A new Dawn

3rd episode of the story "The white cat"

Beyond the veil lurks the truth
Inside the night a secret
Those that wander through
Can never forget the curse of the lick

 

Dawn is here.

You groggily open your eyes as the alarm blares through the room, struggling to locate its placement.

After missing a few slaps in the open air, the alarm suddenly stops, letting you pull your consciousness together.

“Mreow!”

You sit up with your back to the bed headboard and meet the gaze of your newest companion, Dawn.

You give them a few pats on the head and scratch their unusually fluffy chin.

From their tail sprouts another one, diverting from the mid point of the original one, but lacking the pitch black tip.

They don’t purr no matter how much affection you give them, but the number of tails seems to signify their satisfaction.

You shake your head at the realization that those tails mesmerized you, and soon the cat’s chin was melting around your hand.

You pull your hand back, a bit afraid of what might happen if you let them on you.

There is still much unknown about the creature your brought in, but you’re not met with any symptoms of fear or adrenaline or anything else.

As if your body recognizes the cat as a friendly entity… however it is doing that.

As soon as you started to stand up, Dawn almost instantly melts down and around the night stand, the 

white substance gathering at the legs of the stand.

You quickly get on your knees and try to do something with your hands, but you are met with a soft paw attack from them, after having materialized into a cat behind the stand.

You chuckle at the new form of play, and get right into action when Dawn splits into two, smaller kittens, having you surrounded.

You pivot from one corner to another, effectively playing “first to tap the paw wins”, retracting your hand as soon as they attack and finding an opening to top their paw.

This turned into a series of fast back and forth until you successfully pawed them, which in turn led to the clone melting away and gathering back to Dawn.

The excess substance gathered at Dawn’s legs as he pounced on your chest, making you fall down on a white cushion, your abdomen almost giving out if you hadn’t stilled beforehand.

Dawn is rather ferocious and unmerciful, by human standards, and won’t dial down when push comes to shove.

They might be your friend and companion, but by the end of the day, they are an unknown creature, a monster even.

But these aren’t the thoughts that came to your mind.

When you look up, seeing pure white fluff with pitch black ear, tail and paw tips, those bright orange eyes, a body capable of total transformation and manipulation at will, those same legs that hold you down now, empowered by their physiology, a “monster” isn’t the term that comes to mind.

 

…..

 

Nothing comes to mind.

As you look at Dawn, now their tail straightened in the form of a spear right above your forehead, a lack of claws from their paws, and their body frozen in place, you’ve got nothing to fear.

The tip of the tail touches your head, and on contact in melts.

Dawn starts to lie down on your chest, taking on the form of a loaf, placing their head down.

The excess mass is slowly absorbed by them, returning themselves to a normal cat.

Only their tail seems to spread throughout your body, encasing you like vine does.

You close your eyes.

You notice Dawn’s body does not have any warmth at all.

With each second, your breathing slows down.

Your muscles relax as you feel like floating, not falling down, but being held up.

It feels… “white”, in a way. A sense of emptiness courses through your chest. It’s like an air pressure is being pointed at you.

“…up”.

You might as well let it eat you up. This feeling makes you feel safe. Just let go.

“… ke up”.

You hear a distant voice, but can’t make up what it says.

Does it even matter?

If you would just plunge into darkness, wouldn’t life be easier? What if you just stopped caring for others? What if you weren’t considerate? Where is all this anxiety coming from? Why are you conforming to the BS that is society? Why don’t you live for once? Is fear the only thing ingrained in your mind? Others don’t matter. Step on them. Only you matter. Become the source of fear. 

Let go of principles. Let go of the past. Let go of lies. Let go of yourself. Let go of yourself. Let go Let go Let �"

 

“WAKE UP!”

 

You jolt wake, eyes wide and open, barely a second later you made up your decision to bolt to the kitchen.

Your body is almost fully covered in white, and it is expanding at a fast rate.

Only from the neck up are you safe. Dawn is swallowing you.

You tripped on the way to the kitchen, being help back by numerous tentacles of theirs, not wanting to let their prey go.

You power through, barely making it to the sink, and you turn it on…

 

Nothing happens.

 

You thoughts cats are scared of water, and you would be right, if they were one.

You tried an open flame, but the substance just engulfs the fire.

You tried a knife, but the tentacles stop it.

You tried the freezer, but it has no effect.

You tried cat food, but it was splattered away.

 

Your body falls to the ground. Completely limp from both exhaustion and overtaking.

This is the first time your breathing picks up the pace, adrenaline coursing through you.

Your body freezes up, your eyes blurs, your ears ringing, your muscles cramping.

“Am I dead?”, you ask a silly question.

You long accepted this fate, you knew the dominance they have over you. You were always at their mercy.

It was only a matter of time before they got bored.

Just like everyone else.

Once two paths separate, it’s as if they never knew each other. Once you start to question your place, it is already too late. It was never about yourself. Prey is to be preyed upon. Prey can never be anything. Once you are innocent and mindful, aware of reality, coming to terms with yourself, everyone else is just a predator in your eyes. But you learn to accept that. You learn to adapt to them. Become like them. Forget about yourself and please the system. That’s what masks are for, right? Even if indoors you take one off, you will never be yourself again. Practice makes perfect, is the saying, isn’t it? Letting your true self go for years and years will only hurt you. It will only be harder to come back. And If you yourself are the victim of such things, isn’t everyone else also? It is easy to be oblivious. Ignorance is bliss and all. Isn’t it weird how we, all of the humans, walk past so many of our own species, so ignorant to each other’s lives, when we have the capacity for comprehension, wakeness and empathy? We all follow our objectives, but they are never meant for others. We never live for the sake of others. We ostracize ourselves. It is an unchangeable product of our lives.

But even so, people always find someone special. And that someone special has another special person. And so on and so forth. We always create relationships with people, and the amalgamation of us creates the world. Even if you’re alone, if you really want to, you will find that special other.

Just learn to accept…

 

…

 

You slowly raise your left arm towards your face.

The white substance drifts away from your pinky finger, revealing your skin.

You falter for a bit, but remember what’s important.

You grip your pinky from the second joint going down with your front teeth.

 

You take a deep breath…

 

…

 

Crunch

 

An echo fills the kitchen as the sound of your scream and falling finger hitting the tiled floor causes your ears to ring.

With your pinky bleeding, you hug yourself.

You embrace your own body very tightly.

It isn’t an act of self-soothing.

It is reassurance. Not to yourself, but to Dawn.

You never took the time to consider what they might feel.

You betrayed the connection you had by living your life as it was. You didn’t account for them in your life.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here.”

“I’m sorry for being inconsiderate.”

“I made you feel alone, and I didn’t notice…”

“I’m just a mess, and I still don’t know what to do.”

“But I want to change. I want to understand you.”

…

“Will you give me another chance?”

…

 

…

 

-Fine-, a mellow, yet annoyed voice booms in your mind.

Then in a second all the white mass begins to fall down from your body, crawling over in a spot near the kitchen door, transforming into Dawn, with their back towards you and head raised high.

You let out a breath of relief, taking a second to regain your motor functions.

Then you look at Dawn, and… a pain appears in your chest.

It seems to radiate with each pulse, feeling your fingers tremble with each beat.

You recall your lost pinky, but it seems Dawn drank all the dripping blood in the process.

You ponder what to do now, having talked big, yet nothing comes to mind.

You can’t apologize any more, and offering blood is outdated.

 

An idea comes to mind.

 

You extend your hand towards Dawn, with your palm facing downwards, your head looking down at the floor, sitting on your knees.

You wanted another chance to accept Dawn, then you should come to terms with them.

You were scared of being swallowed, and fear made it come to life.

Now, all that is on your mind is Dawn. What Dawn needs. What Dawn feels.

They take a peak at your hand, then at you, then back.

You can hear little tippy taps approaching slowly, but you still keep your head down.

…

The sound stopped.

You look up.

Dawn is in front of your hand, eyes swirling with red blood, brows furrowed in annoyance.

You rotate your palm to face up.

Dawn places their chin on your palm, and soon your hand is enveloped in white, the mass travelling throughout your body.

You keep your body still, engaging all senses to understand the feeling of becoming one.

As more seconds pass, Dawn suddenly jumps out from your other hand, still a bit annoyed, but their eyes no longer red.

And you notice that your pinky has somehow grown back, and your body feels lighter than usual.

You come to the really obvious conclusion, that Dawn feeds off of blood, and your blood powers their connection with you.

You recall the first time you met them, having established some sort of contract, and now you put the two and two together.

But that is not the main point anyway. A contract does not define compatibility. To be for someone else, you have to accept them and understand them, and vice versa.

You take a look around your apartment.

 

It is one of the most hideous places you’ve ever seen. With rent as cheap as a few coins, you got yourself rooms filled with mold, bugs and a dull, gray theme. Missing planks, leaking water and exposed wires. Cabinets on the verge of falling off, a bed squeaking as much as a mouse on distress, and practically no furniture, save for a few essentials you payed for with your *well* earned paycheck.

 

You look at Dusk, and understand.

This is not living life. You’ve lied to yourself your whole life. It is time to move forward.

You nod to Dusk, and they perk up, hopping on your left shoulder, tail wrapping down and around your arm.

They lean their head on you, rubbing your cheeks in ecstasy.

You go towards the front door, and take a look back.

“You will not be missed”.

 

You open the door and step into the darkness, where you might find new adventures waiting for you and Dusk.

 

Dawn is here.

 

 

To befriend the unknown

Is walking in tragedy

Of not knowing yourself

And learning to feel. 

Author's Note

Heyy, I am sorry for the late upload, I only work on inspirations teehee :p. Anyway, this is a bit rushed, as I just remembered I can write (whaaat), so I am sorry for the rusty feeling and lack of vocabulary, I just had to get one out. Thaaanks and advice is appreciated!