Chapter 2 v

<b>Chapter 2</b>

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"Why does this always happen to me?" a voice said, walking down the hallway. The owner, while obviously a girl, didn't appear like any other girl of the age of 17. She did have long blond hair that reached her back and green eyes, and also wore a zipped up dark blue vest with black stripes running up the sides along with a pair of black shorts. Attached to the shorts was a dark blue half skirt that covered her left leg. No, what was more notable about the girl happened to be the pair of cat ears and tail, with fur that was the same color as her hair. Yes, the girl was a catgirl.

"He better not be eating pancakes," the girl told herself. She was talking about her own boyfriend, who was the last person she saw before arriving at the place. In her distraction, she bumped into something. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

"Nah, it's my bad," another voice replied. The girl saw the owner, who was a boy older than her, maybe even older than her boyfriend. He looked to be around 19, spiked up black hair, hazel eyes, wearing a black leather jacket, black sleeveless shirt, brown cargo jeans held up by a black belt, and black sneakers. The boy wasn't looking at the girl directly though, instead staring at her ears and tail. "Catgirl, eh?"

"Yes, I'm a catgirl and no, I do not go nyah," the girl replied automatically. She sighed, having heard the same questions all the time, even though the boy probably wasn't gonna ask them. "Sorry. You didn't deserve that. It's just..."

"Tired of people asking the same thing every time," the boy guessed. After a confirmation nod from the girl, he smiled. "Don't blame ya, quite frankly. I wasn't planning on asking, anyway. Always though stereotypes like that were full of shit, anyway. Name's Steve Phoenix," Steve said, offering a hand.

"Jessica Mireu," the girl, Jessica shook the boy's hand. "Did you hear a voice in a dark room too?"

"Yeah, and I guess it brought you here too." Steve said. He blinked and looked at Jessica more closely. "Mireu...you don't happen to have a sibling who calls himself 'Pyro,' do you?"

"Yeah, he's my brother," the girl nodded. Her brother was more well known than herself. "So...how do you know Pyro?"

"We met in the middle of a fun little adventure to the world of Brutal Legend; we played music together," Steve replied. "I played guitar, he sang. Your brother's a great singer."

While normally skeptical when someone spoke of a normal person, Jess knew her brother was anything but such and believed what she had been told. After all, who knew Pyro (Aka Jonathan Mireu) better than the catgirl herself.

"Anyway, we should find out where we are," Steve said and opened the door to his left. Jess followed the boy into the room.

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The inside of the room resembled a small hotel room. It had one bed, two sitting chairs, a small table and even a mini bar.

The two simply walked inside, with Jessica sitting down on one of the chairs. "Are we in a hotel of some sorts?"

"Looks like it. Minibar here's stocked, too," Steve replied. "Looks like they got some good stuff here. You want anything?"

Jessica shook her head. "Not really. So where were you before you got here?"

"I was training in a desert. I was there for a week and didn't have much water to drink." Steve replied, pulling out a bottle of water and drinking it.

"You have to be very thirsty after being in the desert for that long," Jessica commented, readjusting herself on the seat. Steve simply looked back at the catgirl.

"I'll be honest, I haven't felt thirsty at all ever since I got here," Steve told her. "And I don't have the sunburns I got when I spent the week there."

"So you're saying that whatever this place is supposed to be stops us from being hungry or thirsty?" Jessica asked, becoming more intrigued at the conversation. The catgirl began to feel uncomfortable though.

"Guess so. Might heal injuries, too," Steve replied and resumed searching the minibar fridge. "You sure you don't want something to drink? Plenty of good stuff here."

She thought for a few moments then the young woman nodded. "Sure. I'll have some iced tea if there's any."

Steve nodded and took out a can of iced tea and a soda. He gave the former to the neko, sat down on the bed and drank some of the soda he had taken out. "I told you my story of where I was before I ended up here. Only fair that I hear yours."

Jessica thought for a moment. "Well...it was after I ran into my boyfriend again. His name's Will, by the way. We talked for a bit, he got hungry and we went for a bite. I closed my eyes for a moment and then...I got here."

"Ah. Don't think I've met your boyfriend," Steve said. He drank more of his soda then placed the can on the small table. "Sounds like a nice guy though."

The teenaged neko nodded. "He is. But Will can act like an idiot sometimes."

"People do stupid things sometimes, it's human nature," Steve shrugged. The youth himself had done some reckless things before but not at the level the catgirl suggested her boyfriend did. He did let out a sigh though.

"Not like Will. Trust me on that," Jessica commented, again hiding her discomfort. The young woman did catch the sigh, thanks to her own ears. "Something wrong?"

Steve wondered for a moment if he should explain to the neko what was bothering him. The young man shrugged and decided to tell her anyway. "I can't find my guitar. It was with me before I got here, and now it's gone. Haven't found it yet. It's my weapon, in case you're wondering."

Jessica nodded, understanding somewhat. "I see." However, she couldn't keep hiding it. The neko again shifted uncomfortably.

Now it was Steve's turn to notice something wrong with the young woman. "Are you all right? You've been acting a bit strange after I gave you the tea."

Now Jessica felt embarrassed. She thought she knew exactly what was wrong with her, but if it's exactly what she thinks it is, the neko couldn't tell Steve. However, the youth knew that the catgirl was acting strange and would just worry.

Jessica sighed and decided to tell him. "It's this room. There's a strange smell and..." She looked away, her face turning red and her legs were pressing against themselves.

Steve did not need to keep asking. He could easily guess what Jessica's problem was now. "Any way I can help?"

Jessica furiously shook her head. "No. I should just go." The neko stood up and made to leave. But Steve grabbed the young girl's arm, attempting to stop her from leaving. "Wait."

"Please let me go." Jessica asked. With how the girl felt now, it didn't seem like a good idea to be around Steve.

The neko tried to pull her arm free