Night of Secrets

The night is full of secrets. [[Next]]

Secrets are nothing to be feared though. Their shadows are welcoming. There are just some things that need to be hidden. And others that need to be known. [[Next ]]

It is late and once again this place is quiet. The sound of rain patters the roof to this large den of ours. My bed is comfortable, but the night is where I thrive. I must explore. [[Explore]]

My bed, my den. It is warm and small. I feel safe here. Beneath me is a soft floor, and in the front wall is an opening just large enough for me. No other walls have openings. Just the way I like it. [[Exit Den]]

I squeeze out of my den into the space before me. This large den has many things for me to climb on, soft, plushy things called "couches" and "chairs," but the Two-Legs I share my territory with get aggressive when I climb. One throws things and yell. Perhaps they are afraid I'll do something. As if I could, it's already battered. It smells like old things. Everything in here is old and worn. The one Two-Leg never likes to clean up after himself, so old food and stains waft from the squishy floor. There is a large, gaping hole in the wall leading to the hard perch den, another leading to food den, and then a path leading to other dens. [[Hard Perch Den]] [[Food Den]] [[Path]]

I quietly patter over to the hard perchden. The perches are much higher here than most other dens. The perches have so many legs, all dark and slightly worn from use. I can survey my territory better, but the Two-Leg yells then too. But it is night. They sleep at night. I could jump up there now. [[Jump]] [[Food Den]] [[Path]]

The food den. My favorite den except the one I sleep in. There are blocky perches here, with dark, hard bases and white-ish tops, but the tops are sticky so I don't go up there. The smell of partially eaten, old food comes from the perches. Two-Leg food smelled nice fresh, but old? Gross. My food lies in wait for me over in the corner. The floor here is cold but it feels nice against my feet. [[Go Eat]] [[Hard Perch Den]] [[Path]]

The path is much darker than the other dens, especially at night. I always thought it reminded me of a long cave. It has strange things hanging on the walls like leaves, and the dooras. Down the path, with an open door, is the smelly den. [[Hard Perch Den]] [[Food Den]] [[Smelly Den]]

I plod over to my food and start to munch. It's hard and not as good as the soft meats of the small prey from my life before the Nice Two-Leg found me, but it will do. I like her, so I forgive her for the subpar meal. I finish eating. Where to next...? [[Hard Perch Den]] [[Path]]

I jump up onto the tallest hard perch. I love the power in my legs. From here I can see out the window. There lies the green grass and the trees. Oh how I wish I could go out there! Alas, the window is still just a clear wall; impassable. I cannot go. [[Jump Down]]

I jump down from the perch. I could still go to food den or to the path. [[Food Den]] [[Path]]

The smelly den is my least favorite den. The odor is wretched most of the time, especially when the Nice Two-Leg isn't home. It makes my hair stand up. The walls in this den are covered in weird designs; stripes of white and red, with the occasional faded red flower. I don't like it. The white water bowl stands here, and the cold lounger is next to it. [[White Water Bowl]] [[Cold Lounger]] [[Path]]

I jump up onto the white water bowl. I sniff and almost gag. Some Two-Leg left their droppings behind, unburied, exposed to the elements! Unbelievable. I bet it was Mean, Nice is too clean to do something so horrible. [[Smelly Den]] [[Path]]

I jump into the cold lounger. Ahhh the smooth surface feels so good. I could lay here for hours. But now is not the time. I hear something coming from further down the path, from the Two-Leg dens. There is one for the big Two-Legs, and another for the smaller, squishier Two-Leg. The noises from the Big Two-Leg den are much louder, I should go there first. [[Big Two Leg Den]]

I walk quckly to the Big Two-Leg den. I like to come here when Nice is home, she gives good scratches on my back when I lie on the big fluffy perch. But wait... The door to the den is closed! Not fair, I left my favorite toy in there! There is a slim beam of light coming from a gap between the door and the floor. That's strange, the Two-Legs should be sleeping. Nice left earlier today though. I wish she wouldn't leave us for so long. When she comes back, she's always tired and smells like food. The noises are very loud and strange. I hear sniffling coming from the smaller Two Leg's Den. [[Small Two Leg Den]]

The small Two-Leg den has an open door. It's all the way at the end of the path. I can see his perches in the shadows. I don't like his den, there are too many hard things to step on, and he throws things at me. Then he screams some high pitched noise. It's very annoying. It always seemed like Nice, the friendly Two-Leg, liked the little one more than Mean, the hurtful Two-Leg, ever did. Now the little one sounds distressed. My heart twinges for it, despite my normal caution around it. [[Go In Anyway]]

I carefully pick my way inside Little Two Leg's den. There is a large perch with see through sides. I hear the Little Two-Leg breathing. It sounds reedy and noisy to me. There are small toys scattered all over the floor. I step on one and hiss in pain. It just had to be one of the sharp ones, didn't it? [[Jump Up to Perch]]

I jump up to the strange perch. I see the squishy little Two-Leg sniffling in the dark. I feel bad. Nice isn't home, only Mean. His voice is loud and sharp to Little, it scares him. I think it scares Nice too. [[Jump Down and Avoid Sharp Thing]]

I safely navigate my way down, avoiding sharp things. Then I hear the sound of someone familiar. "Hello litter-mate," says the voice cheerfully. I look to the door. It's my brother, Loki. His one good eye shines in the dim light. "Loki, I did not know you were awake." "I am now. I heard noises coming from Big Two-Leg den and went to see. The door is closed though." "We should find a way to open it!" [[Loki's Eye]] [[Go Find A Way]]

I remeber the day Mean hurt my brother. He threw something at him while he was climbing in the soft perch den. It hit him so hard he went flying. I remember the smell of the blood all over the floor, and Nice screaming at Mean. "How could you?! He wasnt doing anything wrong!!" she screamed. She ran over and dashed out the door that lead outside with Loki in her arms. She came back hours later with him asleep and put him in my den. Her and Mean argued that night for hours. [[Return to the Present]]

Loki and I creep down the path back to the food den. "Maybe we can get him to come out," he says. "I hope so, I left my favorite toy in there and I want it back!" [[Look Around For A Solution]]

I shake my head. I hate that memory. But my brother is still here with me. We should be going. [[Go Find A Way]]

There are a lot of things in the food den that make noise. Maybe we could knock them down or something. [[Investigate the Perch with the Metal Things]] [[Investigate the Thing that Makes Voices]] [[Talk to Loki]]

We plod over to the base of the Perch with Metal Things. I can vaguely smell the old bits of food on them. It smells strange. "We could jump up there and knock them down," Loki says thoughtfully, "Then run and hide before running into the Den." "I like that plan," I reply. [[Make Some Noise!]]

We plod over to the thing that makes voices. It lays silent now. "This part," Loki says, pressing his foot onto one of the orange colored parts. It glows, and makes a noise, then another noise comes. And another. And another. Then there's Nice's voice. "Hello? Chad? Are you there?" It was good to hear her voice. Loki made a noise of greeting. "Loki baby? Is that you you silly boy?" A pause. "I'm coming home." Then her voice wasn't there. [[Nice]]

I look over at Loki. His scarred face still fills me with sadness. "What is it?" he asks, noticing my attention. "What do you think we should do?" "I think we should look at the metal things. But I did find out that pressing one button on the other, small thing makes Nice's voice appear." [[Investigate the Perch with the Metal Things]] [[Investigate the Thing that Makes Voices]]

We jump up and start knocking the stinky metal things off the perch. They fall to the ground with a loud series of clangs. The sound nearly shatters my ears. Loki and I giggle in delight at the chaos. Then we hear a loud sound from the path; Mean. "Run!" Loki hissed before he jumps down and disappears into the darkness of the soft perch den. [[Run!]]

I panic. Where should I run? [[Hide in Smelly Den]] [[Hide in Soft Perch Den]] [[Hide in Hard Perch Den]]

I rush to the smelly den unthinkingly. Mean is stomping loudly down the path and before I can see what's happening... There's a yowl from Loki, and flash of pain against my neck. Then... Nothing. [[...]]

I run after Loki to soft perch den. I dash into my den at the last minute before the lights flicker on in the food den. I hear Mean stomp around on his clumsy limbs. Then I see something I hadn't before; another Two-Leg. It's voice sounded like Nice, higher and more gentle. She came down the path to the food den. She said something to Mean as she was pulling on her pelt, which was horrendously colored. Nothing at all like what Nice wears. [[Look to Loki]]

I run to hide under the hard perch, hoping its shadows would hide me. Mean stomps into the food den, making the lights appear. He picks up the fallen things, angrily saying something. He looks around the food den, probably looking for Loki or myself. [[Stay Still]]

Nothing but darkness. But the dark holds nothing scary for me. [[End]]

Thank you for reading this tale of two cats. Click here to return to the beginning and discover new endings. There are 6 in total! [[Two Tails and Two Legs]] Click here to return to the Main Menu. [[Main Menu]]

I look at Loki, who is hiding under one of the couches. He seems as confused as I am. New Two-Leg makes her way to the main door, and then leaves, with Mean walking after her. He didn't sound happy. After a moment he comes back inside and slams the door closed, stomping back to his den and turning off the food den lights. [[What Happened?]]

"What happened?" asks your brother. "I don't know," I reply. "Should we go and see?" "We could but I don't know. I'll follow your lead. What should we do? [[Go Investigate]] [[Stay Quiet For the Night]]

"Let's go investigate," I decide. Loki nods and follows me to the Big Two-Leg Den. We creep quietly over there, and stop at the door. Mean is in there, hurriedly tossing pelts onto their bed and throwing some things in the bin they throw old things into. He is muttering angrily to himself. "Damn whore, I didn't even get my money's worth. Now I gotta clean up after that dirty slut." Loki says he doesn't like what Mean is saying, it rubs him the wrong way. "We should go back," he whispers to me. I agree and we go back to the soft perch den before Mean can see us. [[The Morning]]

I shake my head and say we should just stay here. "Mean is already on edge, I don't want either of us to get hurt." Loki agrees, and we curl up together in my den. I can hear Mean talking to himself in the silence, but it's too faint to make out details. Little has fallen back asleep. An uneasy feeling at what we witnessed tonight sits in my stomach. But what can I do? [[The Morning]]

The morning after the scary outburst from Mean, Nice comes home. She is all affection, rubbing faces with Little and Mean. There is no trace of the anger from last night. Nice leaves for the smelly den. Loki and I sit together in hard perch den, a solid distance away from Mean. Little eats messily and makes happy noises, and Mean sits staring at a crinkly thing. When Nice leaves, Mean looks at my brother and I. I think he knows that we were behind the noise last night, and that we saw him with the other Two-Leg. I wish we could tell Nice. This is a secret she needs to know. "If only you two could talk, bastard cats," is all he says before returning to his staring at the crinkly thing. [[End]]

I stay still as stone, not taking a breath. A small eternity seems to pass before Mean stomps back off to his den. But not before he kicks over our food bowls. What a jerk! Then an unfamiliar voice comes from the path. [[Who Is That??]]

The voice belongs to another Two-Leg, one I have never seen before. She walks down the path and says something to Mean. She's pulling on a strange looking pelt; the pattern is ridiculous. Her and Mean seem to exchange some tense words before she brushes past him and walks out the door. I faintly smell a bitter, smoke scent come from her. It makes my nose ache. Mean stalks back angrily to his den, closing the door with a loud bang. It makes Little cry, so Mean slams open the door and storms into Little's den. There is more yelling, and the sound of something being hit. Little screams some more, with Mean exasperatedly returning to his den. [[Reunite with Loki]]

I quietly creep over to the other den, sniffing out Loki. He's hiding in my den. The sound of Little crying hurts my heart. "Look," he says, "the door is open." Just a bit. We can see the grass just outside in the night. But it's enough. "We should leave. He took my eye, I want to leave." [[Leave]] [[Stay]]

I nod in agreement. Without another sound, we creep to the hole and pry it open further. We'll miss Nice...but it is time for us to leave. We leap into the shadows of the night, and never look back. [[A New Life]]

"We cant leave," I say, "there's no where for us to go. I don't want you to be alone." Loki is sad, but he then he says, "We can't leave Nice. She's been here for us for so long. We should go check on Little." We ignore the open door, and make our way to Little's den. His cries have quieted to small sniffles. [[Jump Up to Be With Little]]

We find friends in the alleyways, other souls neglected or hurt like us. It doesn't last. More Two-Legs come with their traps, and Loki and I end up in another Two-Leg den. Bright white and too clean, and so many dogs barking. We sit in a tiny cage together for who knows how long. So many days and nights. So many Two-Leg faces staring at us from behined the cage. Some shake their heads in pity. What a sore sight we must be to them compared to the others held here. [[Hope]]

Finally, one day, a Little Two-Leg looks at us through the cage. Her voice is nice and gentle, and she pets us with a calm hand. Very mild mannered compared to the other young Two-Legs. The Two-Legs with her look like Nice from home. All three of them have gentle hands as they pet Loki. They don't care about his missing eye, or my crooked tail. No pitying shakes of their heads. "You're such nice cats, all purring and sweet! So lovable, why would anyone leave you!" they coo at us. The Two-Legs take us from the cage, and we find a new den. A big one, with more rooms, more perches, more places to hide. Everything is a bit newer, and well loved. Colorful, clean. And doesn't smell like old food, ever. There is so much light here, even at night. And there are no secrets here between the Two-Legs. They love each other, always laughing and rubbing faces. We're happy with them. This is our family now. [[End]]

I jump up into Little's bed, and Loki follows me. The poor thing's head is miscolored from the hit. It's obvious even in the night. "He's so cruel," Loki says, curling around the Two-Leg's injured face like a crown. Little reaches out with grabby hands but for once I don't mind. We curl up with him and he falls asleep. We do the same. [[What Came Next]]

When we woke in the morning, Nice came home. She called for us, and then walked in to Little's den. She gasped in surprise, and ran over to give us pats. "Oh my babies all curled up together! How sweet!" She was so happy. Loki beamed in pride at her. But...then she saw Little's head. Her pretty eyes widened in horror, and she yelled for Mean, storming over to their den and slamming the door open. She started yelling, he started yelling back, Little began to wail. We shushed him and covered his ears with our bodies. [[Mean is Forced to Leave]]

We can see from Little's den that Nice is throwing random pelts and things of Mean's at him, repeating the same thing over and over; "Get out, get out, get out!!!" Eventually, he runs out of the den, pelts half on. We leave Little's side for now, to go and watch. Nice is pushing Mean, literally, out of the door to the outside, throwing more of his things at him. He resists and tries to come back inside, but her leg hits him in the side and sends him fully outside. She slams the door closed, the sound of metal tinkling as she makes it impossible for Mean to come back in. She collapses in a heap against the closed door, crying, and him banging on the entrance to be let back in. [[Go to Her]]

Loki and I go to her, rubbing her legs. She sniffs and laughs, a joyful, triumphant sound, as she strokes our fur. She picks us up and walks back to Little, ignoring Mean all together, hugging us close. As we're placed back in Little's bed, she smiles and says; "We're free kitties. He's never going to hurt any of my babies again." [[End]]

"How did they even get that thing to work?" Nice muttered with amusement. Well her real name was Katherine. "Nice" was the name her lovely babies called her. They hated Chad, the poor things. He didn't like them either. Katherine was starting to think she should hate him too. She hurriedly packed her things, telling her boss that she needed to go home, something was wrong. Bless her for understanding. Mrs. Chance always told her to trust the animals more than humans whenever Katherine came to work at the diner with bruises. "They know when something is wrong with a person, honey. Trust their instincts," she always said. "I should call Jodie to listen in case things go wrong..." Katherine mutters as she opens her car. [[Kindness Returns]]

It didnt take long for Nice to come back. The door opened and there she was, light from something outside framing her like a halo. There was a crash and a surprised yell from her den. She runs to the den and she screams. Mean does too, and there's another voice yelling. A strange Two-Leg we haven't seen before comes stumbling out of the den, chased after by Nice, and Mean yells at Nice. He grabs her by her mane and pulls her to the ground. He chases after the other Two-Leg but she's gone. Nice is crying. Loki and I go to her on the floor. She pets us before getting up, and we run back to hide. Her and Mean start yelling, Little starts crying. Mean starts hitting Nice again, he even picks up the rectangle that he stares at for long periods of time and hits her on the head with it. What do we do?? [[Attack Mean]] [[Hide]]

I exchange a glance with Loki. He nods in agreemnet, understanding what to do in an instant. We owe Nice so much. She loves us, and we love her. We can't just leave her to this. Loki dashes for Mean's leg, clawing into the bare flesh, yowling the whole time. I join in the cacophony, leaping up and scratching Mean's other leg. He yells in pain and starts to hit at us. But our distraction lets Nice get away. She runs to the food den and starts talking into something. She runs back with a round metal thing and hits Mean on the head as he moves to grab me. It collides with a loud CLANG! Mean drops to the floor. Little is screaming from his den, Nice is crying. [[The Bright Lights]]

We're paralyzed with fear in our hiding spot. Mean hits Nice's head with a dull thud. She falls to the ground, and blood is pouring out of the wound. The metallic scent becomes sharp in the air. "She's not moving..!" Loki exclaims, panic in his voice. Anxiety swells in my chest. Why this? What is he doing to her?! Mean shakes Nice a few times, but she doesn't wake. He yells something super loud, then...a bang on the door. Another Two-Leg, one of the ones that lives on the other side of the wall. She's kind to us, and makes Nice tasty things whenever she comes to visit on days Nice doesn't have to leave for forever. She yells at Mean through the door, and he yells back. [[It's All Over Now]]

While Mean is yelling at the other Two-Leg, Loki and I dash to Nice's side. She is barely breathing, and tears flow slowly out of half-lidded eyes. She reaches out to us slightly, but then goes limp. Bright blue and red lights come through the windows, and Two-Legs clad in dark blue pelts break in to the den. Nice's friend is pointing and yelling at Mean, and they grab him. He tries to fight, to escape, but can't. Little is screaming from his den. As they drag Mean away, more Two-Legs, these with white pelts, come to Nice and pick her up onto a tall perch. We run as they come close. Her friend goes to Little and tries to calm him. [[Dark Times]]

Nice never came back. Neither did Little, or Mean. We waited for days, crying in our grief until our throats burned. The food and water ran out, despite our best attempts to save it. Then Nice's friend friend came through the door on the fifth day. Watching that door open was like watching the sky open up with sun after a rainy day. She picked us up and hugged us like Nice used to. "I'm sorry kitties; Katherine isn't coming home. That bastard Chad killed her," she sniffs, starting to cry into our fur. "Little Mason has gone away to his grandma's. His horrible father will never hurt him again. Or you babies. You're coming back with Mama Jodie." And so we left. Mama is good to us. We left with her from her old den to a new one with lots of sunlight and soft perches. Mama is good to us...But we miss Nice. We miss her so much. The night has never been the same. [[End]]

Bright blue and red lights flash through the windows. They're blinding in the night. More Two-Legs come inside, with dark blue pelts, and start talking to Nice, who has gone to Little to calm him down. Loki and I hide in my den, watching. Nice is crying still, and Mean is awake now, yelling at her more. But a Two-Leg keeps him from getting to her. Good, I think to myself. Take him away and never come back. Then they leave with Mean, and the lights disappear. [[New Day]]

The next morning, Nice had a bad cut on her face. It made us sad so we tried to help by climbing into her lap. She started crying again. But Mean was gone. He couldn't hurt her anymore. The darkness in his heart couldn't touch her. Why was she crying? Then she laughed, wiping at her eyes. As she petted our heads and hugged us close she said: "You saved me, you silly cats. I love you both so much." [[End]]

Welcome,player, to the Night of Secrets. We're very glad you've come. Here in this place, among these vessels of souls, there are many tales for you to discover and many paths to follow. Click a story below to read. (This method is also how you will progress through the game.) [[Two Tails and Two Legs]]