Meow

Lucy sat on the boat dock, dipping her feet in the water. The martins sang and the water clashed against the rocks. Her father called her. Hurriedly, she raced up the steps and noticed an 81 Honda pulling in the driveway of the Bluff House, was someone moving in? Her father rented that house next door to them to others and had it for rent for months. A rickety, ancient woman, like 120 years old, got out of the car and balanced on her cane. She opened the trailer hitched to the car, "Come out, my precious darlings." She said. Lucy gasped as she opened up the kennels in the trailer and 50 to 60 cats jumped out of the trailer and ran in the house.1

After the lady got moved in, the cats were all over the property, on the decks of both the houses, fishing at the dock, in the rock garden and on the hammock, even in Lucy's Dad's praised boat! Her dad had introduced his family to the lonely woman and took no notice to the bothersome cats. He actually bought food and set it out for them. Lucy found this strange, her dad hated cats and wouldn't even let the previous renters have a bird.2

"You just need time to get used to them," Her father said, dropping some salmon for a begging group of black cats. Some were friendly, some hissed and spat when you walked by. One day, after being rudely kicked off her own dock by a group of mean cats wanting to fish, Lucy sought shade in the part of lush ground on the Bluff House property, she was allowed there, being the landlord's daughter. The area was engulfed with shady trees and was on a tiny hill that led down the lake, which was outlined with big rocks. To the untrained eye, one would think they were alone, but Lucy was sick of the countless times she had been scared by a cat in hiding that decided to run. So she trained herself to see beyond trees. As she took her second look, she noticed some folded grass on the slope leading to the lake, in the soft, long, green grass, a fourteen year old boy slept in the shade. He looked very comfortable, curled up and peacefully cuddling into the soft ground, fast asleep. But Lucy was taken aback by him, she had never seen him before. She took a step toward him and he jumped up, looked at her, then ran up the wooden steps of the Bluff House faster than any human could. 3

"Hey! Wait up!" But by the time she got to the steps, he was gone, like he had vanished into thin air. "What a strange kid." She told herself.4

This boy continued to haunt her around the property, she would catch him staring at her, if she looked away for a second, he would be gone. And vise versa, one minute she was alone, fishing at the dock, and the next she turned around and he was staring at her from ending of the stone steps. One day she came out of the garage and saw him leaning forward on the wooden posts at the Bluff House porch, he was staring at her in a frightening way, she dropped her fishing pole and ran into the house, locking the door behind her. "Hey, Dad," she said, "Have you been seeing a boy around my age around here? Is he living with the Cat Lady?"5

"Now, Lucy," He told her, "Our neighbor is a nice woman, you shouldn't call her the Cat Lady."6

"What about the boy? Have you seen the kid around here?"7

"Who, me? No, I haven't seen a boy around here, you're probably just imagining it." Lucy wasn't making up that boy in her head, she insisted, but her dad only gave her a bottle of water. "Stay hydrated, it's hot out in the summer."8

Soon the hunted became the hunter, Lucy started chasing the boy around the property, but he was too fast for her and continued to disappear from out of nowhere. "Think you're a little Houdini, aren't ya?" She would yell to the sky when he was gone.9

Then after a while he stopped coming, he disappeared for his last time. And that was how Lucy liked it. But then she felt like she was starting to miss him, even though he never spoke a word and creeped her out, it was like she had lost a friend, she thought it was nice to have someone her own age here because it was lonely here on the lake all by herself with her hardworking dad.10

It had been at least two weeks from when she chased him through the rock garden and around the corner of the house, where he was gone for good. She realized it was kind of a game to play and missed the games. Even though it had been long after she decided to forget about him, he still gave her that eerie feeling. The feeling caused her to spend most of her time inside. One day, she was outside on the step, feeding some tuna to a calico cat and her kittens. "Is your mom a hoarder or a breeder." She asked the cat.11

"Meow." She replied. Then her and her kittens ran away, Lucy looked and saw the boy on the bluff by the Bluff House, he was walking toward her. She got up and grabbed the door handle, ready to escape to the safety of her house. He was carrying a red gallon tank, she watched in disgust as he opened the tank and poured the yellowish liquid over a large area on her house wall.12

"What do you think you're doing?" She yelled at him angrily.13

He gave her a look and opened his palm, he took a match out of the book and held it to his face, "No!" Lucy yelled, running toward him, she wasn't going to let him burn the place down. As he threw it, she tackled him. The wall burst in a big fireball. Lucy felt herself being lifted slightly, then a pain crawled up her arm rapidly, she screamed and then it was all over. Her arm was burned, she was lying on the ground, the boy on top of her. She looked over at the wall, it wasn't burning, but a big black circle ruined the houses nice atmosphere. The boy's body was as cold as a corpse, he got up off of her and gave her the scary stare he always gave her. All of a sudden, fear flushed into his eyes as Lucy's father approached him.14

"What have you done? Do you realize how much that's going to cost me?" He yelled angrily at him. Before the boy could try any Houdini tricks, her dad threw him on the ground, "You rotten little scumbag! You're going to pay for that weather it's by cash or jail-time! You have no idea how much time I spent on this house and you tried to burn it down! You're mom's going to hear about this!"15

Her dad pulled the poor boy back to the Bluff House and knocked on the door. After his dad went inside, Lucy looked at the big ugly black spot on the wall, and the 1st degree burn on her arm. "What a strange kid." What would make him act like this?16

Lucy went back to her house and put some ice on the wound, when it became numb, she wrapped it in a bandage and put on a light sweatshirt to keep her dad from being any more angry at the boy. "Don't worry, doll, she's an old timer so she's probably beating that little son of a gun right now."17

"Beating him?" That was unfair, he saved her from serious injury, she didn't want him to get hurt. She got out the door and went to the neighboring house, she listened for whip cracks or screams, but nothing came of it, so she knocked on the door.18

"Hello?" The wrinkly, grey haired woman asked as she opened the door. Before Lucy could say anything, the woman said, "Don't you worry, dear child, I'll make sure that never happens again. I am very sorry what my wicked boy did. I cannot see how he'd behave in such a matter."19

"Well, you see, I came to pardon him, he really didn't do much wrong." Lucy cocked her head, "Does he have a mental disability or something?" The woman shook her head.20

The woman gestured Lucy inside. "Why don't you come in and I'll fix you some tea?" She offered. Lucy decided it wouldn't hurt, her dad had her on a long leash and she usually went missing for a couple hours. Besides, she wanted to talk to the boy.21

The house was dark, dirty, smelled like cats and litter, and damaged. Cats were everywhere, on the couch, under the TV, and on the counter. "Come and sit, Dearest." The woman pulled up a seat and five cats ran out, Lucy sat down and was given a cup of piping hot tea. It gave her the feeling like she was being slipped into a steaming bubble bath. The calmness flushed out of her body as she felt someone standing behind her.22

Lucy turned around and saw the boy standing so close that she could feel his warm breath on her neck. She could see him more clearly now and stared at him. His had golden white hair that came down to his shoulders, he was thinner than a pole and was dressed in grey jeans, a grey sweatshirt, and a plain white T-shirt even though it was around 90 degrees on this late July afternoon. Speaking of being unfit for the weather, even though it was sunny, the boy was paler than cream cheese. And those eyes, those eyes were a beautiful but horrifyingly unique shade of gray, those gray eyes clutched her and hypnotized her as they glowed like neon lights. They made her body break out in a cold sweat.23

The old woman pointed at the kitchen, "Boy, fetch the cookies and leave that poor girl alone, you've done enough to her." He nodded and obeyed. Lucy was too busy staring at the boy that she could barely taste the sweet sugary cookies that melted in her mouth. "Don't be bothered with him, Dearest." The old woman said. The boy was sweeping the kitchen and watching them, he came up and grabbed her teacup and saucer and slowly pulled it toward him. He refilled the cup and stood right next to her with the cup, giving her a cold look. She bet he wanted his mother to call him 'Dearest'. Lucy, mesmerized, twitched uncomfortably in her seat.24

"That is enough of you with that girl!" Said the old woman, "Go, clean the bedrooms!" 25

He roughly set down the cup. Lucy jumped as the hot tea spilled everywhere, the boy walked swiftly into the room and slammed the door.26

"I'm sorry about that, Dearest, his very angry at me, because I punished him."27

"You didn't beat him, did you?"28

"Yes, I hit him a fair amount, but that's his own fault," the old woman grabbed Lucy's chin, "For trying to hurt such a fine young lady." She stood up, "Well, I must go feed my pretties, would you excuse me for a second?" Lucy nodded and waited for her to leave, then she scurried to the room to talk to the boy.29

"Hello?" She said, the boy looked at her, clutching a rag in his hand. He got back to his work and ignored her, "I just wanted to say thanks, you know, for saving me from the fire. But why did you try to burn our house?" Her words fell on deaf ears, the boy said nothing. "Cookie?" She asked, offering one to him. He looked over at it and reached for it, Lucy pulled it back playfully. "Do you speak English?" He nodded, eyeing the sweet, "Can you talk?" He stepped back and shrugged timidly, "A little bit?" He nodded. 30

"So, what were you following me for? Talk to me." He only stared at her, not saying anything. "If you talk I'll give you the cookie." He didn't say a word, so she ate it, he watched her painfully. "My name is Lucy, I'm the landlord's daughter." She said, she held her hand out, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer, grabbing her forearm by the elbow. She didn't flinch, "You're hands are cold." She remarked, his hands felt like metal in the winter and goosebumps ran up her arms. 31

"Did she beat you, the old woman?" She asked. He put her hand on his stomach and grabbed his shirt in the hand seizing her wrist, he lifted his shirt to a few scattered bruises on his stomach. "I'm sorry about that, I never wanted anyone to get hurt." He nodded. "Could you let go of me?" He slowly slid his hands off of her, shrinking a little without his control. "Do you have a name?" He brushed past her and locked the door, staring at her again. She was a little frightened, but still gave a little smile.32

His hand brushed away Lucy's black hair and he put his face closed to hers, he whispered into her ear, "Leo."33

"Leo, it means lion, right."34

"Yes, Dame doesn't want me to talk, especially to other people."35

"What kind of parent doesn't want their son to talk to people?"36

"I've already said too much."37

"We can be friends, right."38

Leo shook his head. "Please, Leo?" 39

Leo stared at her and put his head on her shoulder, his cold, pale cheek turned red and tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry, Lucy."40

"Sorry for what?"41

"For doing this to you."42

"Doing what? What are you talking about."43

His tears fell into her hair, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."44

Suddenly everything started to blur, Lucy became tingly and light headed. Leo's apologies and pleads for forgiveness faded and she fell into an unconscious state. She couldn't see or move, but she felt herself being flung over Leo's shoulder and brought out, she hit her head on the door but felt no pain. 45

"Come, you boy, bring her down to the basement."46

Lucy didn't want to go to the basement, she wanted Leo to bring her back to life and let her run, but her limp body was bounced as she went down, down, to the basement, the old woman's cane thumping behind her.47

Lucy woke up in a white room belted to a bed, like a Frankenstein movie, she looked around and saw the old woman scaling a wall of bottles upon bottles of liquids. "A Russian Blue sounds like the one for her. Oh, shut up!" Lucy fixed her eyes on a cage with three cats inside, she gasped, they were talking. 48

"Please, let me out!"49

"You horrible woman, I'm scared!"50

"Let me out! I don't wanna be a cat!"51

She looked at the cats, they walked and pawed at the cage like regular cats do, but they were talking, and they're eyes, they were that of a human! 52

"Shut up, it'll only make you miss your voices when they turn into meows." The woman said.53

"Where am I?" She asked the cats.54

The orange tabby with green eyes said, "You're in the lab in her basement, did you eat the cookies and tea?" Lucy nodded, "It's rigged! She poisoned it so you would fall asleep, then she and her minion, the half and half monster, tie you up and give you a shot, it turns you into a cat!"55

The grey cat with brown eyes said, "First you can't walk upright, then you get fur and you shrink down to a cat and grow a tail, you soon loose your eyes and your voice!"56

The marble cat with hazel eyes moaned, "You'll be a cat forever and you'll never see your family and friends again. Never let the minion get you or-Meow!" In a panic, the cats started meowing in a frenzy, trying to converse with each other, the woman opened the cage and they angrily spat at her, but she hit them with her cane and they ran.57

Taking a syringe, the woman extracted some liquid from the bottle, then realized the cats were scratching up her things. "Hey!" She said, exiting the room. Lucy began to cry, she didn't want to be a cat, but there was nothing she could do. She gasped when the door opened, but realized it was Leo. He ran up and started fiddling with the thick belts holding her down. 58

"Leo, what's going on?"59

"Dame's a scientist that found a way to mess with human DNA to turn them into cats, she's been kidnapping children and spiking them with tea and cookies, then she turns them into cats. I've had to help her ever since she got to old to carry and secure the kids."60

"Why don't they just leave?"61

"Most of them are brainwashed and keep the ones that are strong enough not to go under DCU, DNA Confusion Unstabilization, from running away."62

Lucy was halfway out of her bounds when she heard that scary voice of the old woman, "You wicked boy, you traitor!" She yelled. Leo crawled over the top of Lucy and stood in front of her, his limbs shrunk and thick hair grew on him, his fingers retracted and his nails grew long, curved, and slender. His ears moved to the top of his head, which, along with his torso, grew to proportion with his limbs. He hunched on the ground as a tail grew out of his lower back. Out of his clothes on the floor jumped a pure white cat with grey eyes. Leo hunched, spat, and hissed, his ears back and his claws out. This all happened within seconds. The same thing happened to the old woman, who grew thick black fur and jumped out of the abandon clothes to pounce on Leo, the two clawed, spat, and rolled around, viciously breaking the skin, blood dribbled on the floor as they fought. Lucy finished releasing her legs and got off the bed, the black cat had hold of the white cat's neck. Lucy quickly grabbed the white cat and held it close to her, being cornered by the beastly black cat. It lunged and bit Lucy in the ankle, she screamed in fright and pain as the cat clawed it's way up to her face, she tried to keep hold of Leo as the black cat bit and scratched at her, shrieking and spitting.63

She grabbed the cat and threw it off of her and Leo, without thinking, she grabbed the cane and swung it at the cat like a golf club. Lucy never wanted to hurt animals, but this cat was one screwed up in the head lady. She grabbed the cane in her fist and shoved it hard into the slender cat, there wasn't piercing or blood, but the cane crushed the cat's heard and it died on the spot. Leo, who had fallen out of her grasp in the fight, rubbed up against her and meowed. Lucy grabbed him and his clothes, but then they heard spitting and hissing from upstairs, cats run down and clawed at Lucy, the brainwashed children were angry she had killed their master, Lucy ran through the crowd of angry cats and up the steps, the stable cats came hissing and Lucy screamed, but the stable cats attacked the brainwashed ones, since she had little time before the brainwashed cats took control, Lucy ran out and shut the door behind her, dashing back to her house.64

It was sunset as Lucy got back into her quiet, neat house and went into her bedroom. The white cat, Leo, jumped out of her arms and landed gracefully on its feet. It licked off the blood with is paws and meowed at her sweetly. She picked up the thin, soft cat and sat it on her lap, she petted it and listened to it's happy purr. "Meow?" It said, pawing at its jeans. Lucy nodded and closed her eyes as it jumped off the bed. Its body grew longer and its ears moved down, it stood up and its tail shrank to nothing, it's whisker shrank down as well and its hair thinned to cold, pale skin. Leo put his jeans back on and tapped her on her shoulder, "Alright, Lucy, I'm done." Lucy opened her eyes and saw Leo's chest and arms were covered in cat scratches, he put his shirt on and sat down.65

"Here," Lucy said, staring at his bleeding face and arms. She wiped the blood off of him and bandaged him up. He did the same to her scratched up face. He grabbed her leg and put some bandage over the bite mark. 66

"I tried to burn your house," He said, "Because I wanted you to leave, I kept following you to make sure you didn't go into my house, Dame kept talking about the landlord's pretty daughter."67

"How long have you been helping her?" Lucy asked.68

"Five years and about 190 cats from all over. A lot of her experiments end up faulty and I have to kill them, only some are successful."69

"How come only you can change?" Lucy asked.70

"Because, I was a faulty one, too, I only got half the injection, then I found out how to turn into a cat. I remember, I was very young when I was pulled down into that basement, I remembered that I could feel the burning as the specially treated DNA entered my system, I flailed so much the syringe broke. She told me she wouldn't kill me if I never told anyone, so I didn't. I just work as a servant."71

"So, what are you going to do, now?"72

"I don't know, probably get the cats some good homes, there's no antidote, sadly, I might just, you know, keep them, but I'm probably going to go back to my folks."73

"Those poor kids. Tell me, Leo, why did you decide I was going to be the one you helped?"74

Leo smiled, "Because," he said, "Before I got into this mess, I had a sister, just like you, and I never wanted her to get hurt. I don't know what I'd do if I saw that."75

"So, when are you leaving?" Lucy asked.76

"Probably tomorrow, could, I, you know, sleep on the end of your bed?"77

Lucy smiled, "Sure."78

He shrunk down into a cat and hopped on the bed, Lucy petted him and crawled in, "See you in the morning, Leo."79

But when she woke up the next morning, Leo was gone, but she was happy he was going back. Her father had a fit about the Cat Lady, the place was torn apart, the cats were gone, and there was a dead cat in the basement, but he soon fixed up the place and set it up for rent again. "You know, Lucy, I have a surprise for you," He said, "We're moving!"80

"Huh?"81

"I decided you need to move to the suburbs and have some time to socialize before high school instead of being home-schooled, you should have friends."82

"Thanks, Daddy!" She hugged him. After a little while, they moved to a nice little suburban area. "So, where did you find this place?" Lucy asked. 83

"The neighbor lady that disappeared told me about it."84

Once they got moved in, Lucy was in school and making new friends. One night, she sat on the deck with her pajamas on, listening to the crickets sing. She walked down the steps into the backyard and out from behind the houses came a little white cat with grey eyes. "Meow." It greeted her. 85

Lucy picked up her friend and held him in her arms. "We meet again, Leo."86

"Meow."