Post by kitty on Jan 23, 2012 0:06:35 GMT -8
November 6th, 3:00pm
Walking all the way around the City's circumference -- from the Werewolf Quarter to the Housing Quarter -- had taken Kitty rather a while, particularly considering that she had managed it in human form rather than cat form. She couldn't get over how weak she was in this form; her legs trembled at every step, and she ran out of breath after each block. The few sets of stairs she encountered were torture, requiring that she stop after only a few steps to stop and gasp for air. Still, she'd made it. Finally.
And now she stood outside her old apartment.
Her apartment from when she'd been... alive.
It seemed that way to her, anyway, as though she was revisiting a place she'd known in a former life. Still, in a dream-like state, she bent down and counted bricks upwards from the one right at the bottom of the door until she'd reached the sixth one up and the second one over. This she wiggled until it slid out of the wall, for, as she'd known, it wasn't actually mortared in place but rather merely wedged into its place. In the hollow behind it lay the spare key to the door, which she dug out before returning the brick to its place.
She simply stood, staring at the door, for over a minute, wondering what would happen when she actually opened the door. She hadn't been inside this place for so long... even a year ago, when it had been occupied, it had been Amelia who had been living here.
Amelia... who was now dead.
Still, her sister had known that she, Katrina, Kitty, was in the City, and had allowed her, in cat form, to stay in the apartment sometimes. Still... even that had seemed like a dream, and it had been what seemed like eons ago rather than just... what was it, even? Kitty had to count on her fingers to remember. Not long before her sister had died... probably 13 months ago? All of that time having been spent in cat form, not expecting to ever be anything else for the rest of one's unnatural life...
No wonder it seemed so long.
Kitty finally worked up the nerve to put the key into the lock, but still she waited to turn it. And once she had managed to convince herself to do that, it took her longer still, nearly five minutes -- during which time she fought with her emotions, which threatened to send her into tears -- before she grasped the door handle, twisted it, and pushed inwards to admit herself.
Moving slowly, wearily, she walked into her old apartment... and promptly burst into tears. It was exactly as she had last seen it, down to the very detail, and the wave of memories that hit her at the sight was enough to break down the dam against emotion she'd been trying to build and let the waters in. She stood in the living room, staring around her as silent tears trickled down her face and dripped onto the floor.
There was the couch, where she and Sully and the others had sat so many times, laughing and talking and planning...
There was the table beside the window, where she, and later Amelia in her place, had worked, pausing to stare out at the City and the soft blue light of the mushrooms beyond...
Wandering further into the house, finding other rooms.
Here was the kitchen, where she and Cedric had fought playfully over who was going to do the cooking for the group in the living room, only to have Sully wander in and cook something while neither of them were looking...
Here was the bathroom, where, one of the times she'd come to visit Amelia, she'd helped her sister vomit into the toilet during a horrible bout of morning sickness, only to laugh with her later over "how silly little Sammy was being, making her ill like this"...
And here. Here was her old bedroom... so many memories here. Too many.
"Do you like it?"
Kitty was halfway to looking around at the voice, only to realize she was just remembering the first time she'd been shown this room. She closed her eyes and remembered more: Sully standing beside her in the doorway, a small, almost shy smile on his face as he waited for her reaction.
"Yes... it's lovely..." she whispered, just as she had done then, and reached out for Sully's hand... only to meet with air. Of course. It was a memory... it wasn't happening, Sully wasn't there, it was just her, alone, standing in a dusty bedroom with her eyes closed and one hand outstretched.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Slowly, she looked around. And slowly, slowly, she thought of another memory, one that held Amelia at its heart.
Amelia, beside the bed, looking over her shoulder as she smiled at Kitty, her green eyes playful despite the shockingly obvious dark circles under them....
"It's going to happen soon, Kitty... I'm going to have my baby, and... it's all going to be over..."
"Are you sure? Can we tell them?" Kitty answered her memory, her voice cracking.
"Of course. It's just... I hope..." A sad smile from her sister. "I hope I was wrong.... somehow, I hope I was wrong..."
"You were wrong!" she burst out, just as she had then, only to let out a soft sob, knowing that her sister had in fact been right about her own prophecy.... she'd died giving birth to her son.
"Well, just in case... here. I'm going to hide this." She held up her old wand, the one she'd gotten before they'd started school. "I want you to... to have this. Just in case."
"But... you'll need it..." The tears flowed unchecked down Kitty's cheeks, and sobs wracked her frail frame, but she allowed the memory to play out within her own mind.
"I'm just putting it here for now. Alright? Just for now... I promise." And then Amelia had bent down, awkwardly due to her massive, baby-filled belly, and slipped the wand into a hidden panel under the bottom of the bedside table's drawer. "There. Just in case.... just in case."
Her feet moving as though through a million gallons of mud, of blood, of death, Kitty walked across the room to the very same table. She stared down at it, idly swiping at her tears as though they didn't matter, before opening the drawer. She pressed the spot she knew would open the hidden compartment, and when the bottom of the drawer sprang up on the front end she didn't even flinch.
Her sister's wand was still there, encased in a layer of dust, just like everything else in the entire house...
"Thank you, Amelia..." Kitty whispered, and lifted the wand out. "I... I don't deserve such a gift. Thank you." Gently, almost lovingly, she wiped the filthy wood clean on her still-wet clothes before tucking it into the pocket of her borrowed coat. Still moving more like an old woman than a 27-year-old, she hobbled over to the bed and sat on the edge, staring around her without seeing a thing.
Finally, after an amount of time that could've been anywhere between five minutes and five hours, she felt a sudden weariness overcome her. Slowly, she lay back, twisting on the dust-ridden blankets until she was on her side, her knees tucked up with her chest. Still she couldn't sleep, even after another indeterminable amount of time, so she transformed back into a cat. The familiar shape was a relief, and before she knew it she was asleep...
... though her dreams seemed no more or less real than her time as a human...
Walking all the way around the City's circumference -- from the Werewolf Quarter to the Housing Quarter -- had taken Kitty rather a while, particularly considering that she had managed it in human form rather than cat form. She couldn't get over how weak she was in this form; her legs trembled at every step, and she ran out of breath after each block. The few sets of stairs she encountered were torture, requiring that she stop after only a few steps to stop and gasp for air. Still, she'd made it. Finally.
And now she stood outside her old apartment.
Her apartment from when she'd been... alive.
It seemed that way to her, anyway, as though she was revisiting a place she'd known in a former life. Still, in a dream-like state, she bent down and counted bricks upwards from the one right at the bottom of the door until she'd reached the sixth one up and the second one over. This she wiggled until it slid out of the wall, for, as she'd known, it wasn't actually mortared in place but rather merely wedged into its place. In the hollow behind it lay the spare key to the door, which she dug out before returning the brick to its place.
She simply stood, staring at the door, for over a minute, wondering what would happen when she actually opened the door. She hadn't been inside this place for so long... even a year ago, when it had been occupied, it had been Amelia who had been living here.
Amelia... who was now dead.
Still, her sister had known that she, Katrina, Kitty, was in the City, and had allowed her, in cat form, to stay in the apartment sometimes. Still... even that had seemed like a dream, and it had been what seemed like eons ago rather than just... what was it, even? Kitty had to count on her fingers to remember. Not long before her sister had died... probably 13 months ago? All of that time having been spent in cat form, not expecting to ever be anything else for the rest of one's unnatural life...
No wonder it seemed so long.
Kitty finally worked up the nerve to put the key into the lock, but still she waited to turn it. And once she had managed to convince herself to do that, it took her longer still, nearly five minutes -- during which time she fought with her emotions, which threatened to send her into tears -- before she grasped the door handle, twisted it, and pushed inwards to admit herself.
Moving slowly, wearily, she walked into her old apartment... and promptly burst into tears. It was exactly as she had last seen it, down to the very detail, and the wave of memories that hit her at the sight was enough to break down the dam against emotion she'd been trying to build and let the waters in. She stood in the living room, staring around her as silent tears trickled down her face and dripped onto the floor.
There was the couch, where she and Sully and the others had sat so many times, laughing and talking and planning...
There was the table beside the window, where she, and later Amelia in her place, had worked, pausing to stare out at the City and the soft blue light of the mushrooms beyond...
Wandering further into the house, finding other rooms.
Here was the kitchen, where she and Cedric had fought playfully over who was going to do the cooking for the group in the living room, only to have Sully wander in and cook something while neither of them were looking...
Here was the bathroom, where, one of the times she'd come to visit Amelia, she'd helped her sister vomit into the toilet during a horrible bout of morning sickness, only to laugh with her later over "how silly little Sammy was being, making her ill like this"...
And here. Here was her old bedroom... so many memories here. Too many.
"Do you like it?"
Kitty was halfway to looking around at the voice, only to realize she was just remembering the first time she'd been shown this room. She closed her eyes and remembered more: Sully standing beside her in the doorway, a small, almost shy smile on his face as he waited for her reaction.
"Yes... it's lovely..." she whispered, just as she had done then, and reached out for Sully's hand... only to meet with air. Of course. It was a memory... it wasn't happening, Sully wasn't there, it was just her, alone, standing in a dusty bedroom with her eyes closed and one hand outstretched.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Slowly, she looked around. And slowly, slowly, she thought of another memory, one that held Amelia at its heart.
Amelia, beside the bed, looking over her shoulder as she smiled at Kitty, her green eyes playful despite the shockingly obvious dark circles under them....
"It's going to happen soon, Kitty... I'm going to have my baby, and... it's all going to be over..."
"Are you sure? Can we tell them?" Kitty answered her memory, her voice cracking.
"Of course. It's just... I hope..." A sad smile from her sister. "I hope I was wrong.... somehow, I hope I was wrong..."
"You were wrong!" she burst out, just as she had then, only to let out a soft sob, knowing that her sister had in fact been right about her own prophecy.... she'd died giving birth to her son.
"Well, just in case... here. I'm going to hide this." She held up her old wand, the one she'd gotten before they'd started school. "I want you to... to have this. Just in case."
"But... you'll need it..." The tears flowed unchecked down Kitty's cheeks, and sobs wracked her frail frame, but she allowed the memory to play out within her own mind.
"I'm just putting it here for now. Alright? Just for now... I promise." And then Amelia had bent down, awkwardly due to her massive, baby-filled belly, and slipped the wand into a hidden panel under the bottom of the bedside table's drawer. "There. Just in case.... just in case."
Her feet moving as though through a million gallons of mud, of blood, of death, Kitty walked across the room to the very same table. She stared down at it, idly swiping at her tears as though they didn't matter, before opening the drawer. She pressed the spot she knew would open the hidden compartment, and when the bottom of the drawer sprang up on the front end she didn't even flinch.
Her sister's wand was still there, encased in a layer of dust, just like everything else in the entire house...
"Thank you, Amelia..." Kitty whispered, and lifted the wand out. "I... I don't deserve such a gift. Thank you." Gently, almost lovingly, she wiped the filthy wood clean on her still-wet clothes before tucking it into the pocket of her borrowed coat. Still moving more like an old woman than a 27-year-old, she hobbled over to the bed and sat on the edge, staring around her without seeing a thing.
Finally, after an amount of time that could've been anywhere between five minutes and five hours, she felt a sudden weariness overcome her. Slowly, she lay back, twisting on the dust-ridden blankets until she was on her side, her knees tucked up with her chest. Still she couldn't sleep, even after another indeterminable amount of time, so she transformed back into a cat. The familiar shape was a relief, and before she knew it she was asleep...
... though her dreams seemed no more or less real than her time as a human...