Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Rescue
Susan waited until the door started to creak open to move. She dove at the widening hole, deciding to take her chances escaping rather than waiting for the rats to take her away.
She tripped and fell, falling on a large, furry body that grunted in surprise and pain. "Hey!" A deep voice said. "Ow!"
Susan rolled over, staring at the huge cat she mistook for a rat. "Vinnie!" She reached out and hugged him, hard.
"Susan!" He hugged her back, furry arms going around her neck. "You're okay!
Tucker!"
She looked up and Tucker was there. She let go of Vinnie in time to catch her friend as he threw himself into her arms, purring and purring.
Susan buried her face in his shoulder and breathed in. She loved the familiar smell of his fur, the softness of it, the warmth of his cat body and the heaviness of his purr.
"Tucker," she whispered. "You came for me." "Always," he whispered back.
Despite her circumstances, she felt a whole lot better.Until reality hit her.
"Tucker! The rats!" Susan's heart pounded in panic.
"I know, they're coming," Tucker was glum. "But now that we knowÉ maybe we can stop them."
"No, no, you don't understand," Susan shook her head, getting to her feet. "Julian is working with them. Somehow he is going to open the Gate. We have less than an hour!"
"WHAT?!" Both cats stared up at her.
"What did you say?" Tucker asked, eyes huge.
"I over heard him talking to them," she said. "Through a crack in the floor. Here," she showed them the hole while she told them the story. Both cats were deathly silent and still the entire time, so still, she was afraid again.
"I think they are planning to betray him," Susan said. "But he doesn't know that.
They plan to take the City and it's happening right now!"
"We have to warn the others." Vinnie's usual jovial nature was gone entirely. He was suddenly kind of scary, tense and angry.
"I have to get Susan to safety," Tucker said.
The friends stared at each other before they both nodded.
"I'll go set off the alarm," Vinnie said. "You get Susan to Khai and get her out of here. Sue," Vinnie offered her a quick lick on the back of her hand, "it's been a pleasure."
"You too, Vinnie." She felt tears well. She knew she wouldn't see the big cat again if Tucker's plan worked out.
"Tucker, when this is done, maybe you can take me for a visit?" Vinnie flipped his tail at them and was gone.
"We have to go," Tucker said. "Follow me. And whatever you do, stay as quiet as you can."
Susan nodded, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. She hadn't cried this much since she was little.
He led her back the way she came. They were almost to the stairs when Tucker took a detour.
"I can't take you through the main part of the City," he whispered to her. "Too many cats around. But the labyrinth is usually quieter. Just stay close."Susan nodded and stayed on his tail. She slipped a few times, her rubber boots losing traction on the damp stone floor, trying to keep up with the running cat. But, somehow, she managed and luck it so happened stayed with them. With the exception of one tense moment when Tucker froze and hissed, "Quiet!" to her as a couple of cats passed by an intersection in front of them, oblivious, they saw no one else at all.
Tucker paused at the top of a set of stairs and scratched at the door at the top. It opened immediately and Susan followed Tucker from the cold and damp into a warm, well-lit library, overflowing with more books than Susan had ever seen. But what really got her attention was the fact that the whole room smelled really, really good.
Susan's stomach growled loudly as the door swung shut behind her. Councilor Khai, who was obviously waiting for them, laughed.
"Hungry?" He stepped aside from the table and Susan's mouth began to water. It was covered in food.
"Yes, please," she said.
"You'll need your strength," he said. "Eat."
Susan sat down on the floor by the low table and started stuffing food into her mouth.
It had been two days since she had much to eat, aside from the half a tuna sandwich Tucker shared with her the day before. So she ate while she listened to Tucker talk to Khai.
"I'm happy to see you found her," Khai said.
"I have more important news," Tucker interrupted. "You need to hear it." "Please," Susan watched as Khai's large ears perked forward. "What is it?" "The rats are coming," Tucker said.
"Yes, Tucker," Khai said. "We know that already." "No," Tucker said. "That's just it. You don't know."
"Calm down, Tucker," Khai's voice was soft, soothing. "We're preparing as we speak. We'll be ready."
"No we won't," Tucker told him. "The rats are coming right now."
Susan saw Khai freeze, saw the tail twitch and in that heartbeat, a part of her tensed.
She wasn't sure why, but her hunger was forgotten. "Tell me," Khai said."I heard them," Susan interrupted before Tucker could speak. "Talking. Through the wall of my cell." Tucker looked up at her, but Susan forged ahead, hoping he would stay quiet. "Talking to Julian about attacking the City. He said he would be at the Gate in an hour and that they had better be ready."
"That was almost a half hour ago," Tucker said, giving Susan a strange look. "Surely not," Khai sounded horrified, but Susan couldn't help but notice the irritated
twitch to his tail. "Julian? A traitor? You're certain, Susan?"
Susan nodded quickly. "I saw him through the crack in the floor," she said.
"We must act quickly, then," Khai said, springing to his feet. "Let's get Susan to safety now, then go to the Gate together."
"Thank you," Tucker said, sounding relieved.
"Have you told anyone else?" Khai had turned away from Tucker, but Susan caught the flattening of his ears, the further twitch of his tail and her whole being wanted to shout a warning. Something was very, very wrong.
"No," Susan answered quickly before Tucker could. "Just Tucker."
"And Vinnie?" Khai turned back, golden eyes fixed on her. "Where is he?"
Susan had never been a great liar. She tried to get away with stuff on Mom sometimes, but it never worked. Probably because she never put her heart into it. This time, however, she poured everything she had into that one lie and prayed it was enough.
"Vinnie wasn't with us," Susan said. "Where is he, Tucker?"
She stared into her friend's eyes and willed him to cooperate. Tucker didn't hesitate. "I made him leave," Tucker said. "It was too dangerous for him to risk himself too. I
rescued Susan alone."
Khai nodded and she breathed an inward sigh of relief as the tail twitch vanished. "Just as well," Khai said. "You were right to leave him out of this, Tucker. Now, let's
go."
Susan didn't want to follow the Councilor back down the stairs, but she couldn't come up with a good reason why she shouldn't. Reluctant, she followed Tucker down the steps, dragging her feet, wishing there was a way she could escape.
He paused a moment to let her catch up."Why did I just lie to one of the only cats I trust?" He breathed his question for her ears only.
"Something isn't right," she whispered back. "I don't know what. Be careful." Tucker stared at her.
"Hurry!" Khai called to them. "We don't have much time!" Tucker turned and followed, Susan now close behind.
Khai led them a short distance then stopped at a section of wall. He turned to Tucker. "Watch," Khai said, and raised one paw.
A pink glow lit up the wall with strange symbols. Susan gasped. Then the section separated from the wall with a soft grinding sound, sliding back to reveal another tunnel.
"How many of these are there?" asked Tucker.
"Only this one," Khai said. "Guarded by human magic only certain of us can access.
You have that magic, Tucker, hidden within you." "I do?" Tucker seemed shocked. "How?"
"A long story," Khai told him. "I will explain later. First, we need to get Susan to safety."
Tucker nodded, lost in thought. Susan looked through the hole into the dark passage and wanted to run. Instead, she forced herself to follow her friend into the corridor and tried not to scream as she heard the panel behind her grind shut.
The tunnel was very dark and she stumbled almost immediately. She felt Tucker's tail hit her face as she fell to her knees. There was a spark of light and a pink glow hovered over Khai.
"My apologies," he murmured. "I had forgotten human eyes are not as sharp as ours. Come," he turned away and headed up the corridor. Susan pulled herself to her feet and brushed herself off.
"Are you okay?" Tucker asked. "I'm scared," she said.
"I'm here," he assured her then turned and started after Khai.
That's not what I'm scared of, she thought.
Susan took another step and realized instantly why she had stumbled. The corridor was slanted upward rather steeply and she understood it must, in fact, go to the surface.Her fears about Khai and not trusting him faded somewhat. Surely if he wanted to hurt her he wouldn't be taking her home?
Feeling somewhat better, she followed carefully. It wasn't long before her thighs started to burn from the climb.
"How deep are we?" She asked Tucker. "Deep," he said. "But it won't be long now."
She nodded to him, tired and sore and wanting to go home very badly. And then, the light went out.
Susan squealed in surprise, almost stepping on Tucker, suddenly blind in the dark tunnel. She heard a scuffling sound and a low grunt, then silence.
"Tucker?" She reached out for him, but he wasn't there. She stumbled forward, hands out, feeling for fur. "Tucker, where are you? Khai? Hello?"
Susan felt her fear rise as she felt around. Her hand met a soft furry body finally and she let out a shaky sigh of relief.
"Khai, what happened?" Her hand traveled down his back to his tail.
And Susan screamed, this time for real, as her fingers met not warm fur but a smooth, hard whip of a tail.
Susan was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of red eyes staring right at her.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone