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It was too quiet.
She usually woke up to the smell of breakfast and the sound of Nerissa humming some new tune down the hall. But there was no music to greet her furred ears—not even the familiar hum of the AC or her sister’s rhythmic snores. Sounds aside, it wasn’t hard to figure out that this place did not smell like their hideout. The scent of the air—not even the scent, but the musty, stale atmosphere itself—was familiar in a way that twisted her stomach and halted her breath.
Her eyes snapped open when the pieces clicked into place in her mind. Even in the dim light, the sight of old stone walls and a reinforced door confirmed her fear. She was here again—the Cell. But being underground again wasn’t what spiked her adrenaline.
It was being in solitary confinement.
She bolted upright, ears pinned back, and screamed her twin’s name. Only the echo of her own desperation replied. She screamed for her sister again—somehow louder than before—and felt tears beginning to slip down her cheeks.
She had to find her. She couldn’t bear the thought of being so utterly alone again—or leaving her sister to the same fate. They were two halves of a whole, and to separate them… that was the worst torture anyone had ever subjected the twins to.
She scrambled to her feet—wearing the familiar, detestable prison uniform that limited both her movement and powers—and ran for the door. It was just as unyielding and cold as she remembered. Were she able to summon her claws, she would’ve torn it to shreds. But as things stood…
She pounded her fists against the door and screamed again, demanding to be set free, begging for her sister to save her, howling for any attention at all. But again, her actions yielded only a cacophony of echoes and a hollow complaint from the impossibly thick metal.
Minutes passed and her throat grew raw. Her hands shook, though it could just as easily be panic as it could pain from assaulting the door. With nothing else to do, she sank to her knees and sobbed.
They couldn’t do this! They couldn’t split them up! It was lonely! It was cruel!
And it was a long time later when the nightmare finally ended.
She gasped and started, eyes wide in expectation of the darkness of the Cell. She found her room instead, faintly lit by moonlight filtering through the window—moonlight that could never have existed down in that prison. The air smelled like pon-de-rings and her sister’s fur. She felt the material of her soft pajama shirt and sighed when she didn’t feel any tight straps holding it to her body. The AC hummed as usual, and soft snores told her that she wasn’t the only one in the room.
She was home. She was safe. But still, she couldn’t shake the memory of being so alone, more isolated than she’d ever been before or since. How long had she spent in that room before the incident that led to a shared cell? Weeks? Months? Decades? She’d lost track, and she wasn’t sure if knowing would be better or worse.
She shook her head, catching her thoughts wandering to things she’d rather forget about. She didn’t need to keep thinking about that place; she needed to ground herself in the things she had now that she’d lacked then, or going back to sleep would be impossible. She had a comfortable bed, cozy pajamas, moonlight, and…
Her sister. More than anything else, she was grateful to have her sister. But… just hearing her snore wasn’t quite enough to calm her nerves after being without her.
She tossed off the covers and got up, tail tucked between her legs as she made her way to the other bunk. She found her twin as cozy as could be, the colored highlights in her hair softly catching the moon like lighthouses guiding her through a storm. A tiny flicker of jealousy flitted across her heart at the thought that her twin was at such peace before she crushed it with thankfulness that her sister wasn’t suffering like she was.
She felt awkward just lingering there, staring like some creep. She reached out and gave her sister a gentle scratch behind one ear. A smile tugged at her twin’s lips.
“Mmm… Moco-chan?”
“Mm?”
Her twin stirred, blinking bleary eyes open to meet hers. Her sleepy smile faded when she saw the residual unease on her face.
“Are you okay?” her sister asked, reaching up to take her hand. She hummed for a moment, not entirely wanting to answer the question.
“I had a bad dream,” she admitted. “But I’m okay.” Before she was even finished talking, her twin was shuffling backward on the bed, peeling open the sheets to make room.
“No, no, no, no,” her twin scolded, still half asleep in her insistent tug at her hand. “C’mere.” Guilt squeezed her heart for waking her sister, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t want to crawl into bed beside her.
So, she did. She let herself get pulled onto the mattress beside her twin, who immediately pulled the covers back up for both of them. She shuffled close, leaving barely any space between them, and her sister seemed to get the idea.
“It was a really bad dream, huh?” She buried her face under her twin’s chin and felt arms come around her body to hold her safe and secure. She returned the gesture, holding her twin like a massive teddy bear.
“I don’t wanna go back there. I don’t wanna be alone,” she whispered, half hoping she wouldn’t be heard. She knew she was when she felt her sister stiffen.
“You’re not,” her sister assured her. “You got me, and Rissa, and Biboo, and Shiori. And we’re never going back. None of us.” A hand rose and softly scratched her scalp, returning the heavenly comfort she’d given earlier. Going back to sleep had seemed impossible, but now she felt her eyelids growing heavier. “If anyone ever tries to take you away, they’ll have to deal with all the rest of us, too, okay?” She nuzzled deeper into her sister’s neck.
“And we’re never gonna get split up again, right?” She felt guilty for saying it out loud, but she had to be sure. Her sister squeezed her tighter.
“Never ever.”
Held in her sister’s arms, that was all the assurance she needed to feel safe enough to drift off again.