PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter X Part I

Ring. Ring. Ring.

It gave Patches time to think of his words; what specifically he was going to say.

"Hello! You've reached the Grimalkin's estate; famous family of magic cats! We can't make it to the phone right now, but leave a message and number after the beep so we can call you back! If you would like to request a spell be cast on your behalf, go bother someone else."

There was a moment of silence as he registered Coco's words, then the sound of the phone being placed in its receiver, and a loud beep. He wondered how long ago she had recorded the message- Olive would certainly disapprove of such an ungenerous statement if they heard it.

Patches waited for a moment; he could almost vividly imagine being in the same room as her right now, and it made his eyes addle while a grin crept up his face.

"... Hello there," was the first thing to come out of his mouth. You could hear the wry smile in his dulled voice. "Been a while since we last spoke, Coco. Or... Well, I suppose this isn't really speaking, is it? More just me talking to you... Hehe, I hope you love this message as much as I'll love leaving it."

Patches fiddled with the phone line, his head swimming with excitement. "I wanted to say thank you for the help. I'm sure you have some kind of exciting plan on how you're going to end this whole thing, but it's not so simple now that I have a wand, is it? Heck, you probably thought I still had Felix's wand, didn't you?"

Patches chuckled, "Hehe, speaking of, remember the first time I got my paws on a wand? I think it was- oh... Yours, right? You're really awful at keeping track of it- best make sure Sparky hasn't stolen it again while you're listening to this- we both know how bad you are at caring for the things around you!"

There was a sigh of pleasure, then he continued, "I'm coming for you Coco. I'm going to kill you, and kill all of your friends, and make your corpse eat Brownie alive."

The voice paused. The speaker hissed a raspy, slow breath in the silence between words. "... I feel so bad for you all, you're all such kind people; but no good deed goes unpunished. If you want to keep your spirits up, you're going to need some encouragement, so here's some from the object of your obsession, try not to get lost in all the multi-syllable words I'm about to use; I won't repeat myself."

His voice dropped to a menacing whisper, "You've killed a thousand dogs, Coco, and no amount of hiding that will change the fact you're a monster. You want to win? Don't hold back.

"... That's all I wanted to touch on. No need to say hi to Angel for me, I'll do that myself soon enough! Bye!"

Click

Coco had stopped the answering machine just a few moments too late, stretching across the oak table to depress the hook switch which laid in its center. Letting everyone stay at her place was a mistake.

There was an immense silence throughout the room, only cut by the sound of shuffling paws and china clanking against itself.

The white siberian was the first to speak up. His eyes were bloodshot with anger, and his teeth bared. No one dared look at him but Mitt. "That... That BASTARD!" he yelled, slamming his paw against the oak table.

Olive, who was next to them, nearly lept back at the sudden noise, going wide-eyed. "A-Angel, are you okay..?"

Angel seethed, placing a paw to his forehead and running it through his lavender hair in exasperation. "Just- Just give me a bit Olive," he said, annoyance clear in his voice as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Coco, who might've been one to soothe Angel, was busy with covering her face as much as possible with her paws. So many eyes were on her.

"W-What did he say?!" Rover said, breaking the awful silence with his perpetually hyperactive voice. He looked over to Coco. "A thousand dogs?" Fear and confusion were evident in Rover's eyes as he stared Coco down. "That just doesn't make sense, w-what did he mean by that?"