Chapter 15: give me the food!
Vira: "It was just a cat's meow! The hell you bringing God into this for? Next, you're gonna have heaven's symphony playing when Viper hisses, aren't ya?"
Author (awkwardly retorting): "My novel, my rules! I can do whatever I want. And what's up with you?"
Vira: "??? What are you even talking about?"
Author : "Ah, nothing… Just feels like I'm getting outplayed in my own creation."
Start, he said while sighing.
Meow, meow.
Vira, hearing the cat's call, looked toward the window on the second floor of the house opposite the one he was currently knocking on.
"Huh? What did you say?" Vira asked, glancing at the furless, pale, whitish cat.
The cat meowed again, but this time it wasn't just a random, attention-seeking noise. There was something purposeful about it— as if it was trying to signal that Vira could go through the window's hole.
Vira, puzzled, scanned the window but saw no hole. "Where's the hole? Can you show me?"
The cat didn't move, but its response came telling that it cant it has been locked in by its owner
Vira frowned, then turned his gaze back to the window. "Then… where's the hole ?"
The cat meowed again.
Vira, frustration mounting, threw his hands up. "How am I supposed to know where 'there' is? Tell me the direction!"
"Towards the tree," the cat's meow seemed to convey, pointing vaguely with its eyes.
They were standing on the doorstep of a garden, decorated with small pine trees. Even the cat had been visible through the branches, now weighed down by heavy snow.
Vira's frustration boiled over. He hadn't eaten in nearly two days, had been forced to travel half an hour through a hellish snowstorm, enduring the freezing wind and the constant bumps of the sled. His body ached, his mind raced with worry for Viper, and his hope for food and rest seemed to be slipping away as no one, absolutely no one, had bothered to open a door. He'd knocked on thirteen of them. Thirteen! Even an old, blind lady would have opened a window just to check on the noise outside. But these people…
He sighed deeply, his patience wearing thin. Despite everything, he tried to keep his cool, telling himself that there had to be a kind soul willing to open a door. But when he felt like he was being mocked by a naked cat, his anger exploded.
Vira's frustration reached its peak. "You fucking dumb shit! Where do you think 'there' is? There's not a tree in sight! Point your paws toward it!"
To Vira's surprise, the cat's paw lifted, and it touched the left side of the window.
Vira's eyes followed the gesture, and that's when he noticed something. A dog, lying low, was huddled beneath the window. The window itself stretched from floor to ceiling, but there was a hole in the bottom right corner. Fortunately for Vira, the hole was wide enough to fit both him and the dog—and it was open.
After squeezing through the hole, Vira collapsed onto the soft carpet, basking in the warmth of the environment. The heat slowly began to calm him down, and, for a moment, he felt a bit strange about his earlier outburst. Although the rage still lingered in his memory, it didn't feel like him. He would never lose his cool, especially not in a life-threatening situation—especially when a cat had been guiding him toward survival.
Lost in thought, Vira stared at the soft yellow glow of the bulb overhead. It reminded him of his first day here, when the lights had pierced his eyes like needles, a sharp, uncomfortable feeling he could still vividly recall.
Sigh...
Vira let out a heavy breath, then slapped his face to snap himself out of the funk. "Now's not the time for melancholy," he muttered. "Viper's still unconscious, and I'm not out of danger myself. My stomach's still empty."
But the warmth was starting to make his drowsiness overpower his survival instincts. With a grunt, he pushed himself further into the room.
And there, he found the cat, happily drinking a bowl of milk.
It wasn't like that ugly, naked cat from the neighboring house, lounging in its soft, warm room with its moist mouth as if it had drunk its fill... Ahem.
The point was, unlike that unpleasant creature, this cat was covered in orange fur, with a cute face that, at the moment, was staring at the two intruders in the house.
The cat briefly glanced at Woof but then locked eyes with Vira, before charging forward, meowing in an unusually friendly manner. It started licking Vira's face, and in the process, Vira was pushed down, landing heavily on the floor.
Fortunately, Woof, although not the brightest, had enough sense at that moment to simply push the kitten away instead of trying to bite it.
The cat was sent rolling across the floor but quickly regained its footing, leaping back toward Woof as if it hadn't just been shoved. It ran straight at him, seemingly oblivious to the paw that was heading for its head, not to mention the intimidating, large dog making that very motion.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Vira shouted, causing both the cat and Woof to stop and look at him.
Taking advantage of their pause, Vira turned to the kitten. "Can you share your food? I'm hungry."
Without hesitation, the kitten meowed in affirmation, and Vira began crawling toward the metal bowl.
But before he could get close, the cat sprinted ahead, nudging the bowl further away. Do all kittens like to tease? Vira thought, about to ask Woof to pin it down.
But before he could, the kitten shoved the bowl toward him.
Vira quickly pressed his face to the bowl, eagerly drinking what remained. Unfortunately, most of it had already been consumed by the cat, leaving little to sate his hunger.
"Is there more?" Vira asked, his voice tinged with disapointment. "I'm still hungry."
Vira's eyes brightened as the kitten meowed in affirmation. There was more.
Impatient and growing desperate, he asked Bella to show him where it was. But his crawling felt agonizingly slow, like a thirsty man drinking seawater, only to find himself even more parched.
Frustrated, Vira turned to Woof, who had been silently following him. "Can you carry me?" he asked, hoping for some relief.
Without hesitation, Woof gently bit the collar of Vira's tattered clothes and lifted him. The added speed made the journey to the kitchen much faster, but there was a problem—at least, there would've been, if Vira hadn't quickly instructed Woof to jump onto the table and push the milk-filled jug.
vira, clearly accustomed to smashing over milk bottles and drinking straight from the floor, didn't pause to consider that he was in someone else's house. Nor did he care that there were people inside.
Without missing a beat, he began drinking the spilled milk, and woof, exhausted from the long journey, joined him.
….
….
Meanwhile, in the Living room …
Ding!
Angela, a 7-year-old girl, tugged at her grandmother's sleeve. "Grandma, grandma! The sound is coming from the kitchen. Are you sure you don't want to check?"
Luna, her 70-year-old grandmother, waved her off with a tired sigh. "Don't worry about it, dear. It's probably just Bella jumping around. It's your parents' fault for taking Nibbles and leaving me with this energetic furball. She's been running around non-stop. I was going to ask Andrew to close the doghole, like Hena did for that ugly cat of hers, but… pity…"
Angela, clearly distracted, interrupted her grandmother. "Forget about that! Look, they're choosing the cards now!"
Luna rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. "What else is there to do in this snow besides watch this stupid show, Play Your Cards Right? It's all rigged. None of my cards have come up right. That old witch is about to win again..."
Angela's eyes widened as she cheered, "Yes, yes! It's ACE!"