"Hello, Mark? What are you calling for? Is there an emergency?" There were noises from the other end of the mobile phone but Mark only had half his head there. The other half was focused on the petrified man in front of him who looked to have his life flashing right before his eyes.
Really, Mark might have felt bad even if not for the fact that this person broke into his house at that very moment and looked to have no remorse for his actions at all.
"This is the police station? Can I talk to the chief?" there was panic on the intruder's face, his eyes almost feral in nature. It felt good to Mark to see the other panic, but it would be even better once he was out of the picture altogether.
Then he could relax and check up on his cats.
"Of course this is the police station. Don't tell me this is a prank you idiot" Good, it looked like Mark was lucky today and the one to pick up the phone had been En and not a subordinate. That saved him too much time and effort here.
"En, I know what I am about to say to you might sound like a huge joke but please take me seriously here. There is an intruder at my clinic who is threatening me" his words were met with silence on the other side which was rude.
Why was En not believing his words at face value? Was it because it was similar to a previous prank he had pulled?
Well, he had apologised for that, hadn't he? So why was En so hesitant in taking his words at face value? Was he not trustworthy enough?
"I swear if this is a prank I will actually end you right there Mark. Keep the intruder occupied till I arrive" that seemed to break the intruder out of his trance and a huge crash sounded right over the phone in the stranger's dash in getting out.
"Mark, is everything alright?" Mark distant the phone from his ear with a winch at the loud question from the other side.
His ears hurt from the loud question being asked and it put Mark in an almost foul mood. But there were more important things to focus on here.
"The intruder escaped" Mark muttered back into the phone, a note of disbelief in his voice. The person was just gone.
"Gone? Idiot, don't stand there and check your parameters. He might be still there. No wait, stay inside and lock yourself inside. The intruder might be waiting for you outside" those words made Mark remember what the person said and there was a hidden panic in his expression now.
He needed to check up on his cats right now. Ignoring the warning as well as well sounding advice, Mark made his way toward the back room where his cats generally lived.
Opening the room, he found them huddling in the corner, their body language tense.
But as soon as they saw him, they relaxed visibly and there was a purr in their rumble. Mark also felt his body sag at the feeling of content and relief he felt at that moment.
Those cats were alive and doing alright after all.
He dragged cat food out of his cold storage of the clinic and fed the cats while also checking their bodies for injuries. The person's words had spooked him a lot. While his cats were weird with unnatural seeming tattoos, they were perfectly normal cats.
How dare someone threatens them like that. Asato did not like the implications at all. He wanted to really harm that person, despite his oath of healing.
Pretty soon there was a knock at his door which made him tense. Was the intruder back to finish what he started? Or was it the police finally here.
"Mark, you alright?" En's voice made his tension bleed away as he dragged himself toward the door to open it.
En stood on the opposite side in his uniform, badge and everything in place. It was good to finally see some decent company.
"We'll take a perimeter check. You lock up and head home for today" Mark could not leave, especially not tonight despite the patrol.
"I'll stay here on the couch. The cats are freaked out over the intruder so I need to make sure they pass the night without a problem" En's look spoke that he knew the one being spooked were not the cats but it was himself and yet he did not comment which Mark was grateful for.
His nerves felt fried and his throat felt dry. Overall, Mark had a bad feeling about the upcoming night.
"Whatever suits you is fine I guess. Just make sure you have everything ready" Mark nodded as he closed the door. His hunger was non existing within all the excitement but the cats who were finished with their dinner felt it an appropriate time to laze around.
Most of them had returned inside their shape with two or three loitering around in the clinic space.
Mark chuckled as he moved the roaming cats back into the back room which was planned for their comfort. Luckily, his clinic only had cats in the observation otherwise it would become a zoo with too many animals.
"You enjoy your night here while I check out the conditions outside. Please behave tonight" Mark's words were soft with pleading. His eyes almost had tears inside them and the cats meowed as if in agreement.
With a sigh of relief, Mark left the room and closed the door right behind him. His eyes took in his workshop which was in need of a dire cleaning. The tussle with the intruder had really messed up its natural arrangement and it would cause a lot of trouble tomorrow if he did not fix it as soon as possible.
With a sigh of resignation, Mark picked up the nearest petri dish as he began cleaning up the clinic. The glass had broken and it was in sharp pieces. He gathered as many pieces as he could, his hands were careful of the broken glass and their sharp edges.
His ears picked up small moments in his vicinity but he chose to ignore it, for the time being, his hands too busy with the glass he had inside his hand at that moment. It must be a cat that followed him outside.
He would deal with it later when the coast was clear of most of the obstacles which littered throughout the place.
Then the sound happened again and Mark felt his breath caught up in his throat. The sound was too much like human footsteps, not animal footsteps.
He was not alone in the room, there was another human inside.
"En?" Mark called out, his head still down and his hands otherwise occupied. There was a sudden moment from his right and his hands moved faster than his brain as they made a slashing motion with the glass inside his hand.
Much to his relief, the shadow dodged with quite a distance and made small leaps back.
"Hey, calm down now. I'm not your enemy here. In fact, I can even be called as a god in your world" Mark just made another motion to slash the intruder who just dodged skillfully.
This person may be mad, but he had really good skills to dodge every attack Mark made.
"Hey, I said to calm down and listen" there was a hand on his arm and just as quickly his arm was twisted behind his back by a strong hand. The intruder had Mark captured and defenceless in a matter of seconds.
Mark felt his breath shorten at the threat that hung in the air that very second. It was not good for anyone involved, but not especially for him in such a situation.
Mark wanted out and fast.
"Who are you?" Mark cried out, his fear evident in his voice. The person behind let out an amused hum but did not give way. Mark only saw one solution out of this, one thing he never really wanted to employ.
He bulked his body around to kick the person between the knee but luckily for the person, the dodge timing was flawless as ever.
"Don't move or I will call the police again. They're just outside" Mark threatened the person but unlike last time the person just seemed amused this time at the threat.
"Police? Ah yes, go ahead. I made arrangements this time so that you do not escape from here. Why couldn't you be another brain dead NPC in this world again? What a pain" Mark could not understand anything the person was saying, his panic was too high.
He tried to make a call to En but the phone held no signal. Then he tried to open the door but again, the knob did not turn.
This was all so unnatural, it almost felt organised.
"Hahaha, is this a prank? Am I finally being pranked by everyone? I fell for it you hear? Now stop it all" Mark was getting more and more panicky with each passing second. His breath was getting short too.
And the intruder was getting annoyed.
"Doctor Mark Li, please get yourself under control here. Don't act like a brain dead NPC here" that made the doctor panic super hard.