The night had been warm and relatively peaceful, only the odd hoot of an owl outside breaking
the silence. Even the crickets had stopped chirping, ensuring everyone had been able to get a good
night's sleep. It was early morning now. The sun hadn't yet risen but Serena was already awake. The
young micen girl had exhausted herself the night before and taken an early night, but now she was
rested and once more wide awake.
  She sighed restlessly and rolled over, looking over to where her brother had settled down not
long after she did. He was still fast asleep. Serena rolled back over and stared at the wooden beams
going overhead in their little mouse hole. Another few minutes and she rolled over again. Nope, Alec
was still fast asleep.
  'Mmff...' She sat herself up. The boredom was too much for a girl of her age and after a quick
stretch she crawled over to Alec's sleeping form and draped herself over his side. Shaking him gently
she whispered. 'Alec... Wake up. I'm bored.'
  'Hnn?' Alec shifted softly before lifting his head and opening his eyes groggily. 'Serena, it's too
early to get up.'
  'Not it isn't!' She protested in a loud whisper. 'We can go anywhere in the house now while
nobody else is awake! Come on it'll be fun.' She shook him again, making him squint his eyes shut
before pushing her off and sitting up.
  'Fine.' He grumbled. 'There's no arguing with you. So what do you wanna do?' He stood up and
stretched, yawning and looking back at her with a weary smile as she stood up too.
  'I'm hungry, let's go get breakfast!' She squeaked excitedly.
  'Keep it down will ya?' He took her hand and led her to the mouse hole. 'Remember what I said?
You have to keep quiet. Otherwise big hungry leona might find you.'
  'Okay!' Serena clamped her free hand over her mouth but kept grinning underneath, completely
unafraid in the way only na�ve youth could be. Alec led her as quietly as could be out of the hole in
the wall, concealed by a heavy wooden bookcase. He gestured for her to wait underneath while he
crawled to the edge and peered out into the living room.
  It seemed clear. The room was still fairly dark, only a dim light from the television's standby light
provided any illumination as yet. There was a blanket draped over the sofa and an empty cup and
plate on the coffee table, but other than that there were no signs of life. He beckoned to Serena
behind him and the two ran quietly but hastily across the floor and into the kitchen adjacent. Their
fur was dimly illuminated by the low light, making the yellow and tan of Serena stand out much
unlike the darker purple fur of her brother.
 
  'Do you think we could get the fridge open?' Serena asked. She eyed off the towering appliance
before looking back at Alec.
  'I think you're crazy.' He shook his head. 'We'd need more micen to get that thing open, and then
some way to make sure it doesn't close on us. No, remember what I taught you? Pantry is always the
safest bet.'
  'Ohh, fine you big scaredy rat.' Serena poked out her tongue and giggled, breaking into a light jog
to catch up with her brother who hadn't once deviated from his course. The pair passed under the
enormous table, sparing a quick glance at the corners of the table cloth. Sometimes if they hung low
enough one of them could jump high enough to climb and find scraps up on the table itself. Not this
time though it seemed, either the tablecloth had been changed or it wasn't sitting evenly on the
table this time.
  'There we go.' Alec pointed to the pantry door. 'Remember how to climb that?' He gave a few
more cursory glances around before leading the way, jumping nimbly onto the wooden vent pattern
in the pantry door and climbing. Serena followed a few inches behind him until they reached the
door handle. With a practiced ease he took hold of one, before leaning over to the other one and
planting his foot. With no small strain he managed to wedge it open just enough for his sister to
crawl inside and onto the nearest shelf.
  Taking a deep breath, Serena pushed against the door from the inside, holding it open just
enough for Alec to crawl in and jump down beside her. The door softly closed as she let go, the
spring loaded hinges pulling it back into its normal closed position. It didn't matter, it was easy
enough to push back open from inside and in the meantime they were surrounded by delicious food
that was theirs for the taking, as much as they could eat and carry back with them. The young girl's
eyes lit up and her hanging jaw began to water as she looked across all the packages and boxed
trying to decide what to eat first.
  'Pull yourself together will ya?' Alec sniggered, already gnawing at a cardboard box full of cereal.
After a few seconds he managed to make a small enough hole to pull one of the small frosted loops
through. Placing it softly on Serena's head, he reached in and pulled out a second one before
starting to take small bites.
  'Is it good?' Serena asked, breaking off a small chunk of the loop on her head and sniffing it
curiously.
  'Mmhmm.' Alec nodded over a full mouth. Serena took a small nibble before devouring the whole
handful in one bite.
  'Mmrrff... Sweet!' She licked her lips and then pulled the rest of the cereal loop off her head and
dug in enthusiastically. 'These are really good!'
  'Settle down.' Alec giggled. 'Let's see what else there is.' He walked around a few more boxes, the
low lighting in the pantry made it difficult to see but he managed to find an opened box and climbed
to the top of it.
  'What is it?' Serena asked, taking another bite of her cereal loop.
  'Not sure, but it smells sweet.' Alec replied as he pulled the tab open. 'I think it's... Yes! It's
cookies!' He climbed down into the box before pushing one of the cookies back out the top. Serena
dropped her cereal and ran over excitedly, standing right beside the box just as Alec pushed it over
the edge.
  'Ooof!' She grunted with the effort of catching it on her own, stumbling backwards before
tripping over the cereal loop and landing on her back with the large cookie on top of her. 'Alec!'
  'Crap, are you okay?' Alec hastily climbed back down and lifted the cookie off his sister with a look
of concern on his face.
  'I'm okay...' She shook her head dazed. 'Why didn't you tell me you were gonna drop it?'
  'Why did you stand under it?' He retorted. 'I was only gonna be able to get it down one way, silly!'
  'Shut up, I wasn't ready for it.' Serena grumbled, crawling backwards and letting Alec lower the
cookie back down. 'But just for that I get the first bite!'
  'No you don't!' Alec replied with a grin. 'I did all the hard work.' But before he could make good
on his claim Serena had already leaned forward and taken a big mouthful of the soft doughy cookie,
making a show of chewing it loudly in front of him. He gave her a slow cocked smile before leaning
over and flicking her nose.
  'Hey!' She protested through half a mouth full of cookie. 'Don't do that...'
  Alec grinned and picked the cookie up onto its side before rolling it towards the door. 'If we can
get this back to the mouse hole we'll be fed for at least two days. See if you can grab something
else.'
  'Fine.' She replied, still with the sour look on her face before swallowing her mouthful and
starting to rummage through a few stacked up packets of various things. 'But whatever I find is mine
and you have to ask me nicely if you want any!'
  'Whatever you say.' Alec grinned. He rolled the cookie off the edge of the shelf where it fell down
just in front of the door with a soft thud. It would be easy to retrieve from down below once they
were back outside, but for now he turned his attention back to his sister.
  'There's not much else in here.' She said. 'Maybe we can just take a whole lot of loops back with
us too?'
  'I guess, if you can carry them?' Alec shrugged. 'Put as many as you can on your tail and keep it
coiled tight.' The mental image made both of them smile, Serena being unable to stifle a giggle
before starting to scoop a bundle of cereal loops out of the hole they had made in the box and
slowly threading them onto her tail.
  'This feels so silly.' She giggled again before she leaned on the door and waited for Alec to push it
open. As he did so, she climbed back out but lost two of the five loops she was carrying as she
jumped across to the door. The cookie, wedged between the door and the bottom shelf, slipped out
onto the floor at the same time.
  'Don't worry, let's go.' Alec said. With a nimble leap and swing, he followed her in gripping the
outside of the door once again and they both started to climb down a quickly as they could. Serena
skipped the last few inches and jumped to the floor, looking back up with a proud grin as her brother
dropped down beside her a few moments later. She gathered up the loops she had dropped while
Alec hefted the cookie onto its side so he could roll it like a wheel.
  'I'll lead the way!' Serena whispered excitedly, seeing that Alec would be unable to keep a clear
view with the cookie obscuring half of his vision.
  'O-okay, just be careful.' He said. Normally he would prefer to lead the way himself, but it was still
dark and as far as he could tell nobody was even home. Serena should be safe but he still hoped she
would be careful as he had been teaching her. 'Remember all the tricks I taught you. Sight the path
ahead, keep your ears sharp and remember to take notice of unusual smells.'
  'I know.' She replied, already leading the way back across the kitchen floor. 'Just try to keep up
with me with that thing.' She stopped at the doorway back to the living room and panned her gaze
across it, just as Alec had taught her. The room was as quiet and still as it had been before. Giving a
quick glance back she gave him a nod before trekking back out into the open back towards their
hole.
  Alec followed as quickly as he could manage, rolling the cookie like a wheel. Every revolution
made it bump slightly where the first bite had been taken out of it and he tried not to giggle so he
could stay alert. Empty house or no, they hadn't survived this long by not being cautious all the time.
  Serena reached the cupboard that concealed their home and dashed underneath. Alec followed a
few moments later, tilting the cookie over and dragging it in behind him. Back inside, he set it down
beside the pile of cloth that he slept on. Serena had already offloaded the cereal loops from her tail
and was licking the sugar residue from both it and her fingers.
  'Okay, got that wanderlust out of your system?' He asked her.
  'Got what out of what?' She asked with a puzzled look.
  'Never mind.' He said. 'Can we go back to bed for a while now?' He collapsed onto his bed and
looked back at her. She tilted her head sideways to match his and then grinned back at him and
shook her head.
  'Nope! I still wanna go out there and play some more.' She said. 'The leona isn't even home, what
are you scared of? As soon as we hear the front door we can run back here!'
  '...Well... Okay.' Alec sighed reluctantly. 'But just remember we have to be careful, always. Even
when it seems like we're safe. Okay?' He sat back up and rolled onto his feet.
  'Of course.' She said, moving forward to give him a quick hug before dashing back outside the
door. Alec scrambled to catch up to her, stepping back outside to see where she was.
  'Serena, slow down.' He called. He caught up to her, already standing in the middle of the living
room and looking around curiously. The steadily flicking light from the television still gave the room
a dull and somewhat spooky feel.
  'We were sure nobody was home, right?' Serena asked. Her voice had a slight shake but she
didn't show any other sign of being afraid.
  'I think so but remember, be careful. It's hard to see with only a little light so we'll have to keep a
sharp listen out remember?' Alec answered. He took a few steps forward. He didn't really want to be
out here, but at the same time a chance for reconnaissance in this house when it was empty was a
rare opportunity.
  The two of them started walking towards the entertainment unit, their shadows falling behind
them as they started to climb up towards where the television sat. Serena reached the top first,
standing in front of the slowly blinking light. Alec watched and shook his head as Serena stared at
the light, blinking each time it came on.
  'Stop that, you'll ruin your eyesight.' He scolded her.
  'It's not THAT bright.' She retorted, but took her eyes away a few moments after it flashed again.
She followed Alec as he started to walk towards the edge of the cabinet. Neither of them had ever
taken much notice of the larger bookcase on this side of the room, usually only travelling to the
kitchen and back. It was half full of books and half full of various disc cases.
  'I wonder what kind of books she reads.' Alec wondered out loud, almost missing that Serena had
jumped over to one of the lower shelves and was walking across to the far end. 'Wait Serena!' He
followed her onto the shelf and across to the far end.
  'I've never even been here before.' Serena said. 'It's like going somewhere for the first time.' The
other end of the bookshelf was propped up against a low sitting coffee table and she swung herself
around the end of the shelf to land on top of it and keep walking. She gave a cursory glance to the
cup and plate they had noticed before, but there were no crumbs to speak of.
  'Serena!' Alec called, with increased frustration in his voice. 'Stop running ahead of me like that!
One of these days you're going to get yourself killed!'
  'Will you relax?' Serena called back. 'We're fine. See? Nobody is even here.' She walked across
the coffee table to the other end, where the arm of the sofa was only a small jump.
  'Guh. At least slow down!' He called. Running after her, he made the jump a few seconds behind
her and climbed up onto the back of the sofa beside her. The blanket that was haphazardly draped
over the sofa and its cushions was a lumpy mess below them and from up here the rest of the living
room looked somewhat smaller.
  'This is a nice spot.' Serena said, sitting down at last. Alec sat beside her and sighed in relief. His
turned his gaze towards the closed cabinet that concealed their home and traced the way they had
come to get here. It was a bigger room than he had given thought to before, the fact that their route
was always closer to the other side had led him to never give much thought to it before though.
  'Yea, it's not a bad view from here.' He conceded. The television continued its slow dull blink from
the other side of the room and there was another dim glow now coming from the window behind
the curtains on the adjacent wall. 'It looks like the sun will be up soon. We shouldn't stay here too
much longer.'
  'Can we go outside later?' Serena asked.
  'I guess.' Alec nodded. 'Remember we have to wait though. The middle of the day just before the
sun hits the top of the sky is when it's safest. We'll go back inside for a while and then we'll wait for
a few hours first.'
  'Okay.' Serena nodded. She took a deep breath and leaned back on the soft padding before lying
down and stretching out all of her limbs.
  'So now you're tired again?' Alec asked with a small smile.
  'Maybe...' She answered coyly. 'I just couldn't sleep. But I could sleep here. This is so much more
comfortable than my bed.' She rolled over and curled up, looking back at him with a smile.
  'Forget it, and don't make the big eyes at me.' Alec shook his head in response. 'There is no way
I'm letting either one of us sleep out here in the open like this.' Despite his own words he slid
himself over and curled up beside her. She yawned, making him shake his head before he too did the
same.
  'Are you sure?' Serena asked. 'It's comfy right?' She began to stretch her limbs out, then froze
suddenly as her eyes widened in alarm.
  'What is...?' Alec began to ask, then he too froze in place. Movement came from beneath them,
vibrating through the structure of the sofa as something made it move. With slow movements, he
peered down into the seat of the sofa, the rumpled blanket that had been draped there. A few
minutes of carefully creeping back towards the end of the sofa and keeping an eye on the blanket
revealed the terrifying truth. The blanket was not empty at all, someone was under there. Someone
had been under there this entire time.
  'Alec?' Serena whispered from a few inches behind him. 'Is it...?'
  'Yes.' He replied, trying to keep strong even watching the colour drain from her face. 'Keep very
quiet, and climb back down. Don't run unless they move.'
  'Okay...' Serena nodded. She approached him and shuffled carefully past, stopping and shaking
before the last few inches and freezing up in place. 'Alec...?'
  'Keep moving.' Alec pleaded. 'Don't stop.'
  Serena shook her head, whimpering as she tried to move forward again. Suddenly her arm slipped
and she began to slip down the fabric towards the danger below.
  'No!' Alec exclaimed in horror, grabbing her tail and pulling her back up. He felt his own feet slip
under her weight, but refused to let up until his sister was safe. He wrapped his arm around her
waist and tossed her back up to the top of the sofa. 'Get back to the hole, don't come back out until
tonight!'
  'Alec?' She protested, crawling back to the top of the sofa and curling back up. 'Alec don't go...'
  Alec tried to dig his claws into the fabric and climb back up but was shaking too much to find a
firm grip. His body landed on something soft, bouncing and rolling further before landing on one of
the lower cushions. His eyes clenched shut and he clutched his head, dizzy from the fall.
  A sudden wave of hot air washed over him, followed by a shift in the blankets behind him. He
gulped and turned around slowly, eyes widening in terror as the house's occupant looked back at
him. Her large nose and lips filled his vision before she shifted and looked down at him with sleepy
eyes.
  'S-Solace...' He breathed. Cowering before her, his thoughts turned to his sister. Would she be
safe without him? Would she be alright on her own, had his lessons really sunk in?
  His thoughts were cut cruelly short as the leona's hand suddenly shifted from under the blankets
and hit him from behind. Suddenly he has pressed harshly face first into the end of her muzzle, soft
skin of her lips and nose feeling warm against his body.
  'No... I can't!' He protested weakly. He winced as she inhaled his scent, then shuddered as she
exhaled before her lips parted and wrapped around his midsection. 'Please don't!' His pleas went
unheeded as a loud wet slurp drowned out the ambience and he was surrounded by the hot wet
interior of her maw. The smell was horrible, every bit as bad as morning breath with a hint of
drinking from the night before. He struggled uselessly and tried to get his bearings, as trying to
squirm in any direction was useless unless he knew he was heading towards the way out.
  A sliver of light whizzed past his vision before her tongue obscured it. He tried to push himself
that way, but her saliva had already matted his fur and made it impossible for him to grip anything in
here. His head banged against the hard roof of her mouth as she swished him around and savoured
his flavour for a torturous few moments before the pressure all around him increased.
  'No! I have to...!' His last words were crushed from his lungs as her tongue forced him into the
wet folds of her throat muscles. They squeezed in around him as her tongue shifted one more time,
pushing him down with a horrifyingly loud gulp...
 
  Serena crawled to the edge of the sofa, still shivering and now tears were also leaking from her
eyes. She looked back down towards where Alec had fallen. He wasn't there, and now she could
make out the top half of a leona's head. She was pretty sure it was the same leona that lived in this
house, but in the dim light it was hard to tell.
  'Alec?' She whispered. He didn't answer. He had wanted her to get back to their home. Maybe he
had already gone there, after falling down the sofa like that surely he would have just run back
there, right? She kept watching the leona for a few more seconds, frozen in place once more at the
thought of being caught by the giant owner of this house. Beneath her, the sleeping leona shifted
slightly, her tongue licking around her lips before she moaned lightly and went back to sleep...
 
  'Alec...' Serena sniffed. 'I'll... I'll see you back home...'