Debriefing

"I can't believe I got like that! I'm so… UGH!"

Ella's embarrassment was over the roof as she recalled what had happened back in Illemore Mental Hospital. They moved locations since, as they couldn't get any 'interviews' other than that with Eddie.

It was nearly lunchtime, so they went to one of the local restaurants with outdoor seating. After all, they had cats with them.

While the lady was rambling about her 'great failure' over a chocolate milkshake, Ryne thought about the details that they have gathered from their encounter. He had gotten little from the 'interview' itself, but his observations brought him much more information.

For one, there were those shadows. Not only did they look different from the spirits that he had been seeing before, they felt… the opposite as well. Instead of emotions or a general feeling that can be compared to a cool breeze, there was a sensation of heaviness, almost like stagnant air just before it rains. They also seemed to stare at him, despite not having any visible eyes.

And then there were Prauza's extreme reactions. From the start, he was already on the defensive, and it intensified when they met Eddie. Was there something wrong about him? Maybe the shadow behind him? But he said that he had good experiences with animals… and he couldn't lie. Or could he?

Then Prauza became amiable when Mallory came. He wanted his attention for some reason, but the human wasn't giving it to him. And the traveler was not the only one who reacted in such a way, judging from what Eddie said.

As he noted earlier, he would need to talk about it with the other cats when they were finally by themselves. Too bad he couldn't share this information with Ella as of yet. There might be some insight that he could glean from her. But he did decide at this point that if there was an inevitable situation, he would have to, somehow.

"I'm just so glad you were there, Spencer! I'm sure it would have been worse if you weren't," said Ella, snapping Ryne out of his thoughts.

"I'm just glad that I could help," he answered. Ella's actions were slowly trying to make him doubtful of her intelligence, but he thought that this may still be the effect of that earlier incident.

"That was weird, wasn't it? One moment, Prau-Prau was hissing at that Edward guy, and then he gets all chummy with Mr. Miller."

"Yes, it was…"

At least they were getting somewhere.

"Some people really just have that sort of way with animals, huh? I wonder… is it your kind of face?"

"Huh?"

Maybe not.

"I mean, you and Mr. Miller look somewhat alike. And both of you are liked by cats."

"I don't think that has any correlation, though."

Ryne couldn't say that his 'cat magnetism' is mostly because he's actually a cat. And then there was the other felines' perceived notion that he was some sort of leader.

He had no idea what qualities Mallory had, but he was certain that it wasn't his appearance.

"Yeah, probably not… I guess I have to think a little more about what we can investigate," said Ella, who had finally sobered up. "Say, do you have anywhere you need to go? I might be holding you up."

"Well, I do need to discuss some matters with some friends of mine in the city."

"Why didn't you say so?!"

"Well, I did agree to help you since you looked distressed, and the meet-up with my friends could wait for some time, anyway."

"You're such a good friend, but still, you should have told me earlier. I can stand to do some investigation of my own. I'll just let you know about whatever I find."

With that, the two parties parted ways. When Ryne and the cats had reached a considerable distance, Shekau met up with them and gave his report.

"Greetings. I have notified the others about our findings. How was your… trip?"

"Later," whispered Ryne. "We're still with a lot of humans. Let's just talk about things in the inn."

"Understood. I will follow."

"I suppose what I have to say will need to wait as well?" asked Prauza.

"Unfortunately," answered Ryne.

"Very well! I have important news!"

----------

The group made their way back to the inn to discuss what they've found out but couldn't talk about before. On the way, Ryne bought some food suitable for the cats, as the restaurant had mostly dangerous menu choices, and it would have been too unusual to request something for the other felines.

"Finally, we're back!" Said Ryne as he transformed into a cat and laid himself down on the floor. The recent events have certainly worn him out, but it was only at this moment when he truly felt it.

The other cats took their time stretching, licking, and scratching to relieve some stress, making sure that they didn't damage any of the furniture as per Ryne's request. After that, they gathered to finally hold their meeting.

"To start, there's much more than just spirits in this city, apparently," said Ryne. "There are… shadows."

"They looked scary," noted Fonmi, who snuggled closer to his mom.

"Shadows?" asked Shekau.

"Yes. There are dark, shadow-like creatures that are attached to some of the humans. This is the first time that I've ever seen them," answered Ryne. "They give this heavy feeling that could make you sick. I suggest staying away from them if you see them."

"I see. I should include it in the list of things to notify the others, then."

"What could they be?" asked Nini.

"I don't know. I may have to ask Ella if she has any records of something like that," replied Ryne. "I just hope she doesn't ask why, though. She has a hard time believing things."

"How do you say that, though?"

"There was this book that she showed me, that one from her grandfather who died in a fire. It showed cats and people working together, just like in the old stories."

"Humans have those stories as well?" asked Prauza. "Interesting. I thought they didn't."

"I didn't know about it either. Anyway, it didn't just have that. It also had… people like me."

Nini's eyes widened. "Cats that become humans?"

"I'm not quite sure, but it was a cat that was the same size as a human. It was also on two legs like humans are. And Ella, in her ignorance and genius, said that it may have been a god or a messenger. I thought then, what if I was supposed to act as a way for cats and humans to talk to each other?"

"Then, it actually might not be a curse at all?!"

"Yes!"

Realizing that he had gotten carried away, Ryne calmed himself down and brought back the conversation to the topic.

"Getting back to it, there was also this large, dark creature shown in that book. And everyone was fighting against it, cats, humans, and a cat-human. Ella said the creature was a monster that was sealed off in the city. But then after that, she just dismissed it as some sort of fairy tale."

The cats felt sadness upon hearing the last sentence.

"A large, dark creature, could it be what you saw before? The shadows on the humans?" asked Shekau.

"That I don't know, I never saw those in the book. But that might be a clue. Actually, Ella even joked that maybe there was someone out there who was 'crazy' enough to believe it, and now they're killing off cats to let the creature out."

"Damn it… You're right, Ryne. We really should be talking to Hugma," said Nini.

"I would like to ask, what is with talking with this Hugma fellow?" said Prauza.

Nini sighed. "He's from a line of cats who were supposed to keep the story of our kind alive. He's only leader of his group because of that. If his parents haven't perished yet, they would be the ones we would ask instead, and we would be getting the answers," she explained. "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to hold a proper conversation with him, as you saw a while back."

Shekau shook his head. "That is not helping when we're all in a crisis."

"I know," said Ryne. "We'll have to either wait for him to come around or find an alternative."

There was a pause before Prauza decided to speak again. "Speaking of information… May I present mine?"

A silence fell on the whole group as Prauza asked the question.

"Yes, please. I was actually curious as to what was up with you back at the hospital," answered Ryne.

"To be honest, this started from the time that we went to the park," said the traveler. "When I went near the corpses that our dear leader has unearthed, I have picked up a scent of dog."

"Dog?" asked Nini. "Why didn't you tell us about it earlier?"

"I wasn't sure, as it was quite faint," answered Prauza, looking slightly sheepish. "I thought it was possible that some dog touched them, so I held off telling you all about it until I was sure that it was important."

"Which brought us to this moment," said Shekau.

"Please continue," urged Ryne.

"Of course. Anyway, this detail is important as I have smelled that same scent back at that place with the shadows. That was the 'hospital' you were talking about, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that's the place," said the cat-human. "The same scent. Did you smell it on someone in particular, perhaps?"

Prauza nodded. "Oddly enough, I smelled it on a human. It was the one who I was distancing myself from."

"Eddie? So that's why. You were staying away in case he was the killer?"

"Astute as always, dear leader."

"But then, we're not absolutely sure that it is so until we actually witness him in action or find evidence that he really did it."

"But we have a possible suspect now," said Nini. "I would say that's progress."

"It certainly is."

"What confused me a little, though, is the other human," said Prauza.

"Mallory? The one who looked similar to me?"

"Yes, if we're talking about the same individual. You didn't smell it? That human had a cat scent, much like you do."

"Really?" asked Ryne.

Thinking about this, the memory of the fire was again brought to his attention. At the time, he was with his parents, who have died, as well as another kitten. However, they were separated by the falling debris. But considering that he had lived…

"I am curious now," said Nini, snapping Ryne out of his thoughts. "You say that Ryne has a cat scent in his human form, but I couldn't smell anything of the sort. For me, when he's in that form, he's human."

"I couldn't smell anything like it from the two humans we met, either," said the cat-human.

"Could I confirm?" asked Shekau, also curious.

Ryne changed into his human form, and the messenger proceeded to sniff him. "Hm… Smells very human."

"It's odd, really," said Prauza. "I've always had this experience of picking up faint other scents from things. But this is the strongest that it's been so far. I'm actually surprised at myself."

"Now I wonder if it's because of me…" said Ryne.

"It's possible."

"So, that's why you were calling out to him?"

"Yes!"

"But he doesn't seem to notice you, or was he simply ignoring you? I would understand if it's the latter, though. Who would believe that he can talk to cats? Well, if he could, anyway."

"We would. After all, we are cats, and we have you."

----------

Mallory insisted that he join his friend in the second part of the session so that he could tell the man that the Mayor needed him, but he couldn't concentrate. The earlier events were still on his mind, particularly the more unusual ones, such as the shadows and the interview.

He was normally someone who wouldn't back down from a threat, but the shadows were different. It was like merely looking at them was bound to drown him in their darkness. He may have an unpleasant plot in mind, but this was another kind of evil, if he were to judge and give it a word. He had his reasons, but this didn't seem to care for a reason.

And people were caught up in it. He didn't know that something else wanted to beat him to the chase.

And the matter of the interview…

"Hello human!" said the fluffy cat who was previously keeping its distance from Eddie. "CAN. YOU. UNDERSTAND. ME?" It then proceeded to rub against his legs.

Of course, he couldn't answer at the time. He had to pretend that he couldn't understand, as there were other people nearby. He'd be labeled as weird, at least, considering there was someone who admired his work in the company that he's currently managing.

Also… There was that other issue…

"Mallory, are you all right?" asked Eddie, who was staring at him directly, but he didn't notice.

"I apologize. I was thinking about certain… things," he answered. Even though Eddie was his friend, he couldn't talk to him about this. He was too involved, with a shadow on him and all.

"I see. I'm done with today's session."

"Well then, shall we go?" the white-haired man said. "By the way, Gibson was looking for you. He said he needed you. He sounded furious, and I don't like it."

"Oh!" Eddie said with a laugh. "Yeah, I should go to the office, then."

"Has he been treating you well?"

"He's been treating me like he usually does."

Mallory's eyes narrowed. "I hope that usual is not anything harmful."

Eddie proceeded to pat him on the back, to reassure him that he was telling the truth. "Why are you so worried about me all of a sudden, huh?"

"I've always been worried about you. Actually, if that favor of mine is becoming uncomfortable-"

"You don't have to worry. I'm not someone you should be worried about."

The way Eddie said those last few words was cold and cutting to a degree that sent shivers down Mallory's spine. However, the latter couldn't show that he was scared. He has been aware of this tone that his friend used when he was deathly serious ever since they first met. And he knew it would be dangerous if he didn't take notice of that change in his voice.

"If you say so… But I will still be concerned about you."

"I can still do it, because you asked me nicely."

Eddie ran off before Mallory could even answer him again. The latter could have chased after his friend, but he knew it would be pointless.

"I swear, he never shows that side of him when we talk," said an elderly voice behind him. It was Doctor Thomas. "Sometimes, I even think that I'm not making any headway with that man."

"Of course you are, Doctor. Trust me, he has made progress since the first time we came to you."

"I suppose… But, do you know what I think?"

"What is it?"

"I think the person he needs the most is you, not me."

"Me? I don't think I'm qualified to-"

"Believe me, you are more 'qualified' than I'll ever be. You're his best friend, perhaps his only one. You know more about him than I ever will, and you're close enough to him, so he can be himself."

Mallory could only respond with silence. Sure, he called Eddie his friend, but at the moment, he wasn't sure if he truly knew his fellow.

"I believe that if he is to overcome his condition, your help is essential."

"Thank you, Doctor. If you excuse me, I'll be taking my leave now."

"Until the next time, then. And please, consider what I have just said."

"I will. Thank you."

Mallory, unable to get any answers from his friend, left the hospital and walked back to his office. Now he was even more concerned than when he left to look for him.

He sighed and said to himself, I'm going to have Caitlyn make me some tea when I get back…