Fred woke with a start realizing quickly from the pain and discomfort that he was lying on the floor. Why was he lying on the floor? Why were his legs on something that made them at a higher elevation then the rest of his body? If it was night, why were the lights still on? Opening his eyes he was startled to find his home looked ransacked. I’ve been robbed, he thought as he tried to jump up. However this process was quickly aborted when his back protested quite loudly and rhythmically with sharp spikes of pain that it was not a good idea. Slowly and carefully mindful of his aches and pains he lowered his feet from what he realized was his front room ottoman and rolled over onto his stomach. Taking a fortifying breath he got to his hands and knees groaning at the stretch of muscles and tissue that had been compressed into odd positions and stood coming up to his full height.

Carefully stretching his neck from side to side he looked around to find that all the lights in the house seemed to be on, showcasing the mess of his home. Pictures frames were knocked off walls, tables and chairs lay scattered about. His prized collection of Gorillaz figurines lay scattered all over the carpet. Books that had been carefully placed for the maximum eye-catching appeal had been tossed aside and now lay sprawled open on the floor amongst the other casualties. Fred wondered how he could have been robbed and not remember it. Surely he would remember someone.

“Meow, Meow, Meow…”

Was that a cat?

“Meow Meowr, Meowrrr!!”

Why was there a cat in his house? Wondered Fred as he walked closer to the sound pausing to look in dismay at his destroyed kitchen. Perhaps it was his neighbors. They had an orange tabby that liked to shit in his garden.

“Meoowww!”

“Alright I’m coming!” yelled Fred as he picked his way through his broken glass littered on the hallway floor glad he still had his shoes on.

“Meowwwwww!!!”

“Coming, coming, coming,” muttered Fred as he picked up the knocked over table and the potted Raven ZZ plant that he had brought only a week ago. Staring blankly at the dirt for a minute before shaking his head and continuing on into his bedroom where he paused in the doorway and blanked in a disbelieving stupor at what he saw.

Feathers floated in the air cascaded slowly to the ground coming to rest amongst its fallen brethren coating the floor, tables and bed turning the rustic modern room into a white mockery of a wonderland. The plundered and thoroughly plumed pillows lay still on the floor their casing ripped open, their empty bellies on display. His comforter which he had specially designed for his room’s aesthetic had been scratched and torn from hell to back. A rank odor of the likes he had never before encountered prevaded his room. He took a step into the room and stumbled barely catching himself on his bedpost. Looking down he discovered his shoes laying like decimated prey whose dying struggles told a tale. Bits of their buckles, strings and leather creating a trail of unsuspected horror that led back to their once organized home. Fred followed this trail and could only gasp in horror when he found his hours of work color coding and season placing of his clothes had been undone. His clothes lay all over the bottom of the floor covered in patches of fur. What wasn’t covered looked to be ripped and torn into shreds. A mockery of their former forms

“Meow?” Questioned the cat.

Oh yes, the cat. Turning slowly around he found the demon cat was sitting sphinx like on the bedside table. So still that he had mistaken it for the lamp that no longer rested on the table but was now lay on the ground it’s lamp cover askew. Fred stared at the Cat and watched as it stared back and blinked at him.

“You” growled Fred as he pointed in rage at the cat. “It was all YOU!!!” Fred felt anger like he had never before experienced well up in him. A tidal wave threatening to engulf him and pull him under its deep fiery depths. Oh how he wanted to sink into it and, and, and what? What was he going to do? Fight a cat? An animal that was not nearly as smart as humans and clearly nowhere near his own intelligence. Sighing Fred dropped his finger and walked backwards until his back hit the wall and sunk onto the floor. What was he doing? Where was he going? Was this his life? Was he looking at his future? A life where he chased after a cat? Got angry at an animal for only following its natural instincts. Because let's be honest Fred thought to himself, ‘it wasn’t the cat that knocked over the table and chair or the picture frames from the wall. It wasn’t the cat's fault that he had left his bedroom door open or that he hadn’t cat proofed his home.’ Groaning Fred leaned his head back against the wall hitting it with a thud. The sound and bit of pain felt satisfying to him so he did it again and again and again. Just a little harder each time.

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Demon

Demon watched the human. It was hilarious to watch his reaction to the devastation that she had wrought. He had awakened before she could truly complete her plan of taking a crap in his shoes, but oh well. It was alright she had thoroughly soaked his bed so it was of no real concern. Only a bit of extra if she was honest with herself. She grinned and watched as the man stumbled about sending puffs of feathers in the air with each step. She willed herself to not react to them although the desire to chase was strong. No, she would show the feathers that she was the boss later. First she had to see what the man would do. But just as Demon tensed to run while the man shouted and pointed at her she smelled it. The smell that she didn’t like. The one filled with pain and fear and sadness. The one that pulled at something ancient in her. She watched in curiosity as the man sat in the feathers and hit his head against the wall. It was a strange behavior, one she had never before seen in humans. Briefly she wondered if the man might be diseased. She remembered coming across rats like that. The rats that the other rats avoided and predators knew not to eat because it didn’t smell right and acted crazy. But no, there was no foam coming from his mouth and he smelled like a human male except for the extra layer of scent.

Watching the man further to see what he would do Demon felt dismay to find that he was only continuing his behavior. Perhaps she had pushed the man too far? Feeling slightly bad Demon jumped from the table to the unsoiled parts of the bed and walked closer to the man. Stopping to sniff every couple of steps to see if the scent had changed. It didn’t so she continued on landing softly onto the floor from the bed and gliding through the feathers until she reached his side. The man seemed oblivious to her presence. That just will not do, thought Demon. So she jumped into his lap. Stretched her body until her paws rested on the man's shoulder and put her face directly in the path of his and meowed.

Fred

Fred opened his eyes and stared into the face of the demon cat. He knew when she had climbed onto his lap but felt no desire to acknowledge her presence. Not even when she dug her claws into his shoulder. But the meowing directly in his face with the cat's breath that made his eyes water and his nose want to shrivel up and die were not things that could be ignored.

“Meowrrr,” yelled Demon. “Meow, Meow Meow!”

“Okay, okay,” soothed Fred and before he truly thought about it he found himself petting the demon cat. To his surprise the cat stopped yowling in his face and actually laid down against his chest and started to purr. “How can you be so very, very evil one minute and loving the next? You're a little Demon aren’t you?” asked Fred as he continued petting the cat. Musing on that thought Fred sat there petting the cat he started to relax. He closed his eyes, deciding to ignore the room, the smell and the lights and just breath. He breathed as he stroked the cat and didn’t think. Just kept his mind blank. He succeeded for quite some time, that is until the demon cat bit his hand and scratched him as it ran away from him.

“Yeow!” yelped Fred as he jerked his body in a delayed reaction to the pain. “What was that for?” He asked but when he looked around the cat was nowhere to be seen. Sighing, Fred looked around his destroyed room and decided that there was no time like the present and besides he wanted to sleep sometime. So Fred climbed to his feet. Taking his time as the back of his head was tender and his butt numb from resting without moving from the hardwood floor. Standing to his full height he stretched. He took a couple of steps and paused. Something about him was different. What was it? Fred looked around, nothing had changed, everything was still a disaster but he wasn’t angry about it anymore and the suffocating heaviness that he had felt earlier was gone.

“Huh maybe there is something to having a pet,” muttered Fred as he began the arduous process of cleaning up his home. It took him 5 hours but he was finally done. The mattress was outside and would be taken with the rest of the trash on Wednesday. The feathers had been painstakingly cleaned up with the help of a broom and vacuum cleaner. The empty casings added to the trash pile. So too were the bed coverings. The shoes and clothes that were salvageable were placed away and the closet firmly shut while the rest joined the trash pile. He went room by room cleaning, turning out the lights of the finished areas and closing them off to the cat. Finally he reached the kitchen. He was so very tired and all he wanted to do was sleep. He debated about going to sleep but couldn’t bring himself to do it with the flour coating all the surfaces, the cabinets continents spilled all over and the food still left out.

Sighing he grabbed a towel and began with the easy part, putting the can goods away after a good wipe back into the cabinets. By the time that Fred had finished cleaning the kitchen he felt like his eyes were burning and his stomach couldn’t make up its mind, whether it was nauseous or hungry. Turning out the light in the kitchen Fred stumbled into the living room and sat in his favorite chair. Exhausted he put up the leg rest and pushed the button to lay the chair back. Reaching over he grabbed the couches’ blanket and ignoring the muffled meow of protest covered himself with the blanket and passed out.