113 Missing (8)

Lucifer was actually an angel, and Kyro was evil for giving him the name of the ruler of hell, Iris was certain of that. Once the cat had cleaned her up, he started walking away, but only after making sure that she was following. Without her, he wasn't moving a step.

Such consideration brought tears to her eyes, and she ran after him as fast as she could. Lucifer meowed in satisfaction at that, and off they went.

When the sun started to go down, Iris realized that it might not have been the best plan to follow a cat. He was her hero and all, but directions were not his forte. In no time, she realized that they were walking in circles, searching for what she couldn't tell.

After this eye-opening moment, she started considering taking over the lead, but where should they go? In all this time, she actually hadn't learned the street in which Kyro lived. If she saw the neighborhood, she could recognize it right away, but who would tell her directions to a place she could only describe in words like rich, near a park, and so on? Especially when she asked in a fox language.

They reached an empty bench near a less traveled street, and Lucifer decided to take a rest. He put his head down and fell asleep in a moment, seemingly not caring about their desperate situation at all.

Iris envied him, since she couldn't stop thinking about what to do next. How exactly was she to find Kyro's home and bring Lucifer back? She promised it, but it sounded like something a bit above her capabilities at the moment.

Her stomach rumbled, and another problem was added to her mental list of what was wrong. Around a day had passed since she had last eaten, and she was starving. If they didn't find anything to eat soon, they might not have the energy to travel through the whole city to reach their destination. After all, it was unlikely that a warehouse district would be anywhere near where the rich people lived.

As she pondered over their predicament and possible solutions while peeking out into the main street once in a while, night came. There was little difference in traffic outside, but she could hear the backstreet coming to life. Somewhere to the right, a family of rats was preparing for a hunt, and behind them, a thin cat was walking slowly in search of its evening meal.

The presence of so many unfriendly creatures made Iris uncomfortable, and she backed to where Lucifer slept. Maybe his size would scare the predators who saw her as prey away? It was her best chance, with how unpredictable her transformation was.

Not that she really wanted to transform here. There was only the way back into the warehouses and the path forward into the main street, and neither had clothes she could put on.

Lucifer woke up then, and he meowed in annoyance. He sniffed his stomach, then looked around, and meowed again.

It was at that moment that Iris realized he was asking for a meal. He was hungry, and he wanted food. Never having lived outside, he couldn't understand what was going on, why the bowl was not placed before him.

She screeched at him, catching his attention, and led them out of the back street. The chances of them finding anything out there were minimal, but by sitting back and just waiting, they would starve. Out here, no food would come to them just because they were hungry.

Some passers-by gave them strange looks, but most just rushed past, too much in a hurry to notice a black cat following a baby fox. They walked for a long while, until Iris saw a map for tourists on the bus stop's glass pane.

However, examining it from the ground was not an easy feat. It took her good ten minutes, and what she gathered was mostly that they were far away from any respectable districts and would probably never make it back on foot. Not without food, anyway.

As she thought that, an old woman noticed them.

"Are you lost? Come, let me see you." The woman reached for Iris, but she jumped back, her hair standing up, and a snarl left her lips. This woman could be a nice person, but she could also be another pet re-seller. There was no way to be sure. "Ah, you've been out for long to be this scared? Here, have this."

The woman then took out a loaf of bread and broke a piece off to give to Iris. She watched it for a moment, not certain what to do. Food from strangers was more than likely to contain some drugs, but she was starving and without food would not be able to make it back.

"So wary," the woman said with a smile and placed another large piece before walking away a dozen steps. "Don't be afraid, is this better?"

It was just as dangerous, but Iris decided to risk it. She grabbed one piece and dashed off into the nearest dark street where she could disappear between the houses. Lucifer seemed to have thought it was a smart move, for he did the same.

After they decided that it was safe, they placed their tribute down and looked at each other, then got ready to eat. But before they could take the first bite, a loud bark came from nearby. Soon, it was followed by a mangy dog that looked to be infested with fleas.

Another bark, and more dogs showed up. They growled low in their throats as they surrounded Iris and Lucifer. In total, there were six of the pitiful creatures whose bones could be counted even in the dim light of the back alley.

They looked starved and on-the-verge of collapsing, but the mad fire in their eyes was fever bright. There was no chance they would back down, not when they saw such tasty prey having ventured into their territory.

Iris' danger sensor screamed that she should leave this place immediately, but that was easier said than done. The dogs surrounded them from all sides, while the wall of some old, dilapidated building was to their back. In other words, they were cornered like rats.

'Should have risked that old lady,' Iris thought in retrospect, but this was not the time to be distracted. There was no way to tell when the dogs would attack, and she didn't want to miss the moment. Even though her little heart was beating like a bird trying to escape its cage, she wasn't going to give up without a fight.

Each person had a limit, and today she had reached hers. Fear was something that no human could escape feeling, but there was something like too much of something. Being caught, waking up nude in some kidnappers' warehouse, running for her life—all of it had exhausted her reserves of fear.

At the moment, she was just pissed. Pissed at the world, pissed at her life, and most of all - pissed at herself for always managing to get into such shitty situations. If there had ever been any brains in her head, they were clearly absent currently. Otherwise, things wouldn't always end up in the worst case scenario.

"Come," she urged the dogs, snarling at them in her high-pitched voice. For the first time in her life, she was actually itching for a fight. If she hit someone, maybe the fury and self-hatred would recede for a moment.