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Alex sighed and reached for her laptop, shutting it from behind, "Mom is working another long shift. I don't expect to see her until Monday. Dad.. Let's say he's working." she crosses her legs in place and folds her arms behind her head, glancing up to Cicely, "Don't worry about it. Dad said I wasn't supposed to have anyone over, but I wouldn't be the only one in this family to lie about something." she looks up to the ceiling fan, watching it spin at a low speed, offering little but moving the air about, "Did you want to stay the night?"

-

The cat was indeed not Alex's, the cat was quite independent, and rather smart if memory serves. It even managed to make its way up to the open window, where it was now perched upon the windowsill. Were she to look below, she would note there was no, real way to get to the window, without a ladder. It seems like something that would be near impossible, even to a cat. Unless of course, it had very sticky feet.

Cicely twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, "...Can I?" She asked softly. She looked out the window at the cat. "Do you know who that cat is?" She asked Alex, "He's been following me since I left."

Alex shrugs idly. She didn't care all too much, in truth, it was a large house and she was fond of company, and considered Cicely one her best friends, even if the feeling wasn't completely mutual. "You can use the guest room. If they didn't leave me here by myself, I'd do as they said." She said with a sort or grin, glancing I the window in regards to the cat, who simply sits there, eyes jetting from one speaker to the other, "how did you get up here?" She asks to the cat, expecting and getting no answer. She turns back to Cicely, "I have no idea, I'd never seen the cat until you pointed him out. Maybe he's hungry?"

Cicely thought for a moment. She figured Alex didn't have any cat food, so what else do cats eat? She has never had a cat before so she really had no idea. She read a book before that had a talking cat protagonist that loved fish, maybe all cats love fish? "Do you have any tuna?" She asked.

Alex rolls her eyes a bit, "No. Mom is on another one of those weird diets, so all we have is a lot of grapefruit, turkey sausage, and rice.. Though, I think we have some milk, if she didn't use it to try and make her skin glow, or something. You should use that." She says as she idly scrolls over the screen of her MP3 player, to change the tune that was playing on her small speaker to something Cicely might find more agreeable. After all, they never did particularly share a taste in music.

The Black cat sits in the windowsill, staring back and forth between each speaker, as before. For the most part, it would look as if he was comprehending their conversation, to some extent. Though he didn't seem that excited, at the mention of food.

Cicely nodded before she got up. She was kind of disappointed by the fact that there wasn't any tuna but she made no comment to it. "I'll go get a small bowl of milk. I'll be right back." She looked at Alex and smiled.

She walked down the spiral staircase and into the kitchen. She remembered where everything was at from the last time she was here. She opened the cabinet and got out a small glass bowl. She placed it on the counter and opened up the fridge. There was milk in the fridge as Alex said, but it was halfway empty. It was more than enough for such a small bowl, Cicely decided, so she took the milk out and closed the fridge. She poured just enough to not overflow it- simply put, she poured enough to fill half of the bowl. She made sure that she didn't accidentally spill any milk before she put the milk back in the fridge.

The cat seemed to simply.. Appear, in the kitchen, on the counter alongside the refrigerator. Piercing yellow eyes locked on the girl's own. A disembodied voice nearby, but with no discernible source speaks - the voice is dry, and ominous, "Cicely.." It says, rather clearly. But it says nothing more for the time being.

If Cicely was holding anything, she would have dropped it. She gasped before holding a hand over her mouth- she may have involuntarily screamed otherwise.

For what seemed like hours- in reality probably three minutes- she stood there and stared at the cat. She finally spoke up, "...Did- did you just talk?" Her hand was still over her mouth so the words were somewhat muffled, but she really didn't want to believe that a cat was talking or anything was for that matter.

The cat sits on the counter silently. It's mouth never moved, perhaps she imagined it? No. The voice was quite clear. Though the cat would move to the edge of the counter and slowly extend its paw, to rest upon the girls arm. The cat, up until now, has never touched her - nor has he allowed her, to touch him. But now that he has, she would note his touch to be very cold, far below any healthy temperature for any mammal. Its eyes, though initially yellow/green like any cat, hazed over with red. It still did not seem to speak directly, though the disembodied voice continued, rough and hazy, like one would expect of a phantom in a horror movie.

"Cicely.. It isn't safe.. You need to hide." The voice said, the cat staring up at her intently.

Alex called out from upstairs, "Are you alright?" as she started to make her way towards the staircase, curious what had her held up so long. By now, the sun had already set - The neighborhood always had an ominous feel to it, when the sun set, and the street lamps came on. Despite the overall quality of the neighborhood, they didn't often change the bulbs, so many of them were dead, or dim from extensive use.

Cicely shivered when the cat touched her. She backed up a few steps, her eyes still locked with the cat's now red eyes. That's not a normal cat. She thought to herself as the disembodied voice spoke, she was more or less thinking the obvious but she was kind of freaking out right now.

What did the voice mean by 'it's not safe here'? It was perfectly safe here; it was Alex's house after all, she thought. She heard Alex's voice and turned around to run up the stairs. "A-Alex!" Cicely's voice sounded scared and desperate, "Alex, I-I think we should hide."

The cat follows a few steps behind her, never breaking stride, "They're coming. They're almost here." the disembodied voice states, in the same haunting tone.

Alex quickly steps back from the doorway as Cicely returns, narrowly avoiding a head on collision, "Huh?" she says with a raised brow, "What's wrong? Did you see something?" she curiously peers beyond her, down the stairwell.

Though there was nothing, yet, there would feel something amiss. It was almost too quiet outside the house. But that could just be her imagination..

Cicely started to freak out. She wasn't good under pressure and that voice definitely wasn't helping her. Could Alex not hear it? "A-Alex we need to hide." She started to look around the room. Maybe they could hide in the closet? Or under the bed?

The bed was too low for them to fit under - but she had a walk in closet, with sufficient space. Perhaps it was an obvious hiding place, but it could work in a pinch. The cat hops up into the window sill and looks down at the unlit street, tail swaying slowly back and forth within the building. The voice says again, "I'll protect you. You aren't ready yet." the cat turns its head, red eyes locking on Cicely's own, if she looks in his direction.

Alex does here this voice, and it gives her a start. She has always been an overconfident one, so she takes a martial arts stance and calls back, whilst looking around frantically, "Who said that? Come out!" he tone is loud, yet her eyes are more fearful, than they are confident.

In the distance, can be heard the distinctive sound of a loud, eight cylinder engine - It sounds a good distance off, but is closing in fast. Though the vehicle cannot be seen, yet.

"R-ready for what?" Cicely asked. She was, in fact, looking at the cat and she found it hard to look away.

After a moment she was finally able to look away and she turned towards Alex. "A-Alex." Cicely sounded desperate, "Alex we need to hide." She repeated as she tugged an Alex's sleeve towards the closet.

Alex sighs curtly, lowering her hands. She attempts to remain calm, yet Cicely could tell she was starting to panic, by the darting in her eyes, and the shaking in her hands, "Alright, we'll do that. I'm sure whatever it is, I could handle though." she moves towards the closet, filled mainly with T-shirts and jeans. It seems she only owns two dresses, but has several pairs of sweat pants.

The cat, as well, wanders into the closet behind Alex.

The sound of the engine approaching became louder, and louder, until finally the sound of tires screeching could be heard in front of the house. the vehicle was a large, black SUV, if she were to look. Yet since she wasn't looking, she would only hear four doors open, and shut loudly.

Cicely quickly closed the closet door behind her. She decided to keep the light off, because that's simply a smart thing to do. She jumped when she heard the car door slam shut.

"I-is that your dad?" Cicely asked Alex, her voice was hauntingly low and it was absolutely clear she was terrified.

Alex attempts to keep an even tone, "No. He's with his secretary.." she says with a huff, peeking through a small crack in the closet.

They would hear a series of loud, booming knocks on the door, followed by a brief silence.. Then the door would swing open, doorknob colliding heavily against the wall on impact, and a collaborate of footsteps enter the abode. They can be heard for the first few moments, but eventually fall into an uncomfortable silence.

Seconds that feel like hours drag on.

One set of these steps can be heard, faintly coming up the staircase, and near the door..

Cicely instantly stepped closer to Alex when she heard the footsteps coming up the staircase. She was starting to freak out really bad; she was shaking, and her breath was ragged, though she kept her hands over her mouth. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what was happening. She was clueless and scared and really didn't want to be here right now.

Peering through the doorway, they would see a black clad figure, stalk into the room. He was wearing a tactical vest, grenades visible on the breast, a walkie on his belt attatched to an earpiece in his ear. Under his tactical vest was a black, long sleeved turtle neck. He wore a pair of sunglasses, however it appeared to have several images, displayed before him on the left eye, whilst the right was unhindered. He bore high combat boots, with buckles on the sides - But most notably, he bore a dark finished carbine in both hands, leading with it.

The disembodied voice says in a low whisper, "Control your fear. Control your fear, or this place will burn. Stay calm.."
The black cat stares up at her, piercing red eyes very notable through the otherwise light absent room.

Cicely felt like she really shouldn't of looked through the doorway. It might've just been her, but guns were always super scary. She backed away from the door before looking at the cat. Control her fear? Who in the right mind wouldn't be terrified right now? No one. And what did the voice mean by 'this place will burn'? Were the strange people planning on burning the place down?

She decided that the voice was right in some sense. She must calm down. If something were to happen, freaking out wouldn't help a thing. Once she calmed down maybe she could think of something that could get Alex, the cat, and herself out of the situation. Unlikely, due to her not working well under pressure, but still. Counting down from twenty always seemed to help her and that's just what she did; in her head, of course.