PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XXXV Part II

Dripping adorned the halls- fresh blood dotting the floor in smaller and smaller rivulets as the monstrosity passed by the main entrance without a glance. It ignored the sandy-peach cat tail poking out from behind a statue, or the black cat staring at her in favor of continuing its hunt.

"Y-You look a l-little... stupid," Liles said from behind the corner, wringing the head of Milk's wand in his paw.

She sighed, and fell from the pride that kept her insulated from jabs like that. "Whatever, leave me alone."

"Oh uh, okay," He scratched at his face, "sorry."

Opening her mouth to let the cat know it was a poor attempt at humor, she caught herself halfway, and redirected her attention to the main gates they now stood next to. So close, yet so far.

"I saw a friend get compressed by one of those things," her pupils narrowed and fangs developed, leaving the sentence hanging.

"Oh..." Liles murmured. Riley paid it no mind, even as the bombay soured at the remark.

He sniffled, wringing the wand one last time before it sank to his side. The private schooler raised his paws, taking off his white baseball cap and unspooling his back length hair, briefly surprising Riley with its volume. His eyes tittered, then looked behind himself. "But what a-"

"Your hair looks-"

The two stared at each other, lips pursed anxiously, waiting for the other to speak. A dozen seconds after the mutual interruption, they opened their mouths again.

"G-Go-"

"What-"

Riley silently yelped at herself, giving Liles just enough time to speak up before she would.

"... Wh-What were y-you saying?" He finally asked, "About my hair?"

"I was just- you have really nice hair." Riley said, combing her own sandy blonde anxiously. "For a guy too it's nice- it's really nice."

"Oh," Liles murmured, still fiddling with the back of his cap. "T-Thank you."

Riley nodded. "So, you were saying?"

"Um..." He furrowed his brows, looking around, holding his breath as another cat demon passed through the hall furthest from them- this one smaller and equipped with blender-like arms. The two were ignored. "The- Our- The other people? Olivia, Jason?"

Riley put thought into it, both of the cats frowning more and more as their anxiety swelled and writhed.

"Capper?"

She inhaled, starting with the cat's legs and raising her vision up to meet with his fatigue. Liles didn't understand what she meant by the shake of her head.

"Liles," Riley began, "Capper is- is probably dead."

His body remained a tombstone, twirling his head and catching his hair on all sorts of spots throughout his fur. "No, no," he insisted.

"Look, we'll- we'll open up all the doors from the outside," Riley said, gaining the courage to firmly grip his arm, the soft fuzz acutely bristling at her touch.

The cat startled, but relented. "Oh... alright..."

Liles pre-emptively raised his wand, the heavy fencepost glowing with a wobbly pattern of floral hues and contrasting lush greens. He caught Riley's green face in the instant she got rid of it, then followed him into the antechamber.

"Liles? Riley!?" A light, anxious, feminine voice whistled.

Riley staggered, bright eyes swiveling with their hips, turning about to land them on the manul that was charging down the hall, tattered clothes clung to them like wet paper towels, matted in blood as they were.