For Lei Cai, my mom, who encouraged me through everything

A.C.

PROLOGUE

The heaven cats all curled up in their booths, thinking hard. Many of them wanted to say something, but they knew better to cross the heaven minister, who would likely kick them out if they did.

“Erm…maybe…” A small Munchkin cat whispered reluctantly, then grew silent. “Whatever.”

“Speak, we need somebody to say something!” A Russian Blue cat hissed, slapping the Munchkin cat with his tail. “Oh, come on…we had the chance!”

“Then why didn’t you speak up?” The Munchkin cat snapped back, seething with fury. “You want somebody to have the chance? Go for it! You do it! Smokey, you can’t just keep bossing us around!”

“I…” Smokey muttered, then let out a harrumph and growled.

“WHO’S TALKING BACK THERE? IF I CATCH ANYBODY, THEY’RE OUT OF HEAVEN IN A NANOSECOND! Y'ALL UNDERSTAND?” The heaven minister roared loudly.

“Yes, master!” Everybody saluted painfully, cringing at the words. Nobody wanted to be kicked out of cat heaven, and if they did, they’d get stuck in the Ghost World or…somewhere else that is scarier, as in Hell.

“Master, we’re all set! The new contraption is ready!” A cupid cat worker peeked in and shrank back with a little squeak.

Ignoring the worker, the heaven minister yawned and sat back in his “heavenly” bean bag seat. “Well…do you think I should save this poor cat?” He mused, curling his tail and licking his fur. “I don’t know…”

“Master…maybe we should save her? I have a feeling that it will be right,” the cat cupid muttered, biting his lip. “I really think we should save her.”

One cat snorted. “Y’all didn’t save my wife! I died for her!”

Another put a claw to his nose. “Shush!”

Another scowled. “My children are still at home alone! When are we dismissed? Besides, I need coffee!”

“So do I!” A large cat grunted.

Ignoring the arguing cats, the heaven minister shot a disapproving glance at the cats instead of speaking. “You could be right, but you failed lots of stuff. Just kind and confident to get in, not smart at all…but when y’all have feelings’, sometimes it could be right. Alright, let’s vote!” The heaven minister called, flicking his tail. “If you vote yes, we should save her, raise your tails!”

About three-quarters of the cats raised their tails.

“Yes!” The cat cupid silently cheered.

“Alright, majority! We shall save her!” The heaven minister boomed, and raised his tail. The rest of the cats followed him, and raised their tails as well. “FUTURE, WE SAVE MORTICIA PAW!”

“AHHH!” A demon cat screamed as it came barreling into the hallway, its forked tail lashing back and forth. “HELP! HELP! NOOO! HELP! HELP! NOOO! AHHH! SAVE US! MASTER! ARGH! NOOO! AHHH! SAVE US! HELP!”

“What in hate is that demon doing?” One demon said to another. “I’m pretty sure it’s irritating the master. What are we going to do about crazy demons like that? I mean, look at me! I'm the master's most loyal demon!”

“What about me?” The other demon asked, his voice sounded hurt. “He likes me, I think! I’m pretty sure! I’m loyal! But Scarlet, what if the master likes somebody else? Like me? What if you’re wrong?”

Scarlet scoffed. “Well, why wouldn’t he like me? He trusts me! You just cower around, and if you’re really, really, angry, you’ll fight. But you fight like an injured cow! Come on, I’m nimble, agile, serene, and so good at battling! Unlike you!”

“Master, the heaven cats have decided to save the cat!” The demon cat shrieked, bursting into the throne room. He had frantically pushed his small pitchfork into the lock to tell the devil his news.

Several execution guards gasped in fury and shock.

“Is that so?” The devil hissed, his forked tongue flicking in and out like a snake, except smoke was coming out of his mouth. “Ah, well, I shall take care of it. Demon, leave the room so I can execute her…” He yawned and took a sip of blood, savoring the taste of pure hate.

The demon cat darted out of the room in one giant leap, crying out with fear. He was forced to obey the devil, for the devil ruled the whole Hell and could execute anybody he wanted just with a flick of his tail. Although…there was an exception. If the heaven cats used their powers to save at the same time the hate cats used their powers to kill, the animal the heaven cats save will survive, because the power of love overrules the power of hate.

“CLOSE THE DOOR AND GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” The devil screamed, pointing his deadly barbed tail at the demon cat. “OR YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN!”

“Y-yes, I know, I know, m-master! O-of c-course! O-of c-course! I will obey you know matter what, master, please don’t execute me! Okay! I’ll go!” The demon cat scurried back to the door and slammed it shut as the devil raised his tail higher, then escaped down the stairs with a thudding heart.

Back at the throne room, one execution guard whimpered. “Are you sure about this, master?”

“Of course I am!” The devil snorted scornfully. “Now you shut your jaw, or you’ll get executed, and so will your precious family, like I even care about them! I’m just keeping them alive because I need you!”

The execution guard immediately stopped speaking and fiddled with his pitchfork. He didn’t like it in Hell, but he got kicked out of heaven with his family as he was a criminal back there.

“Now, KILL!” The devil shouted, flicking his tail. There was a flash of red and gold light, which meant only one thing…

The heaven cats had used their powers at the exact same time as the devil used his powers.

The gates creaked.
The lights flashed.

Cats left their homes to see what the commotion was.

Heads turned to look at the silver cat crying in despair as she and her guards marched into the world.

“Somebody came…”

“More friends…”
“Will she like it here…?”

“She looks distressed…”

“I wish I could tell her that it’s fine living here…”

“It’s decent…!”

“I don’t like it here…”

“She’s new…”

“She just came…”

“One more cat to bake for…”

“What did she do…?”

“I wonder…”

Some cats were whispering at the cat who had just come. Some cats were just staring speechlessly.

If the criminal repeated her crimes, she would be sent to Hell, so she didn’t do anything that counted as a crime. Life in Hell would be even worse than life in the Ghost World, everybody knew that.

“I WANT TO GET BACK IN HEAVEN!” The criminal shouted, sobbing. Her breath was coming in short gasps, and she scratched the guards that held her with a tight grip. “PLEASE! I BEG YOU!”
“Shush, or we’re sending you to Hell!” One guard snapped, dragging her along. “It’s alright, we’re here. You won’t have a perfect life, but it will at least be fine.” They crossed the road.

“Yeah!” The second guard chimed in. “You’ll check in at the lobby of the Ghost World Apartment, you’ll get an apartment, and you’ll live there, you’ll make friends…”

“And where is the Ghost World Apartment?” The cat demanded, lashing her long tail.

“Good question!” The second guard chirped, popping in again.

They stopped in front of a large apartment building with cats bustling around the whole place, swimming, talking, playing, and sleeping in dull hammocks that hang from drooping palm trees that looked more dead than alive.

“This…” The third guard said, “…is the Ghost World Apartment.”

Paws thudded along the forest undergrowth, mingled with the sound of pained gasps from a young damsel in distress.

“Quickly!” The dark-brown male cried, gasping for breath as he ran. His heart pounded in his chest. He felt sick, he wanted to take his wife’s place. “Morticia! Please don’t die, we’re getting you to the hospital!” His voice had an edge of panic in it, and he hurried, carrying his wife with his brother.

“I have a feeling Morticia will be fine, Bruno,” the husband’s brother said calmly, though panic shone in his eyes. “I shall make sure of that. Even though she is in pain, we are still very close to the hospital. My friends, the doctors there, will do a good job in the Emergency Room.”

“How do you know that?” Bruno cried, running even faster. He didn’t lose the love of his life, especially if it meant he’d have children. “Seriously, Devil! You are so calm in dangerous, terrifying situations! Morticia could die here, and maybe sooner or later! Why couldn’t you lend me the cat-carrier?”

“Oh, because it is broken,” Devil sighed sadly, shaking his head slowly as he matched Bruno’s speed. “It is too dangerous anyway. We must do this safely for Morticia, no matter what it takes. I cannot take risks.” He walked faster, pulling Bruno along with him. 

Finally, they entered a hidden clearing in the middle of the lush green forest with a large building. The doors were locked and there was a keypad stuck onto the wall. “Please state your name, what room you are going to, and type the password in the keypad!” The speaker boomed.

“My name is Bruno, I am going to the Emergency room and–” He typed the password in. “745233.” He muttered under his breath, panic rising in his chest. The world around him started to whirl.

Morticia groaned, and spasms were taking over her body. “Please–help–our children–let me die–if–you–need–to–” She groaned again, the light just fading from her eyes just when the door swung open.

They rushed her into the Emergency Room, and saved the kittens while Morticia recovered, she had survived the pain. 

They all were laughing together and the panic started to fade off as they ate mouse-tarts next to Morticia.

“How are you doing, Morticia?” Bruno cooed, bending down to lick Morticia. “Sabrina is coming soon, she’s very excited to meet the kittens! Don’t worry, you’ll see your sister soon…”

“Sabrina…?” Morticia yawned, twitching her ears with exhaustion. “Sabrina will see my kittens…oh…” She closed her eyes to sleep peacefully, and her expression changed to a frown.

“WHERE IS MORTICIA?” A luminous voice thundered. “I MUST SEE MORTICIA! FOR I AM SABRINA, QUEEN OF LAGNOS!” An identical cat that looked just like Morticia, but stronger and more powerful stepped in. She was also massive compared to. She had a long, velvet cape that stretched all the way to the floor and it was held by two servants wearing short sky-blue capes.

“I’m here, Sabrina,” Morticia meowed weakly, her eyes fluttering open. “I’m right here, and I’m completely fine. My kittens are suckling, and they seem to be very shady, which are genes developed from me.”

“HA!” Sabrina boomed, joy sparkling in her large eyes. “PERFECT! A WHOLE NEW GENERATION DEVELOPED FOR THE PAW FAMILY! SABRINA PAW, QUEEN OF LAGNOS IS HERE!”

“This is not going to go well…” Bruno hissed to Devil, grinding his teeth nervously. “There is always a dark aura when they’re together. They always have arguments, so…be careful, Devil.”

“Okay, thanks for the tip,” Devil whispered back, flattening his ears to his head so he didn’t hear the argument. “Um…now I’ll just go to the lobby to…uh…look at the hospital’s decorations…”

“Wha–?” Bruno whirled around in confusion as Devil darted away out of the hospital room, but he couldn’t leave because he needed to stay with Morticia. He sighed and slumped down, rolling his eyes.

A nurse peeked in, then slammed the door shut.

“I AM THE QUEEN OF LAGNOS! I’M SO BRAVE! EVERYBODY RESPECTS ME! AH, THIS IS SUCH A BLISS LIFE!” Sabrina sang, running laps around the room. “I AM SO GREAT!” 

“Uh, Sabrina,” Morticia began. “I don’t think you should be shouting about your power in the lovely hospital. My kittens are terrified, and they’ve stopped suckling now, so could you…keep it down a bit?” Fear embraced her, and her voice shook slightly.

“NONSENSE!” Sabrina yelled. “I AM QUEEN OF LAGNOS! I MUST SHOW MY POWER, AND IF YOUR KITTENS HAVE STOPPED SUCKLING, THEY’LL GO BACK TO IT SOON ENOUGH!”

The kittens were whimpering by this time, and they squirmed tightly into Morticia’s belly, letting out whines and squeals of fear. They all tried to shrink, but it was impossible to do.

“It’s alright,” Morticia cooed, trying to calm the little kittens down. “It’s going to be okay. Just a crazy cat.”

Sabrina didn’t hear what Morticia had just said. “DON’T WORRY, SQUIRMY LITTLE WORMS!” She shouted even louder, causing the kittens to shout with her. “DO NOT FEAR! QUEEN SABRINA IS HERE!” She puffed her chest out importantly, and strutted around to watch everybody in the room, making little “ha!”s everywhere.

“Please keep it down,” Morticia pleaded, her voice still quivering with fear. “Sabrina, the kittens are completely terrified. I will not tolerate this foolishness. Has anybody ever taught you the indoor voice and outdoor voice?”
“Oh, Morticia,” Sabrina huffed, anger in her voice. “Why must you always criticize me? I have more experience and I’m older. Besides, you are way too shy, and I am the person who is queen.”

“I know, but–” Morticia sighed in exasperation. “The situation is kittens here. They are babies, and we should respect them. They do not like when you shout, and they are suckling right now, and you interrupted.”

“Oh my diamonds, Morticia!” Sabrina groaned, rolling her eyes in disgust. “I’m just welcoming these little kittens to the world! You can try to stop me, but I can beat you to a pulp. It’s not worth it, sister!” Her eyes were challenging and shooting daggers at Morticia and Bruno.

“I’m not stopping you,” Morticia meowed quietly, sadness filling her eyes as she looked down at her kittens, who silently went back to suckling. “I’m just suggesting. It’s my kittens anyway, and you don’t have kittens, so you don’t have more experience than me. I make the choices for my kittens.”

“HOW DARE YOU?” Sabrina shrieked. “I AM QUEEN OF LAGNOS! YOU DISRESPECT ME, SISTER! I SHALL BAN YOU FROM THE KINGDOM OF LAGNOS FOREVER!” Her eyes blazed with fury.

“I’m not even in Lagnos anyway,” Morticia shrugged smoothly. “And I hate it. I like Ceranos better anyway, and the education is better than Lagnos’s.” She looked down affectionately at her kittens, who replied in warm squeaks of delight and adoration, seeming to wonder how big Morticia was.

“HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR HOME COUNTRY?” Sabrina spat, her tail lashing furiously. She snarled and raked her dirty claws across the floor of the clean Emergency Room, causing many janitors to come rushing in to clean up the dirt. “YOU—YOU MANIAC TRAITOR! YOU DISGUSTING MANGY STRAY! YOU COLD-BLOODED, HORRIBLE MONSTER!” She was starting to insult Morticia.