Marcello turned the corner to walk down the hallway. "What are you doing?" He asked skeptically. "Are the rooms empty?"
Zoe looked at him with wide eyes. Her back was pressed tightly to the wall as if she were trying to shimmy along a cliff's edge. The sound of rustling cards filled the hallway as she frantically shuffled them in her hands. "I, uh," she stammered, her eyes falling to his feet.
He walked down the hall toward her, several kittens following him. "What's going on?"
"There's some naked person in the bathroom," she mumbled.
"Is it the guy?" He asked quickly.
Zoe shook her head. "I've never seen her before. She was just there..."
Marcello cocked his head to the side, a slightly amused expression on his face. He walked past her into the bedroom, making a B-Line toward the bathroom. He stuck his head through the door.
"So it would seem," he said, looking the woman up and down. He was about to open his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He walked back into the bedroom, seeing Zoe crouched behind the bed, using it as a shield, just in case. Only the top of her head and eyes were visible from the bathroom doorway. An evening orange aura glowed around the cards in her hand, as she held them, ready to throw them or defend at a moment's notice. "Hey, Zoe," he started. "I think you should talk to her."
"What?" Zoe asked incredulously. "I don't want to talk to her. Why do you want me to talk to her?"
"You're both women. Maybe you ask if she's seen the guy. It's like when police use a female cop to ask questions to women since they'll subconsciously trust her more."
Zoe stared at him like he had grown another head.
"Okay," She said, slinking from behind the bed to the bathroom door. Forcing a smile, "Hey," Zoe said in the Apris language. The woman perked up, making eye contact with Zoe as she entered the bathroom. "Well, so, uh…" she gulped, feeling a bead of sweat run down her forehead. "Okay, so, I'm Zoe and this is…" she turned, but Marcello didn't follow her into the room. "I'm Zoe, and well, I'd like to ask you something. There's this guy we're looking for. If I were to guess, he'd be a foot taller than I. Muscular black man with lots of tattoos. Early to mid-twenties, and…" she trailed off, seeing the woman raise herself, get to her feet, and step out of the bathtub. Her wet feet slapped the tile as she walked toward the stunned Zoe. She was tall and thin, her ribs protruding through her skin.
She mumbled. She stood less than a foot away from Zoe, their eyes on an equal level.
"Don't touch me!" Zoe shoved her away, stepping back slowly, her hands stiff and by her sides. She shook slightly as she moved back from the woman's attempted embrace.
"What is with her?" Marcello stepped into the bathroom and glanced from Zoe back to the woman who stood in the middle of the bathroom. She had no reaction to what had just happened. It was as if she were now a mannequin, cold and unmoving. Staring with glassy, unblinking eyes.
Zoe went to leave, but the entire bedroom was now filled with cats. Laying on the bed, sitting on the windowsill, and pacing around the floor, their eyes were like gaping golden voids, boring holes into her. "What is going on?"
Marcello looked to see what she was talking about, 'When did all those cats follow me? There was only a few just seconds ago. What IS going on here? It's clear now that the guy isn't in the home, but there's only one door in or out, as far as I'm aware. He's either hiding, or there's possibly a secret door.' He looked up, seeing the naked woman staring at him.
The naked woman spoke, "Are…Are you here to take them away? I love them, ya know? There's always enough food and water around. I take good care of em' I promise!"
Marcello looked to Zoe, "Do you know what she's saying? I don't know the language here very well."
Zoe nodded, "I think she thinks we're trying to take her cats. I don't know what would give her that impression."
"Tell her that we aren't interested in her feline fever. Ask her again about the guy."
Zoe did as she was told, but the woman didn't answer. She stood motionless, still staring at Marcello. Both kids stood, staring awkwardly at her.
"Can we go now?" Zoe pleaded.
Marcello stepped toward the door, but the woman grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Huh?" He looked at her with surprise, her nails digging into his arm. He recoiled, and a line of blood ran down his forearm. However, her grip stayed strong. Beneath the soothing hum of purring cats, a low, ominous hum resonated through the tiled bathroom.
"Ah!" Zoe stepped back as the cats flooded the room, sprinting toward Marcello and the woman.
The first cat darted towards the woman, its claws finding purchase on her leg. With nimble agility, it ascended her body, reaching her shoulder and settling in. The second cat followed suit, repeating the process. Soon, a cascade of feline forms joined the ascent, one after another. In a matter of seconds, the woman vanished from view, replaced by a shifting mass of writhing cats.
Marcello yelled and yanked his hand from the pile so hard that he stumbled back, falling on his butt. His arm was covered in small but deep scratches; his dark red blood pooled onto the tiled floor, smearing as he scrambled to his feet.
Two cats from the mound detached, lunging at Marcello, who punched one out of the air, doing almost no damage as he wore all ten rings. The other sunk its claws and teeth deep into his side. The first feline rolled to its feet, lunging again, but a playing card slammed into its body, making it go flying into the mirror.
'I made the card heavy and blunt so as to not hurt it too much,' Zoe thought as she reached into the card box, ready to pull out another at a moment's notice. Marcello finally ripped the cat from himself and threw it back into the huddle of felines.
Both Zoe and Marcello simultaneously turned and sprinted from the bathroom. They didn't make it far down the hallway before Zoe felt something sharp stab into her calf, making her face plant on the floorboards. Marcello turned, now at the other side of the living room, out of sight of Zoe.
The pile of cats had left the room, and several felines had grabbed onto each other, forming a chain of cats extending down the hallway. Zoe dug her fingernails into the hardwood floor, kicking at the cat on her leg, but it held fast. From the heart of the feline mound, the naked woman's hand emerged, grabbing cats one by one from the top of the pile and tossing them to the ground before withdrawing into the heap. Ten cats were now in front of them; they collected and writhed there. Marcello cocked his head, watching as their fur fused. Briefly, bones were exposed to the dim hallway light as they morphed. What amalgamated was a nightmare akin to a small bear in size.
The black cat possessed sly golden eyes. Zoe sensed the ground and walls vibrating as it stood, studying her. It dawned on her that the creature's purring was causing the tremors.
The massive panther slowly waltzed to Zoe, whose orange aura exploded around her once she noticed the cat moving toward her. She kicked out at the smaller cat once more, but it still stayed, its claws burying deeper into her leg the more she struggled.
Curiously, the black cat pawed at her; each tap felt like she was being hit by a world-class boxer.
As the panther's jaws were about to close around Zoe's head, ready to crush her skull, a gurgling sound came from its maw. It lurched back, pawing at its throat where a glowing playing card was lodged. Zoe's white hair was now stained red, the walls being painted with flecks of blood as the panther writhed and flailed on the ground. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Zoe repeated under her breath as she watched the animal pass in front of her. As it did so, it dissolved, turning back into the felines, which in turn started dissolving. Flaking away as if they were pages from a burnt book. "What?" she breathed, her eyes red and raw as tears fell down her cheeks.
'TransMeowtation,' the naked woman thought. 'An ability that turns the aura of my energy into a mass of energy-cats that surround me. These cats are conjured by me. When my ability isn't active, they'll proceed to act like normal cats; sleeping, catching mice, chasing lasers…The longer I leave them on autopilot, the less energy it takes for me to maintain them.
'Cat fight: The mass of energy-cats collectively lashes out with claws & teeth at anyone nearby that means me harm. They do so autonomously, without needing to be directly controlled by me, but they will never break contact, severely limiting their effective range.
'Fe-line: Multiple energy-cats grab onto each other, forming a chain of kitties that extends the reach of the cat mass. This must be a command by me.'
"They're gone," Zoe stabbed a card into the head of the cat that was wrapped around her leg. 'Must be manifested. So, they technically wouldn't be real,' she crawled backward down the hallway, not taking her eyes off the mound. Suddenly, she felt two strong hands grab her by the shoulders. She looked up with surprise, seeing Marcello pull her to her feet.
"Get behind me!" He barked, holding his fist in front of him, one of the large two large rings on his hand glowing brightly.
Zoe jumped behind him as a large, flaming ball of energy was dispensed from the ring.
He gritted his teeth, 'That's it! No more than three! I refuse to use any more!'
It felt as if Zoe stepped into hell. The beige paint on the walls peeled. Embers flew through the air as the heat seemed to melt everything around them. Her hair felt brittle and dry; a single spark may have set her ablaze. Even though she knew they weren't real, their wails and screams seeped into her mind, hearing them even over the screech of the inferno.
Marcello took a deep breath, stepping forward.
"What are you doing?" Zoe yelled, grabbing Marcello by his wrist, trying to pull him with her.
He shook off her grasp, "I can't let her die," he yelled over the whoosh of the flames. He started to march forward but stopped. A strange feeling washed over the both of them. He squinted, seeing a silhouette shamble through the blaze.
Walking from the wall of fire was the woman. Her pale skin was streaked with soot and ash. A large, singular cat-like aura shimmered around her.