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This Cat is Not Mine

Dant3
7
chs / week
The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
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Synopsis
A young man discovers that he has visions every time he tries to find cats, making him perfect for being a detective searching for lost cats. These visions are clues that he must decipher without getting into trouble in the process, or at least coming out of it unscathed.
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Chapter 1 - M-Mister Donovan?...

One might not typically associate cats with mystical qualities, Nevertheless, I have recently found myself engaged in a peculiar occupation that could be described as a detective of cats. The exact nature of this role is a matter I am still working to fully comprehend.

All I know is that cats go missing at all hours, and for some strange reason, my visions can bring them back. The families search everywhere, especially the elderly. They reward me for finding them, for being the only one who knows where they are, like a living, breathing GPS. It starts with images and symbols flashing in my head. Solving that riddle gives me the pet's location. I find them wherever they might be, whether it's on top of a skyscraper or even in the foulest, most disgusting sewer you can imagine.

But the point here is the cats. We should focus on the matter at hand, because Mrs. Tanaka is staring at me like I'm an alien. And it's not because I'm a foreigner. Someone told her about me, painting a picture of some kind of shaman or psychic—a rather blurry and inaccurate portrait of who I am.

"The cat left without saying a word!" she exclaimed. "They say you rescue cats from the ends of the earth! You have to help me!"

Mrs. Tanaka, a woman of about seventy in a tailored silk suit, wrung her hands frantically. The elegance of her attire was a stark contrast to the desperation in her wide, pleading eyes.

"Ehm… I don't think cats usually talk before they leave," I said, scratching my head nervously. Jokes were not my strong suit.

"This is not a game! Something could happen to him! There are cars in the streets, and dogs! If anything happens to Mister Donovan, my heart… my heart won't be able to take it."

Mister Donovan. Of course, the cat had a name like a butler. For a fleeting moment, I concluded any creature named Mister Donovan was probably better off wandering on its own—a bad joke, of course. Again.

"Could you give me something that belonged to Mister Donovan?" I asked with a long sigh. This conversation was already setting my teeth on edge.

"Ah, yes, yes! I read about it on the forum! Your mystical things!" She hurried out of the living room, her heels clacking against the floorboards with such force it felt like the whole house was shaking. Well, at least now I knew where she got her wild ideas about me.

Mrs. Tanaka returned with a small, tattered ball the cat used to play with. A deep scratch ran along one side, telling me Mister Donovan was a bit on the hyperactive side. She tossed it to me as if I were some kind of pet myself. The moment my hand closed around it, a shock jolt through my mind.

Images fired through my head like bullets: a giant cross, a park, a flower stand. I could feel a strong breeze, and for some reason, a powerful urge to run, as if time was running out.

I blinked back to reality, pushing the vision aside as Mrs. Tanaka stared, her face etched with the kind of worry you'd give an appliance that had just started shooting sparks. In the quiet of her living room, a map began to trace itself in my mind.