I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 45: Nightmares

Alisha spent the next several hours making phone calls to and from a handful of different people. When she finally came upstairs, it was fully dark out. 

“I have to go out for a bit, Kitten,” she told me.

I started to get up off the bed but she put a hand on my hair, stopping me.

“I know you want to come. I know it's because you want to be there for me, but this is going to be dirty work.”

I nodded. I was tired, which meant she had to be too. “I'll still come,” I told her.

“I don't think that's a good idea,” she said. “This isn't just an investigation at this point.”

I stared blankly at her 

“It's an execution, Kitten,” she explained.

“Oh…” I swallowed. That was a bit further than following her around to look at dead bodies. Still… how could I be there for her if I didn't get used to this?

I let my weight sink into the bed again. “Can I do something for when you get home?” I asked. “If you really don't want me to come.”

She shook her head. “I'll be okay, just get some rest. If you want you can come with me tomorrow. I have more rounds to do.”

I nodded. Her rounds were usually pretty routine. But that also meant she was going to be getting up early tomorrow after tonight… I glanced out the window where the sky was pitch black. She was going to be exhausted tomorrow. It would probably be more useful for me to get some rest so I could help take care of her when she was finished with this.

I settled on the bed as she got ready, changing her clothes and pulling her hair up into one of the fancier buns she did. There was a certain beauty to boss Alisha that I was a little afraid of. She put on the same heels as earlier and gave me a quick kiss against my forehead before going down the stairs. I saw lights from outside and figured one of her drivers had come to pick her up.

I got ready for bed and settled in with a cookbook I found on her bookshelf. It was difficult to relax and it wasn't until my eyes were having a hard time staying open I decided to try to sleep, turning the light out and nestling under the covers. It was cold and empty, though. I didn't realize how used to being spooned by Alisha I was until she was gone.

I tossed and turned for a while, feeling my hair getting progressively more tangled. At some point, I must've fallen asleep.

Alisha got back and I sat up. There was a roboticness to her movements as she crossed the room, something not quite right with her.

I blinked, seeing blood on her face.

“Alisha?” I asked, concerned. I squinted as it was brighter outside than I expected. She was just getting back after daybreak?

She put her purse down on the floor with a heavy thud and started to strip out of her clothing, peeling each layer off just to toss it to the floor. There was more blood sticking to her body.

“Are you okay?” I asked and swung my legs off the side of the bed.

She continued her silence as I approached and reached out to her, more concerned about her than getting blood on my hands. I turned her face to look at me. Her eyes finally met mine.

“Are you okay?” I repeated.

There was blood on her mouth and her lip twitched unnaturally. I hesitated, my focus moving to it. The soft pink was very inviting outside of more blood smudged there. I ran a finger over them, feeling the gentle ridges and wishing I could soothe what was wrong. There was another movement, like her tongue swiping across her front teeth before her lips parted and a thick dribble of red came out. I pulled my hand away, shocked. A rats head squeezed out from between, fur matted and black, little whiskers twitching curiously before the tiny paws scrabbled to wriggle the rest of the way out. It jumped and I felt the warm wet spatter against my face as it clambered up to my hair. I panicked and reached up to bat it away just to fall backwards and hit my head and–

I jolted awake, panting and covered in a cold sweat.

My body was trembling as I sat up and blinked around the room

It was still night time. I had only been asleep an hour or so. The racing in my blood started to slow as I took in the familiar room, and the lack of a blood soaked Alisha or the rat. I got off the bed, rubbing my eyes and went to the bathroom to run the cold water and put my hands in it. That was a bad dream. One I didn't want to relive again.

I looked up from the water stream as I heard Alisha’s heels coming up the stairs and hurriedly turned the water off and went back to the bedroom.

“You’re still awake?” she asked, concern leaking into her voice.

“Oh, I just woke up,” I explained.

She kept her distance as she went into the bathroom. I smelled that unique acridness on her clothing just like the time I knew she killed someone. She was clean otherwise, no trace of blood or smudges of dirt but there had been a weapon fired near her. That was probably why she went in the bathroom and stripped down before anything else. She started the shower and I heard the stall door open and close.

I pulled a set of pajamas from the closet for her and set them on the bed before fixing up the covers and climbing under them to wait.

She came out a while later, blotting her hair as usual and dropped her old clothes in the trash before tying the bag shut.

She sat on the edge of the bed, her towel struggling to maintain her decency as she did so l.

I sat up as she sat there, staring at the far wall.

“Was it difficult?” I asked.

She started to blot her hair again, working at getting it dry enough to sleep. “It was not ideal,” she said finally. “I didn't get the answers I needed.”

I scooted to sit next to her and pulled her closer. “I'm sorry,” I told her. “I'm surprised you don't have people to… you know.”

“Unfortunately the threat of torture is far more effective than the act itself,” she stated. “And when someone has made peace with the fact they're going to die in agony, there's little I can do to pull information out of them.” She sighed. “Doesn't mean we can be lenient. Examples have to be made, too.”

I pressed my face against her, inadvertently ending up staring at her cleavage peeking out from the towel. Her smell was back to its usual cleanness and I found it soothing. I wondered if she found my smell relaxing too. 

When she finally did get up I gave her space to get dressed in the pajamas and then shake a little more water from her hair before she got in on her usual side of the bed and plugged her phones into a couple ports along the headboard.

I pulled her closer without giving her much time to settle in.

“Thank you, Kitten,” she murmured before reaching to turn the light off.

“I hope you get some good sleep,” I told her.

“You, too, Kitten.”