Kitten leaned over and whispered into her ear, “I know why you’re here.” She paused to let that sink into the kangaroo’s head. “Just get it out of your system, so we can get it all over with. I despise pointless waiting.”

Teresa’s head slowly rose from her contemplation of the club’s music list. She hadn’t been reading it, but Kitten didn’t know that. She tossed her head of coppery red hair and flippantly responded to her, her blue eyes gleaming with a vicious light. “No, you don’t. Your small brain could never keep up with mine.” She smiled with satisfaction as she held up a lock of Kitten’s hair.

Kitten, as expected, frowned in confusion, not conceiving what the few hairs would mean. “What…?”

Teresa suddenly snatched her paw violently, her face transforming into an angry snarl. “You stole him from me, you stupid cat. You tricked him into liking you more.” She looked Kitten up and down in a glance that said ‘you certainly couldn’t attract him normally’. She smiled an ugly smile. “I plan to rectify that.” She proceeded to drag Kitten through a nearby door and outside, with a single-minded force.

Kitten looked around, futilely hoping someone would come to her aid, but no one inside the club had seemed to notice and as they wove through the cars outside, she realized that no one was outside to help her either. A small mew escaped her before she quieted herself.

She fought as best she could as Teresa stopped in front of a battered, small black car, but she was much too small for the larger Furr and the kangaroo kept hold of her paw quite easily.

She was being forced into the back seat as she looked around desperately and spied Kain’s bike parked nearby, feeling a faint sense of surprise that he had come to the club after all.

Where is he when I need him? She thought frantically as Teresa locked the doors and sped out of the parking lot.

~ >^.^< ~ =^.^= ~

Foxy kept his flirty little smile as the cute raccoon teased him. Something was wrong, very wrong. His instincts were coming on strong; he had learned earlier in life that he was never wrong about these things. He’d finally realized the raccoon was trying to keep him from returning to the main room of the club, and the reason wasn’t what he’d originally assumed.

“I’ve got to go.” He suddenly interrupted with, an apologetic look on his face.

The raccoon expectedly sputtered protests as he smilingly made his way out, but no matter fascinating conversation about anal techniques was, Kitten’s safety was more important to him. There were many cute Furrs out there, but only one friend as good as Kitten. He was almost to the door into the main area when a large white tiger blocked his way.

He looked up with a raised eyebrow; about to imprint his sense of hurry on the tiger, but just then his eyes paused on the tiger’s face and the scar over his left eye. He caught himself up short. What was Kain doing here? He saw that the tiger was a bit anxious also, but it was hard to read about what.

He had no time to be polite, however. “Move. I need to find Kitten.” His own blue eyes met Kain’s unwaveringly. A few people chuckled at scene- a gay fox trying to get a large male tiger to back down. He did it too, something changed in Kain’s eyes as he realized Kitten was in trouble.

Foxy growled in frustration and pushed past Kain when he didn’t move in a timely manner. “I don’t have time for you.”

Kain was left to stand there for a few moments to absorb what had just happened before his temper ignited and he hurried out of the club to follow Foxy. He hadn’t kept her safe so far just to let the fox screw that up.

~ >^.^< ~ =^.^= ~

Kitten watched Teresa, who seemed to concentrate on driving and her own little oratory about Kitten’s faults- which seemed to be many according to the kangaroo. She waited ‘til they were slowed for a turn then unlocked the door and prepared to jump from the car, her paw on the door handle.

Without warning Teresa swung around and practiced her roundhouse on Kitten’s jaw. Pain exploded causing her to see bursts of light. She collapsed back onto the seat and only roused herself from the initial pain in time to be dragged from the car by her hair, a calm Teresa walking into her home as if she was simply leading a pet by the leash.

All the while the disturbed woman mumbled to herself even as she tossed Kitten against a wall and began tying her to it with precision. Kitten kicked her shin with all the force she could and dove for the exit. She didn’t count on Teresa being beyond even that sort of reasoning as she tackled Kitten to the ground cruelly and jerked her up by her hair, earning a shriek of pain from Kitten. That brought a smile that was a mockery of happy memories everywhere.

“You deserve that, Bitch, for thinking I’m as stupid as you are.” She threw her against the wall hard enough to bruise her shoulder and ensured that she stayed still by slamming her in the nose with her fist.

As Kitten wavered between darkness and consciousness, the part of herself that still held her sense of humor distantly wondered when the kangaroo had taken up boxing lately- must be a killer in the ring. She gave a little hiccupping sound that substituted for a laugh as the ironicy of that dawned on her.

She watched as Teresa left the room. She heard her mumble about preparations, so the calico figured she wouldn’t be left alone for long. After all, wicked people like her were slippery little things. She contemplated trying to get free, but her face and scalp was in too much pain at the moment. In a minute, I swear. She thought as she drifted out of consciousness.

~ >^.^< ~ =^.^= ~

Kain found his oath hard to hold to as he swiftly got over his shock at Foxy’s driving. It seems he knew his souped-up prowler as well Kain knew his bike, and the fox was using it to his advantage. Kain had only kept up thus far by sheer size- his bike was able to fit through tighter spaces.

He suspected Foxy knew he was being followed, because the openings to follow were getting narrower and narrower. He knew for sure when Foxy’s car went through an opening barely large enough for his car between two large trucks, Kain was almost part of a truck and tiger sandwich as he squeezed between them.

Now he was getting pissed off, a distant part of his mind knew that it’d get him in trouble, but he couldn’t help it. Kitten’s life was involved, and by the way Foxy was acting, she needed immediate help and he didn’t want to be followed.

Just as this ran through his head, he swerved around a car after Foxy- and right into the bright headlights of a car. His saving grace was to jump from the bike just before it slammed into the car. Just before he hit the pavement, he sent a prayer that Foxy got there in time.

~ >^.^< ~ =^.^= ~

Foxy looked in his rear view mirror in time to see the accident and he never paused. Whoever was following him wouldn’t be able to anymore. He didn’t need someone stopping him from getting there in time.

He screeched around the last corner and spied the battered black car, back door still wide open. He was more silent from there on. Surprise would be the only thing that would save Kitten from the deranged female. Or so he hoped it would.

~ >^.^< ~ =^.^= ~

“No!!” Kitten screamed in horror.

Teresa simply smiled as she went through her preparations. “Found the spell when I was reading an old witch’s book. I figured it was fake until it worked on a friend of mine.” She smiled the smile of a broken mind. “Sent her to the Mundane world, she should be OK there.”

Kitten shook her head slowly as she gave up fighting. There was no reasoning with her and physical tries for freedom only got her hurt. She moved her jaw gingerly as she thought about that. She was pretty sure it wasn’t broken, but she had blood gushing from her nose. That was definitely broken; a reminder of what happened the last time she tried getting free.

Teresa hummed some tune as she worked, a sappy well-known love song. Kitten felt her gorge rise in disgust, but she forced it down and watched what the kangaroo was doing. Her eyes never failed to have an ugly light in them when they looked at Kitten now and again. Kitten was used to that by then.

The cat’s eyes followed her movements for a few minutes as she followed a spell to the letter. Apparently even her being tied to a wall was part of it, as she was tied in the middle of the some strange design on the wall. She helplessly watched her tuft of hair dangle over a pot of who knew what until she had to look away. As she looked around the room once more, she wondered where Foxy was. I hope he’s having fun. A sob escaped.

A window caught her eye and she saw black and rose furr flash past it. Both elation and despair fought inside her. On one hand she wanted to be rescued from her fate- on the other hand she had this horrible feeling in her stomach that something terrible was going to happen…and not to her.

Teresa called over to her as she finished. “One last step. Just need to add this.” Kitten’s eyes followed her gesture to the furr, noticing how the kangaroo was careful not to touch it. “Then go you away, never to return.” She sighed in happiness. “And then he’s all mine.” She dreamily took a moment to admire her collage of his pictures. Teresa was a few cards short of a deck for not getting that Foxy was gay. He had made it abundantly obvious.

She noticed a movement at the doorway and immediately her eyes darted there to find Foxy standing there, calm as usual, but with something dangerous in his eyes. “No.” She murmured helplessly. “Don’t, please.”

She saw the whole thing as if in slow motion, the moment of horror agonizingly slower than normal. Teresa slowly lowered the furr and Foxy, having paid attention to what was said, knew he had to stop it from touching the liquid. He darted forward to stop its decent, just as Teresa turned to see someone running to stop her and angrily pushed him.

The course of their lives changed in the one instant as Foxy’s paw dipped into the liquid as he tried to maintain his balance. He didn’t notice as Teresa stumbled back realizing whom she had pushed. He didn’t understand why Kitten was screaming no as he walked up to her and into the symbol to untie her. It wasn’t until it was too late and the furry world he called his home started to fade away that he realized why Kitten had a look of absolute horror on her face… And thus the time in his furry world ended…and the Mundane world faded into blinding clarity.