Jemima woke with a gasp. She lay there for a minute, trying to catch her breath. “It was just a nightmare,” she whispered to herself, trying to calm down. “Just a nightmare.” But it seemed so real. Laying her head back down, Jemima let the sounds of the crickets sing her to sleep.
A shadow watched silently as Jemima slept. Its eyes glowed red in the dark, and claws glittered in the moonlight.
* * *
“Ready?” Pouncival asked, grinning at his best friend Tumblebrutus.
“Ready.” Tumblebrutus grinned back. He crouched down, and stared off the small, small cliff to the ground below.
“One, two, THREE!” They both leapt off the cliff at the same time and fell to the ground.
“MREOWWW!!!!”
Pouncival sat on the ground, rubbing his head. Tumblebrutus was holding his tail, which he had landed on.
“Okay,” Pouncival said, “who took the springs out of the mattresses?”
“Pouncival!” someone called. “Tumblebrutus? Get in the junkyard. NOW!”
“Uh oh,” they said in unison.
“What’d we do now?” Tumble whimpered.
“I don’t know,” Pouncival shrugged. “I mean, we apologized to Jenny and Jelly for messing up their crocheting, AND to BJ for losing his spoon, AND to Tugger for messing up his fur and losing his styling gel, AND to Jenny again for…”
"Okay, okay!” Tumblebrutus snapped. “I get the picture!”
“NOW!” came ringing through the air rather loudly.
“Coming,” Pouncival shouted.
* * *
A shadow watched as two young toms entered the junkyard, discussing something about…missing mattress springs? It frowned. These two seemed almost… idiotic. Nothing worth capturing for his Highness. He needed something more intelligent. MUCH more intelligent than these two clowns.
It peered closer at the scene. A queen that had tiger stripes and leopard spots had joined them. The shadow focused on what they were saying.
“How could you forget?” the queen yelled. “Those lessons with the cockroaches were TODAY, not tomorrow! You were suppose to help out!”
“Sorry,” one of the toms said sheepishly. “We would be glad to help you next time, Jenny. We try to remember.”
“That’s right,” the other tom chimed in.
“Make sure you don’t forget next time,” the queen said. She walked away, muttering to herself at how ignorant kittens were these days.
The shadow followed her with its glowing red eyes. His Highness might be interested in that queen. No time to think. It leaped from its perch and silently slipped away.
* * *
“Man,” Pouncival said. “She sure was angry.”
“Yeah,” Tumblebrutus replied. “Now that’s another thing to add to the list of things we’ve done wrong.”
“Yup,” Pouncival said. He looked around the junkyard. It seemed to be empty, but he knew that the Jellicles were around here somewhere.
“Do ya wanna find Plato?” Tumble asked.
Pouncival shrugged. There wasn’t much to do when everyone wasn’t there.
“Well, I’m going,” Tumblebrutus said. He leapt up onto the car trunk. “You can come if you want, or just be bored.”
“Fine, I’m coming,” Pouncival sighed. He slowly crawled up with Tumble. “Let’s go.”
And with that, they both leaped and flew straight into the fence.
* * *
The moon shone bright in the night as the shadow crept quickly down the alleyway. There was no time to waste tonight. The shadow paused, then darted into the old warehouse by the river.
Inside the warehouse it was pitch black, but the darkness didn’t bother the shadow. Its red eyes glowed venomously in the black. It silently slipped into a crack in the wall and disappeared.
As the shadow walked in the crack, a rat darted in front of it. Hissing, the shadow swiped at the rat with its glittering claws. The rat squealed as the claws caught it and ripped it apart. Blood dripped into a small pool in front of the dead rat. The shadow continued on.
Light leaked into the crack up ahead. The shadow hissed slightly as it walked. It hated light. Light was an enemy to the shadow, one that it could not fight. The shadow paused before it entered the room, but stayed in the shadows.
“You’re here,” a voice said. “Good.”
“I have nothing worth reporting,” the shadow said in a rough voice. “Except for one thing.”
“And what would that be?” the voice replied smoothly.
“The Jellicles are not yet aware of our presence,” the shadow said. “And I have not yet found any cat that would be worthy to take.”
“You better find one soon, Roxnious,” the voice warned. “Our time is almost up.”
“Yes, your Highness.” The shadow, Roxnious, turned and stalked out.
* * *
Thunder boomed. A black Jellicle shivered and curled up into a tighter ball. Rain fell from the vast sky and onto the ground. As the Jellicle tried to sleep, a low growl could be heard coming from the stove. The black cat looked up, and slowly, ever so slowly, walked over to where the noise came from. He stared into the blackness. “Who’s…who’s there?” he called out shakily. The growl came again. “Who’s there?” the cat said again. This time, a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness. The Jellicle gasped, and tried to back up only to find it as if his paws were glued to the ground. “Oh, there is no need to be afraid of me,” a rough voice said. The eyes moved forward. “I am not going to hurt you. Unless…” the voice paused. “Unless what?” the cat asked in a voice that said it really didn’t want to know. “Unless you do as I say, and join me,” the voice whispered. There was a rustling as it moved forward. The black cat quivered in fear. He could see the outline of a cat. The cat stepped towards the Jellicle again. Then it paused. “I am afraid this is all the farther I can go,” the outline said. “Light is an enemy that could destroy me. But, together, we could combine our powers and I would be able to reveal myself.” The mystery cat stepped backwards. “Who…who are you?” the Jellicle asked. “I, I am the right hand to his Highness of the darkness. I am who will one day, one day, rule over all dark subjects. I am what he calls Roxnious.” Roxnious lifted a paw and brought his claws to bear. “Now, will you join me, or not?” The black cat hesitated. “Will you join me or not?” Roxnious repeated. “I…I won’t join you,” the cat said. “WHAT???” Roxnious roared. He slashed at the cat, and then snarled, “You will join me, one way, or the other.” Then the shadow cat, Roxnious, disappeared.
Mistoffelees woke with a start. He lay on his back, trying to get a hold of himself. “That was the worst nightmare I ever had,” Misto muttered. He curled into a ball and tried to go back to sleep. But the feeling that he was being watched overcame his senses. “I’m not getting up,” Mistoffelees thought. “I’m not moving. Not after that nightmare.” He lay there for a minute, then let the whistling wind sing him to sleep.
Some time later, Mistoffelees woke again. He felt like he was still being watched. Misto turned towards the stove, and saw nothing in there. Nothing, except…he thought he saw the pair of glowing red eyes. “It’s nothing,” he told himself. “Go back to sleep.” Silence overcame the junkyard. But there was a rustling coming from…the stove. Misto shivered, and said to himself, “Do not go by that stove. It could be that weird cat from your nightmare. Do not go by it.” But all the same, he felt himself being drawn, and a power washed over him. Mistoffelees slowly stumbled towards the stove. When he reached it, a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness of the stove. He stared at the eyes, hypnotized by their glowing color. He felt something sort of…grab a hold of his mind. Misto fought it, but it didn’t go away.
“Mistoffelees,” a voice whispered. “Mistoffelees!”
Misto went cold. He knew that voice. It was from an old memory. A very old memory. One Mistoffelees did not care to remember.
“Mistoffelees,” the voice whispered. “My time is almost up. You must help me. You must. You have to.”
“I won’t serve you, Roxnious,” Mistoffelees snarled, and tightly closed his eyes.
“Ah,” the voice said, sounding please. “You DO remember me. Don’t you remember all the good times we had together? Don’t you? And then…I, I shall die if you don’t help me. You’re lonely, aren’t you Mistoffelees? You want more of those good times, don’t you?”
“Leave me alone!” Mistoffelees shouted. He fought the tug on his mind. He fought, and fought. Finally, he felt Roxnious let go. But before he let go, Roxnious sent one message. “You will join…or die.”
* * *
Mistoffelees woke up early that morning. He had had a rough night. He woke up every few hours, thinking that Roxnious was still there, watching him, waiting to kill him. Misto looked around. No one else was awake. Good. He got up and stretched, then slipped out of the junkyard.
But Mistoffelees was wrong, about no one being awake except him. Roxnious was still there. He HAD been watching Misto. But he was planning how he could get Mistoffelees to join him. He decided to go to the old warehouse.
* * *
Roxnious crept along the path to the main room. His Majesty will be happy with this, Roxnious thought. He was planning to tell his leader about Mistoffelees. Light shined through a small crack. Roxnious flinched, and turned left. He appeared into a dark room. No one seemed to be there.
“Well?” a voice said.
Roxnious turned. He could see the faint outline of a cat. “I have found the one who will help us,” he told the cat. “The only problem is turning him to our side. I do not think that he will cooperate.”
“We’ll just have to work extra hard on this,” the voice said.
“Yes, Your Highness.” Roxnious bowed. Then he turned and backed into the hole in the wall.
The other cat stared at where Roxnious, his shadow cat, had disappeared. Roxnious seemed to be…preoccupied with something. That wasn’t like him. The cat sighed. He settled into the darkness and vanished into blackness.
* * *
Victoria peered out from behind the trunk. She sighed. They were playing hide-and-seek, and Electra was still looking for everyone. It had been about only five minutes, but it seemed like eternity.
“HA!” Electra shouted. She had found Etcetera.
“Darn,” Etcetera sighed. As Electra turned, she stuck her tongue out at her. Victoria heard Jemima giggle, and so did Electra. She crouched down, and crawled over to where Jemima was hiding.
“Found you too!” she exclaimed.
“No fair,” Jemima complained. She plopped next to Etcetera.
“Where are you, Vicky?” Electra called. She peered into the stove. Victoria covered her mouth with her paw to keep from laughing.
“Where’d you go?” Electra called again. After a few more minutes, she gave up. “Where are you?”
Victoria jumped from behind the trunk. “I’m here!’ she sang out.
“This is boring,” Etcetera complained.
“Yeah,” Jemima agreed.
“What else is there to do?” Victoria said.
Electra shrugged. “Well, we COULD go and help with the mice…”
“NO!” Etcetera, Jemima, and Victoria exclaimed in unison.
“Okay, okay!” Electra said. “You don’t have to YELL…”
“Sorry,” they apologized in unison again.
“So…” Victoria said.
“So…” Jemima sighed.
“So…” Etcetera hesitated.
“So…so…so let’s do something,” Electra said.
“What’s there to do?” Etcetera asked her.
“I have no clue,” Electra shrugged. She thought for a moment. So did everyone else. They sat in quiet for a few minutes.
“I got it!” Etcetera shouted, bolting upright.
“What?” Jemima asked.
“We could go exploring. There’s a million places we haven’t gone,” Etcetera told her.
“Like what?” Victoria asked skeptically.
“Like…um, like…” Etcetera stammered.
“Like in the pipe!” Jemima exclaimed.
“But we’ve been in there a million and one times,” Victoria told her.
“We’ve only gone so far,” Electra reminded Victoria. “Pouncival and Tumblebrutus have stopped us, because they told us there’s only garbage back there.”
“And he’s probably right,” Victoria countered.
“But we saw that tunnel,” Etcetera said. “We could go in there.”
“Okay!” Electra and Jemima exclaimed.
Victoria yawned. “Fine,” she said. “But not for long.”
"Don't worry,” Etcetera assured her. “We won’t explore for long.”
With that, the four kittens scurried inside the pipe.
* * *
Roxnious watched the kittens angrily. They’re going to find the passage in that tunnel, he thought. Then they’ll go and tell everyone about what they have found. And the leader, Munkustrap, will come and destroy us. I cannot and will not let that happen. Roxnious arouse from his position on the towering chair, and looked around at the junkyard. No one else was around. He silently jumped from his perch and darted into the pipe after the four young Queens.
* * *
“Ugh,” Victoria announced. She had found yet another dead rat lying in the tunnel.
“You found another one!” Etcetera exclaimed.
“Now, how many would that be?” Jemima wondered.
“I think that would make it 25,” Electra told her.
“No,” Jemima said. “We couldn’t have found that many!”
“Could too,” Etcetera countered. “Remember that huge pile? There were like…15 rats in there and 2 mice.”
“Oh,” Jemima said, then fell silent. It was getting darker in the tunnel by the second. “Don’t…don’t you think we should go back now?”
Etcetera looked around. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “I think that would be a good idea.”
“Hey!” Victoria pointed in front of them. “Look. Isn’t that light?”
Electra peered closer. “You’re right,” she said. “Wanna see what it is?”
“I guess,” Jemima said hesitantly. She took a step forward. When she did so, all light vanished from the tunnel. Victoria screamed. Her scream echoed down the tunnel.
“I…I think we should forget about the light,” Etcetera stammered. She backed up.
“That’s a…a good idea,” Electra said. She turned around and screamed. The others turned. They joined in her scream. A shadow stood behind them, with its claws unsheathed and ready to strike.
“GET OUT!” the shadow shouted. He swiped at them. His claws just missed the group. Jemima started running, with Electra, Etcetera, and Victoria right on her heels.
“Run faster!” Victoria shouted at Jemima. The shadow swiped again. One claw scratched Etcetera. She screamed.
“GET OUT!” the shadow yelled again.
* * *
Mistoffelees just walked into the junkyard, when he heard screams and shouts coming from the pipe. “No,” he whispered. The pipe… “No!” He ran into the pipe and heard the screams coming from deep into the tunnel that lead to…to Roxnious. Misto took off. I hope I’ll make it in time, he thought as he ran. The screams grew closer…and closer. I have to make it, he thought forcefully. He kept running.
Once Mistoffelees was about halfway down the tunnel, he saw the faint outlines of four cats. He also saw the two red glowing eyes that followed them, and the shining claws that kept swinging at them. Roxnious, Misto thought angrily. “ROXNIOUS!” The four cats rushed on by Misto, but the eyes stopped.
“Ah, Mistoffelees,” the shadow said. “How kind of you to join me.”
“Keep your paws off them,” Misto growled.
“And why should I?” Roxnious asked.
Mistoffelees hesitated. “Because if you don’t, I will never join you,” he said.
“Fool,” Roxnious hissed. “You will join me whether or not you like it.”
“I will never join you Roxnious,” Misto snarled.
“So you think,” Roxnious said. He narrowed his eyes at Mistoffelees. “Soon. It will be soon.” Roxnious leaped into the back of the tunnel. Mistoffelees did not dare follow, because it would mean instant death. Misto took a final glance at where Roxnious disappeared before he ran to the safety of the junkyard.
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