Chapter 304: That Sister Saved the Cats
Chapter 304: Chapter 304: That Sister Saved the Cats
The floor was covered in dried, dark-brown bloodstains. The bodies of kittens were piled high, and their severed heads were strewn across the ground.
Renee Jennings pressed her lips together, her brow deeply furrowed. Her knuckles were white from clenching her fists, her expression grave as rage churned in her chest.
"He’s not even human!"
Sawyer also walked to the doorway. His brow instantly tightened, and he said angrily, "This is just too much!"
Just then, a faint meow could be heard.
"There’s a kitten alive!" Kyle Morgan exclaimed excitedly.
Renee Jennings made a hushing gesture and listened carefully for the kitten’s voice.
’Waaah, this place is so scary...’
’Is another bad two-legger here to hurt us?’
’Why are there so many two-leggers? We’re definitely going to die this time...’
’I don’t want to die, and I especially don’t want to die so horribly!’
The kittens’ mournful cries reached her ears, wrapping around Renee Jennings’s heart and stirring waves of sorrow and pity.
Her throat tightened. She said softly, "Don’t be afraid. We’re not like that monster. We won’t hurt you."
As she finished speaking, the kittens’ whimpers started up again.
’Did you guys hear that? That two-legger said she won’t hurt us.’
’Can we believe her?’
’No way! Humans are all big liars!’
’Yeah, that’s what happened last time. We listened to that other two-legger...’
Renee Jennings completely understood how the kittens felt. She said patiently and gently, "Have you ever heard of human police? The bad human who hurt you has already been arrested by the police."
’For real?’
’That bad guy was arrested?’
"It’s true. He’s been locked up. No one will come to hurt you anymore."
[System 009: Miss Jennings, you can choose to release your animal affinity. The kittens won’t be afraid of you then.]
Hearing this, Renee Jennings asked inwardly, ’How do I release my animal affinity?’
[System 009: Control it directly with your mind.]
As Renee Jennings tried to release her animal affinity, a few kittens that had been hiding in the room slowly appeared at the doorway.
’You smell so nice.’
’I feel like this is a good human!’
’Can you protect us...?’
A few kittens—their fur dirty and matted with dried blood, weak and tiny—meowed as they walked toward her.
"I can protect you." Renee Jennings crouched down and held out her hand to them. "Don’t be afraid."
The kittens came up to her and willingly nuzzled their heads against her palm.
’Thank you!’
’This is so great! We won’t get hurt anymore!’
’Miss, I’m so hungry...’
Renee Jennings quickly looked around but couldn’t find any cat food.
Linus Hollis had only brought the stray cats home to abuse them. He would never have bought cat food for them. At most, he’d give them some scraps, just enough to keep them from dying before he could abuse them.
"We have to get them something to eat," Renee Jennings said, frowning.
"I’ll go down and buy some cat food now," Sawyer said quickly. "I saw a pet store nearby earlier."
Seeing this, Kyle Morgan also said, "I’ll go with you."
The two of them hurried away.
Renee Jennings first found a bowl and filled it with some water for the kittens to drink.
They hadn’t had water in so long. The kittens drank greedily, accidentally choking.
"Drink slowly, don’t rush," Renee Jennings said with concern.
’So thirsty!’ the little tabby cat cried pitifully. ’We haven’t had water in so long!’
’Exactly!’ the calico cat chimed in accusingly. ’We thought we’d have a happy life after being brought home by a human, but who knew...’
The orange cat sighed. ’I never thought being here would be worse than being a stray!’
’Yeah,’ the big tabby cat said, full of regret. ’Who could have guessed this two-legger was a monster!’
"We’re back, we’re back!" Sawyer and Kyle Morgan returned, panting, and handed the cat food to Renee Jennings.
"Thank you." Renee Jennings took the cat food, tore open the package, and poured it into a few empty bowls.
Without her needing to call them, the kittens, who had suffered so much, gathered around to eat.
They were all starving, and the food in the bowls was quickly gone.
Renee Jennings added a little more, but she didn’t dare to add too much, worried that after starving for so long, they might overeat and upset their stomachs.
After eating and drinking some more water, the kittens finally seemed to come back to life.
’Thank you,’ the big tabby cat said to Renee Jennings, ’for saving us.’
The other three kittens also hurried to express their thanks.
"You’re welcome," Renee Jennings said, then pointed to the room and asked, "Are there any other living kittens inside?"
’No more,’ the orange cat said, shaking its head. ’It’s just us. All the other cats were killed by that monster two-legger.’
Recalling the scenes from the past few days, the orange cat couldn’t stop trembling. ’He’s really so horrible!’
The big tabby cat also remembered something and meowed dejectedly, ’Actually, we were supposed to be killed by that bad guy, too.’
"What do you mean?" Renee Jennings’s gaze shifted slightly.
The orange cat said, ’That day, the bad guy was about to kill us, but then a lady came over.’
Renee Jennings frowned slightly and pressed, "A lady came over? Which lady?"
’I think the lady’s name was Una.’
The big tabby cat spoke up. ’That lady saved us, but she... she was hurt badly by the bad guy...’
Renee Jennings pursed her lips and asked, "Can you tell me what happened the day Una came?"
’That day...’ The kittens’ thoughts drifted back.
「The evening before last, Moira Ford arrived at Linus Hollis’s house.」
Linus Hollis had just been about to get rough with the kittens when the doorbell suddenly rang.
He sneered, "I’ll deal with you later!"
Linus Hollis tossed the few living kittens into the living room, locked the door to that room, and then went to answer the main door.
Seeing Moira Ford standing outside, he immediately put on a deeply affectionate expression. "Una, you’re here! I knew you still had feelings for me..."
"Linus Hollis, haven’t you caused enough trouble?" Moira Ford said with a grim face.
A neighbor next door opened their door to leave, and Linus Hollis said hurriedly, "Una, let’s talk inside. We shouldn’t bother the neighbors."
Moira Ford thought for a moment, then went inside.
She stood in the living room and noticed a strange smell in the house, her brow furrowing slightly. "What’s that smell in here...?"
"It must be from the stray cats I just adopted," Linus Hollis explained. "I’ve been in a bad mood these past few days because you wanted to break up, so I haven’t had a chance to bathe them yet."
Moira Ford saw a few filthy kittens that looked like nothing but skin and bones, cowering in the corner.
"They’re so skinny." She looked at the frail kittens, a trace of pity flashing in her eyes. Her disgust and dissatisfaction with Linus Hollis lessened considerably. "Have you fed them?"
"I have," Linus Hollis said. "But they’re just so thin, they need to be fattened up slowly."
"Right," Moira Ford nodded. "You can’t feed them too much at once, either."
"I know," Linus Hollis agreed, then praised her, "Una, you’re such a kind girl."
When Moira Ford heard this, her gaze returned to Linus Hollis’s face, her eyes filled with a complicated expression.