Personal Hell

"Welcome to your own personal hell!"  The black cat hollered, his voice echoing throughout the seemingly borderless room. There were no walls and no ceiling, but the area seemed to be very much inside. The ground looked like it was made of smoke, with red and black wisps dancing to and fro, but it didn't feel like smoke. It felt cold and hard, like a tiled bathroom floor.

Everything was dark around me, but neither myself nor the black cat were swallowed in the blackness. We both appeared to be in the light, despite no light source being visible. This whole place was extremely peculiar.

I rose to my feet steadily. My body didn't feel normal, but the feeling was hard to explain. It felt as if I weren't in my body anymore, but that couldn't be possible. If I wasn't in my body, how could I be here? How could I feel the coolness of the floor or the stuffiness of the air? Still, something was missing, I just couldn't put a finger on it.

"It's a shame, really. I was hoping to get the both of you." The cat said, his voice still echoing around the room. "Ah well. I suppose you'll have to do for now"

He took a few steps forward, then disappeared into the smoke. I attempted to follow him, but the floor was still just as solid as before. How did he do that?

The ground rumbled, and the smoke shot up into the air and swirled around me. There was no wind, but it was churning around as if I was in the eye of a tornado. Everything began to constrict around me, squeezing me tightly, but at the same time not touching me at all.

"There we are." The cat sang, in a taunting melody. I was in a new place now. It actually looked like a room. A normal, everyday room. Well, almost. The room was completely empty, and there were no windows or doors. Only a single light overhead, and rough scratchy carpet underneath me. The cat was nowhere to be seen, but his voice sounded eerily close.

"W-where are you?" I asked. While I didn't feel any terror, my voice trembled. It was kind of difficult to make the words escaped my lips, almost as if someone were trying to prevent me from speaking.

The wall in front of me began to ripple, similar to water. Then, the cat emerged from the center, landed on his feet, and trotted towards me. He sat down uncomfortably far from me, with a creepy cheshire grin on his face. His posture looked somewhat unnatural. It looked as if he was hiding something bulky under a cloak, but he wasn’t wearing anything. There was just fur, nothing more. We just sat there, staring at each other.

“Uh, who…” my voice trailed off. I tried to form more words, but to no avail. No matter how hard I tried, I was completely unable to speak.

“Am I?” The cat chimed in, finishing my sentence before continuing on. “I’m known by many names. People just can’t seem to make up their minds about it”

The cat stood, and then stretched. His back end rose into the air as his front legs reached out towards me. As he arched his back upwards, in typical cat fashion, something odd began to happen. His back seemed to be tearing open! I recoiled back in shock; enormous black and red wings were emerging from the torn skin. His wings opened, and he finished his stretch with a quick flap of the wings.

Next was his face. Much like his back, the skin on his forehead began to tear open, revealing a third eye. The fur on his face began to fall off, showing off a pair of scars on the sides of his mouth and dull red cheeks. His ears twitched slightly, and afterwards a pair of deep red horns emerged from his head. Finally, the fur on his chest began to shed. It revealed a large scar across his chest. The once pure black cat now looked completely different. He looked like a monster!

“I’ve been called many things over the years, my original name long since forgotten. But, as of right now, I’m simply known as Demon Cat. DC, if you will” As he talked, he slowly walked towards me. I couldn’t seem to move, even though I desperately wanted to run.

DC was now right in front of me, his nose pressing up against mine. All three of his eyes were gazing directly at me, as if they were peering into my very soul. His mouth opened, and he exhaled slowly. Bright red wispy smoke came out of his mouth, and it enveloped my head. I felt myself losing control. I no longer felt the need to run. My mind became dull and empty. All of the emotions I had felt earlier ceased to exist.

“There we go” He said, as he pulled his head away from mine. “Now that that’s taken care of, we can get to the matter at hand. I need your body. Your living body, that is. I don’t have it” He exhaled sharply, and angrily. “Those damn humans! An experiment such as yourself is something delightfully cruel, but also terribly inconvenient. Your bodies may have become one, but you still have two different souls. One body with two souls would be very beneficial to my cause, if I had your body, but I don’t. So for now…”

He snapped his fingers, and we again were somewhere else. Like before it was a dark land of wispy smoke, but unlike before this land was filled with all sorts of creatures. Cats, dogs, mice, even humans! They all looked tired and worn, with a blank yet somber expression on their faces. Their bodies were all chained to the floor. With another puff of smoke, I too was chained down. The chains just materialized around my neck, waist, and legs. Still, I felt nothing. No terror, and no desire to run.

“You won’t be here long, my dear” DC sang, using the same melody from before. “Once I get your body, and your friend’s soul, you’ll be put to good use. For now, however, you are to remain here.” He turned away from me, and began walking off into the infinite blackness.

“See you soon, Aeon”