Demeter had never been so cold. She held her legs tightly and couldn't stop shivering in the dark corner of her cell. She knew Munkustrap was going to come for her. He and the other Jellicles were going to find her. She was going to have the life she had always wanted. The door opened again. Macavity walked in with some food. Roasted rats. He set them down in front of her. She stared at them in disgust. "I'm sorry if you don't like them but they're all I have," Macavity said.
"F-for someone who s-steals a-a-a lot, you should have wha-whatever you want, shouldn't you?" Macavity frowned. He touched her trembling shoulders gently.
"You're shivering!" he said.
"You think?" Demeter commented sarcastically. "It's been a while and you would be cold too if you were in this cell alone." Then he did something that was so out of character. He picked her up and took her to a nice, warm room and set her down gently on a nice warm pillow. She purred as she settled in. Then she stopped. She looked at Macavity with confusion. "Why are you doing this?" she asked. "Why are you turning into a gentlecat?" Macavity sighed as he sat down.
"Demeter, do you really know anything about me?" Demeter was dumbfounded at the question. Of course she did.
"You've broken every human law…"
"NO!" he roared. Demeter cowered. "What I am! Not what I've done! What I am!" Demeter shook her head.
"You're a monster is what you are!" she screamed. She pounced on him and bit his ear until she tasted blood. Macavity hissed as she got off him. She ran for the door and was just about to make it when she felt paws grab her legs. She yowled as she clawed the floor, trying to get away.
"You're mine!" Macavity screamed. He dragged her to him and lay on top of her, pinning her arms over her head. Demeter started to cry. She turned her face away from him. The Hidden Paw touched her face and turned it to him. "Please, I'm sorry," he said. "Don't cry."
"Why not?" she choked. "You bring me here, take me away from my husband, away from my family, and you don't even care!" Macavity climbed off of her.
"You know, you would understand why I do the things I do if you knew what had happened to me." Demeter sat up.
"Tell me, maybe I could understand. But promise me one thing?"
"What?"
"If I try to help you with whatever you need help with, will you let me go?" There was a long silence. Macavity looked up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yes," he said finally. "Yes I will."
"The plan…." Bombalurina said. "Well, that's easy. We just go into Macavity's lair, kill Macavity and whoever told him when the wedding was, then we get Demeter."
"Bomba," Rum Tum Tugger said soothingly as he held her shoulders. "Bomba, you know we can't do that." She shook his paws off of her.
"Why not?" she hissed. "He's got my best friend. She's practically a sister! I'm not going to stand here and wait for her to be found dead!"
"Bombalurina!" Munkustrap snapped. "You know it's not that easy."
"But that's my best friend Macavity's got!"
"That's my WIFE!"
"Stop this insanity!" Old Deuteronomy cried. He touched Bombarlurina's shoulder. "Bombarlurina, I swear on the Everlasting Cat, we will find Demeter. Everything is going to be alright."
"But what are we going to do?" she asked, on the verge of crying.
"I don't know yet," he said. "We will think of something." Alonzo looked around.
"Hey, where's Cassandra?"
Cassandra spied into the doorway where Macavity had Demeter. She shouldn't be here. She had been given orders by Macavity to get rid of Munkustrap in any way possible. She didn't want to do that yet. Cassandra was going to make him answer to her first, and when he does, then she'll kill him. She thought about what Demeter said. Munkustrap would never answer to her. What about Alonzo? She knew he loved her. Did she love him? She shook her head. She couldn't think about that right now. She was happy where she was. She was working for Macavity. She's making a living. Cassandra leaned against the wall, wiping tears from her eyes. She wasn't happy where she was. When she was with the other Jellicles, then she was happy. She was happy with Alonzo. She was happy with Munkustrap. Munkustrap liked her. He didn't love her. She could accept that. After all, she's got Alonzo. She peeked through the door and saw that Macavity was speaking to Demeter. Good, he was distracted. She silently crept through the front entrance of the cave. As soon as she was confident that she was clear, she bolted to the junkyard.
"When I was a kitten, my parents didn't really want me. They would hit me and bite me, call me names, tell me that I'm nothing." He shrugged his shoulders. "Back then I knew I was nothing. Until one day, my father died. My mother died shortly after that." He looked at his paws.
"How did they die?" Demeter asked. He hesitated before answering.
"By my own paws. I proved to them that I wasn't nothing." Demeter gasped.
"You killed your own parents?" she asked in horror. He slowly nodded.
"Then that's when I knew that no one was going to think that I'm nothing. Now, all the cats fear me. That's exactly what I wanted." He looked at her. "Do you fear me?" She nodded.
"I've feared you since you took me when I was a kitten. I still do. But I don't understand, what do you need help with?" He touched her face.
"I need you."
"For what?" He leaned over and kissed her. She squirmed until he pulled back.
"That's what I need," he said. "I need love."
"Well, can't you get another cat who isn't married?" He shook his head.
"They're the best kind."
Alonzo looked around. Where is she? Did Macavity take her too? Oh, Everlasting Cat, he hoped not. The door opened and Cassandra ran in. Alonzo gasped at her. "Cassie!" he cried.
"Alonzo!" He rushed to her and she jumped into his arms. She licked him all over his face.
"Alonzo, I'm so sorry!" she cried. He let go of her.
"For what, darling, you didn't do anything," She shook her head as tears were coming out of her eyes.
"Cassie, what's wrong? What happened?"
"It's all my fault," she said. "I was the one who told Macavity about the wedding. I didn't want Munkustrap and Demeter to get married. I wanted Munkustrap to be with me." Alonzo didn't want to believe what he was hearing.
"You-you don't love me?" he whispered. Thank the Heavyside Layer they were alone. Cassandra shook her head quickly.
"Yes I do! I didn't at first. You were just someone to hang around with…"
"Cassandra," Alonzo said in a firm voice. He held her at arms length. "If you don't love me, you can just say it. Don't lie to me. Munkustrap probably won't love you back, given the fact that he's married. But all I want is for you to be happy." She held his face.
"I AM happy, Alonzo. I was happy working with Macavity, but I realized that it's not worth being happy about. It's taking pride in other people's pain. I hated Munkustrap and Demeter. I didn't want them to be together. I was happy when I was with him. I'm happy when I'm with you. That's why I'm going to redeem myself. I'm going to fix the mistakes that I've made." She brought his face closer to hers. "Starting with you."
Munkustrap paced around the junkyard, trying to figure out what to do. He needed to find some way to get Demeter without hurting anyone. How in the world was he going to do that? "Munkustrap?" He turned to the voice. Cassandra stared up at him with the glorious moonlit eyes.
"Cassie? What can I do for you?"
"Actually, I was wondering if I can do anything for you," she replied. Then she lowered her head. "Munkustrap, you're going to hate me after what I tell you now." He lifted her chin to meet his eyes.
"What? Tell me." She sniffed.
"I was the one that told Macavity about your wedding. I did it because I had always wanted to be with you. Please forgive me." Munkustrap narrowed his eyes.
"But you have Alonzo."
"I know, he's was just a cat that I liked to hang around with. I didn't love him. Now, he's the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't know what I would do without him." Munkustrap nodded.
"You did this because you love me?"
"Loved," she corrected. "I did it because I loved you. But two cats have already told me that you would never love me back. I know that now. I love Alonzo. He's my mate. I don't know if we're going to get married or not. But we certainly are mates." She chuckled. "It was hard being in love with a married cat." Munkustrap smiled.
"But I'm going to redeem myself. I know where Demeter is. I'll take her to you. I doubt Macavity is going to let her go so easily." Munkustrap held her arms.
"What do you need?" he asked quickly.
"Does this mean that you don't hate me?" Munkustrap leaned over and kissed her cheek. She grinned up at him. Then she gathered herself together.
"Ok, I need these things."
"You have no idea how hard it is for me," Macavity sneered. "But it's also fun, you know? Everyone fearing you is the best thing any cat could ask for."
"Why?" Demeter asked. "You could have stayed with us. We would have accepted you if you redeemed yourself."
"What makes you think that the Jellicles would accept me?" he snapped. "I'm actually something! I am no longer nothing! I am who I am. Nothing is going to change that. When I first saw you when you were a kitten, you were so sweet and innocent. You were exactly what I needed. I never felt love before. I thought that you were going to show me that." He glared at her. "But I guess not."
"So, are you going to let me go then?" she said in a quiet voice.
"NO!" he roared. "You are going to stay with me and help me!"
"I don't think I can!" she yelled. "There's nothing I can do for you! I'm sorry! I understand how you feel…" Macavity pounced on her.
"You have NO IDEA how I feel!" he growled. "You don't know what pain is!"
"I do actually," she said in a calm voice. "You showed me what pain is. I know what pain is." Macavity hesitated. She was right. She did know. He taught her what pain was. He slowly slid off of her. He stared at the wall.
"Macavity?" Demeter said. "What are you thinking about?" It was a while before he answered.
"I…I was just…thinking about what I did to you. I made you the way you are now. You are completely traumatized because of what I did to you." He looked up at her. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I'm so sorry."
"Now," Cassandra said to Munkustrap, Mistoffelees, Alonzo, and Bombalurina. "Getting into Macavity's lair is going to be easy for me. The guards know that I work for Macavity. They'll let me in. But they probably won't let you cats in. So, Bombalurina, you do your seductive distracting and such, that's the sign that Alonzo, Munkustrap, Mistofelees come out."
"Sounds good," Bombalurina said.
"I'm not done yet. I know where Macavity keeps Demeter. I'll go there with some news that I killed Munkustrap, since he gave me orders to."
"Oh, lovely," Munkustrap commented.
"And when I give the signal, you come in, and take Demeter. Leave me with Macavity."
"What?!" Alonzo cried. "There is no way that I'm going to leave you!"
"Yeah," Mistofelees said. "Same here." Cassandra rolled her eyes.
"Toms, don't argue with me on this one. Just do it!"