SHTM; ParaMollNan

The Cat

(Yes, this IS the cat from Coraline; it fits with the story, as well as the Coraline and Other Mother/Beldam animatronics being present actively in the storyline)

As Gale and Will walked away from the cemetery, the had found something odd on one of the the cemetery statues. Normally, animals in the cemetery consisted of crows and ravens, but never a feline.

Upon the statue which Will showed off on, was a cat. And this wasn't just any cat. This seemed like a cat with similarly human features. And emotions. Gale's arms crossed upon each other. "And you must be the CAT from the Salem Witch Trials, huh?" she asked with some sort of sneer. The long, lanky cat sat like a sphynx upon the angel statue- it's piercing blue eyes watching at every moment. To Gale and Will's horror- this feline began to speak! It spoke in a smooth, sly voice.

"No, I'm not FROM anything... I'm me." it stated dryly.

Gale kept on following the cat, despite the warning. Earlier, she had called the cat a "wuss puss", as so she had thought. "But you're a cat... And cat's don't talk..It MUST be witchcraft...How can you talk?" The cat stopped pawing on the ground, and stared at Gale with a gleam in the eye- the gleam in the eye of a cat. Gale felt suddenly hopeless- this cat had human like features, but still was treated like and acted like a cat. It spoke, but like a way a cat would speak. "I don't know, I just CAN." Gale rolled her eyes. "Exactly, that's what a cat would say.." she began. The cat jumped onto a chopped off graggly tree, it's tail swishing in cockiness. It lifted up one of it's paws. "Because I AM one. You humans have misunderstood us for years...and us cats are VERY good at judging you humans...After all, I'm just a big ol' wuss puss!" Repeating what Gale had insulted it with, the cat hissed and it's back arched. With her hands to her mouth, gasping, Gale seemed to regret misunderstanding a feline. She walked towards the Halloween decoration in spite.

"Come back, please! I'm sorry I called you that... I really am..."

The cat had jumped off the poor decaying tree, his eyes glaring at Gale. Now matter how many times she had tried to make amends with him the cat ignored every apology. "You pathetic humans and your apologies- apologizing to animals or other humans without fully meaning it..." It swished it tail fiercely. Gale pondered on what the cat had said for a moment. "True, I guess you would call us good at that...That's what a cat would say..." The cat had stretched out it's legs, it's back arched in a bridge shape. "I'm a cat, yes. Now pet me." Gale seemed confused- this cat had insulted her in every way- and NOW of all times- it wanted to be petted? Although she had hesitated, she reached out her hand to pet the mangy feline. When she scratched it's head- she could see it's eyes closed, and she heard it purring loudly. Gale was not specifically fond of animals, she gagged away from the cat. After the petting session, Gale still crouched. "Do you have a name? All cats have names." The cat turned around and looked like it rolled it's eyes- but it couldn't- because it was a cat. "Oh human...you are more clueless than I thought you would be... We cats, unlike people, don't HAVE names. Humans have names because they don't know who they are, but we cats KNOW who we are..." The cat had stretched, it's paws in front of it, opening it's mouth widely to display a mouth full of jagged sharp teeth-as well as a mouth and tongue full of astounding pinkness. It's eyelids had seemed drooped, as if sick or tired. "Can I name you?" Gale asked out of the blue. Closing it's mouth upon impact, the cat shook it's head. "Human... Are you serious? Yes, you may name me..." it said in a sarcastic, dry tone. Gale became excited- she had never had a pet, but she was excited to name a random animal she had found acrossed the street. "Can I call you Kitty?" she squealed. The cat glanced back at Gale in a disgruntled fashion; clearly disappointed.

"Human... Are you serious? Out of ALL the creative and unique names to pick out for me, YOU pick one that is personally an insult to MY species? Typical humans, I suppose you name your other pets generic names too, like naming your bird 'Tweety' or something... Yes, you may call me kitty..." The cat seemed to walk away FASTER from Gale, but she tried to catch up. "Hey- Hey! We could be friends, you know, Kitty..." The so called "Kitty" raised it's tail high in the air. "We COULD be another species of African dancing elephants, but we are not." it said in a smart tone. Gale hated this cat, it gave her "human vibes", and was otherwise cocky and rash with her. She turned around to hear a soft and polite meow behind her. It came from Kitty- or- the cat.

"By the by..." it continued, stretching out some of it's sharp claws (in a "4 doubloons" type fashion) from it's paws, "If your are wondering where the ghost had went..." Gale jumped up and down at the news. "Wait... You KNOW where the judge went?" she asked excitedly. The cat slowly nodded. "I've seen the whole event unfold... You see, human, there are three types of people that can see ghosts... The physically inclined, those who WANT or NEED to see them at the right time... And of course...Cats. As for your little friend Addison, she is one who WANTS and NEEDS to see the dead judge, and is one of the physically inclined..." it explained dryly. Gale immediately stomped her steel-toed boot upon the ground- she have had enough of this cat- and it's sly attitude. Especially when making fun of her friend. "Are you saying that Addie is DISABLED?" she said, more like a demand than a question. The cat squinted, dilating it's slitted eyes. "What I am saying is that your friend is stupid." it hissed. Gale was about to strangle this cat, but Will stopped her in her tracks. "Gale, why don't you adopt it?" he said to distract the conversation. Gale glared at Will belligerently. "Are you KIDDING ME? My parents would freak! I can't handle a pet in the house! I'll be picking it up and scraping it's shit everywhere!" The cat simply yawned, enjoying the amusement of Gale's bickering. "Good, I wouldn't want to be raised by a menace, a lowly human like you..." Gale grabbed Will by the arm, visibly angry and frustrated, dragging his body to her mint green van, as the cat intently glared at them both with gleaming eyes- the eyes of judgement... The eyes of a killer... Like it was about to pounce on it's prey...

As soon as they got in the van, Gale tried to restrain herself from smashing her car into bits, taking deep breaths and talking to herself. Her head against the headrest of her seat, Gale felt deeply disturbed- not because Addison had summoned a ghost out into the world- but because the cat seemed to human-like, that it drove her into insanity. But, as persistent as she was, she refused to give up all hope. She was determined to live through this, for Addison. After some minutes of cooperation, Gale finally set her key into the car to make it start, pushed on the breaks to make it back up out of the road to the cemetery, and blasted DAGames's "Get Out" to keep her mind off of the horrific and triggering event. She had invited Will to spend the rest of the night at her house, since he was forced to do chores while his parents went out for dinner- Gale had fixed the lights of the refrigerator for him. Even though Will- to her- was a "quirked-up white boy", she was determined to make her apart of the help to answer the questions Addison had about the Pranderghast Massacre.

"You're staying with me, dumbass." she said once she pulled her van into her house's driveway. She opened the door, clicking her key to lock the door, preventing anyone else to get inside. Her car made a beeping noise, and then a lock noise, signaling that the door had been locked. Once inside. Gale had a paddle in hand, smirking at Will playfully.

"Well Willy, ready for a round of ping pong?"

Will, sweaty, firmly answered. "Yeah..."