Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Half a year after losing my job, I finally landed a position as a hotel front desk clerk.
The pay was good. The benefits were even better.
The only requirement was that I had to like animals.
I looked at the tabby cat who’d shadowed me through the entire interview, then at the walls covered in photos of cats and dogs, and nodded to show I understood.
A pet-friendly hotel, obviously. That all seemed perfectly normal.
My first shift happened to be the night shift.
Before the manager left, he hesitated over and over, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t quite get it out.
Each time, I just patted him on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring look.
“I get it,” I told him. “Don’t worry.”
It wasn’t until eleven that night that the revolving doors in the lobby suddenly began to turn.
A few seconds later, a black-and-white cat—soaking wet and covered in wounds—leapt onto the tall stool in front of the front desk, panting hard.
“Human,” the cat said, “get me a room. A king bed.”
It lifted its head with obvious effort, staring straight at me.
“The cat is checking in.”
I stared at the black-and-white cat in front of me.
For a second, I genuinely wondered if staying up too late two nights in a row had finally pushed me into hallucinating.
A talking cat.
A cat checking into a hotel.
Either one of those, taken on its own, was enough to get someone written off as completely insane.
When I didn’t move, the black-and-white cat got fed up, leaped onto the front desk, and smacked at me with one paw.
“What’s wrong with your ears?”
Then, with even more irritation, “The cat said the cat needs a room.”
I froze.
It really was this cat talking.
At that moment, the tabby who’d been sitting silently beside me all this time tugged at my pant leg, signaling for me to step back.
Then he slipped around me and sprang up onto the counter in two clean jumps.
Boss Tabby cleared his throat.
“She’s new,” he said. “She hasn’t finished training yet.”
He sat up straight, all business. “Honored guest, if there’s anything you need, tell me. I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”
The black-and-white cat lowered her head and licked at the blood matted into the fur on her paw as she spoke.
“My room needs clumping litter. I’m not used to the other kind.”
“I want a tall cat tree.”
“And warm water would be best. I don’t like purified water.”
Boss Tabby sat primly at the desk, listening with grave concentration as if he were taking notes.
But the more the cat spoke, the more worked up she became.
She was grooming herself so hard it looked like she was about to start a fight with her own body.
Boss Tabby quickly reached out and pressed a paw against her to stop her.
“I’ve got your requests,” he said. “Is there anything else you need?”
The black-and-white cat went still.
She thought for a long moment, then suddenly jerked her head up.
“Meow!”
Her back arched, and every hair on her body stood on end.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Hurry,” she cried. “You have to tell my mom to run!”
Boss Tabby’s voice turned grave.
“Tell her everything.”
Oreo paced back and forth in front of the desk, frantic enough that her paws kept slipping on the floor.
“A bad man got into Mom’s home.”
“He’s a male human. He came there once with Mom before, and after that, every day while Mom was out hunting, he snuck into the apartment.”
“I don’t like him. I hate him.”
“Every time he came, he kicked me, pulled my tail, yanked my fur, and put strange things around the apartment.”
“In the living room, the bathroom, where Mom sleeps—everywhere.”
“This morning, after Mom went out hunting, he came again.”
“He hid a metal thing and a long rope beside the bathroom pipes.”
“I could smell him today. He smelled mean. Dangerous.”
“And when he left, I heard him say he’d do it tonight.”
“Mom’s going to get hurt when she comes home tonight. I have to protect Mom.”
“But I couldn’t beat him.”
“I lost.”
The little black-and-white cat lowered her head in despair, tail lashing restlessly behind her.
“Mom comes home every day after the moon is overhead. The moon’s almost there now. She’ll be home soon.”
“I’m begging you. You can have all my canned food and all my toys.”
“Please save Mom.”
I just stared at her.
If what this cat was saying was true, her owner’s apartment was a trap waiting to spring. That metal object and rope were probably meant to be weapons.
I made the decision on the spot.
“I’m calling the police first. Where do you live?”
Oreo launched into a tangled, breathless description of the route she’d taken to get here. I had to pull up a map and spend several minutes piecing it together before I found the place.
The building was close to the hotel.
The police station was not.
Boss Tabby thought for a moment, then rose onto his hind legs and patted my shoulder with both front paws.
“There’s one more thing I need to ask of you.”
At that point, I didn’t have the luxury of stopping to process any of this.
Every extra minute meant more danger for Oreo’s owner.
“Tell me.”
Boss Tabby’s expression stayed severe.
“You go wait downstairs for the guest cat’s human. Stop her before she goes up.”
He flicked his gaze to the badge hanging on my chest.
“I’ll follow behind and keep you safe.”
Then he pointed at the staff badge.
“As long as you’re wearing that, you can understand us.”
There wasn’t much traffic that late at night.
On my little electric scooter, I got to Oreo’s apartment complex fast.
The place was old—really old. No security guard at the entrance, and only about half the courtyard lights were working. The whole building complex looked dim and tired, like it had been forgotten years ago.
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
I stood outside for a moment and carefully watched the building, using the floor number Oreo had given me. After a while, I was sure her owner still wasn’t home.
Only then did I make my way cautiously toward the building, calling the police as I walked to confirm how soon they’d arrive.
The moment Boss Tabby left the hotel, he turned transparent again, a ghostly outline instead of a solid cat. He and Oreo walked ahead of me with their tails up, scouting the way.
“Human, no danger up ahead for now. You can keep going.”
That was Boss Tabby.
“I kissed Little Ginger right here!”
That was Oreo.
She bounded into a patch of grass by the path, then flopped down into it with obvious delight.
“I had a duel with Mom here too!”
“In the end, Mom won.”
“I lost miserably.”
She sprang back to her feet and skipped ahead, stopping beside a trash can near the stairwell entrance.
Chest puffed out, she looked absurdly proud.
“This is where Mom found me!”
I lifted my eyes—and immediately spotted a dark figure crouched on the stair steps.
My scalp prickled so hard I nearly jumped out of my skin.
But Oreo got excited. She bounced in place a few times, then ran toward the shadow with her tail straight up, her steps suddenly dainty and prim.
“Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom!”
“It’s my mom!”
She rushed up to the figure, trying to rub against her, but her spirit body passed straight through.
“That’s my mom!”
The shadow was a young woman.
When she realized she’d startled me, she stood up at once and apologized in a voice thick with tears. Then she turned to go upstairs.
I hurriedly called out to stop her.
“Do you have a black-and-white cat?”
The second she heard that, she spun back and grabbed my hand instead.
“Yes—yes, I do. You… you’ve seen her?”
Her voice was trembling with hope.
“She has a collar and a name tag on. Her name is Oreo.”
“I had the day off today. When I got home at noon, she was gone. I’ve been looking all over the neighborhood for her all night. I’m losing my mind.”
She stared at me, shaking.
“Have you seen her?”
I froze for a few seconds before pulling her gently off to the side.
I honestly couldn’t tell whether she was lucky or unlucky.
Oreo had been killed that morning. When she came home around noon, the killer probably hadn’t been gone long. Then that evening, she’d stayed out searching for Oreo instead of going back upstairs.
By some terrible miracle, that was how she’d avoided the man hiding inside her apartment.
She looked confused, but she still let me lead her aside.
“Don’t go home yet,” I said. “Your apartment isn’t safe.”
Her expression went blank with shock. She looked one second away from asking if I was insane.
Right then, a police cruiser pulled up outside the apartment building.
I raised a hand to show I was the one who’d called.
I brought her over, and the three of us went upstairs together. At the door, one of the officers nodded for her to unlock it.
Still dazed, she slid in her key and turned it.
The door had barely opened halfway when a violent force slammed into it from inside.