The Cat Who Became A Butterfly

 The Cat Who Became A Butterfly

The young girl skipped down the street, swinging her bag back and forth with her steps as she wore a great big smile. She was so happy because today was her 8th birthday and her parents had promised her a great big surprise from when she got home from school. Humming as she went along, she radiated happiness even though it was a fairly cold and dreary day since it was October and the season was changing to winter. She knew how lucky of a little girl she was, with such loving parents who always did what they said they would, and they hugged her everyday before and after school, and every night and morning. As she made her way down the street she would begin to fantasize about what surprise her parents had for her for her birthday, her cat's tail swaying behind her.

"Happy birthday Kochou!" Her mom and dad would say as she opened the door and they swept her up in their arms, hugging her tightly. Putting her down after greetings were exchanged they would direct her towards the living room where there would be beautiful decorations and a banner saying 'Happy Birthday' on it, and a cake sitting in the middle of the kitchen table with 8 candles burning brightly. And of course it was made of her favorite flavor, milk and white chocolate, with plenty of frosting. Presents were piled up nearby and of course one of them would be a large one that strangely resembled the doll house she had been wanting.

Reaching the front door of the modest house that she lived in, she would shake off what she had just been imagining with a giggle. The little neko girl's ears were twitching with excitement as she lifted one of her hands to the doorknob and turned it, swinging the door inwards before she looked inwards expectantly. But no one would be there in the front hallway and the lights were out. Giggling again she would figure that they were just hiding in order to throw her a surprise party. Stepping in and closing the door she would shuck off her shoes and put her book bag on it's peg. With anticipation running through her veins she would step out of the front foyer and into the living room. Walking into the room she would giggle, then call out for her parents, sure she was playing along.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home! Where are you?" Her voice would ring out through the lifeless building. Across her face would be confusion, as she saw the 'Happy Birthday' banner, the birthday decorations and the big cake she had envisioned sitting on the table, even though the candles weren't lit. Soft brown hair would make the only sound as it swished around her face, when she looked left and right wondering what was going on.

As far as she could tell, there was no one home. Had her parents had an emergency? Maybe they ran out to get something? Although their car was still in the driveway... Deciding to look around the house she would walk to the bottom of the stairs and listened to see if she could hear anything. Hearing nothing but the silence of the house that almost seemed to bear down on her she would suddenly have an idea. If they'd had to leave or something, they more than likely would have left a note on the fridge for her! Turning and running to the kitchen she would flip on the light switch and go to walk towards the refridgerator, when the sight of something would freeze her blood cold and stop her right in her tracks.

In the kitchen is where she would find her parents, but they weren't hiding to surprise her. They had been tied to two chairs, back to back. Both of them were completely naked with bruises and cuts all across their skin. Then after tying them up, whoever the sick person was had tied what looked to be something like piano wires to their necks- together. While strangling them, it made it so that if either one of them moved it would cut into their necks. Although they both had tried to stay as still as they could, when being strangled it's near impossible to keep ones body from jerking around as oxygen becomes sparse in your brain. So their necks would have deep cuts in them and blood would be pooled around their chairs, after having run down their chests.

That image would be burned into her brain, the horrible image that told her that her precious family was gone. That she was now alone in the world, and would never again feel their arms around her in a hug, or hear them tell her how much she loved them. As soon as the shock passed and she could move again she would scream as she fell backwards and scrambled away. It would have been a loud piercing scream as her ears flattened back against her skull, her tail puffing up with the fear that coursed through her. Suddenly realizing that the murderer could still be in the house she would get up and run to the nearest closet and closed herself in it before burying herself as far back as she could. Curling up into a ball she would try and be as quiet as she could, trying to hold back the sobbing that silently wracked her body at that moment. Straining her ears she listened for any signs of the person who had killed her parents, to see if he came when she had screamed. Nothing but silence met her ears however, telling her that either they were gone or laying in wait. Figuring that she was as safe as she was going to get she finally broke down crying, hot tears streaking down her face as she held her head in her hands.

Kochou's family was gone, taken away from her on such a special day. It would never be the same again, she'd never be able to think about her birthday without remembering that horrific sight. Her life would never be the same either, considering that if she even survived this day she wouldn't have any family to go to. Their part of the family had been disowned, and any parts of the family that could be contacted had died off. So that meant she would go to the family services and be placed with a new family. A new family that couldn't love her anywhere near as much as her parents had, that wouldn't do the same things. Kochou didn't want that, she didn't want substitutes if she couldn't have the real things. She refused to do so. Lifting her head up she would sniffle a little, suddenly fairly rational considering all things. Wiping her hand across her nose she would consider her options. Staying here and best case scenario she lets herself be placed with a family that would try to replace one that had been perfect, or she left and struck it out on her own. Wiping away more tears she would stand again, coming to her decision as a determined look would cross her face. Reaching her hand forward she would push her way out of the closet and stepped out, looking around carefully. After determing that she was for the moment safe she would run upstairs to her bedroom and threw open the door.

Her bedroom was fairly typical for an 8 year old girl, with a bed that had blankets and pillows done in pink and yellow. The walls were done in the same color scheme, a soft yellow with pink trimming and the rest of her furniture matched. It was easy to tell that the girl's favorite colors were pink and yellow. Not that it mattered anymore. Kochou would move further into the room, digging into her closet to pull out a medium sized backpack that was in the shape of a pink cat. Turning to her dresser she would pull out a few things such as shorts, jeans, and a few shirts. Stuffing them into her backpack she would locate only a few other things, her favorite jewellry that her parents had given her, including a locket that had a picture of them and herself. As soon as she finished packing everything that she could into her backpack she would slip it on over her shoulders and ran out of the room and down the stairs. Thankfully the doorway to the kitchen was further from where she came from so she would be able to move to the front door without having to go by the open doorway. Grabbing her coat, an umbrella and pulling her shoes on, Kochou would open the front door and quickly slipped out the door, closing it firmly behind her.

Walking to the end of the driveway, she would stop for a moment and turned back to face the house, and with tears in her eyes, the young cat girl would just stare at the building for a moment.

"Goodbye..." Kochou whispered the word to her home, to her parents before she turned her back to it all and went next door. It seemed no one had though anything was wrong when she had screamed, but Kochou didn't want her parents to be sitting like that for too long, and the sooner it was investigated, the better they might be able to catch the killer. Going up to the neighbor's door she would pull out a pad of pink paper and a yellow pencil that she'd had in her pocket. Writing out a note that detailed what had happened, and where her parents were, Kochou would put the note onto the ground and put a big rock on the note to keep it from blowing away. After doing that she would lean forward, and pounded on the door and rang the doorbell several times before she would dart into the nearby bushes and hid amongst the poking, scratching branches. Flattening her ears she would worm her way silently so she could peer past the leaves at the front door. The door to the neighbor's house would open shortly after she got in position, and Kochou would fall silent as she watched the woman spot the note and picked it up to read. The woman's face would show shock and horror before she would run into the house and Kochou assumed that she went to call the police and it was time for her to disappear.

Slipping out of the bushes, Kochou would disappear into the shadows. Shortly after the 8 year old as of that day struck it out on her own, sirens would be heard approaching what had been her home. The police would cordon off the house and did what they did in order to try and track down the killer. As soon as they knew about the little girl that had been their daughter they tried to find her, putting out notices of her missing, offering a reward and had police canvassing the town. However, she would not be found as she seemed to have disappeared...