Chapter twenty eight

I was pulled out of my sleep by heavy paws on my belly, the familiar prickly feeling of Ebony’s paws digging against my exoskeleton. This was the best feeling I’ve had in days... Cracking a crusted eye open I stared up into her baleful eyes; I could almost see the worry there.
“I’m alright girl” I chuckled lightly as I pushed her off my stomach, stroking her slowly as I did. Small pieces of fur came away as I stroked her but it still elicted the same deep happy purr of pleasure, even as my hand ran against some of the tender areas; she was as happy to see me as I was to see her. I almost hated myself for not thinking of her as I rotted away in the cells, she must have suffered just as badly as I had but for now we were both happy.
“Get any more lovey dovey and you’ll be making out” Steamer laughed, lying her face against the metal wall so it glowed a cherry red as she peered through the gap. I’ve never had such a nosy neighbour but I guess there wasn’t much else to do around here; reality had nothing on me. Ebony sniffed the air, glaring at Steamer for a second before she arched her back happily as my hand smoothed her fur down.

My sense of time was still misplaced, it could have been hours that I sat there and stroked my companion and I was happy for it to be. I was back in reality though; I noticed when Steamer got her food delivered and when it began to get dark as night crept in. The fur where I was still stroking Ebony was flat and glossy again, my smooth fingers raking the dirt and what I was sure was dried blood from her fur. For the first time I wondered about how I looked; everyone else I saw was getting steadily filthy so who knew what was happening to my ivory white outer shell, my body didn’t ache anymore but I still could have marks from the injuries to add to the colouration. The air cooled slightly as the night air caused the hot metal to creak in compression; I stared down at Ebony and blinked, my hand was still gliding her back which was slowly turning back to its normal shade of shiny black. I actually had been stroking her all day, but then again being separated from her soft fur had left me slightly empty... Holding her like this was helping me stay whole. With a flickering warm feeling inside that had nothing to do with the still burningly hot air I fell asleep again.

A cry of “Hey! Hey I was joking about making out!” rang out as I felt a large rough tongue over my face again; cat breath wasn’t the best thing to wake up to but it was cooler than the air around me. My spine cracked loudly as I twisted away from Ebony, laughing softly at her playfulness; her nose sniffled against my back until she flinched back as sensitive nose met hard spike.
“Your foods coming today” Steamer said, her eye still pressed against the hole in the metal wall “you might have to fight if you want to keep your fuzzy friend there.”
“We both have claws and we are not going to be separated again” I said, my gaze hardening slightly as my clawed toes gripped into the dirt floor. It was baked dry but it soon splintered under the force. Sure enough a few moments later, at least I think it was only a few, the door was yanked open. Whoever it was ducked under the edge and shoved the food inside; he almost missed it, but almost didn’t win you the jackpot at the Las Vegas slots.
“What the hell’s that?” he said, bringing his gun up and aiming it at us both; Ebony crouched down behind me and growled in protest.
“She’s mine” I said in a quiet voice which echoed with warning “You try and take her away and you’ll never leave this hut.” The man’s gun barrel waved slightly as he made up his mind, Ebony kept growling as she huddled behind my spiked back. The man decided I was here for punishment... which I hoped would be over soon. He edged sideways into the cramped shed, his gun trained on me as he reached out with a hand to try and grab hold of Ebony. He found her, unfortunately for him he also found her jaws fastened tight around his hand. He yelled in pain as pointed teeth sliced through the hard plastic like acid, drawing blood from his hand as he yanked it with difficulty away from Ebony’s mouth. Ebony hissed menacingly as he scrambled outwards, dropping his gun as he slammed the shed door closed and screamed about psychotic animals.
“You’re in for it now” Steamer said, watching from the hole as always “They won’t give in because of that; they’ll come back with more men. If that doesn’t work they’ll probably try and starve you out.” I stared at the gun lying a few inches in front of me; I didn’t believe I was thinking about this.
“I guess this is my last night here” I said as I picked up the stun gun and began to fiddle with it; I’d never handled a gun before so it would be better I got acquainted with how it works before I have to have a shoot-out with the guards. Pressing a button at the side the clip of sleep inducing darts fell free; keep my finger away from that button while I’m shooting... The whole clip was full of darts luckily; nine shots didn’t seem like much however considering the amount of guards around this place.

I pressed myself against the side wall hard as I checked the clip for the fiftieth time, cocking the gun to make sure that the dart was in the barrel. It had been ten minutes of complete silence since the man had run screaming and every minute shaved away at my nerves like a razor blade; any moment that door would smash in and armoured men would force their way in to pry me from Ebony.
“I don’t suppose I can expect any help from you?” I asked, turning to look over my shoulder threw the gap and almost baking my eye as I found Steamer staring back at me.
Steamer pulled back from the gap, a deep frown furrowing her stony brow “I don’t know... I mean... It’s not too bad in here, they feed me well and it’s a place to stay...”
“You sound like a pet!” I growled, banging the gun barrel against the metal wall and making the rust rattle protest “When are you going to face up to what’s happening to you!?” I could see the worry in Steamer’s eyes, she had gotten used to this place; she’d been institutionalised to this cramped steel prison. Sighing lightly I ran my bone fingers over the guns metal barrel, listening to the light tinkling noises “If I get out of here I’ll open the door... Then you can chose whether to come and help or not.”
I retreated to my side again, hiding out of the view of the hole as best as I could as Ebony rested her head upon my lap and stared up at me with her large watery eyes; I could almost tell she felt guilty for getting me in trouble. I stroked her head slowly as the seconds ticked by as if everyone burnt the skin from my bones; it was torture to sit here waiting for those few seconds of quick madness.

The door rattled with the first blow, jerking me from my almost catatonic daze and causing Ebony to flinch back with a growl.
“Comeon FREAK!” a guard yelled from the other side as the door’s hinges surprisingly held up to a second blow “TIMES UP!” There were a few hurried steps and the door shattered into ballistic splinters; wood wasn’t the only thing flying in the air however. The first dart smacked home into man’s padded arm, the tainted tip tearing through cloth as it imbedded itself in his arm.
“He’s got a-“ the man yelled in surprise before the knockout concoction shut out every cerebral functions. It wasn’t as if anyone else needed warning, the bang had been so amplified by the metal cell it had sounded like someone had set off a cannon.
Ebony lunged before the dust from the door had cleared the air, arching her back like a salmon she leapt forward and buried her teeth into a second man’s leg. He landed screaming before a comrade’s dart smacked into his foot and silenced him, Ebony had just darted out the way by shrinking to her small cat form and vanishing between the mauled man’s legs. I fired twice before the guard hunting Ebony fell himself; there were two left but they were frozen in body defying terror as Ebony transformed back into her snarling full bodied wild cat. She arced her body in defiance again and pounced at the smallest guard; her claws somehow scraped over the frictionless helmet, scoring deep groves in it as the two guards turned in screaming panic and vanished across scorched grounds to the complex where they kept the more human subjects.
I got my first look at my surroundings for the first time; I’d been cooped up in metal shed but I had no idea what was outside those rusty walls. There were rows of them pressed together, if you took one away in the middle I’d swear they’d all fall over. A little way away was the animal sheds which looked little better than the metal cells. Kneeling slightly I knew I had little time before back up arrived; I hammered the away at the door of Steamer’s cell, a bolt popped and a plume of steam burst from the crack like it was the entrance to hell itself.
“I don’t know if you’re going to help” I whispered at the door as boiling air rushed past me “But at least you can leave if you want now.”

Disclaimer: Im not giving up on this thing, so DONT steal from me or Lavalamp studios you here? Or bad bad things will happen... BAD.

Ebony and Ivory collection
Ebony and Ivory chapter twentynine