Jenn felt her feet hit the floor moments before Therese's bedroom door closed behind them. The
room was faintly illuminated by one of the streetlights just outside the window to her left. If there
was a need for more light, Therese didn't seem to care. Jenn remembered at that moment that cats
had far superior night vision, and was just able to make out Therese's large white form navigating to
the large bed in the centre of the room with no difficulty. But there wasn't enough light to make out
anything else.
  Jenn cautiously took a few steps forward, stopping as her toe bumped something on the floor.
She nudged it again, realizing it was a plush of some sort before trying to step over it. As she lifted
her foot, she realized that the plush was larger than she was and she'd have an easier time stepping
around it.
  'Don't step on Mister Hugbear.' Therese giggled. 'Ben won that for me at a carnival.'
  'I can't see anything.' Jenn replied in frustration. 'I don't have cat vision, okay?'
  Therese sighed, and Jenn could see her arm reach up to somewhere before a light came on from
the cat's right and lit up the room.
  Jenn winced and closed her eyes. In the near perfect dark, the sudden light was blinding and she
blinked her eyes a few times trying to get them to adjust to the new light. She could see more now, a
bookshelf off to the opposite end of the room to her right, a dresser against the wall on her left, and
what looked like a study desk beside the bed.
  It was here that the lamp sat. It was a dull globe, now that Jenn's eyes had adjusted she could see
that the desk was strewn with papers and books, a laptop sat open on the opposite corner and the
lamp was sitting beside a port that would charge a mobile phone.
  'Better?' The cat asked.
  'I... guess?' Jenn shrugged. 'To be honest, I'd rather not be held captive by a cat who wants to eat
me, I'm just grateful that you filled up on steak.'
  'Oh stop stressing out.' Therese laughed. 'Now give me your phone.'
  'W-what?' Jenn asked fearfully. 'Why?' Her hand reached for the device in her pocket, a small
phone sized for citizens like squirrels and rabbits.
  'I don't want you calling for help or trying to taxi yourself home through the night.' Therese
growled playfully, slinking across the room faster than the squirrel could move and snaring her
under one arm from behind.
  'Stop it!' Jenn protested, but Therese had already slipped the small phone into her hand.
  'Alright.' Therese dropped Jenn back to the floor. 'Bathroom's across the hall if you need it. If
you're not back in five minutes, I'm gonna come looking for you.'
  Jenn didn't reply, but she did take the opportunity to slip through the doorway as the cat opened
it for her. Thankfully the bathroom door was already ajar allowing her inside without help. After two
hops to reach the light switch, she turned and sighed again at seeing everything so ridiculously
oversized.
  After hazarding the toilet, she had to climb onto the edge of the vanity to wash her hands.
Balancing precariously as she turned the tap on, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her own
belly was still distended from the dinner that Clive had cooked, and she was reminded of the
terrified mouse girl she had swallowed alive in her failed attempt to appeal to Therese's ego.
  The thought that the very fate she had doomed the mouse too might still be hers was terrifying,
made all the more real by the loss of her phone. With no way to contact anyone that might be able
to help her, her only chance was to appeal to the house's denizens, and none of them had displayed
any interest in denying Therese the catch she'd waited on for so long.
  She slipped back to the floor and made her way out into the hallway. She stood outside Therese's
bedroom door, wanting to run in the other direction but having nowhere safe to run to. She wanted
to run downstairs and beg Clive or Mikaela for help, or even get outside, run back to her own district
and hope like crazy she could make it out of this neighbourhood without a less patient predator
catching her.
  She sighed and fought back tears shakily reaching out and pushing the door back open. Therese
was sitting on her bed, now naked and playfully dangling the last mouse by her tail and poking at her
with a claw.
  'Do you have to do that?' Jenn sighed, pushing the door closed despairingly behind her.
  'I don't have to do anything.' The cat retorted. Before Jenn could say anything else, Therese
lowered the mouse onto her tongue. A small terrified scream was cut short as Therese slurped the
tiny body into her mouth, swishing the squirming mouse from one cheek to the other before
swallowing with a deliberately loud and wet gulp.
  Jenn winced at the sound, feeling her knees wobble as Therese let out a long and happy sigh.
With no recourse, she climbed onto the end of the bed and sat there. 'I... I don't suppose I can talk
you out of this, can I?'
  'Oh relax, you have time.' The cat rolled her eyes. 'Like you said, I'm not gonna be able to enjoy
something your size after that steak. Even eating Miss Mouse was pushing it a little.'
  'So why are you-' Jenn began.
  She was interrupted as Therese leaned over and snared the squirrel's shirt. She pulled the smaller
girl up close to her, holding her in her lap and squeezing their bodies together. Jenn was painfully
reminded of just how much stronger than her the cat was. 'It just means, little squirrel, that you're
going to be breakfast instead of dinner.'
  'Huh?' Jenn's eyes widened in alarm.
  'Yep.' Therese grinned, flashing her teeth and then lightly nipping Jenn's ear. 'We're going to be
up bright and early so I can enjoy my breakfast treat. So I was going to ask you, since this is your last
night, would you like to have some fun?' Her hot breath in Jenn's ear was not entirely unpleasant,
but the implications of her words were a terrifying confirmation of the horror that awaited her.
  'What the hell...?' Jenn squirmed vainly in the cat's grip. 'You have a boyfriend!'
  'Pff.' Therese laughed. 'He doesn't mind if I get a little frisky with my food. And besides, it's your
last night, rodent. What do you say?'
  'I couldn't... I...' Jenn squirmed more vigorously trying to get loose.
  'Don't swing that way?' Therese asked. 'Well that's a shame. Life is so much sweeter when you
can play for either team.'
  'Sorry to disappoint.' Jenn retorted.
  'Oh I'll manage.' Therese grinned again. She dropped Jenn onto her back and crouched over her
on the bed. 'The only one who's gonna be disappointed here is you.' The glint in her eye went from
one sort of predatory to another, and Jenn's own eyes widened in apprehension as she realized
what the cat was about to do.
  'No!' Jenn cried out as Therese gripped her shirt and tore it loose. Her struggling was every bit as
useless as it had been before, with even her attempts to kick Therese off herself amounting to
nothing but an amused giggle from the white cat.
  'Oh, delicious...' Therese licked her lips as she pulled off Jenn's pants. 'You're almost as sexy as
me, do you have a lucky squirrel boyfriend by any chance?'
  'Get off me!' Jenn cried, more forcefully this time and swung a fist into the cat's arm. Therese
laughed and then seized her forearm.
  Therese moaned happily as she guided Jenn's hand onto her tongue, closing her lips around the
small wrist and sucking like a piece of candy. Jenn started to breathe rapidly in panic as she felt
Therese's tongue lapping over her fingers, the cat's hot wet breath escaping in the occasional pant
as she treated the squirrel's arm like a sweet treat.
  Jenn broke. The confidence she had held when she first met the cat had been little eroded in their
time working together, but being now at Therese's mercy and realizing she'd had no effect on her
outlook was crushing.
  The sight of tears seemed to spur Therese even further, and she pulled Jenn's arm even deeper
into her slavering maw. Jenn got more frantic as her fingers brushed the back of the cat's throat.
Therese swallowed, compressing the squirrel's hand into a tight and slick fold of flesh. Jenn
panicked, wondering if Therese was going to give in to her own impulses right now.
  Therese gulped again, but then she pulled the squirrel's arm clear of her mouth. A long string of
drool hung from Jenn's fingers to the cat's lips for a few moments before it fell clear. As the drool
coating her hand and wrist began to cool, Jenn tried to calm her shakes as Therese ran her eyes up
and down the squirrel's petite form.
  '...Please stop this...' Jenn begged. 'I can't take this! Let me go!' More tears rolled from her eyes as
she was regarded like a piece of meat.
  'Aww.' Therese leaned in closer, nuzzling Jenn's cheek with her own. 'This would be much more
fun if you played along. A gorgeous little morsel like you could be all sorts of delicious.' Her tongue
lapped across Jenn's face and took with it the tears from her eye. Jenn squeezed her eyes shut and
tried to
  'You're sick...' Jenn shivered, feeling Therese's hot wet breath across her face. She opened her
eyes and her own breath caught. The cat's maw was directly above her face, tongue dangling slightly
and teeth parted to reveal every terrifying detail. Jenn's stare was locked at the steadily undulating
entrance to the cat's throat, the dark but glistening passage that had held her arm just moments
ago.
  'Oh, did I scare you?' The cat whispered, before closing her lips over Jenn's in a slow and forceful
kiss. Jenn closed her eyes again, this time refusing to open them back up until she was sure Therese
had moved her head away.
  The mattress bounced slightly before Jenn felt herself pulled to a new position. She was now on
top of Therese, the cat lying on her back while the squirrel's lower half was trapped between her
legs. Jenn's chest was resting over Therese's groin, the heat of the cat's arousal easily felt against
Jenn's breasts.
  Before Jenn could even try to struggle away from this, Therese's hand rested on the squirrel's
head and forced it to rest on the cat's belly. Her ear pressed into the soft white fur and could hear
the gurgling and churning coming from within. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she could also
make out the faint sound of distressed squeaking and sobbing.
  'Is that...?' She was almost afraid to ask.
  'Yea, she's still kicking.' Therese giggled. 'There must be just enough air for her. I've been trying
my best not to burp and ruin it. Now come on up here...'
  'Wha?' Jenn was hoisted again, this time deposited between the cat's breasts. This brought her
uncomfortably close to Therese's lips again, but at least she was clear of the cat's groin. One arm
curled over top of her, trapping her against the soft breasts with her legs splayed across the
woman's still gurgling belly. A growl from the squirrel's own stomach complained that she wasn't
keeping still, but nothing of any not could be done.
  With Therese seemingly having enjoyed the squirrel's pain enough for now, she laid her head
back and yawned. Jenn was thankful that she missed the sight before letting her own head rest
gently on the cat's chest. Her eyes shifted towards the lamp, before resting on Therese's phone in
her charger. An idea started to form, a slim hope at salvation that might just work. If she could stay
awake long enough. And if Therese was a heavy sleeper...
 
  Therese jolted herself awake with a snore and sat upright. Jenn was gone, and the room was
noticeably brighter than it usually was when she got up for work. She turned to where her phone sat
in the dock, but it was gone. Jenn's clothes were also gone from where she had tossed them the
night before.
  Growling in frustration, she scrambled to clean herself up. After the fastest shower in her life, she
got dressed and checked the drawer where she'd hidden the squirrel's phone. It was still there, and
the notification light was flashing a dim blue.
  She picked up the phone and swiped the screen, noting with amusement that there was no pass
code protecting it. There was a number on the text messages icon reading one hundred and six.
Therese thanked her own sense of foresight that she'd put the thing on silent before opening the
messages and taking a look.
  Most were from a contact labelled Mother. The first few just seemed to be asking if Jenn was
okay, but as Therese scrolled through, she saw them getting more and more frantic in their attempt
to get a response from her. She hit the end of the list and read the last one out loud.
  'Please baby, just tell me you're alright...'
  Therese rolled her eyes and tossed the phone aside. She didn't have time for any of this crap right
now, as it was she was already in for an earful for being an hour and a half late when she got to
work.
 
  As she approached the front of Donny's, trying not to look too much like someone who had
overslept but also trying to hurry, one of the girls caught sight of her and quickly turned away.
Before Therese could even wonder what that was about, Jacob caught sight of her from behind the
grill further back.
  'Therese.' He called, not calmly but neither in a tone that suggested something casual. 'My office.
I'll be in there in a few minutes.' He spared her no further attention, lowering his eyes back to his
work.
  'Do you need my help with-' Therese began.
  'My office.' Jacob repeated flatly, not lifting his eyes from what he was doing. Therese nodded
and did as he said, walking into his office at the back of the place and sitting in the spare chair. She
was already dreading what must be coming. She hadn't seen Jenn out there, but after sneaking out
whenever she did, there was definitely the possibility that she had something to do with this.
  It was almost five minutes later before Jacob walked inside, closing the door and hanging his
apron on the handle. He took his seat and rested his elbows on the desk, wondering where to begin
while rubbing his temples slowly.
  'Jake?' Therese asked timidly.
  'Therese.' He said at last. 'First, I want to let you know that the only reason police weren't waiting
for you here is because Jenn begged me not to get them involved. I really want to stress the fact that
wasn't my decision.'
  Therese hesitated before realizing there was no point in hiding what had happened. 'What did
she tell you?'
  'Enough.' Jacob replied. 'Enough to know that you should be in jail. It's one thing to just eat
someone during legal hours, Therese. But what you did was abduction, unlawful detainment against
her will and by the sounds of it you were a hair's breadth from rape. I don't care what your opinion
is regarding prey races, there are lines that just should not be crossed.'
  Therese couldn't think of anything to say. The squirrel had snared her phone during the night and
taken the morning alarm, leaving her high and dry. And worse, she'd told their boss everything, or at
least almost everything that had happened.
  'Is there anything you wanna say?' The lynx asked.
  'Is there anything I can say?' Therese shrugged, already knowing what was about to happen.
'Don't tell me that Jenn's taking my job at least, please?'
  Jacob shook his head. 'Jenn handed in her notice this morning after everything else. She was here
half an hour early, nervous as hell and spent most of our conversation on the verge of tears. She did
her best to hide it but I could tell she was not doing well.'
  'You're going to short staff yourself even more?' Therese asked. 'If she's gone then what danger
am I? Just let me finish up while you look for-'
  'Enough.' Jacob cut her off. 'Donny's is an inclusive employer, and our employees need to respect
that. You could have hunted anyone else outside safe hours. It isn't difficult to treat a co-worker
with basic respect, Therese, whether you're on the clock or not.'
  'Boss, I'm sorry.' Therese protested. 'But, I just-'
  'I said enough!' The lynx growled. Jacob's hand was a quivering fist resting on the desk, containing
more anger than the felid had felt in a long time. He took a deep breath. 'I can't justify your
continued employment here. Not knowing that by all rights you should be facing prosecution.
Therese, you're fired.'