To Protect Her With My Life

TRIGGER WARNING: Contains Death

My pet was doing it again.

I woke up from my beautiful slumber, to my human blabbering on about who knows what. With her dark brows drawn together, she pointed her nasty finger at me as she yelled.

I yawned in response, my tongue dangling out at my mouth opening so wide. I didn't have time for this.

I stood up and arched my back into a stretch. At that, I heard an awe coming from my pet human. With my eyes still closed, I lowered my butt into a sitting position and started cleansing my pink paws. Then, I moved on to my stomach, then my back, then my—

"Eww! Gross!" my human shouted almost into my ear with her standing right beside the bed I claimed as my little resting territory "Don't do that in front of me!"

I don't care.

With a huff, then a sigh, she got what she needed from her drawer. After my cleaning, I watched her and followed her to the door. Looking outside the window by the front door, I noticed that the sun had just risen a few hours ago, meaning it was time for my human to hunt.

She was a terrible hunter. But, alas, I let her hunt till her heart's content. It was one of the few things I could do, beside letting her sleep on my bed, in return for feeding me sometimes rotten peasant food and giving me shelter.

In the corner of my eye, not long after my human left, I spotted an old man staring at me from the couch behind me. Opposite the couch, the television switched on to play my favorite show.

I chirruped like a kitten and walked over to sit next to the wrinkly man. I loved being able to sit back and relax without a care in the world. I didn't care if I acted like a kitten when I was around him. Maybe my human would one day join us to watch my favorite show, too.

Of all my years of living here, the time I spent with my human's father never became boring.

I looked at the television, as my human's father had told me it was called, and watched a cheetah chase down a gazelle. The movements of the 2 creatures was so fast, one could barely make out what was happening. The gazelle tried to dodge, but my large and fast comrade was too fast for the silly creature.

I liked to run like the cheetah here at home. It was fun mimicking its way of running, sometimes jumping on and off furniture, sometimes kicking it, to make sure I was able to go full speed around the house.

My human would sometimes get mad at me for it, but I didn't care. It was fun. Besides, he father approved of my running. He even said my run yesterday was the fastest I'd ever done. Although, he had also mentioned something about being careful. He had also mentioned that he wanted me to protect her with my life.

"Hey, Rowan?" I started, not taking my eyes of the screen. When I heard a 'hm?' from him, I went on, "Why do you want me to protect April? Can't you do so yourself?"

A chuckle escaped his lips. One that indicated I was stupid for asking such a thing. Then, he spoke, "You ask this now, Milo?" Yes, that was the name my human called me. Generic, I know.

When I turned to look at him, my pupils dilated, he answered my question, "Because I can't protect my little girl anymore." he wheezed "I can't even hold her in my hands anymore."

I didn't understand why he couldn't do that, but my question was answered.

"I guess that answer will do." I replied, feeling my stomach drop from the disappointment.

His wheeze turned into belly laughter. At his sudden change of emotion, the television switched off.

"I was still going to watch that, you know?!" I hissed at him.

Though I was mad at him for turning off the television, I was always going to be grateful he was one of the few humans who could understand me. My human always thought I was speaking nonsense.

Whenever I asked for food, she picked me up and rocked me like a kitten. Whenever I asked her for attention, she gave me food. It was chaos with this woman.

"Milo!" her voice startled me to the point my fur stood upward, "What are you hissing at, baby boy?" her footsteps were were hard, the rotten smell of metal followed behind her, but then faded slightly when she walked inside.

What was she doing back so early? To my side, the man chuckled. Most likely because of the nickname she gave me.

Rotten old man.

I looked toward the door and there she was, scrambling through a cabinet that stood under the window. When she took out a badge, she looked toward me with a soft smile on her lips "Sorry, now, I'll be going to work. I forgot my badge. Now don't you hiss at my bookshelf again."

At that, she left, closing the door and locking it behind her. I looked toward the old man, then behind him, where my human's bookshelf stood with books facing us. Was she not able to see her father? And his laughter. Was she not able to hear him either?

The thought left my mind when the stench of metal returned. My ears twitched at the sound of snarling, low and deep. Then, the snarl turned into gargling sounds as the stench of metal began to fill the room like water filled the tub when April would give me my yearly bath. Slow and steady, but powerful. Of the 12 years of life, this smell was not new. That didn't mean I was used to it. Or that I liked it.

Following the smell, a creature walked in. A crocodile with green, gooey liquid pouring out of its body. And the cause of the stench, a deep green gas spreading from the kitchen the creature came from, to the living room where we were sitting.

In response to its disgusting sight, I arched my back and gave it a loud yowl "Get out of here, fiend! This is my house!"

The crocodile hissed in return, the audacity of this creature!

I leaped at the crocodile, landing on its back, and started swatting it with all my might. When it shook me off, I stood back up with no hesitation and hissed.

The crocodile hissed deeply and snapped its jaws at me. I hopped away and swiped at it with my claws.

To my surprise, the crocodile hissed in pain and woddled away.

I stood triumphantly as I stared at the wall the crocodile finally disappeared into, my chest puffed up and my head held high.

When I looked back to see what the old man was up to, he was at the door, listening at the footsteps that came from the other side.

When the doorknob began to shake, the sound of clicking and poking at the other side of the door, Rowan grabbed the doorknob and held it tight.

"It's stuck!" A male voice shouted at the other side of the door, "Help me out, dude!"

"O-okay! I'm coming!" Another, more nervous male voice replied.

The clicking grew louder and the poking turned into pounding. The door shook at the pounding. Thump! Thump! Rowan held tighter onto the doorknob.

My heart was racing so fast, I thought it might've been its own cheetah. I hopped on the windowsill. Even though I felt sweat begin to run down my skin under my long gray fur.

The two humans standing outside were of the male specimen. One was like my human's former lover, big and intimidating. I never liked that man. He hurt April's feelings to the point that she had squashed me like a bug in her arms for hours the day he dumped her.

The other… was a stick.

When the large man looked over at the window, his eyes then meeting mine, I arched my back and bared my fangs at him with a loud yowl.

"It's him!" I hissed, "The man that hurt April!"

With a gasp, Rowan held tighter onto the doorknob. The shaking seeming harder to keep down by the second.

He wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer.

I jumped off the windowsill and prepared myself with legs spread out on the ground in front of the door.

"Let him in! I'm going to give him what he deserves!" I meowed.

The door slamming open didn't give Rowan enough time to react or answer. As the door swung through his body, the two humans were finally revealed, where the larger man had his leg out high and the other was cowaring behind him.

Good. I can focus on only one of them.

I leaped toward the fight. Toward the man that made my human smile so brightly every night, only to end up crying for several nights in a row.

I clawed him up and down and watched as Rowan flew out chased the other human away by moving objects toward him.

"GHOST!" The stick screamed as he ran.

I buried my claws up his face, down his arms, neck, and chest. He tried to pull me away way too many times.

When he finally started stepping back, I finished my attack with a bite to the nose.

The large man pulled me off when I let go and slammed me onto the television.

He let out a growl when I hit the ground and the television fell onto my back.

My sight then became blurry, my head light, as I felt cold blood run down from my forehead to my nose.

The last thing I heard before everything went black was a slamming door and Rowan whispering near my ear, "It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay."

When I woke, I was in April's arms. I looked up at her with half-lidded eyes. I couldn't see her clearly. Why?

Maybe I was tired.

I was too tired to move, too tired to stand. Too tired to question what was going on. I just wanted to sleep. So, I closed my eyes.

I was too tired to comfort her scream. Too tired to think about it.

I'm sorry, April. It looks like he hurt you once again. Im sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry for being so prideful all these years.

I'm so sorry.

The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a shelter in the body of an orange tabby cat. Everything was calm for months, until one day, April walked into the shelter with her father floating by her side.

She looked well, and I was glad she was.

Rowan gently turned April's head to stare at my cell, a smile plastered on his face. And when our eyes met, it was like the first time she had met me in my previous body. The sun shown like new through the small window above the cages in the usually bland room.

My green eyes dilated like they never had before when she finally decided to take her father's secret advice to adopt me.

I meowed as loudly as my tiny heart would let me. I walked against the cage's bars, desperate for her to come hold me again.

And when she picked me up, I had tears in my eyes.

I missed you.

"Hello, little girl." Her soft voice was softer than ever, "Would you like to come home with me?"

I meowed with glee.