Chapter 2

"I don't know what you are talking about." When Dr. Stevens replied back with the answer his one time friend and financial backer did not agree with, the man shook his head and closed his open palm, forming a fist. For a moment I thought he was going to hit the Doc, but instead, he reached into his pocket.

"I did not get to where I am now by being dense or clueless, Curt." The man, Louis Markum, growled and brought something small and metallic to his lips. As he blew, I heard no sound and thought perhaps it was broken. But beside me all four once-animals began to groan and complain. Macy slapped her hands over her ears and Spike began to growl under his breath, face contorted in anger and pain. They relaxed once the man released what was apparently a dog whistle and I felt dread crawling up my spine — he knew what Jinx, Sasha, Spike and Macy were. He knew!

"Come now, Curt. You want to provide me with the gem now? Or shall I neuter one of your pets here?" He grinned maliciously at Spike, which started the big dog-man to growl once more. Louis turned to one of his men beside him. "Tie them up. All of them." I panicked for a moment and glanced at the foursome beside me.

"Do what they want. They won't hurt anyone otherwise." I told them all, even Dr. Stevens, hoping it were true. After Sasha and I had been tied together, Macy with Doc, and Jinx with Spike, the scientist was searched and the box brought to Louis.

"Please, Lou, don't use that! It's not stable! I haven't truly tested the end results. I don't know if they will remain human or if it's a temporary thing." Dr. Stevens tried to plead with his new nemesis, but the man shrugged and motioned all of his men out of the room.

"I guess we will soon find out, will we not?" When he pulled out an odd device that looked almost like an hourglass with a missing circle in its center, it dawned on me what he was about to do. When he popped the gem into the center, twisting the top, I began to struggle against my bonds. I ignored Dr. Stevens as he pleaded for our lives to be spared and for the man to let us go, and attempted to break free, but my ropes were too tightly wound around my upper arms.

"Farewell, pets." Louis smirked and set the hour-glass object down, dashing out of the motel room's door, slamming it behind him as he ran. This time, red light flashed from the gem lodged in the hour-glass. Instead of wincing from the light, I felt my body spasm and quiver, screaming in despair as my body re-molded itself and each cell began to shift and change. I felt myself black out to avoid the trauma of what was happening to my body and slumped into oblivion as I did.

"Arroofff?" I felt a cold nose nudge against my fur as my eyes opened and I sat up, stunned and confused at what had just happened. I stared up into the fluffy face of a dog and began to feel my hackles rise. A soft growl formed in the back of my throat and I freed myself from the large ropes that had been looped around my body. Arching my back at the monstrously large dog, I blinked in curiosity at his eyes. I knew those green eyes — it was Dr. Stevens! But how? And then the memory of the hourglass-filled gem returned and I gasped silently, taking a moment to lick my shoulder fur as I did. Whoa! Fur? FUR?

"What happened?" I asked, but instead, it came out "Mew mew meow?"

Ack! I was a cat? A cat! I felt the world begin to spin out of control until finally I slumped over, blacking out yet again.

"AroooooOOooooo!" Someone was howling and it was really annoying to my sensitive ears. But then I realized why — the bad men from before had returned. The man who had done this to me — transformed me into a beast — was there with us and I darted under the bed, terrified of being hurt. From underneath, I watched him laugh at Dr. Stevens, now in dog form, and grab the hourglass object. He slammed the door behind him, locking us all in the room together once again. Without hands to open the door, how could we escape? We had to follow him! We had to get that gem out of the hourglass and reverse the process. I knew the way to return me back to normal was to do so, but without hands or feet, how exactly was that to be done?

I felt something beside me and gasped in silent shock until I realized it was just Jinx.

"Mew mew." I tried to greet him but then stopped when I saw the feral glow within his eye. To him, I was just a cat. A female cat. Oh boy. I hissed at him to let him know to keep his distance and I think he got the message as he scooted further from me, out of my 'zone'. I crawled slowly out from the bed and sat in the middle of the room next to the scientist-turned-mutt. He, along with Spike, was watching something in the corner very intently so I walked slowly around them to stare onto the prone form of Macy. Was she all right? She was on her side, heaving, groaning and I flicked my tail in worry for the female dog.

"Mmmmmwwwoooooof!" She let out a terrible cry and was still, and for a moment I thought her dead until the bitch lifted her head slightly and sighed, resting with her eyes open until we all heard the soft "mewling" of a newborn puppy. I edged around to see a tiny thing crawl between her legs, seeking its first meal. There were two others, all three black and brown like their mother and father and I sighed in relief. Her puppies had lived! If a cat could smile, that would have been me and I wrapped my tail around my body as I watched them nurse. They made cute little noises and suddenly I wanted nothing more than to have kittens of my own. What an odd thing to think!

A raspy tongue began to touch my skin and I nearly leaped into the air at the touch until I realized it was just Sasha, in cat form now, licking my fur. The gesture was touching so I leaned over and began to lick her in return. It was pleasant and warming, not bad like I would have thought. I heard myself purr and hers matched as we continued to groom each other, bonding in the cat way. I wished I could speak to her though, but when I tried, she would just shake her head as if confused. I suppose that being a cat, she was always a cat, but even in cat form, I'd always be human. The genes could change, but the mind or perhaps spirit would live on? Deep, deep stuff; my little cat brain felt as if it were going to explode!

I took another moment to watch as Spike crawled on his belly forward until his nose was touching the tail of one of his tiny babies and he began to lick the little thing, groaning in happiness as he did. I felt such a wave of joy wash over me at the thought of Macy's puppies living that I purred even louder. Until I remembered the situation and knew I had to get us free and somewhere safe. A group of dogs and cats would stick out like a sore thumb, but I couldn't risk us ending up in the animal shelter. I knew that would be death within a few days for any of us captured. We could not allow such to happen!

The first order of business was to escape the motel room. I climbed upon the table, which I found to be surprisingly easy with a quick jump, and stared out of the window. I pondered the best way for us to escape but something caught my attention. A bird flitted onto the sidewalk and began to peck at some leftover morsel of food. My mouth instantly began to water and I heard myself begin to make 'chirping' sounds as if I were trying to mimic the avian outside. Shaking my head in rue at how easily I had become distracted, I focused back on the task at hand and turned to see Dr. Stevens attempting to open the door with his teeth. The handle was rounded and he could not get good purchase, which was bad. I had hopes that of all of us, the doc could set us free. But I suppose we'd have to find another way now.

Yawning, I was surprised at how exhausted I had become. I leaped down and studied the animals sitting before me — Sasha was now giving Jinx a bath with her tongue while he purred, eyes closed in contentment, the Doc was still sniffing near the door, searching for a way for us to escape, and Spike was still showering Macy and his offspring with love. I felt out of place and lonely, wishing I could return back to normal. At least then I could curl up with a book and hot cocoa to relax and stop worrying about the situation at hand. Locked in the room, there wasn't much we could do but wait and see if perhaps a maid would come in and free us at some point. I turned my gaze to the puppies, wondering what to do about them. How could we move them? They were so tiny!

I found myself curled in a ball, which was warming and comfortable, and soon drifted away into a strange place somewhere between sleep and wake. I was not truly asleep but it felt as if I were resting as if I were. I knew exactly what was happening around me and could open my eyes at a moment's notice. It was a good thing to have happen to me in such a dangerous time. I dozed like that for an hour or two until I heard grunting noises. Turning to the source to see Jinx mounting Sasha, I felt myself blush until I realized cats couldn't actually blush. What was it with cats and their mating habits? It seemed that the two were constantly humping! And of course, once more, I found myself filled with an irrational jealousy. Ridiculous!

I closed my ears when the female cat screamed upon Jinx pulling out of her and watched him as he immediately began to lick himself as if proud of what he had done. The pure animalistic nature was a turn off and I spun myself slowly around so that I had my back to the tomcat. I felt a warmth surrounding my body and realized that Sasha had come to me and wrapped her body next to mine, providing me extra warmth that made me feel content and happy. Purring I dozed more until morning found us.

"Aieee!" When the housekeeping maid opened the door to find a menagerie of animals, she charged out of the room immediately, fearful especially of the large dogs inside of the room. I knew she would call Animal Control so we had to move and swiftly. I leaped to my feet as did everyone else sleeping and I watched as Spike picked up a puppy and set it down in front of Dr. Stevens. He scooped the tiny wiggly thing gently into his mouth and with Spike and Macy all carrying puppies, we began our escape from the motel grounds. We darted as swiftly as we could, the cats easily keeping up with the dogs as we wove our way through the back alleys avoiding anything that had to do with human contact. I was not sure why I felt as if humans were my enemy since I was still human inside of my cat body, but it just seemed like a logical thing to do.

We soon found an abandoned warehouse that held various other types of cats, dogs and above us, nesting birds. Perfect. For now. The Doc led us all to a corner office that had been long abandoned and using my claws I began to pull an old set of cushions together for Macy and her pups. She groaned slightly as she settled, placing the pup she was carrying between her front paws protectively, nuzzling the little thing as she did. Spike placed the next down beside her as did the Doc and we settled into our new home, growling whenever any stray dog or cat came close. We knew we had to establish a pecking order in the place, but hopefully once we were fully at ease and at home there, we could do that.