Rhaen Vauxhall [1]

"See? I told you…" the man said in a cheerful tone. "Cats can make a musical masterpiece if you squeeze 'em hard enough."

The man wore a rusted chain necklace that clinked when he moved his arms to choke Mr. Graycat, who was clearly desperate to escape by flailing his claws and whipping his tails, but to no use under the strength of the man.

"If you press here," he said, pushing at the back of Mr. Graycat's neck and on the throat, "it sounds like do~ re~ me~."

Mrr~ Mre~ Mreaaaw~!!

The other person beside the man, dressed in black, slowly stood up from crouching and leaned back against the wall. He rested his arm lazily above the tarp near the end of the alley that Mr. Graycat used to sleep daily.

"I don't hear any music though," the man in black said with a yawn, sounding bored.

"Shut the fuck up."

"The hell? I'm just saying—"

Before the man in black could finish, the man wearing a rusted chain necklace suddenly hurled Mr. Graycat toward him.

Catching the cat with ease, the man in black frowned. Mr. Graycat squirmed in his grip, but he didn't even glance down as he raised his other arm to block a dented generator flying straight at him.

Clang!

The man in black's arm turned black like covered with a metal as the generator slammed right straight at it, controlled by telekinesis-like prowess by the man with a chain necklace.

"Hey," the man in black muttered, dropping Mr. Graycat and brushing metal dust of generator off his forearm that returned to its normal color. "What the hell are you—"

"How can you hear it when you're so fucking loud?!"

The moment Mr. Graycat hit the ground, he immediately scrambled up and dragged his hind leg as he tried to run away. 

Yet before he could even make it three steps, his legs were dragged backward as if the air itself pulled him back towards the man's hand, the one with a necklace, who caught him by the scruff again and laughed like it was all some kind of a sick game.

I couldn't bear to watch anymore.

I would rather suffer in Mr. Graycat's place.

"Let go."

I stood up like a hero, curling my fingers into fists as I said those words, forcing myself to keep my head up from the sheer pressure of these two men exuded. It was different from the guards' pressure whom I can still outrun.

"Let Mr. Graycat go."

However, the man holding Mr. Graycat only laughed in response like he wasn't sure he had heard me right.

"What the fuck is this now?!" he murmured, turning to me with a wide grin. "...Mr. Graycat, you say? What's up with that shitty name?"

Mreaww~!

Mr. Graycat whimpered in the man's grip, as if trying his best to say 'my name is not shitty' and such.

"I said let go."

Stepping forward, my heart pounded like a drum. I could also feel the blood rushing in my ears like a tide. 

But.

Mrreeaaaawww~!!

The man suddenly raised Mr. Graycat and squeezed his neck with all his force. The cry tore through the alley as Mr. Graycat kicked weakly, flailing his tail one more time in a panicked twitch before his limbs spasmed and went limp. 

For a second, the alley was filled with nothing but the sound of the man's ragged breathing and the faint rattle of bones settling in a limp frame.

Above, a flock of crows took flight with a furious shriek.

"Stop!" I shouted. "He's done nothing to you!"

"Isn't that what makes it fun?"

He shifted his foot back, like he was winding up to hurl Mr. Graycat again. 

Desperate, I hurled the remaining gear from my pocket straight at his face, aiming for his eyes… though he reacted quickly and caught it with his free hand. He stared at the gear clutched in his palm before looking at me with disdain.

"You throw like a girl," the man said, then flung Mr. Graycat's body. "This is how you do it, kid!"

"No!"

To catch Mr. Graycat's body, I kicked off the rusted pipe jutting from the ground, sprang onto a dented trash can, and vaulted upward. My foot slipped slightly on the lid, but I caught momentum by grabbing a bent antenna drooping from the side of the building. 

It wobbled under my weight, but I swung off it and pushed myself higher as Mr. Graycat's body tumbled through the air just inches away.

But just before I could reach him, a can slammed the dead center of my gut.

The air rushed out of my lungs in one sharp, violent burst, and before I could even think, my body folded in mid-air, curling in on itself like a reflex I couldn't stop. 

Pain bloomed fast and radiated from my gut to my ribs, along with a heavy wave of nausea that rose up my throat, making it hard to swallow, hard to think, and hard to even breath.

Thud! 

I crashed to the alley floor in a crumpled heap.

And in that spinning, breathless moment, I saw Mr. Graycat hit the pavement behind the garbage bags and blood splattered everywhere.

I reached out with trembling hands. 

"No, no, no…"

Somehow, I pushed myself upright. My legs trembled, but I stood with each breath hurting like breathing in shards of glass. I didn't look at the two men ahead. They just watched me in silence, as if curious to see what I'd do next.

Step.

Step by step, across the cracked pavement and scattered trash, I made my way to where Mr. Graycat had hit. He was lying on his side, half-curled like he always did when napping in sunlit corners.

My knees gave out as I reached him, and I sank to the ground beside him.

All I could do was stare.

"Mr. Graycat…"

I remembered him pawing at my foot just yesterday, and the little trill in the expression he made when he saw me. I remembered splitting a single piece of stale bread every single day with him, breaking it in half like we were brothers.

…Bread.

I took out the crushed and flattened bread from my pocket. Though I dropped my share when I heard his cry earlier, I made sure to tuck the other half that was his share. 

Maybe if I gave it to him now, it would help, it would give him enough strength to wake up or perhaps just enough to breathe, to move, and to look at me again.

I broke the bread in a small piece with shaking fingers and held his piece close to his mouth.

"You have to eat," I whispered. "Just a little, okay? It's yours. I saved it, see?"

I pressed the crumbly edge to his lips, nudged it gently against his teeth like I always did when he got too lazy to move. Usually he'd grumble a little, pretend to be annoyed, then take it from me with that quiet little bite.

But this time, he didn't move.

I pushed it in just enough for him to feel it and to know I was there, but his jaw stayed slack and the bread just sat there in his mouth.

"Hey, don't be picky…" I pinched off another crumb from the flattened piece and held it to his lips again. "...Here. This one has no boot marks in it."

"Look!" the man with a necklace exclaimed. I knew it was him from his voice. "I told ya it'll be a heart-touching scene!"

Turning my head to look at him, the man stepped forward towards my direction but was stopped by the other man dressed in black.

"I wouldn't."

"Huh? What the fuck are you suddenly becoming a goody–toody piece of shit?!"

"I didn't hear it properly, but you can't make music from that one anymore, right?" The man in black looked in my direction before turning around. "Let's find a new one."

They spoke in low voices

As they walked away, their words felt distant and blurred like my ears couldn't make sense of anything anymore. I didn't understand it, and in that moment, I didn't care. Their voices became distant, drowned out by the sound of my own shallow breathing.

My hand was still outstretched, the piece of bread long dropped to the ground.

My eyes stayed locked on Mr. Graycat's small frame not because I hoped he would move, but because I needed to see him to remember exactly how he looked, how still he was, and how cold the world felt now that he wasn't moving.

And for a moment… everything felt far away.

Until.

"It's all your fault…" I muttered, standing up, my legs shaking in the process.

I didn't know who the 'your' in my words meant— as it can be the man with a necklace for his cruelty, can be the man in black for not stopping him early, can be me for not being able to save Mr. Graycat, or it can be Mr. Graycat entirely for running into them.

"If… only I had a gift…"

Perhaps… it can be the Tower itself for abandoning me. If there was a chance I was given a gift, then this wouldn't happen in the first place.

Thus. 

I rushed forward, the world narrowing to a single point: the man with a chain necklace. I knew I couldn't win against him, but I needed to do it to keep me from losing my rationality.

"Die!"