By: Jordan Deen
The cat.
The last thing I remember is the cat.
The cotton restraints bind me in place. Dr. Pollock twists in her chair. This has to be just another bad dream… one that has followed the last month of bad luck. “A cat?” she says disapproving, like this is the first time she’s heard it from me. “Yes, the last time I saw Toby he was taken by the cat.” Hmmmm… her southern accent vibrates in her throat. “And, the cat didn’t advance on you?” “No. It hissed at me.” She stifles a laugh. Every other session has gone this way. The dark mahogany furniture doubles for bars on my cell. I see them more than anything else, well, that and the cats that haunt my nightmares. Toby’s frail body being dragged into the woods is only an afterthought sometimes. Everyone thinks I’ve lost my mind. “Hissed?” I think of Toby, the last day at the lake house. We ran after each other and played in the
hot springs. He laughed and played… more than he had in months. Chemo had almost destroyed his livelihood; he had become just barely a shell of his former self. I guess that made him an easy target. “Yes, meowed and hissed.” That damn cat. I’ll never forget that meow. Like the cursed feline wanted to taunt me; egging me on to make a mistake—so it could claim me to. I wouldn’t let it. I couldn’t. I had to stay safe- make the right choice to get Toby back. “Do they still come to you?” “They?” I say, playing coy. I know what she’s talking about. The cats. They can’t know they still haunt me. “The cats. Are you still having nightmares about them?” “No.” They are the reason they keep me here. The reason the red camera light still blinks in my room. Why I’m never alone anymore. Why I’m on constant suicide watch. “Are you sure? Nurse Raliegh said last night you awoke, screaming.” Shifting in my chair, I slap on my best teenager attitude to give the appearance of normal. “Is it against the law to have a bad dream once in awhile?” “Is that what we are calling them now?” The images of the black and white cat, the leader of them all, dragging my younger and only brother out to the woods. A cat. Not a monster. Not a lion or a tiger. Just your normal, everyday, average house cat. That’s what stole my brother. That’s what took him. That’s what I have to fight to get him back and to save my own life. “Yes. Anyone that watched their brother being dragged off would have nightmares.” She flips back through the pages and pages of notebook paper. “Yes, when you came to us you were unresponsive and mumbling incoherent things. Eventually, you told us a tale of a cat dragging your brother into the woods. Tell me about that.” My eyes glaze over, thinking of Toby playing too close to the woods. The hissing and howls of the feral animals vibrating through the woods. They stalked us; waited for the right opportunity to claim their prey. The wind whipped my hair into tangles and only momentarily blocked my vision—that’s when it happened—when they claimed him. Took him back to Max their leader… their commander—the one that rallied the pack into war against us—against my family. A war based on retribution. “I already told you what happened,” I snip and try in vain to get to an itch at my side. Restraints are so last year. And eggshell is not a flattering color on me. I’ve always been a spring, not a winter. “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Well,” she taps her chrome pen to the notebook, “do you think he is still out there?” “Who, Max?” I slip. She flips through the notebook, her instant recall of our sessions failing her. “The cat? I was referring to Toby. Your brother. Is he still in the woods, Miranda? We just need to find him. Your parents deserve… closure.” It’s finality they seek. The truth is hard to accept. It’s easier to believe I may have done something to him than to think a housecat took his life. “Toby is with them.” I start to rock back and forth in my chair; my mind shutting down and my heart breaking in my chest. “He is with Max. The cats took him, claimed him for my mistake.” Her eyes shoot to mine. The one thing I hadn’t told them. The reason the cats pursued us, hunted us down. I killed Max’s mate; ran her over on the road to the cabin. I brought this nightmare to my family. “We were laughing in the car. I wasn’t paying attention. I swerved… but still I hit it.” “Are we talking about the cats again?” Annoyed, I respond hard, “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.” Of course, my attitude she chronicled in her notebook. She’d use that against me later, I’m sure. This wouldn’t get us Toby back, and my confinement only kept the cats at bay. Eventually, they would come for me, too. They’ll never give up. Max demands his justice. He demands repayment for those he lost. “I think we are done for the day,” she says tapping the top of the golden tenth-anniversary clock the hospital gave her per the little plague on the bottom. Another twelve hours and I’d be back in this chair. Back in hell. A head shrinker is not what I need—a witch doctor? Maybe. Nurse Raliegh leads me back to my room, pushes me inside and I turn to give her easy access to the locks confining me, only to be met with a seven by seven foot concrete confinement. I pick up my chalky rock that I dug out of the limestone jail. I start to draw on the walls again—walls adorned with every size and shape cat imaginable. They’re still out there. They prowl at the gates of the hospital. Just waiting for redemption. They wait for me. And so I sit. And rock. And wait. Wait for the day the hissing meows come for me. Meow.
The Crescent by Jordan Deen Publisher: Black Rose Writing Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 187 pages Series: The Crescent, book #1 Becoming a werewolf is not an option for seventeen-year-old Lacey Quinn, but death can be a strong motivator. Lacey is so focused on her future that everyday life has passed her by. Counting down the days to her eighteenth birthday, Lacey is almost home free. But when she falls for the mysterious Alex Morris, she lands in the middle of an ancient war between two enemy wolf packs. Tempting dreams, tantalizing lies and a dangerous love triangle ensues leaving Lacey heartbroken and confused. Lacey's fate rests in the hands of Alex and Brandon, but both are pulling her strings for their own agendas. Even as she slips further into the dark world of werewolves, Lacey struggles to find the truth and save the only family she's ever know.
Prize:
- 1 winner will receive a signed ARC of The Crescent and The Crescent and Half Moon swag.
Rules:
- You must be at least 13 to enter.
- Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
- Extra entries are possible and l ink s must be provided.
- Contest is INTERNATIONAL and ends October 27th.
- Once contacted the winner will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address.
- The form must be filled out to enter.
Half Moon, book #2 in The Crescent series, will be released January 13th, 2011.
- Thank you so much Jordan for the story and giveaway!
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