shoveled my food into my mouth as I worked, trying to push myself to work at the impossible pace I had minutes before to no avail.
“Gravtik!”
I froze with my last spoonful of chili on my spoon, my heart sinking when he stormed his way to my cubicle again. “What do you think you’re doing? How did you even get that in here? You know what? I don’t care. This is the final straw, Gravtik. Pack up your desk and get out before I have security escort you out. Good luck getting another job in this field. I’ll get you blacklisted so fast your head will spin.”
The tabby jumped onto my desk and stoically stared at my now dumbfounded boss with contempt written on its face. I didn’t even think cats could make expressions like that. “I would reconsider whose head is up for spinning, underling.” My boss and I stared at the creature on my desk. Its mouth hadn’t moved, the words projected into our minds.
My boss took a step back as his face paled. “What the fuck is going on? Gravtik! C-control that animal!”
The cat and I looked at each other and I shook my head. “I think you might be confused about the relationship between me and…um, what’s your name?”
Its tail flicked so fast it appeared the tabby had multiple tails. “You would not be able to speak my name. Even if your vocal cords could make the correct sounds, it would likely drive you mad to speak. But you may call me Tom.”
“Tom? Like, a Tomcat?”
Tom tilted his head. “I had not considered that when choosing my name. I’ll have to keep that one.” The cat’s attention snapped back to my trembling boss. “You have been quite cruel to my new friend. As he has saved my life, I owe him a life debt. However, I cannot stand cruelty for cruelty’s sake., so this one is free.” Tom flung himself at my boss and a black hole appeared underneath him, swallowing him whole and closing just at the cat’s feet touched the ground.
My eyes went wide. “Where did he go? What’s going to happen to him?”
Tom dug his claws into the carpet and stretched as far as he could. “He is in the cruelty box. What happens next is up to him. You are unlikely to see him again. He seems like the stubborn type.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “So, how do I explain his disappearance?”
Tom gave me a puzzled look. “Why would you need to explain this at all? He is gone. He will be replaced. The universe will right itself.”
I flopped down in my chair. “What is that supposed to mean? What are you?”
Tom climbed into my lap again and settled. “What I am is complicated. To put it in a way you will understand, I am an Elder Deity and I am trapped on your plane of existence. I seek a way home but have been unsuccessful thus far. I was trying to blend in with those cats, however, they were less than pleased by my presence.”
I scratched him behind his ear. “Wait, why couldn’t you just do to those cats like you did to him?”
Tom purred with a satisfied grin when I found a good spot. “I was running low on Magic. It takes quite a bit to maintain this form so I may walk among you Mortals.”
I frowned, uncertain I wanted the answer to my next question. “Then how did you do it now?”
Tom yawned and I caught sight of an impossible number of teeth in his mouth. “You chose to save me. I chose to empower you so we could both escape. As I said, I owe you a life debt. A life debt that now connects us until the universe has deemed our transaction complete.”
I tried to process his words…thoughts…This was all so confusing. “So, are you saying you’re feeding off of me so you can fuel your Magic?”
Tom laid his head on his paws. “If that is how you wish to see it, though you are describing a parasite, which I am not. This isn’t a one-way exchange. Did you not appreciate the help I gave you with running or getting your work done? Did I not make your life a little easier?”
I couldn’t refute his words. It had been nice to feel more than just a scrawny teenager with no future prospects. “So, what am I supposed to do now?”
The cat shrugged and stretched out on my lap. “That food I retrieved for you smelled very good. We should get more.”
Before I knew what was happening, I was walking out of the building with Tom draped over my shoulders and straight for Gilbert’s Bar. “Hey! This is my body. You don’t get to just control it.” My body stopped moving and my feet felt rooted.
Tom hopped down and stared up at me with glowing eyes. “We should come to an understanding.” His shadow morphed into a far larger creature with six tentacle-like tails. One of the shadow tails shot at me, burying itself in my chest and wrapping around my heart. “This is OUR body right now. I owe you a life debt, but do not forget which one of us holds the power in this exchange. I cannot kill you, but I can make your life miserable and filled with pain. Do you understand your predicament?”
I nodded, gasping when the pressure on my heart dissipated. I took shaky breaths and touched my chest, my heart beating in an irregular way until Tom jumped onto my shoulder again. “So, how about we get that chili.”
~~~~~~
And from that day forward, Tom was my constant companion. Hm? Where is he now? Sorry, kid. That’ll have to wait for another day. Go on. Get to class before I get you in trouble.