Halloween Cat's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Halloween Cat climbed the slope toward the graves. Halfway up, a smell stopped him. It was not dirt or old stone. It was sweet, thick, almost warm. His nose pulled him sideways, away from the ridge. He fought it, but his paws turned. The cold presence among the graves still waited, but the smell was louder now than his fear. He followed it down a short path to an old wooden stand. Faded pumpkins slumped across its counter. The boards sagged and splintered. Behind the counter stood a thin man with sunken cheeks and pale green skin. He held a paper bag against his chest. Inside, something gleamed red through a tear in the paper. A lollipop, glossy and dark, swirled like blood. The sweet smell poured from it. Halloween Cat knew the man. The same pale face had chased him from the crooked house. The man's feet pointed inward. He clutched the bag tighter and stared down. "Not you again," the man said. "You took enough from me." The kitten did not care about the past. He only wanted the candy. His whole body leaned toward it. He crouched low behind a cracked pumpkin and waited. The man set the bag on the counter to light a lantern. His hands shook. For one breath, the bag sat alone. Halloween Cat leaped. He hit the counter, skidded across rotten wood, and clamped the paper in his teeth. The man grabbed. His fingers closed on empty air. "Thief!" the man shouted. He swung the lantern. Light slashed the dark. Halloween Cat jumped off the back of the stand. He landed and ran. The bag swung from his mouth. The man stumbled after him, feet turned in, slow on the broken ground. The kitten slipped between two leaning posts and lost him in the dark. He stopped behind a cold stone to breathe. He dropped the bag and tore the paper. The red lollipop rolled out, shining in the weak light. He pressed his tongue to it. Sweetness burst across his mouth. He wanted more. He could not stop. He licked again and again until the swirl was gone. Then his stomach twisted. Not with sickness. With hunger. A deeper, wider hunger than he had ever felt. His paws ached. His legs felt longer. He looked at them and his fur stood on end. He was bigger. The candy had changed him, and it still pulled at him, demanding to be fed. Above him, among the graves, the cold thing stirred. It had felt the change too. The kitten had stolen the candy and won. But the win had opened something inside him he could not close. He stood taller now, hungrier, closer to the waiting shadow than ever. And he could not turn back down the slope.