The Cathouse

Rory found himself sitting at a dinner table, the triplets running around and setting all the plates. Ester sat in his spot, kicking his legs, smiling when Seven and Roy entered.

“Hello, Rory!” Ester waved, “I hope you weren’t in too much trouble yesterday.”

Rory tossed his head a little so that his hair covered the bruise on his face. “No, not too bad.”

“Good!” Ester smiled, “The spot next to me isn’t taken! Come sit next to me, all right? You and I can get to know each other.”

Rory reflected that despite being sixteen, Ester acted a lot younger. He was cute, though. He wore a red and white striped tank top and khaki pants. His tail was stretched out behind him, it’s fur well-groomed and fluffed to perfection and he seemed to keep his ears at just the right height to make him look the most adorable.

Rory took the seat next to him, not knowing where else to sit. The table was large, sitting three on each long side and one on the short ends. The dark brown table was in the middle of a humble-sized room, various pictures of all the residents hanging up on the walls. Rory tilted his head, no figuring them for the picture taking type.

“Neat photos,” he said, “Who took them?”

“Chester from downstairs,” Morning said, “He used to live with us but he got bigger and said he needed space, so he moved to a different apartment.”

“Yeah,” Noon nodded, “He loves his camera and everytime there’s a new kitten, he takes pictures of them every year to keep up with em.”

“We should tell him about you,” Twilight added thoughtfully.

Rory smiled a little but paused, just now realizing how unusually big this place was. This one apartment had to take up the whole top floor.

“Just how did you guys get this place?” Rory asked.

“It was a dump,” Ester said, “Then Seven and Shimmer and the Crescent gang fixed it up to take in stray cats.”

Seven smiled. “It was after I had found Chester,” Seven said, “I told Shimmer I wanted to have a place to take any kittens I found who were being abused. So we found this place. It was abandoned and run down, so we hollowed it out and fixed it up.”

“Where’d you get the money for that?” Rory asked.

Seven paused. “I’m not sure,” he replied, “It was Shimmer’s doing. Y’see, he’s the owner of a gang called Crescent. They aren’t really a gang. They actually try to keep the streets clean and help anyone they can. Shimmer also owns this entertainment restaurant in the middle of his territory where his boyfriend does shows. Very popular place. I thought the money came from there but Shimmer said it didn’t…”

“Restaurants are expensive,” Rory said, “He probably doesn’t have enough for a big renovation job like this…”

“Who knows?” Seven shrugged, “But basically, the restored the apartments on allt he lower levels to their original size, but we reserved the whole top floor as one huge apartment so the younger kittens could stay here.”

“How old are you?” Rory asked.

“Nearly twenty,” Seven replied.

“How long have you been doing all this?” Rory then asked.

“Three years,” Seven said, smiling at the memory, “I found Chester, who’s a couple of years younger than me, when I was your age. After that, I seemed to be able to find lost kittens everywhere so I came up with the Cathouse. Although, there’s exceptions. Not everyone’s a cat anthro, but they’re all kittens.”

“Orson from downstairs is a bird anthro!” Ester said exciedly, “He has these really pretty white wings.”

“But you’re the first human,” Seven said, “We’ve always housed anthros before. Most humans wouldn’t want to stay here.”

“My sister always told me that anthros were the same as anyone,” Rory said, “She said you’re just people.”

“Your sister sounds like a steller chick,” Seven replied.

Just then, BJ came in. “Look who I found hiding outside?” he asked, holding a little bundle in his arms.

The bundle was a very small cat anthro, looking like he was four or five, curled up against BJ and hiding most of his face. He had a black hair with white ears and pale skin, only around one golden eye was a spot, colored the same dark brown as BJ’s skin. He wore coveralls and a white t-shirt, his sleek black tail curled up around BJ’s arm, all except the white tip, which flicked back and forth a little.

Rory had to keep himself from saying “awww” very loudly. The little anthro was just like a little kitten. Small and adorable.

“Why’s the Rave kitten hiding, huh?” Seven asked, standing and taking him from BJ. Seven held him up at arms length but the kitten glanced at Rory and reached to be closer to Seven so he could hide his face. Seven chuckled and held him close.

“That’s Rave,” Ester said.

“Does he not like me?” Rory asked, leaning over.

“No, he’s just shy,” Morning said, “He always hides from strangers until he gets to know them.”

Seven walked over to stand behind Rory and pried Rave off of himself, putting him down in Rory’s lap. Rory stiffened a little, not used to handling any person under the age of fifteen. Likewise, Rave tensed up, leaning back and away from Rory, his tail curling up under his legs.

“H-hi there,” Rory said. He reached forward to touch Rave’s head, as if to pet him, but Rave ducked a little. Rory very cautiously continued to move his hand and finally set it down on the top of the kitten’s head. Rave winced but realized that Rory wasn’t hurting him, relaxing some.

“There, see, Rave? He’s not bad,” Seven said.

Rory smiled. “You’re very cute,” he told Rave, petting him carefully. Slowly, Rave’s tail uncurled and fell loosely towards the floor. “Don’t you talk?”

“Actually…” BJ said, taking his seat, “He hasn’t said a word since Seven found him. He can talk, but we just assume he has nothing to say.”

“Yeah, he gets whatever he wants without even asking,” Ester said, “Right Rave-kitten?”

Rave ignored Ester in favor of leaning a little closer to Rory.

“Lick his face,” Noon said, “Then he’ll think you’re another daddy-cat.”

Rory blinked. “That’s weird, though,” he said, but shrugged and leaned forward, licking Rave’s face slightly. Rave winced but seemed to relax a lot more after that. Soon, he turned and leaned back against Rory’s chest seeming to have found his seat at the dinner table.

“You gonna stay with Rory, little one?” Seven asked, sitting.

Rave nodded.

“Huh, guess he likes you. It’s a high honor from him to have your lap used as his chair during dinner,” Seven grinned.

“Why doesn’t he have a seat?” Rory asked, petting him.

“As if he’d sit in it,” BJ rolled his eyes. “We tried to get him to use a chair after awhile but he just finds his way into someone’s lap and cries if no one will let him.”

Rory shrugged and shifted so he could sit indian style in the chair so that both he and Rave could be more comfortable. After awhile, Twilight came in holding some dishes and the other two triplets darted off to get the rest.

Rory received his plate and snorted. Fish. Go figure.

Then Rave received his plate, which was smaller portions of what everyone else was eating, plus a baby bottle of milk.

“A bottle as big as you are?” Rory asked, already feeling affection for the tiny anthro, “You’re a spoiled kitty, did you know that?”

Rave looked up at him with a clueless expression, as if he didn’t know what Rory was talking about, then grabbed his bottle and started to drink.

“We figure we might be able to get him off that bottle when he’s ten,” BJ commented, “Maybe.”

“Isn’t it a bit… weird to have him presetn while all these… adult things are going on?” Rory asked.

“You overestimate how often we do ‘adult thing’ I think,” Seven said, “I mean, we probably do more than average, but not all the time. And as for Rave, someone’s watching him at all times, keeping him out of trouble.”

“Is he here because…?” Rory suddenly asked.

Seven shook his head. “He was dropped off at our doorstep, completely unharmed, thank God,” Seven replied, “We guessed that his mother had heard of us and figured we’d take him in. He doesn’t even remember, though. He was two and now he’s four.”

“But it was funny to watch Seven try to figure out how to take care of something that small,” BJ commented.

“You wanna play a game?” Seven asked.

BJ was silent.

Conversation resumed all throughout dinner. Rory discovered that BJ was the oldest resident, followed by Rave, the triplets, then Ester. There were several other people who came in between, but most perferred their own space and lived in other rooms in the apartment complex.

“So what’s your life like?” Ester asked.

“Well…” Rory said, poking at his plate, occasionally forcing Rave to put down a piece of food that could barely fit in his mouth and take smaller bites, “I go to school at the prep school to the west of the city. At home, I play a lot of video games. Occasionally I go see my sister.”

“That’s it?” BJ asked.

“Pretty much,” Rory replied.

“Are you spending the night, Rory?” Seven asked.

“I could,” Rory replied.

“Oh, he’s spending the night!” the triplets said happily.

“I have school tomorrow though, so I may disappear early,” Rory warned, “But if you have a place, I don’t see why not.”

“Great,” Seven smiled.

Rory was about to reply when suddenly, a ringing went off. With a small start, he realized it was his seldom used cellphone that Camelia had bought him.

“Hello?” he said after flipping it open.

“Rory?” Camelia’s voice asked, “Hey. What’s going on?”

“Not much, you?” Rory said, smiling as Rave leaned back, staring at the phone and swatting at it.

“I just noticed your car outside of the Cathouse apartments,” she said, “It looks like your car anyway. Is that where you are?”

“Ah, yeah…” Rory said, “I am. But don’t tell Mom or Dad, they don’t know. Dad’s gone, so…”

“I understand. Mind if I come up and see you or are you busy?”

“Um…” Rory glanced at Seven, “My sister’s on the phone. She wants to know if it’s all right for her to come up.”

“How does she know where you are?” Seven asked.

“Recognized my car,” Rory replied, “Is it okay or should I just go see her later?”

“It’s okay with me,” Seven shrugged, standing and scraping his plate into a nearby trashcan. The triplets took that as their cue to jump up and start clearing the table.

“You can come up,” Rory said, “I’ll meet you at the front door of apartment 2B, all right?”

“’K,” she said and hung up.

A few moments later, there was a knock at the front door just as Rory reached it. He opened the door and Camelia stepped in. She smiled and looked around. Today she was wearing a flowy lavender shirt that fell off the shoulder, a dark purple skiirt that reached the middle of her thigh and black leggings tucked into black high heels. On her face were a pair of purple tinted glasses and a headband that pulled her hair back.

“Rory!” she cried and jumped, tackling him in a hug. Rory just barely managed not to fall over.

“Hey,” he said, forced to smile by her charm.

“Who’s place is this?” she asked, looking around. She spotted the sex toys and whisteled. “I said live a little, I didn’t say do all your living at once. What? You’re not a virgin anymore.”

Rory hadn’t been a virgin since he was eight. “Not really,” he said with a smirk, “Finally got laid.”

“Who did that?” she asked.

“That would be me,” Seven said, walking in and over to Camelia, taking her hand and shaking it.

“Hello,” she smiled, “I’m Camelia Thompson, Rory’s sister. Who are you?”

“Seven Lauden,” he replied, “This is my apartment. Rory has been hanging out with me and my kittens.”

Behind Seven, Rave was cowering, peeking out at Camelia. Caemlia’s eyes traveled down until she spotted the kitten and she covered her mouth to stifle a very loud “aww!”

“What is that?” she whispered, “Come ‘ere, little fella…” She crouched down, smiling. “I won’t hurt you.”

“His name is Rave,” Rory said, remembering what Seven had done to introduce Rave before, walking around Seven and picking the little anthro up. He walked over to Camelia, who stood up, and put him in her arms.

Rave had his ears down, cautiously sniffing the air around Camelia. After a moment, he leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her neck.

Camelia gave a quiet little squeek. “Ohmygosh, can I have him, please?” she asked, stroking his hair.

“We’re pretty attached to him,” Seven smiled, “Although how fast he took to you was uncanny. I guess you smell like his mother…”

“He hasn’t been around very many girls has he?” Rory asked.

“Not many, no,” Seven said, “So I suppose he’s made your sister his substitute for the time being.”

“Can we come in?” Rory heard and turned, seeing BJ, Ester and the twins peeking out at them from the door to the hallway. Rory smiled and waved them in.

“Rave is awful cuddly with her,” BJ said, walking in.

“D’you think it’s because I’m pregnant?” Camelia asked.

“Actually I bet that’s it,” Seven said, “An anthro kitten will look for the next available mother if their own isn’t around anymore. He can smell that you’re a soon to be mommy.”

Camelia smiled softly and sat on the couch. “I’ll let you meet my baby when he comes,” she said, “And then you two will practically be brothers.”

“That’ll be nice for Rave,” Ester smiled.

“How do you know it’ll be a boy?” the triplets asked.

“I don’t know, I just do,” Camelia smiled, “So what are all of your names?”

“Oh,” Rory said and turned to them, pointing as he named them off. “That’s Ester, BJ, Morning, Noon and Twilight.”

Camelia giggled. “I’m Camelia,” she said, “I’m Rory’s older sister. I’m glad someone’s finally getting Rory to loosen up.”

“Our pleasure,” Seven said, “Hey, BJ, are you up for some babysitting?”

“Take Rave?” BJ asked, “All right.” He walked over and practically had to pry Rave off of Camelia. Camelia stuck out her lower lip and kissed Rave’s nose, which seemed to make him feel a bit better, but he cried silently as BJ carried him off.

“That was only heartbreaking,” she said.

“BJ will give him something sweet and he won’t even remember being upset,” Seven smiled, “Guys, could you excuse Rory, Camelia and I?”

The triplets and Ester all looked at each other questioningly, then left. Rory got a sick feeling in his stomach, somehow knowing what Seven intended to do.

“Seven, no,” Rory said.

“If anyone has a right to know, don’t you think it’s her?” Seven said firmly, “Now let’s sit down and have a talk.”

“Know what?” Camelia said, tilting her head. Seven took a seat on the arm of the couch and Rory sighed, sitting on the opposite end as Camelia.

“She doesn’t have to know,” he muttered.

“She does,” Seven said, poking him on the shoulder, “You looking to play a game? She’s your sister.”

“What are you two talking about?” Camelia asked, “You mean Rory being gay? I think that was somewhat obvious.”

Rory huffed and glared at her. “No, not that.”

“Either you tell her or I do,” Seven said firmly.

“Why are you trying to force this?!” Rory snapped suddenly, “What business is it of yours if she knows or not?! No one has to know! I wouldn’t have talked to you about it but you figured it out!”

“Rory,” Camelia said softly but in a firm tone, “What is he talking about?”

Rory was silent. He looked at Seven, who nodded. “It’s just one step to escape, Rory,” he said, “Don’t you know that?”

Rory took a deep breath. He didn’t want to do this. It put Camelia in danger. It put him in danger. What if she said something to their father?

“Rory…” Camelia moved over and laid her head in his lap, looking up at him, “You know you can tell me. I’m always here for you. I wish you’d realize that.”

Rory wiped his mouth, looking off into the distance a moment before looking back at her. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

“Start with the beginning,” Seven said.

Rory stayed silent a long time before looking at Camelia. “When I was eight, do you remember that time I was sick for a few days and I couldn’t get out of bed?”

“You had those bruises on your face,” Camelia said, “I wasn’t dumb. I knew you weren’t sick, but I could never figure out what happened…”

“The day before, Dad had asked to speak with me after dinner,” Rory said, forcing himself to go numb again, “He said to wait in my room, so I did. After awhile, he came in and said that he wanted to try something. When I asked what, he said it was so I could help him. I figured, hey, why not? So he…”

Rory shut his mouth, as though he was afraid their father could hear. Camelia frowned and reached over, taking his hand and holding it in both of hers, pressing it against her heart.

“What next, Rory?”

“He told me to take off my clothes and get on the bed,” Rory said, “So I did. And then he started to touch me and… I didn’t like it. It hurt. It didn’t feel good. But when I tried to say so, he hit me. I tried to run and he hit me, over and over. And then, when I couldn’t fight anymore, he…” Rory closed his eyes. “I hate saying the words…”

“The words make it real,” Seven whispered.

“What did he do, Rory?” Camelia said in a soft, horrified voice.

“He…” Rory couldn’t make himself finish.

“Rorden James Thompson,” Camelia said, on the verge of tears, but her face was a calm before a storm of anger. “Tell me what he did.”

“He fucked me Camelia, what do you think he did?” Rory said, not meeting her eyes. Camelia closed her own, taking a deep breath.

“I’ll kill him,” she said, her teeth on edge.

“Let him finish,” Seven said.

Rory felt a passionate anger rise at Seven. Why did Seven have to force him to be brave? Rory didn’t want to be brave. He wanted to hide like he always had. He wanted to duck into a shadow and not be noticed. He didn’t want this…

“He still does,” Rory said, blocking away any emotion that threatened to overwhelm him, “About every two weeks.”

“Oh God, I’m gonna kill him,” Camelia said, “That bastard. That fucking rat bastard, I’m going to kill him.”

“Don’t Camelia,” Rory whispered, “He’d kill us both if you told him you knew. I wasn’t ever supposed to tell anyone…”

“How can I do that?!” Camelia sat up and took Rory by the shoulders. “Don’t you know what this is?! It’s… it’s rape! It’s abuse! It’s… you’re…You’re never going to be okay… ome part of you will always carry this…”

“He can be okay,” Seven said, “But he has to get out of there. But its not just that, he has to deal with what happens to him. As mcuh as I can tell, he totally avoids the subject.”

“Rory…” Camelia said, trying to get him to look at her, “How can you sit there with no expression on your face…? Don’t you see how bad this is?”

“It’s normal,” Rory said numbly.

“It is not normal!” Camelia growled at him, “It’s not even natural. Is this why you avoid the world? Is this why you play all your video games? Is this why you think you’re so ugly? Is this why you won’t let yourself love anyone?”

“I love you, Camelia,” Rory said, “I can’t really help from that. You’re my sister. You were the only thing that ever made it feel okay.”

“But it’s not okay!” she said, “Come on. You can live with me at The Loft. I’m working now. You were right, Rory. I had no problem getting a job. I’m working for the Anthem Company. Dad’s rivals. Right? And I’m a secretary and I’m making money. So I can support both of us. I’ll get you anything you want…”

“You’d be in danger,” Rory said, “You and the baby. I won’t say you can’t put yourself in danger for me, because that’s your choice. But at least think of the little boy who’s growing in your stomach. He’s going to have a chance to be normal, if you’re careful.”

Camelia stared at him, at a loss. “Then stay here, with Seven and the others. Tell me you’ll at least do that…” she looked at Seven, “You can protect him?”

“We’re under gang protection by Crescent,” Seven said, “If I asked, we could be kept under serveillance.”

“What about school?” Rory asked.

“You stop going,” Camelia replied, “Simple as that.”

“And do what with the rest of my life?” Rory asked, “Nothing? Mooch? I can’t do that. I want to finish school.”

“He can’t leave until he faces the problem,” Seven said, “BJ reminded me of that. Until he can learn not to be afraid, he won’t be able to be happy. Which means he has to keep going back.”

“How’s he supposed to not be afraid?” Camelia asked.

“He’s not eight years old anymore,” Seven said, “He’s a fairly good sized teenage boy and from what I’ve seen of your dad, you could probably take him fairly easily.”

“How?” Rory snorted.

“I could teach you,” Seven said, “But I have someone even better in mind. Shimmer could teach you.”

“Shimmer Usagi?” Camelia asked, “The leader of Crescent?”

Seven nodded. “He’s bored,” the anthro shrugged, “With his kids in school and his boyfriend working a lot, he’s got the time. We can give him the tools to fight. Now he’s got to be the one to use them.”

Rory just closed his eyes.

“Rory, would you do that?”

Rory didn’t respond. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. He didn’t want to have to feel it. He didn’t want any of this. So maybe if he didn’t say anything…

“Rory…?” Camelia shook him a little, “Rorden. Rory. Answer me.”

Seven sighed. “He’s shut himself down. I don’t know why he and BJ fight, they’re nearly exactly alike.”

“Shut down?” Camelia asked softly.

“He’s trying to block out the conversation,” Seven replied, “He’s closing himself off from hearing or responding to anything and then the conversation isn’t real. And then he doesn’t have to believe what your dad does is real, either.”

“Not my dad,” Camelia said darkly, “Not anymore.”

“Let me get you a phone number,” Seven said, “Call anytime you want.” He stood up and searched out a piece of paper.

“I’ll give you mine and his,” she said.

Camelia traded phone numbers with Seven. He thanked her for coming over and listening. She said goodbye and kissed Rory on the cheek.

Rory didn’t care. He just wanted it to end.