Alice shook Cat awake. She cracked an eye open and froze at the sight of the other girl under the sheets, the memories of the previous night slowly loading as her brain became truly awake and assuaging her fears.
“Good morning, Alice. Did you sleep well?” She finally asked.
“Very well,” the girl smiled. “We have a bit of a pet situation going on, or I’d let you sleep in. You still seem exhausted.”
“Yesterday was intense, for lack of a better word. Wait, pet situation?”
“Yes. A stubborn feline invaded the bedroom and was hostile toward you. Aura got the critter pinned down but it kept asking for Catherine.”
Cat rolled her eyes and sat up. Just as Alice said, Mr. Mouser was pinned under a massive wolf paw, unwilling to move and draw the bigger pet’s ire. Alice’s words sank in with a large delay. “Wait, did you say he asked for Catherine?”
“Yes,” Alice replied nonchalantly.
“Can you talk to animals?”
Alice overexplained, “It’s part of the [Monster Tamer] skillset. I can communicate with any creature I can tame, although I don’t have an open slot now. Not only MP but Experience is a bitch to obtain here on Earth. Most returners get stuck at whatever level they were at, and back in the other world, I was just a bit above the average level at best. A secondary character, as stories go.”
“That’s amazing. I think it can hear Catherine in my head. Could you ask it-him why he keeps attacking me?”
“Yes, he told me he needed to get impostor-Catherine out of the house, or the real Catherine wouldn’t come back. He misses her ‘mommy’, in his words.” The cat decided to meow for help. “Let him come, Aura.”
Mr. Mouser jumped on the bed, staring at Cat and ready to either attack or run away at any moment.
“Mr. Mouser, this Catherine here is not a fake,” Alice explained. After confirming Mr. Mouser could indeed hear Catherine but not understand her, she talked the cat down into accepting the girl’s new status, soothing the feline’s fears that his mistress was in danger and actually crying for help.
“You got a new fan. Catherine says thanks,” Cat reported. “Yeah, sure. She said you are the best and that I shouldn’t downplay her excitement. Come here, Mr. Mouser.”
The cat inched forward until it reached Cat’s hand. He sniffed the hand and bopped it with his snow before rubbing his cheeks on her hand. It finally decided to climb on Cat’s lap and cuddle against her stomach.
Caressing the cat’s back, Cat asked Alice, “So he can hear Catherine but not make what she is saying. Did I get it right?”
“Yes. I think he can only tell her emotional state from her tone, but he confirmed he can hear Catherine.”
Cat sighed with relief. Still testing how much Mr. Mouser would let her pet him, she said, “You were a godsend, Alice. I would never understand what was wrong with him if it were not for you. Catherine was truly distressed when I suggested we would have to let go of him.”
“I’m starving,” Cat confessed. “Can we go down for breakfast? We’ll try to visit Oliver this morning, but I wish for a slow day.”
“Sounds like a plan. Let me get a change of clothes,” Alice said and went for her crude leather messenger bag.
Mr. Mouser kept moving around, showing where he wanted to be scritched. Whenever Cat stopped, both attention-starved animal and ghost would complain.
“You can borrow...” Cat trailed off when she saw Alice remove a backpack from the bag. A full, stuffed-to-the-brim backpack.
Alice turned around, “What did you say?”
Flabbergasted, Cat pointed at the backpack, “You can borrow Catherine’s clothes, she has too many anyway. Where did that come from?”
“From my bag. Oh. This is a magical bag,” she lifted the leather bag. “It is bigger on the inside. And no, Martha bugged me for months. I can’t get another and this one is magically bound to me. To anyone else, it will be just an empty bag. Do you want to check it?”
Cat just shook her head, “No, I believe you. I think I can’t consider myself a normal person anymore.”
A bit embarrassed, Alice admitted, “I went downstairs earlier and helped Esmeralda cook it, so I already had my fill. It’s waiting for you.”
“Let’s go, I have to see Oliver.”
During breakfast, Jack approached her with his plans to improve the estate security. Some reporters camped outside but the security agents set up some infrared and ultraviolet LED lights that mess with digital cameras. Cat reviewed the plans and approved the expenditure. Esmeralda reported Mrs. Wallenstein was eating her meals in her room. She hadn’t left yet and didn’t let Esmeralda in either. Cat hoped her stock of booze would end sooner rather than later. She hadn’t the time or the mind to deal with her. After preparing to leave, she took the armored car and left for the hospital.
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Traffic was worse than ever. The bridge was still closed and under repairs, forcing the commuters to take one of the tunnels or the ferries. Fortunately for them, the city set an emergency ferry route leaving from Edgewater and dropping people in the West Harlem Piers. They wouldn’t be able to take the armored car with them but another vehicle was already waiting for them on the New York side.
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Browsing social media, she found herself in the middle of a heated battle of pin-the-blame-on-someone, as many pointed her as the culprit of the bridge attack while many more raised the more rational argument that she wouldn’t hire people to shoot at herself just to gain attention, among others. She called Agatha who counseled her to play mum. Anything she published at the moment would be used against her. She also gave the lawyer an ETA to arrive at the hospital so they could visit Oliver together. It was “Hopefully today.”
“I would suggest taking a rental helicopter, but with the current situation I’m afraid to put a target in the sky,” Jack joked.
“I don’t think yesterday’s attackers will attempt anything now,” Alice said. “They have no incentive to do so. The party interested in Catherine’s demise could easily do so while she was pinned in the police building all day, yet they didn’t.”
“You know who is behind the terrorist attack?” Jack asked, surprised.
“Jack, that’s classified,” Cat said. “We cannot prove and point the investigation toward this entity would only draw their wrath. I hope you can keep our suspicion between us.”
Aura barked in agreement.
“You have my word, boss,” The former ranger vowed. “Now, for the sake of curiosity and so I know what we’re facing, who wants you dead?”
“Mr. Marthan. That’s why he threw his client under the bus and took the bargain, to take the heat off of him,” Alice explained.
“That lawyer? What did Catherine do to make him want her dead this much?”
Cat could tell Jack was mad. From what she gathered, the ranger and Oliver were friends. It was obvious he wanted to get back at the terrorists. Her musing was interrupted by Alice.
“Cat, can we tell Jack the truth?”
Catherine said.
[No. Jack deserves to know what we’re facing,] Cat frowned. It was a tough sell to make. “Do you have another wrench? If you think Jack can be trusted, I’m with you. But we are doing this together.”
“Yes, but we can’t do it here. Jack, do you know somewhere we can talk without any risk of external surveillance?”
“The cars ahead are moving. I think we’re on the next ferry after this one. We can go to a safe house in New York.”
“Can you wait until after we’ve visited Oliver? It is very important we do it today,” Cat asked.
“Sure,” Jack huffed with worry. “I’m worried about that sleazy pettifogger too.”
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As he estimated, they were on the second ferry. The ferry staff tried to bar Aura from boarding but her status as a “service dog”, a team of very intimidating security guards, the backlash on social media, and the threat of blocking the commuters from getting on the ferry made the company relent. The crossing was thankfully quicker than the normal line that ended in the West 39th station.
The team boarded the new cars waiting for them and they drove to the Presbyterian. At the hospital, they were accosted by the reporters camped there and Cat was forced to give the “no comments” answer several times. Fortunately, they didn’t follow the group into the hospital where she hooked up with Agatha. The lawyer had already got them a pass to visit Oliver, although only two people could go at the same time.
Cat went first with Agatha for a normal visit, then returned with Alice to try and give him the magical potion. The lawyer was stable but on a ventilator, much like how Cat found herself upon waking up in Catherine’s body. She felt unease to be in a hospital again after getting discharged mere days ago but she steeled herself. Oliver needed their help.
“Here’s the potion,” Cat took the vial from her purse. “Just make him drink?”
“Yes. The potion won’t cause him to choke, it is designed to be used on unconscious people. But it is better if I administer it. I can use my [Apothecary] skills to improve the effect,” Alice said.
Cat nodded, handed over the potion, and turned around to make sure nobody was watching them. Because the hospital staff was busy with the bridge victims, she found no problem. She stared through the glass wall as nurses and doctors rushed by, trusting the monitoring instruments to tell them if a patient needed attention. None of them made eye contact with her.
“It is done,” the transmigrator announced.
Cat returned and examined Oliver. He looked the same. Alice put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“I checked him with a Skill, he’ll have a full recovery now. Don’t frown like that.”
“It’s hard.”
“I know. Back in my old world, people died all the time. I worked as a [Nurse] at the local healer, I wish we had half of the machinery they have here. That combined with our magic would save a lot of people.”
Cat looked at the girl. Alice’s face lost the jovial mask and she seemed to be many years older and wiser now. “Do you miss them? The people you left in the other world?”
“All the time. I was whisked back to Earth without an opportunity to say goodbye. In the middle of a siege, can you believe it? I’m sure people thought I died.”
They hugged. “I’m sorry and thank you for your help. It meant a lot, Alice. Say, do you wish you could go back?”
Alice swallowed. “No. Not really. I miss them but I know that world is almost doomed. There’s someone from here fighting there to save it. My adoptive brother. I must trust he’ll be able to save it and then return. And when he returns, he’ll have a place to live and people he can rely on. I have my wolves to keep me from feeling lonely.”
“I know how it feels to abandon a life behind and move on,” Cat confessed. “Worse, I’ve seen the bereaved face of my fiancée.”
Cat let out a wry chuckle. “Catherine said I have her. And now we have each other, Alice. I can’t fight your battles, but rest assured you have an ally for life.”
“Don’t you dare make me cry,” Alice sniffled. “Let’s get out of here. Oliver needs to rest.”
The two young women left the ICU unaware that the potion was indeed working better than they expected and while Oliver was still comatose, he was in a sort of lucid dream where he was aware of his surroundings but unable to move. He’d heard their entire conversation.
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From the hospital, they went to a safe house owned by Grendel Security. Alice laughed briefly when she heard the company name but made no other comment on the issue. Jack, Aura, and the two girls went to a meeting room that was almost impervious to eavesdropping.
“Here we are,” Jack said. “Now, what do you want to show me?”
Alice handed a wrench to Cat, who passed it to Jack. “First, see if you can break this wrench.”
As expected, even the strong ex-soldier couldn’t break the steel tool. “What’s the trick?”
“No trick, I swear. Give the wrench to Alice.”
Alice broke the wrench, drawing a surprised whistle. “Is this stage magic?”
The wolf whisperer shook her head. “No, but I get that reaction a lot. Come, arm wrestle me.”
Alice won five out of five. “Damn,” Jack cursed as he shook his hand. “What are girls these days eating?”
“Not enough food, if you ask me,” Cat vented. “Jack, the truth is, Mr. Marthan is a demon. He came from hell to collect my soul. I should’ve died the day I jumped.”
“What?”
Convincing Jack took the better part of an hour. Among the arguments the girls used, Cat showed her fast-healing by making a small cut on her skin and Alice summoned her other wolves out of nowhere.
"I believe there will be no more direct attempts on Catherine's life for the time being," Alice explained. "The demon doesn't care about collateral damage and he was right in front of her during our audience with judge Hendrickson. If he wanted to, he could've killed her on the spot and none of us could stop him. My evaluation tells me he's that strong. I think the terrorist attack was his attempt at solving things quickly, and that failed. Besides, he may have other goals. Getting Catherine's soul to hell may well be but one of them. His behavior shows he's vain and a bit of a prankster. He'll probably toy and torture her before he goes in for the kill. I don't know much about demons let loose on the world but he may be under a set of restrictions. For example, maybe he can't attack if he isn't attacked first. We have no way to know now, we need more information."
"Do you know of someone who can tell us how to defeat him?" Cat asked, hopeful.
"Unfortunately, no. People dealing with the occult don't advertise their skills. You can assume those with knowledge about actual demons and hell would be way more reclusive."
Alice explained about the demon types she knew from her previous world, without telling Jack she was from another world. Apparently, their faction back there fought a great war with the demons and even captured some prisoners.
At the end of their explanation, Jack stared at his boss. “If you want me to fight the devil himself, you’re tipping me a crate of Mitchers. Weekly.”
Cat laughed and shrugged. William knew of the deluxe bourbon brand. “Fine!”