𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 | dead boy detectives

2.1| cat king

the honking sound of a ferry can be heard. the four of them are currently at the ferry dock, with winnie's new friends eager to went back home which is located in london.

"so i'm trading that evil witch for an air mattress in the office right?" crystal playfully asks charles in which the boy answers with "good idea, crystal."

"we'll discuss it later." edwin said with a glare to the both of them. winnie who is walking slowly then them chuckles softly, but most of it she stays silent. charles notice her quiet demeanour, so he slows down to walk beside her.

"hey shorty. something inside your mind? you've been awfully quiet." charles asks playfully as he nudges her shoulder. winnie widened her eyes as she looks at him. well, she didn't expect for him to notice. she ran a hand through her hair chuckling. "yeah i'm okay, it's just..."

"i'm just not good at goodbyes." she scratch her neck, as a habit whenever she's nervous. "oh? why don't you come with us then?" charles asks excitedly.

"what? charles, you can't be serious? you can't just invite people to live in our office!" edwin scolded him, winnie is a bit hurt that edwin didn't want her around. but she buried it deep down. she shakes her head before smiling "no, no. i don't want to go anywhere other than here. it may not be the best place in the world but... it's my home."

she has never go anywhere else other than port townsend after she became a ghost. there is something in this town that she can't be far from, but she won't tell them that. charles was about to say something when they hear a cat meowing. all four of them turned around to look at it "oi, cat. you come to say goodbye?"

"as if. you're not going anywhere. your fancy pal used magic on a cat. he's gotta answers for it." winnie, crystal, and charles glances at edwin. he crosses his arms before slowly advances towards the cat. "a good detective does what he needs to in order to solve a case. now move."

"the cat king is pissed. we're taking you to him." as they all raise their head from the cat, they could see hundreds of cats in front of them. meows and hiss are everywhere. charles looks around nervously. "edwin, what exactly did you do, mate?" charles question goes unanswered.

they all follow the group of cats leading them to an abandoned warehouse. winnie looks around for a possible escape route if anything happen, but every direction are guarded with cats. they walked closer deeper into the warehouse to see a fluffy orange cat lying on a wooden chair, almost like a throne.

edwin clears his throat before speaking slowly to them "this is a matter of diplomacy, so let me do the talking." he smoothes out his suit jacket to calm his nerves. "diplomacy? it's just a bunch of cats." crystal says with a puzzled expression. winnie grimace, crystal didn't know how brutal this cats could be, did she?

their eyes widened to see the cats chewing on the flesh a corpse, almost all skeleton. winnie guessed that he must had been a worker here. crystal gasped, horrified of the scene. "they didn't like him, did they?" if not because she was already dead, maybe her fate would've been the same as him. considering many of the cats here didn't like her.

"what's wrong? it's just a bunch of cats." the cat from before mockingly says. edwin clears his throat again "we were invited to see the cat king." the orange cat burn into pink flames before transforming into a man with a cheshire smile. "hi." the man was wearing a tight black shirt and a grey.. skirt? winnie stares at his eyes, golden slitted eyes.

"can all cats do that?" crystal asks winnie. the man laughs as he looks at crystal "can all cats do that? of course not. i'm a cat king. i can tell you're not the brains of the operation." he yawns before his eyes landed on winnie. " ahh, you must be the famous elowyn, the prankster. i've heard so much about you." cat king studies her up and down, charles glares as he stands in front of winnie protectively. the girl gulps nervously " well, i hope its all good stuff..?"

the cat king laughs again "no. but we're not discussing that now. which one of them used the magic on you?" cat king turns his head to look at the brown tabby cat. "the scrawny one who just had the nerve to talk to you." cat king's eyes landed on edwin and he smiles. "oh."

"we are the dead boy detectives, we're solving a mystery-" cat king raises up his hand to interrupt him "oh i don't care. using magic on my cats, is a total car crash on your part." the cat kind rises from his makeshift throne.

"we should discuss your offense. privately." he steps down as he smiles. charles fishes out his cricket bat and twirl it around his hand "oi. he's not going anywhere with you." winnie also readies herself to fight.

"charles, come here." edwin turns around to talk away from the cat king. the other three of them follow him "perhaps a conversation is the best play here." edwin slows his voice down. "i agree with charles, let's just kick cats until we're out." crystal whispers while winnie nodded in agreement "you want to end up like him?" edwin gestures to the bloody corpse.

"not to mention, cat scratches are like a poison to ghosts, and they are too many cats here who knows that." edwin looks at winnie, who only shrugged. "i don't like the look of him." charles says as he glances at cat king who only smile innocently at him.

"you know what people say, don't trust men who wears skirts." winnie whispers secretly at them, afraid that the cat king could hear her. "i am perfectly capable of handling this." edwin reassures them.

"so, telling secrets about me already." cat king's voice are heard directly behind her ears, whuch made winnie jump in surprise. she regain her composure before glaring.

"don't you try any funny business." charles threaten but cat king only smiles. a few cats snarls at us before edwin disappears with cat king.

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