Monster (Cartoon Cat x Reader)

Terror

They hadn't been walking long when the sound of something scraping against the drywall and wallpaper interrupted the uneasy silence. (Y/n), who'd been leading their little trio, stopped dead in her tracks. Her weary expression tensed as her eyes darted around, searching for the source. Jamie jumped, clinging tighter to his shirt. Jack just stared ahead, listening. He felt goosebumps cropping up on his arms and legs. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up.

"That room we just passed..." (Y/n) mumbled quietly, "backtrack there. Find a spot to hide."

He stepped backwards slowly, following the disheveled woman's gaze down the gloomy hallway. The scraping was getting louder, closer. And was that... humming? Against his better judgement, Jack pulled out his phone with shaking hands. All it would take was the push of a button and the darkness would split. They'd get a look at what they were dealing with. It was just a tap on the dimly illuminated screen.

The phone's flashlight flared to life, revealing in an instant a lean black body, a pair of cartoonish eyes, a canine snout, and a smile full of bloody human teeth. Jamie screamed. (Y/n) yelled something he didn't quite comprehend. The flashlight cut out of it's own accord. The older woman grabbed one of his wrists, his girlfriend yanked at his arm, they were moving once more down the hallway.

He was dragged into the nearest room and the door slammed shut, leaving them in near total darkness. (Y/n) released her grip on him and turned back to try and lock the door. "Come on, you stupid thing!!!" She whispered frantically, accompanied by the sound of rattling. Apparently not finding anything to assist with the doorknob, she groaned in frustration and began pulling on the nearest heavy object she could locate. He could hear the thing scraping across the floor. "You two - find a spot to hide while you can! This can only buy us so much time!"

Jamie, still clinging tightly to his arm, whimpered fearfully. Jack moved slightly to the left, only to hit his thigh on what felt like a metal handle. A quick touch-based examination with his free hand revealed it to be a cupboard door. Just big enough for him and Jamie to fit too. "Jamie..." he whispered urgently. "In here."

They ducked into the tiny space, listening to the soft thud of whatever (Y/n) had grabbed being pushed against the door and the frantic footsteps of said woman trying to find her own hiding place. Evidently she had found something, because the footsteps gave way to hasty shuffling and then silence.

He peered into the darkness through what felt like a crack between the cupboard door and the wall. Thank goodness this thing was large and practically on the floor, it would not have held the combined weight of him and his girlfriend otherwise. For a while, nothing happened. The muffled sounds of humming drew nearer, almost distorted by how muffled it was. It stopped right outside, going quiet for a minute. Maybe two. The scraping sound resumed on the room's door this time. Like a dog scratching to be let inside. He shuffled further back into the space, still peering out as much as he could.

The door flew off it's hinges, sending what looked to be a relatively sturdy wooden desk spiraling across the room with a horrible scraping sound. Light poured in, apparently from the hallway that had most certainly not been so brightly lit earlier. Something, probably the desk or what remained of the door, crashed into something else with a violent slam.

A cheerful voice reverberated off the walls of the space, sending shivers down Jack's spine. It was so out of place in this madhouse, singing it's cheerful little rhyme as it's owner stalked forward. "On the farm, every Friday~ On the farm, is rabbit pie day~" He couldn't see (Y/n) through his little crack, something that he hoped was a good thing for her sake. "So every Friday that ever comes along~ I get up early and sing this little song~" A black paw tipped with sharp claws stepped into view. He could feel Jamie's heartbeat against his arm, beating alarmingly quickly. Her shaky breaths were barely audible over the sound of his own in the tight space.

It could hear them, smell them, sense them. Jack just knew it could. How couldn't it? "Run rabbit, run rabbit, run run run~" The thing advanced further into the room at an unhurried and leisurely pace, "Don't give the farmer his fun fun fun~ Bang bang bang bang goes the farmers gun~ So run rabbit, run rabbit, run run run~" Did it know it had hunted the three of them into a corner? He held no doubts that it did. Why else would it be taking such sweet time searching for them?

"I know you're here, little rabbits~" It continued in a sing-song. It's voice was coarser than it's feline-themed counterpart, and warped to a degree that would have been comical in any other context than this one. "I promise I won't hurt you too much~ It's so rare that the Cat lets me play with his toys~" He could hear something sniffing and could almost see that canine snout turning every which way, taking in the scents in the room. Was he still breathing? Was Jamie?

"Come on out now~ It'll be less painful for everyone in the long run~" The figure moved out of his limited field of view. Across the room, a door slammed open with a loud bang. Both of them flinched violently, Jack's head slamming against the top of the cupboard. Pain blossomed, stinging and sharp on his crown. Another cupboard door slammed open. Jamie whimpered and pressed further back into the space. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Each and every one was getting closer and closer to their hiding spot.

Against his better judgement, Jack closed his eyes and clung to Jamie tightly. It was so close to them now, any second it would find them. Fear that he had never before known coursed through his body like an electric shock. He was going to die here. He was really, truly, going to die here. He didn't want to die. He had so many things he hadn't done yet. He still needed to graduate high school, go to college, get his channel to the 2 million subscriber milestone. He needed to take Jamie to prom, share his first kiss with her, tease Gabe about his first girlfriend when the time came. He needed to see his parents again. His life had been so short... Jack didn't want to die.

He could hear it now, those cruel claws scraping against those thin useless doors that separated them from it. Any second now, the door would swing open. He and Jamie would be exposed. Time seemed to slow, every second in that dark space felt like a whole year. For what was likely the last time, Jack squeezed his beautiful blonde goddess. The hinges screamed in slow motion as they were torn aside. Two female voices screamed, one right beside him. A rougher and more wild voice laughed with manic delight. "Found you~"

Against his better judgement, Jack opened his eyes to meet the Cartoon Dog's stare.

(Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas for the story. I'm honestly so grateful to every single one of you. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and what comes next, now that you've all helped me get the ball rolling again. I'll see you in the next one, and have a wonderful day/night.   ~Pusheen)