Hell's Fury

by Shannon Tripp

  “You called?” Furry meowed softly.

  “Yellow and blue make green. You were here the entire time,” Jasmine accused.

  What was yellow and blue? How did it make green? Furry had no idea what Jasmine was talking about so she kept her mouth shut.

  “Never mind. Are you ready to go home?”

  Furry’s eyes widened. She was more than ready to go home. She wasn’t cut out to be a wild cat. She wanted her warm bed, all the attention she craved and three plus meals a day. Excitement shined in her eyes and she started to circle the other cat. “Now? Can we go now?”

  Jasmine took a closer look at the cat. It had been only two days but Furry was a sad sight. Her coat was bedraggled, sticking out in some places and plastered to her body in others. Her tail looked like it had been broken at the tip and her paws were so muddy, the white was blended nicely with the dark brown of the rest of her legs. This will work perfectly. It even looks like Kevin hasn’t been taking care of her. A wicked smile spread across her face.

  “Yes, Furry. But I need to make a stop first. I have a soul to collect.”

  “Is it that bastard’s?”

  Fury was taken aback. Where did the cat hear that word? She stared at Furry.

  “That’s what Missy calls him,” Furry giggled.

  So, she’s not as innocent as she seems. At least now I know why her dot is pink and not white. “Yes. It’s his.” Jasmine started walking again, leading the way to Jeff’s car.

  “Can I help? He hurt Missy bad.”

  This was getting better and better. “How do you feel about being bait?”

  “Bait?”

  “The mouse in the trap?”

  “I’m a cat. Not a mouse.”

  “Yes. I know. But imagine Leona and Kevin as two cats. What would they fight over?”

  “A mouse?”

  “Yes.” Jasmine didn’t recall Furry being this slow on their first meeting. Maybe being a wild cat for a couple of days had rattled her. “So you are the mouse that will bring the two cats together.”

  “Okay.” Furry tilted her head to one side. “Who’s that?” She pointed with her nose, all her whiskers twitching.

  Jasmine swung around and saw Jeff coming down the path. The demon was going to scare the cat away and they didn’t have time for this nonsense. She arched her back, standing her fur on end and growled at the approaching demon.

  Furry looked at Jasmine in disbelief. The demon and the fake cat had the same aura coming off them. They were allies and Jasmine was growling at him? Enough of this nonsense. Furry pushed pass Jasmine and walked up to Jeff, tail cutting through the air with every stride. She stopped at the demon’s feet, looked up and meowed demandingly at him.

  Jeff glanced down at the cat at his feet but didn’t take his eyes off the Fury too long. Jasmine seemed to be in one of those moods. The demanding meow came from the sand at his feet again. He bent over and picked up the sorry looking cat.

  Furry smirked at Jasmine as the demon carried her to the car. She was used to being pampered and it was past time someone started again.

  Jasmine just laughed at herself. Why did she think Furry would be scared of Jeff? She raced up the dune and just managed to beat Jeff to the car. She impatiently waited for him to open the door and barely missed the swinging metal as she jumped into the passenger seat.

  Jeff placed Furry next to Jasmine before closing the door. He climbed into the driver’s seat and they were off to visit Kevin.

  * * *

  Jasmine didn’t wait for Jeff to knock on the door. She herded Furry to the back where she had spotted an open window on the drive around. Gracefully, she leapt through and landed quietly on the cracked tile of the bathroom sink. She heard three successive bangs followed by the rustle of cloth as Kevin moved to answer it. She rose up on her back legs and hooked her claws into the window sill.

  “Furry, come on.”

  In answer, the Siamese cat sailed through the window and landed lightly next to Jasmine. “Now what?” Furry’s nose quivered in excitement.

  “Well, Missy should be here any minute, assuming she found the note. Why don’t you wait for her in there?” Jasmine pointed with her nose.

  With a flick of her tail, Furry disappeared into the bedroom.

  Reaching out with her magic, Jasmine closed the door behind the other cat, effectively trapping Furry inside. Ignoring the undignified squeak, Jasmine stalked to the door and informed the trapped cat to behave like the bait she was. “In other words, stay quiet until you hear Missy.”

  Jasmine returned to the bathroom and exited through the window. Everything was set and they only needed to wait for Leona to arrive. She raced back for the front of motel room four and reached Jeff’s car just as Leona drove up.

  Crouching in the shadows provided by the vehicle, Jasmine watched as Leona stopped her car with a sideways twist and a burning smell of rubber. When she threw her door open, Jasmine knew she had miscalculated. Leona was more than mad.

  Leona stomped up to number four and pounded on the door causing the wood to vibrate. “Open up you coward.” Leona’s voice was high and shrill.

  Jasmine knew that Kevin would be reluctant to face the girl. She knew as well as he did that there was a chance Leona would give the contract back.

  The door opened a fraction of an inch and Leona slammed her palm against the wood, pushing it into Kevin’s face. With a string of swear words, Kevin backed off and Leona swung the door completely open. “Give. Her. Back.”

  Kevin clapped his hand over his nose and tilted his head back. What is this crazy woman doing here? Give who back? He blinked his good eye at her and held his free arm out in front of him in an attempt to fend her off.

  “Give me back my cat, you jerk. If you wanted your papers back, why didn’t you just ask for them?”

  “Cat? Papers? I don’t want or have either. Go away.”

  “Yes, you do. Here,” she said as she waved a piece of paper under his nose.

  Kevin reached out and pulled the paper from her hand. He felt his eyes widen as he read what was written on it.

  I grow tired of waiting. You lost fair and square and it’s time you paid up. Until the collection is complete, the cat with be held hostage. Come and get it. And don’t forget the papers. You know which ones.

  “I didn’t write this,” Kevin protested. “I don’t have your cat and …” Whatever else he might have said was drowned out by a series of yowls and meows and scratches that suddenly filled the room.

  Fire glowed in Leona’s eyes. “Lying on top of everything else you’ve done?” she thrust a stack of papers at Kevin, punching him as hard as she could in the stomach. As he folded in half, she pushed past him. She was reaching for the door when she noticed Jeff, sitting in a chair next to a floor lamp, grinning like a demon. “Jeff?” she faltered.

  “Leona,” he waved her at the door. “Fury is waiting.”

  “Furry,” she corrected absentmindedly.

  She grasped the door knob and twisted. The door swung open and a flash of brown and tan raced out of the room.

  Furry’s world narrowed to herself and the man standing behind Missy, gasping for breath. Shrieking, she launched herself at Kevin, claws extended. She dug her claws into the arms he’d hastily raised in a vain attempt to protect himself. Slowly she slid down, leaving red angry marks behind on his face and arms. When she touched land, she turned on her heels and charged back toward Leona. “Missy!” she meowed as she jumped into Leona’s arms, happy again.

  “I think the little warrior is due a name change.” Jeff said.

  “I think you’re right. Fury is a good name.” She hugged the bedraggled cat to her, careful of the broken tail, and felt her anger simmer in the pit of her stomach at the state of her cat. The newly renamed Fury purred happily as Leona carried her out to the car. She glared at Kevin. Wanting nothing more than to punch him in the stomach, again, she settled for grounding her high heel in his foot as they passed.
Narrowing her eyes, she leaned toward him as she muttered her threat, “Don’t come near us again.” Without a backwards glance, Leona slide into her car and drove away; the cat waving to Jasmine from the back seat.

  Jasmine waited for the car to disappear before striding to the open door. Kevin was leaning against the wood, clutching his foot in his hand, trying to rub the pain out. A fan of papers lay on the floor at his feet. “Well, what do we have here?” She sank her teeth into the paper directly in front of him. “Look, Jeff. This seems promising.”

  Jeff leaned over, took the paper from the Fury, and began to read. The more he read, the eviler his grin became. “You’re right, Fury Girl.” He threw his arm around Kevin’s shoulders and steered him toward the bed. He glanced over his shoulder as the door swung closed, unaided.

  “Is it the right one?” Jasmine asked.

  “Yep.” Jeff’s grin couldn’t get any wider on his human face, so he dropped the disguise. He towered over the cowering man, his wicked glory revealed finally.

  Jasmine sat back momentarily to admire the demon. His fur was a rich reddish brown, clashing with his burnt-orange hair. He had twin horns, redder than fresh blood, curling over his forehead, complementing the finger-length black teeth poking over his lower-lip. Sharp claws tipped each finger and to top it all: a barbed tail lashed slowly from side-to-side. All in all an, impressive sight.

  Jeff seemed to glow. It took Jasmine a minute to realize it was the paper in his hand glowing, not the demon.

  “Ah, finally,” Jeff said as he glanced down at the paper. He felt his grin growing. The contract only glowed when all the conditions were met. Kevin had possession of the contract again and there was no one around for him to foist it off on.

  “Careful, Demon, if you grin anymore you’ll split your head in half. Get on with it.”

  “As much as I would love to do just that, Fury Girl, this is your case now. You get on with it.”

  Oh, yeah. I forgot. How stupid. Jasmine stepped forward, one dainty foot at a time. “Ok, Kevin. We can do this one of two ways: the easy painful way or the hard painful way. Oh, please choose the hard way.”

  Kevin shivered on the bed. He hugged his knees to his chest and closed his eyes, hoping it was all a nightmare. A sharp yank and a dull ache echoed in his chest. He felt light-headed. Swaying slightly, he started to fall sideways. He couldn’t think fast enough to save himself. He flopped against the mattress. Opening his eyes, he blinked in confusion. Where was he? What was he doing there? And more importantly, who was he?

  * * *

  Jasmine shook her head in disgust. A sickly dark purple sphere rested in her palm. She curled her paw around the ball and shoved it at the citrine in her collar. The gem glowed as it sucked the soul in. “Human’s without souls are disgusting.” She turned to face Jeff, “Why couldn’t we have some fun with him before we left?”

  “If we’d had fun you would have missed your ride home.” Jeff nodded at the portal that had sprung up when Jasmine yanked Kevin’s soul out. It was pulsating now, on the verge of collapse.

  She needed to go but still felt disconcerted, like she was missing out on something. “But …”

  “But nothing. You don’t want to keep your dad waiting, again.”

  Jasmine pouted but headed for the portal. She stopped on the threshold and looked back at the demon. “I hope we can do this again. It was almost fun.” Enjoying the look of dismay on Jeff’s face, she laughed as she stepped into the portal.

  Jeff grinned ruefully at the empty spot where the Fury had been. Fun indeed. Between the cat-nabbing and cowardice, Fury Jasmine had brought out the worst in him. Oh, she’s good, err, bad. Fun indeed. Amusement crept through him. He’d had fun, after all, and getting Kevin’s soul off his list was well worth it. He hoped the next one would be an easy case. He didn’t want to run into the Fury again. He turned and headed back to his car. It was time to move on to the next contract. He sat back in the driver’s seat and closed his eyes looking for the next expired contract. There it was, to the left. He opened his eyes and stared at the rising sun. East then. He started the car and headed to his next client.

  The End