A World Apart

Thank you guys for the reviews. I really do appreciate them! Reviews make my writing world go round! I just wanted to clear something up really quick though. There isn't going to be any inc in this story (unless you tilt your head and squint really, really hard) LOL. Raven doesn't meet his "future love interest" until just a few more chapters into the story. I really had to explain his past before we dive into the good stuff. But, I promise it's coming, so please, please, please be patient. The best is yet to come! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4

The following morning I felt a weight suddenly drop onto my right arm. I jumped and looked around. Great. We had a pet cat. Great.

The little black kitten with white paws nuzzled my arm and then purred loudly in my ear. I groaned and carefully rolled over to my side, towards the window. The kitten seemed to be bored for a moment before I felt claws pulling on my tail. I tried to swat it away with my good arm.

“Get outta here,” I said.

It continued to play with my tail the same way it would play with its mothers. As ironic as it sounded, I was too tired to stop it and allowed the little kitten to play. However, I did curl my tail up to my body in an effort to get some more sleep.

I could hear the birds chirping outside my window and slowly opened my eyes to peer outside. Apparently my room was in the back of the house because it clearly stood above our backyard. The grass was a vivid green color and a tiny picket fence went around our property. The house behind ours was very similar to our own and I could see a middle aged (cat) woman outside in her garden.

I rolled out of bed slowly, cradling my injured ribs in the process. Now…for clothes. What was I supposed to do about clothes? I slowly pushed myself into a standing position, wincing at the sudden pain. I saw that my door was partially opened. I guess dad had left it open a bit last night and the kitten had got in. I opened it the rest of the way, slightly nervous because of the strange environment.

Outside my room was a light colored maple floor. I walked barefoot out into the hall, still hanging on the door. To my right was a set of stairs - one going up and one going down. To my left was a small stairway with only two steps that went up to a door similar to the one of my room. I hoped it was a bathroom.

I took the chance and was surprised to see that it was, indeed, a large bathroom. An enormous in ground tub sat off to the corner, elevated a bit above ground like my bed. There was a porcelain sink and a toilet off to the other side. It all seemed very elaborately decorated and I briefly wondered how we had afforded this luxury.

I quickly relieved myself, washed my hands and opened the door once again. I stood before the stairs, wondering how on earth I was going to get my injured body down the stairwell. I tried anyway by grasping onto the railing and forcing myself one step at a time.

I passed several floors on the way down to the 1st floor. Each was set up differently, but I didn’t see anyone on my way down. I guessed they all hung out in the “lobby” of this house. I knew I was getting near the bottom when I heard Rhea and my mom’s voice above everything else in the room. They were both the more outgoing and talkative of my family.

“Rave!” Rhea announced my arrival.

I suddenly realized the way I dressed and got embarrassed. The shorts were incredibly short and I wondered how the hell I had allowed them to dress this way. The shirt was huge and went past my hips. My tail and ears, which I had tried to cover up for years, were clearly displayed to everyone in the room. I blushed and paused at the last two steps.

“Oh my God…he really is a cat!” Rhea declared in mock surprise.

I shot him a death glare and was ready to go back upstairs when I felt someone behind me. A crème colored blanket was wrapped around my shoulders and two hands pushed me down the rest of the way. My Dad emerged from behind me, walked into the kitchen and sat down on a stool on the bar.

Everyone just ignored what my brother just said and my mother asked, “Do you want peppermint or fruit blend tea?”

I shrugged, “Doesn’t matter.”

She nodded and went to work on whatever tea she thought would fit me. Rhea seemed all too excited that I was awake and made me go into another room nearby. It was some sort of family room and had lots of comfy looking chairs, blankets, and pillows strewn about in random places. A big picture window overlooked the front of the house. I sat down in one of the chairs and gingerly pulled a blanket over myself.

“Here’s your tea, sweetheart,” My mom said, setting the mug down on a little coffee table nearby.

I could smell it already and decided to take a sip. I grasped the handle and pressed the minty smelling beverage to my lips. It was strange tasting and strange looking. The drink looked more like coffee with cream than tea.

“What is in this?” I asked.

She took a seat across from me,” It’s regular hot tea, peppermint, and a lot of milk. The milk is what makes it taste on the sweet side.”

I’ve never heard of putting milk in tea, but for some reason it seemed to fit. After all, I was a cat.

“We need to take your bandages off today. I’m sure you’ll be ready to get them off, as well,” My dad, the doctor, said.

I nodded, but didn’t say anything. I drank my tea and my mom went into the kitchen and came back moments later with a strange dish. It looked like oatmeal with some kind of green shredded plant on it. I took a bite of the strange concoction, amazed at how hungry I had become. The meal had a uniquely alluring scent that I just couldn’t put my finger on. Rhea, who was sitting next to me, was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“It’s catnip,” He whispered with big, blue eyes.

I stared at him for a moment with a frown, while the spoon hovered between my mouth and my plate,” You’re kidding.”

“ I’m afraid not, Rave,” Mom said.

I put the spoon back into the oatmeal, pushing away the half eaten meal. Why did they have to force this whole cat thing on me? I could only take so much!

However, my mom didn’t complain. I think she was just happy that I’ve been eating at all.

“Why don’t you come with me, and we’ll get those bandages off and then get you ready for a bath, alright?” My dad said.

I just stared at him. I think they thought I was still a baby. In truth, I guess they still thought I was a kitten anyway. For some strange reason, I had agreed. I wanted to get the old bandages off and keep them off. A bath sounded pretty good too.

I followed my dad into another bathroom across the room. It was similar to the other one upstairs. I was instructed to sit on the toilet while my dad removed the bandages from my ear. I winced the entire time, although I knew he was being careful. My ears had always been sensitive and that only increased, especially when they were in pain.

“How much of it is even left?” I asked.

My dad offered me a strange look,” You make it sound like you got the entire ear bit off. It’s only a little bit on the top. Stand up and see.”

I stood up, glancing in the enormous mirror above the sink at my ear. I could see fresh stitches and noticed it was still slightly swollen and red. I was glad most of it was still there though, whether I hated my ears or not. I took off my shirt and my dad removed the wrapping from around my healing ribs. That was the only thing that had to be put back on later. Next was the bandage on my shoulder. It still looked pretty bad and had a lot of stitches.

He began running some warm water for me and left a change of clothes before leaving me to myself. I carefully maneuvered myself into the hot bathwater. The tub was deep, almost like a pool in a bathroom. I liked it. For some odd reason, the bathtub contained several types of shampoos and soaps. I wasn’t sure how many you needed to get clean…

So I smelled them all, getting slightly pissed to find that they all smelled like flowers or fruit. I smelled the one that was called “ocean breeze” and decided it would be the best. I washed my hair, careful around my injured ear and then moved down to the rest of me. When I was finished washing I just laid in the giant tub. It was warm and felt so good. I had waited so long to have some time for myself.

I soon found out that sitting in the warm water was easing my aches and pains, mostly of my chest. It just felt really good. I could have stayed in there forever, but the water began to cool. Finally I got out, found a humongous green towel, and wiped myself off. I stood nude before the giant mirror, staring at the many scratches and blue marks that lined my body. That really had been a horrible night.

I quickly dressed into the blue t-shirt and boxer shorts that my dad had left for me. I glanced at my injured ear one last time before exiting the bathroom.

I opened the door and went back the way I came. I passed the deserted family room and kitchen and began going up the stairs again. I wasn’t as stiff as earlier and the stairs were a little bit easier this time around. I found my parents on the second floor, which I found to be their floor, complete with a small den, bedroom, and bathroom. My dad was sitting in his office, reading some kind of material. His ears perked at my entrance and he turned in his wheelie chair to look at me.

“Feel better?” He asked.

I nodded, “I think I’m going to go lay down for a while.”

“That’s fine. You’ll probably see the twins on your way up there. Tell them to keep it down if you’re going to sleep.”

I nodded and went up to the next floor. I could hear music playing from inside the open door. I found Ren sprawled out across the floor, looking through CD’s and magazines. His room was very colorful and consisted of reds, greens and blues in many patterns. His room was bigger than mine and I soon found out that the other half of the room was Robin’s.

“Hi Raven!” He greeted me and rolled over onto his back to look up at me.

“Hey. I’m going to take a nap for a little while-“

“A cat nap,” He interrupted.

I raised an eyebrow,” Yes a catnap. If you could turn the music down a little bit, I’d appreciate it.”

“Okay. I will. Goodnight, Rave,” He said, while rolling over to turn the volume down.

“Where is everybody else?” I asked, noticing the rest of my brothers seemed to be missing.

“Robin went to the library. They have a huge library with a little café in it. I think Rhea’s looking around town too. It’s really nice here. I know Robin’s looking forward to taking you shopping for new clothes…”

My brother continued to talk for what seemed like hours. It was no secret that my little brother, Robin, was gay, but I was not going to let the kid drag me around town to go shopping. I still was not used to the fact of him being the way he is. I don’t think I’d ever be.

“Alright…Alright. I’m going to sleep,” I said, finally leaving the room.

I went up to the next floor, so glad that I recognized it. I finally made it. I could only imagine that the next floor up was Rhea’s room. The house was set up so strangely. I walked into the room and shook my head.

Curled up at the end of my bed was the same black kitten from earlier. Guess I made a friend, after all.