• Free
    Calla’s eyes glowed with a pulsing silver energy. Her opponent’s glare tracked her like a laser beam as she moved through the darkness, ready to strike at any moment.
    It had the face of a large wolf, but its features were distorted and grotesque. Its body was almost human-like, but the skin turned into paws where the hands and feet should have been. The monster drew back his mouth in the beginnings of a growl, but before it could attack, Calla lunged.
    Her claws extended in a millisecond. With her curly golden hair streaming out behind her, she flung herself on top of the beast.
    The wolf monster (let’s call him M) roared and swung his paw, but caught only air. He started ramming his back against the wall, trying to dislodge Calla.
    M flung her off, but Calla would not go down so easy. Her tail flicked and her ears twitched. She felt her senses sharpening. Her voice deepened.
    “You,” she hissed through pointed, razor sharp teeth, “You do NOT want to mess with me today.”
    She was already running before her tail split in two. Her eyes changed from soft silver into a scarily distant, empty white. Calla’s claws were where her fingernails should have been. They grew two inches, scraping the floor as she loped skillfully on all fours.
    Springing into the air, she scratched at M’s ears. Her right hand found their target and dug through the fragile cartilage. M howled.
    “Stupid bakeneko!” he yelled. “You and the rest of your putrid kind will perish!”
    “Not today old dog!” Calla cried.
    But she could feel her evil side diminishing, leaving her in the regular neko-human part of her soul. Calla’s split tail was coming back together, and her milky irises turning back to gray. Before her claws could shrink, she threw herself on top of M.
    Her aim was shaky. Plucking her out of the air like a rag doll, he threw her to the ground and put his foot on her ribs, pressing down hard. Calla flinched in pain. She felt a crack, and hissed angrily.
    “Hah!” M laughed. “Once your energy is finished, so are you!”
    As he reached down with his claws unsheathed, Calla struggled desperately, but it was futile. He was just about to strike when…
    ~Seven days earlier~
    The crouching neko bared her teeth. She hated working out in the sun, because it hurt her eyes.
    Looking around quickly to make sure her master wasn’t watching, she sat down and leaned against the large, wooden tub of water.
    Most nekos went blind at an early age, but she had been lucky enough to inherit some genes from her human ancestors that made her eyes slightly more sun resistant.
    Calla closed her eyes. Five seconds later, she found it was the wrong thing to do.
    A thunderous shout that rang in her ear made her jump. Her master grabbed her arm and hauled her up.
    “Get to work!” he yelled. ”Or you can go to the factory like your sisters!”
    Calla hissed furiously, and went back to scrubbing the clothes. Her only friend here was herself. Even so, Calla found she didn’t make good company.
    She missed her sisters. There used to be seven of them. 15 year old Carly and 14 year old Christi went first. 12 year old Cam followed them. Then 7 year old triplets Calcite, Crystal, and Copper were gone. Carmen, her twin, was still there, but she had been gone for the past week, working somewhere inside the house.
    Then there was Calla, and she had always been the least favorite. But surprisingly, even though she was her twin, Carmen was given breaks and snacks, because she was always nice to Anthony.
    Anthony was the one who had yelled at her. He was the eldest in the household, his age being 21.
    His attitude was a mystery. The other masters weren’t as harsh as him. Tommy, aging in at 15, was actually a bit kind sometimes. He let Calla work inside.
    But now, work was tiring and the other girls at the mansion made it unbearable. They gossiped about the boys at the mansion, and were always talking about who liked who best.
    Anthony had close to a million fangirls. They always said how it was only a matter of time before he would realize his feelings for them and all that junk.
    But at the end of the day, they all knew the probability of a human falling for a neko. They also knew how dangerous it was.
    In this era of time, there was a social pyramid.
    At the top, were the all-powerful humans, who controlled almost everything that they could; it was human nature to be greedy.
    In the middle there were wuffs, who were human-dog or human-wolf hybrids. They weren’t highly respected, but not hated either.
    At the bottom was the nekos, the human-cat hybrids. Those were the slaves.
    It had been like this for seven millennia. Wuffs and nekos were created in laboratories, a scientific mishap. Some idiot decided to mix human and animal DNA, and thus, the current social pyramid was born.
    Lost in thought, Calla went back to scrubbing. This was how life went for her. The scalding water fizzed and bubbled around her calloused hands, but she was used to it. Humans used all the oil on Earth, and were forced to resort to the outdated method of physical labor.
    She jumped when she heard the yipping of the next door neighbor’s kids. Tail-chasing flea-bitten mangy mutts, she thought. Wuffs had no manners.
    Concentrating on her head rant, she didn’t realize her knuckles had started to bleed.
    “Calla,” Megan hissed. “You’re going to get the water all dirty.”
    “Oh, sorry,” Calla whispered. She pulled her hands out of the water.
    “What are you doing?” Cedric asked forcefully. “I thought Anthony told you to get to work!”
    Cedric was the second eldest. He was 17, just a year older than Calla.
    “I did!” Calla exclaimed. “But I didn’t want to get the water bloody.”
    She held out her hands for example. The cracks in her dry skin had widened and blood was slowly seeping out, trying to escape.
    He grabbed her wrist and dragged her inside.
    “Stay here,” he ordered. “Don’t move, and try not to get blood all over the carpet. It’s oriental plush.”
    Cedric walked away, while Calla shoved her hands against her uniform, trying to stop the bleeding.
    Although the bleeding slowed down, it made the cut itself burn. Calla hissed. Just as she was about to walk out because of boredom, she found herself pinned against the wall by a strong pair of arms.
    “What are you doing in here?” Anthony growled. “This is no place for servants!”
    “Cedric told me to!” Calla said.
    “Ha! Cedric nothing.” Anthony spat. “You are just another one of his fangirls.”
    With that, he shoved her out the door. Quite rudely she might add. She tripped and skinned her knees. Not knowing what to do, she sharpened her claws against the edge of the cement, the pearly tips glinting in the sun. She turned her head back to the house just as Cedric came out with some kind of cream blotted on his left ring finger. He took her hand and smeared the off-white substance on it. Calla hissed and snatched it away. It felt like acid to her.
    “Now,” she huffed. “Show me where my sister is.”
    “Well, I don’t know… I think Anthony sent her to the… Factory,” He said helplessly.
    Calla shook her head. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t! Wailing and swinging her claws toward his face, she missed, but it created a diversion. She took off running. Jumping up the tall metal fence, she realized why nobody else had tried to escape. The tall metal fence was obviously coated with some slick material, and a few times, she almost slipped. When Calla reached the top, she hopped down, landing on her feet like a feline.
    The first thing she would need would be a disguise. Pulling her hair up and shoving her cat ears underneath of it, she curled up her tail underneath her skirt.
    She started jogging to a building in the distance. There was a crudely painted sign that said ‘Yard Sale – Everything MUST Go!’
    Clothes were strewn out on the lawn. She walked up to the owner, careful that her ears weren’t showing.
    “How much are the hats and dresses?” Calla asked.
    The store owner looked her up and down. She was about 27. Leaning near Calla, she made sure no one was around.
    “Here’s the deal,” she whispered. “Come inside. Nobody lives here but me. It’s dangerous out here.”
    Calla went in and sat down. A few minutes later, the woman followed.
    “Listen,” she said. “I’m Allison. If you have not noticed yet, I’m a neko. But you aren’t. You’re a bakeneko. The reason humans are so picky about us is that there is a monster that controls them. I know that was a mouthful, but that’s what’s happened the past ten years.”
    Calla raised her eyebrows. “A bakeneko?”
    Allison sighed. “It’s like a neko. They’re relatively the same. But a bakeneko is a demon-cat spirit. You can transform. It makes you more powerful, more agile, more alert, and your tail splits.”
    Calla shuddered. “So I’m a demon cat?”
    “Not exactly,” Allison replied. “One of your ancestors was one. You inherited part of their powers.”
    Calla trailed on. “And as for this monster…”
    “That,” Allison answered, “is for you to slay. I can have you in the capitol, Citrial, by this time next week. The monster is located in the Golden Throne.”
    “Um, what exactly is the Golden Throne? Is this monster some kind of leader?” Calla asked.
    “Pfft, no. It’s a restaurant,” Allison laughed. But then she grew solemn. “Now. Time for you to go to start training.”
    “What!?” Calla exclaimed. “I just came here to buy a hat! You’re crazy!”
    ~ That was the beginning of a strong friendship. For the next week, Calla and Allison got to know each other. They made enter and escape tactics. Calla was taught how to change in to her demon form. She learned how to concentrate power, and by the time she was to go, she felt ready, although she still wondered how she ever got swept into this mess. ~
    Slipping on her beanie, she stepped into the teleport powered by crystal energy. It was purchasable only by government officials, and Allison still never gave away where she got it from. Allison gave her a hug.
    “See you on the other side,” Calla said drearily.
    Allison waved, and then pressed the button. There was a blinding flash and everything went black…
    ~One hour later~
    Calla was walking through the streets of Citrial when she came upon the Golden Throne. It was a large three-story building, with large windows on the first two floors. The third, she realized, was completely closed in.
    She walked into the main room, and there was a HUGE crowd. But she knew what to do.
    Slipping through the shadows like she rehearsed with Allison, she crept up the stairs past the second floor, and entered the third.
    ~ And this is right where we left off. ~
    M held his claws to her throat, threatening to push in deep. Calla struggled, but couldn’t move. He was about to finish the job when…
    Calla felt herself transforming, but involuntarily this time. Her spine lengthened, muscles enlarged, and before she knew it, she was standing on all fours.
    Calla had become a panther.
    Snarling and slashing, she aimed every blow perfectly. M lasted longer than she would have expected.
    Finally, with one last swipe, M dissolved into dust. Humans (and wuffs) were free of their curse. The only thing left to do was liberate the rest of the nekos.
    And that was when Calla realized it.
    She was finally free.