Spirit Hollow

[4] Be Careful of the Shadows

It was cold out tonight.

The wind bit into Āśā's body relentlessly. It blew through the cramped buildings and moved ominous clouds over the moon. Dead leaves and bits of card board flew through the air.

Āśā, unable to help it, unsheathed her claws. They clicked on the pavement a little too loudly.

Tap, Tap, Tap

The wind stopped whistling.

Tap, Tap, Tap

The sound of the leaves hitting the sidewalk vanished.

Tap, Tap, Tap,

Āśā felt fear begin to bubble up her throat. She hadn't really noticed how dark it was.

Tap, Tap, Ta-

"Hey,"

Āśā whipped around to see a tall cat sitting in the alley next to her. He was sitting just in the shadows, making his face invisible, other than the glint of sunglasses and the soft glow of a chewed up cigarette in his mouth.

His fur was brown, with tight, black stripes and the occasional ginger speck on his back and paws. Though it should have been lighter, it looked as if the shadows were leaking into his pelt and staining it a darker shade than it originally was. From his neck hung a thin, silver chain with three rings on it. His eyes, glowing yellow-y amber behind his shades, were relaxed and intimidating.

"You look tense," he said, puffing out a hint of smoke.

Āśā stood completely petrified. A feeling at the bottom of her mind was shouting that this cat shouldn't, under any circumstance, be standing here.

"W-who," She stuttered, quickly gathering her bearings. "Who are you?"

The cat only laughed. "I didn't expect you to know me." He removed his cigarette to breath. "There isn't much point tellin' you my name."

Āśā didn't budge. "I'd still like to know,"

The mysterious cat sighed. "Fine then, it's Anaḍēḍa," He said. His eyes seemed to grow more intense. "So they haven't told you yet."

"Told me wha-"

"Look around you, Prathama ēka, I'd have thought you'd knew what was going on better than all of us." Anaḍēḍa crushed his cigarette and flicked it away. "You glow like a beacon throughout all the layers."

He smirked. "How do you think I found you?"

Āśā stepped back as he pivoted and lunged faster than she could even breathe. She rolled at the last moment, narrowly missing the shining ebony claws of Anaḍēḍa. She came back up a few feet away as he turned again, a crazy grin on his face. Āśā's breath caught in her throat.

He had a giant plethora of scars- deep scars- painting his face. He looked like someone had tried to carve out his face with their bare claws. "Enjoying the view?" He yelled. He leaped towards her in a zigzag, laughing.

Āśā rolled to the right, narrowly missing Anaḍēḍa. She sprung forwards, racing away from the crazed cat. He shook his head, and then bounded after her.

Āśā raced across the asphalt, blood rushing in her ears. She had never been a situation like this before. She risked a look behind her.

Anaḍēḍa wasn't there.

Āśā's breath hitched in her throat. She slammed her left paws in the ground in front of her, speeding in a new direction. She hadn't been fast enough to escape, though, and Anaḍēḍa clamped onto her tail, snickering.

Āśā gasped. She spun ripping her tail from his mouth, blood flying from the tip.

Anaḍēḍa came right at her, his jaws ripping open to tear her to bits.

But Āśā wouldn't have that.

She pounced, launching herself from the ground and tearing her claws into the air in front of her.

Like knives, Āśā's claws cleaved straight through Anaḍēḍa's side. Blood splattered across her claws and her face and bathed the ground in a glowing crimson.

Anaḍēḍa tumbled to ground, his wound making a disturbing "splorch," noise. Āśā instinctively turned around to look, and immediately regretted it.

Anaḍēḍa's face was twisted into a horrible mask of agony, blood spilling from his mouth in rivulets. His chest heaved, and with each new movement the huge, deep gash on his side spit blood. His eyes were a dull yellow now.

The blood spilling out of him was a bright red at first glance, but Āśā began to notice that that wasn't the case. His fur, which had originally been a darker shade than it should have been, seemed to be turning a brighter shade. It was as if the blood, now a maroon color, was rinsing the darkness out of him.

Anaḍēḍa was still alive, and before Āśā had time to even think, her body moved on its own, padding over to the dying cat. She stood there, paralyzed and completely out of control of her own body, and promptly snapped his neck like a twig.

Āśā stumbled back, now back in control and thoroughly terrified.

She threw up. Right there, in the middle of the street.

---

Āśā didn't remember walking away from the body, or any of the streets flashing by. But, somehow, she had ended up ridiculously tired and soaked (somewhere in that whole memory-blank it had started raining. Hard.) She sat like a lost kitten under the little rain ledge and the egg-shell blue door with a little bell hanging from above the curtained window. Next to her, little water-logged shrubs sat in cyan pots. Quaint little front door, right? Āśā had recognized it immediately. She tapped an exhausted (was that normal?) paw on the door and waited.

Not long after, the door opened and revealed a incredibly disgruntled long-haired cat with silvery blotches.

"Hiiii, Vilo." Āśā coughed out awkwardly.

Vilo took a deep breath inwards. "What are you doing sopping wet at my doorstep?" She hissed out from between her teeth.

Āśā just smiled. There wasn't much else she could do.

Vilo sighed. She stepped backwards into her home, Āśā gratefully following her, carefully wiping the stubborn spots of blood off her paws on the mat.

---

HOO BOY IM TIRED

Well, here ends the, what is it? 4th chapter? 4th chapter of SH. It is long (holy christ on a bike it's 1064 words) , surprisingly so b/c of the technical error that happened to the most painstakingly difficult bit of chapter. I don't feel like explaining, though. Maybe later.

Thanks for reading this and keeping w/ this! It took forever and a half to get together, and here it is!!!

-Sky