Starrla woke up, unsure when she had fallen asleep, or how long she had slept. Then she heard it again; the grating sound of a razor on a metal door, or perhaps, razor-sharp claws. Starrla slunk cautiously and stealthily over to the small square door on one side of the cell. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it was as plain as day now. Starrla reached the door, pried her claws under the seal, and it slid easily open.

Starrla started! She nearly screamed at the yellow, glowing eyes laced with evil intentions, that were glaring at her from merely two inches away. She almost screamed, but an instinctive arm shot out and grabbed her. Those same razor-sharp claws whose grating had caused her to wake, dug deep into her left side, above her hip. Starrla feel limp with pain into Macavay’s tyrannical arms.

Starrla was cautious of the square door shutting. Then the strange, evil, tom, with fur more black than a moonless night, bit deep into her neck. He dragged Starrla through the tunnel, as a mother cat would drag a kitten, but much more ruthlessly.

Starrla was sick with the pain. She would have thrown up, had she had the strength. She felt crusty, gelatin-like blood drying all over her left hip, and down her left leg, where it had stained her black and golden fur crimson. Starrla also felt the hot streams of blood flowing from her more recent wound. Blood that should have been circulating through her body was gushing from her neck down across her chest, and dripping from her limp body.

Some of the blood seeped into Macavay’s mouth. Starrla couldn’t see it, but he smiled sadistically, relishing the hot salty taste of the blood, the taste of pain and brutality. Macavay came to a small dark closet room, and he dropped Starrla to the floor, like a sack of flour. She slumped, helplessly, in a broken heap, her violet eyes staring outward, blankly.

Macavay looked at what he had done to Starrla, admiringly. His yellow eyes gleaming lustily. Macavay knelt down beside Starrla, and picked her up into a sitting position. He felt Starrla relax into the cradle of his arms, her head lolling against his muscular, black chest. Then Macavay drew Starrla close, and he kissed her passionately.

At another time Starrla would have been exhilarated and encouraged by such a passionate kiss, and from the extremely attractive tom who was kissing her, however creepy his eyes might be. But Starrla cowered, she was in pain, and afraid. Tears started rolling down her cheeks without warning.

Macavay’s dominating nature was encouraged by Starrla’s pathetic behavior. He stroked her cheek gently, slowly sliding his paw down her face until the tips of his claws were touching her skin.

Starrla became shockingly aware of how delicate her skin was when Macavay punctured her left cheek, just above her mouth. Starrla felt his claw, a dirty foreign object, stuck inside her mouth from where it had entered her cheek. She felt the sting of the air and her saliva on the wound. Then Macavay took his claw out, and he kissed her; his tongue satisfactorily tasting her free flowing blood.

Starrla couldn’t take it anymore. The moment Macavay’s mouth was away from her own, Starrla wretched forward and very painfully heaved and threw up. The acidic stomach acids burning the mutilated tissue inside of her cheek.

Macavay’s smile faded, and the playful glint in his menacing yellow eyes disappeared. He glared at Starrla, who was feebly wiping vomit and blood away from her lips with her right paw. Macavay brought his arm to his chest, and then whipped it out, his knuckles smacking Starrla; her head jerked to the side with the blow, and the red marks from his knuckles began to puff and swell.

Macavay snarled at Starrla. He raised his arm to deal a fatal blow. Seconds before he broke Starrla’s jaw, Macavay stopped, remembering why he had brought her here in the first place. “I suppose you’d like to know why you’re here, pet?” Macavay asked, forcefully, not wanting an answer. “You’re here to do a little favor for me.” He smiled sadistically.

Starrla managed to meet his frightening yellow eyes; eyes that made her tremble with uncontrollable fear. Starrla looked at Macavay with helpless, confused eyes, and he was only all to happy to answer her implied questions.

Macavay moved close to Starrla; uncomfortably close. He slid an experienced arm around her. Starrla cringed with pain: somehow he had managed to get her right arm behind her. His arm that held her, clutched Starrla’s wrist behind her back tightly, and she was in a lot of pain. Through his evil, yellow eyes, Starrla could see that he was enjoying this.

“I’ll tell you what you’re going to do for me, love.” He said, twisiting harder. “Tomorrow afternoon you’re going to get in to see Jack, and you’re going to keep him distracted for atleast an hour. One second shy of an hour and I will mutilate your body, and shred the remains.” He twisted her wrist so tightly, Starrla was sure it would break. “But,” he said, smirking as his insanely sadistic mind caonujured up his plans of what he could do to Brittnila in an hour, “Any later than an hour, and you’ll get a special bonus.” Macavay raised his eyebrows suggestively, and he released Starrla’s wrist, sliding his arm down along her back, and pinching her butt.

Starrla would have slapped Macavay, if it weren’t for the overwhelming physical and psycological pain he had already inflicted on her. Who the hell did he think he was?! Treating her like this! Treating her like he owned her! But he sure as hell didn’t own her.. Or did he? Starrla struggled, telling herself that she could resist; willing herself to put up a fight. But she couldn’t. She was entirely under Macavay’s control, and that was exactly where the sadistic bastard wanted her to be.

Macavay was aware that Starrla had been away from her cell for some time now, and he didn’t have any intentions to let Jack find out, and spoin his plans. “You have my permission to return to your cell now.” Macavay said, enjoying his complete power over her with every word.

“Your permission? What the hell does that matter?” Starrla wanted to say, but she didn’t. Something in her was broken, some independent backbone, which had been supporting her all her life had collapsed. She had turned into a pathetic, masochistic, wench. Yes, that’s all Starrla was now, Macavay’s wench.

Macavay jerked Starrla out of her thoughts when he wrenched her up from the ground by her extremely sore, right wrist. “I don’t believe you told me your name, sugar.” He said, with an evil glint in his yellow eyes.

“Starrla.” Starrla muttered, as she limped up to her feet, finding she barely had the strengh to walk, let alone speak.

“Well, I’ll see you around Starrla.” He said, slapping her ass as he walked by her. “I’m Macavay.”

“Get up wench.” The crude voice of Glaise, the pale-eyed tom, woke Starrla from her smothering sleep. “The other one’s been up for half an hour, working with the hauling crew for The Boss.”

Starrla supposed he meant Ratter when he said ‘the other one’. She willed herself to get up, but found her body, immovable.

“Get up, dammit.” Glaise said, beginning to lose his temper. He nudged her sharply with his foot.

Starrla put all her thought into an effort to raise herself up off of the cold, hard ground. Starrla managed to move her bruised and aching arms to a position underneath her. She lay there for several minutes, her energy nearly spent already, as Glaise incessently continued to prod at her in the background.

Starrla made up her mind to lift herself; she had to do it. Starrla concentraited her whole self on lifting her head and chest up into a crawling postion, on her knees. Finally she succeeded. Starrla’s arms were shaking violently, struggling under the seemingly unbearable weight of her upper body. Starrla only managed to keep her head up for a split second before it dropped with a jerk, hopelessly dangling from her neck.

Starrla’s body was in terrible shape from what Macavay had done to it a few hours before. Her whole left leg from her hip down felt numb and tingly. Her whole body was bruised, scratched, and bloody. From their pathetic postion in Starrla’s limp head, her eyes saw how her arms were quivering, dangerously underneath her.

“What’s taking you so damn long?” Glaise asked, his voice momentarilly dominating her thoughts.

Starrla knew that in order to save herself more trouble she had to get up; she had to do what Glaise ordered her to. Bitter tears of frustration slipped down Starrla’s rough cheeks, which were crusted with her own blood. What was wrong with her? Damn herself for letting Macavay do this to her. Starrla was so angry, but she didn’t have the strength to think of Macavay or of anything but her tormented arms, Starrla soon realized.

With a snap Starrla’s weak, right wrist broke beneath her, and Starrla fell, feeling the protruding bone cut into her side. Starrla gritted her teeth in pain, grinding back and forth, trying to think of something else; anything else besides the terrible agony she was experiencing. Her head jerked to the side when Glaise kicked her in the jaw. Then the pain overwhelmed Starrla, and she lost contiousness.

Aerotiger looked at his sister, he couldn’t stand to see Starrla like this. Aero had heard the guard, Glaise, telling another guard about the pathetic prisoner with the violet eyes who had colapsed trying to stand up. Aerotiger had heard Glaise talk about how beat up she was, and Aero had come to help Starrla; he would do the best he could before someone stopped him.

Aerotiger bent down beside his sister. Her fur, which was normally a rich black with brilliant golden stripes, was a hideous maroon color, stained with blood. He could tell that some of the blood had come from older wounds, perhaps a few hours old, but there was also a fresh pool of blood forming under her slumped body. Aerotiger reached around Starrla, and cautiously lifted her limp body up, rolling her over to her side. The site made him sick.

Starrla’s wrist was completely broken; the white stuck out through her fur unnaturally. There was a cut from the jagged bone in Starrla’s side, where she had landed on the bone, like a dagger, after her wrist broke; that was where the blood was spilling from. Aerotiger managed to clean some of the blood away, and with several torn and dirty rags he found around the cell, he had somewhat tied up her wrist. Starrla was still uncontious when her brother had to leave her, for fear that he would be caught helping the captive.

“Aaah Baby, why’d you go and do that to yourself?”

Starrla heard Macavay’s voice, softly tormenting her, but she could not see him anywhere.

“You know how I’d love to stay and chat Baby, but, well, I’ve got work to do, but maybe later...” Macavay trailed off. “As for now, you’ve got your job to do. Jack should be here any minute, and you’d better keep him here an hour, or I’ll have to hurt you worse.” The corners of Macavay’s mouth turned up into a grin, “And I wouldn’t want to hurt you more Baby.” Macavay said in a not-so-convincing manner, “Not ever.”

Only moments after Macavay spoke, Starrla heard the door to her cell being pulled open. This was followed by hard, purposeful footsteps walking swiftly past her to the far corner of the cell. There was a moment when the footsteps stopped, and at that moment the cell door swung shut again, and she heard someone locking it from the outside. Starrla didn’t understand what was going on, her head ached, in fact, most of her body ached, and sharp pains were still coming from her broken wrist.

Aerotiger breathed out a sigh of relief, slumping into a sitting postition, and leaning hard against the thick metal door behind him. What the hell had he just done? Had he really locked The Boss up in a cell? Had he really done something so terribly stupid? If he wanted to die, there were less torturous ways to go about it than this!

But no, he had done it for Starrla. Aero had heard Macavay state firmly to Starrla that if she didn’t keep Jack there a whole hour he would make her suffer. And if Macavay’s idea of pleasure was beating Aero’s sister black and blue, then Aero didn’t want to think about what his idea of torture would be.

“Well hello there Britt.”

“How the hell did you get in here Macavay?!” Brittnila demanded hostilly of the intruder.

“Is that anyway to greet a visitor Britt?” Macavay asked in a sweet sing song voice that pissed Brittnila off even more.

“Macavay, if you don’t leave my room immediately I am going to call Jack in and he will personally see to it that you never spawn anymore kittens.” Brittnila hissed, her pale blue eyes shimmering with rage.

“Brittnila, dear, really, where are your manners today? I meerly came to visit with you, my dear.” Macavay stood, unmoving, unblinking, showing no emotions what-so-ever.

“Macavay!” Brittnila screamed with anger, searching his emontionless yellow eyes for his intentions. “Get yourself out of my room! NOW!” Brittnila exploded, slamming her foot down to the ground, and her hands to her hips with force.

“Oooh.” Macavay commented, seeming amused, “You’re so funny when you get mad. But really dear, that stubborn face doesn’t make you look more attractive.”

“I have no intention to appeal to your sick tastes, Macavay! Leave!”

Brittnila was growing louder and louder, but it didn’t phase Macavay. In one swift motion he covered the ten feet that separated Brittnila and him, and grabbed her tightly around the waste, pinning her arms down at the same time.

“Let me go you fucking bastard!” She screamed right in his pitch black ear which was directly in front of her mouth at this point. “JACK!” she screamed with all the force she coule, “JACK!!!”

“Don’t know your precious Jack’s not going to save you this time, sweetie..” Macavay stated, more than asked. “Jack’s not in the room nextdoor, lets just say he’s...being taken care of for the moment. So you’re all mine.”

Brittnila’s white and light grey face was very flushed with her extreme anger and hatred. She looked as though she might explode, and Macavay found this humerous. His smiling only infuriated Brittnila more. “I’m not yours! Let go of me! Get your fucking hands off of me!”

“I will, if you promise to behave.” Macavay said, unphased. He slackened his grip around her.

Brittnila didn’t miss the opertunity. Her right arm whipped out from his grip and punched his jaw with surprising impact.

Macavay’s jerked his head to the side. “Oooh, feisty aren’t we..” He said, taunting her, as a dark red spot began to form on his jaw where she had hit him.

“Damn you! Damn you to hell you bastard!” Brittnila hissed, from where she stood, inches away from Macavity, rubbing her sore knuckles with her other hand. Her pale eyes were radiating hatred at Macavay. “You know what, bud? You really piss me off! Don’t you ever try crap like that again! And now get the fuck out of my fucking room!”

Macavay laughed; did she actually expect that this was the end of it? Did she actually imagine that he, of all people, would leave when she demanded that he did. No, he wasn’t like that.. She was in for a little surprise. Macavay turned and he grabbed her right arm that she had struck him with.

Brittnila’s sensitive reflexes sent her other arm, the left, flying over to Macavay’s gut.

This blow was a little more effective. Macavay dropped her arm and bent over somewhat, holding his stomache, taking several deep breaths. This was the last straw. Macavay faced Brittnila, and he grabbed each of her arms tightly, his rasor sharp claws digging in. “You know Britt, this little self defense act of yours was kind of cute the first time. But its old now. You try that one more time, and I’m going to have to hurt you. And you’re really pretty, I wouldn’t want to stain that perfect silver fur of yours all crimson. But this is the last time I’m going to warn you.” Macavay’s smile was gone. This was really trying his patience, and he wasn’t in the mood for it.

“What the hell is going on?” Jack demanded of the crouched figure in the corner, which did not reply. “I said, what the hell is going on? Didn’t you hear me?” Jack walked over to Starrla and gave her a swift boot in the side. Starrla moaned. “Answer me when I talk to you!” Jack’s voice was getting louder. “What the hell is going on? I was told someone was waiting with an important mesage for me in here, and you’re the only one in here. So tell me what the hell is going on!”

Starrla lay there, unable to move. Jack had knocked the wind out of her when he kicked her side. Starrla was taking heaving breaths that brought no air. Her chest was burning, but she knew she didn’t have a choise as to when her lungs would decide to take in air again.

Jack realized that he wasn’t going to get anywhere this way. He looked at the pathetic bloody heap on the ground with disgust. Something about that cat was familiar though, what was it. He took in the color of fur. There were a few parts that weren’t covered in dirt, or stained with blood, and they revealed that the fur was origionally a pitch black color with gold stripes. Where had he seen that before? Oh that’s right, she was that little wench who had spoke out in his throne room the other day.

Starrla’s lungs finally gave up their fight against her mind, and she took deep rasping breaths of the life sustaining air. The sudden silense worried her, and she was afraid that Jack was going to strike out again. Starrla knew that she would have to do as he told her, or that she would probably end up dying. “He told..” She said in a scratchy, voice that cracked. “He..told me to keep you here...” That was all Starrla could say, her parched throat sent a splitting pain through her head that silensed her.

“He told you to keep me here.” Jack said, restating what he thought Starrla had said. “Who told you to keep me here?” Jack was about to kick Starrla again when he realized the answer himself; it was all too obvious. Damn that bastard Macavay. And he had left Britt alone! He had to go to her now, he had recieved the so called message from Starrla, even if this had all been a distraction. Jack stormed over to the door of the cell.

Aerotiger woke to the sudden pounding on the steel door behind him. Aerotiger sat up, and thought for a moment while the past day’s events flooded his mind, forming a picture. What now? Jack was pounding on the door. Had it been an hour? How long had he been alseep for? Oh no... Aerotiger was already in enough trouble as it is, but he couldn’t let his sister down either.. What to do...What to do...

Just then, Jack slammed his full weight against the door with all his might, nearly knocking the door off its hinges.

Aerotiger knew he didn’t have a choice now. Better to open the door, and play the role of a savior, than to wait and carry out his sentense as a traitor. Aerotiger opened the door, careful to stand behind it as Jack ran through, ready to ram against the door again. Jack slammed with all his force into the wall in front of him, crushing his right arm.

“Fucking Bast...” Jack started to curse with the pain of his tortured limb. Then he remembered his purpose, he remembered Britt, and he ran, storming with hatred down the hall to the room where he had left Brittnila.

Macavay might be holding both of her arms, but Brittnila had by no means given up yet. Before Macavay realized what she was about to do, Brittnila had wrapped her own fingers around the arms that held hers. With a sudden jerk, Brittnila pulled down on the arms, crushing her knee into Macavay’s groin, causing him unspeakable agony.

Macavay bent over sharply, his face distorted in pain. But he quickly was up again, not wanting to let his victim get away. “Alright you little bitch,” he hissed, his yellow eyes glowing with hatred, “I tried to be civil with you, but you asked for it.” Macavay grabbed Brittnila for the third time. This time he twisted one of her arms behind her back, as he had twisted Starrla’s.

Just as her arm was to the breaking point Jack suddenly stormed through the unlocked door. Before Macavay could react to this, Jack had grabbed Macavay by the neck and had shoved him against the wall. Brittnila backed away quickly, holding her nearly broken wrist tightly against her body.

Jack’s hatred had been even more renued by the site of Macavay hurting his mate. Jack slammed Macavay up against the wall, several times, with all his strength. It took Macavay a moment to overcome the shock of what had just happened, but when he did, he was quick to react.

Macavay bent over, as if he were in pain because of a blow to the stomache, this forced Jack to back off a little bit. The moment Macavay had a little more room, his knee shot up to his chest, then he stood up strait and delt a swift roundhouse kick strait to Jack’s solar plexes; completely knocking the wind out of Jack. Not wasting his wounded opponants delay in action, Macavay twisted his sharp claws into Jack’s mane. Macavay jerked Jack’s head up, and then down into his kneecap, breaking Jack’s nose, and grinding the broken bones around in Jack’s bloody face.

Jack only gasped in pain for a moment, but then he was ready to retaliate. Jack thrust out his left arm, (he had crushed the right one when he ran into the wall moments before), into Macavay’s stomache, causing Macavay to heave, and nearly throw up. Jack was about to take advantage of Macavay’s momentary inactivity, by a swift side kick to the groin, when they were interupted.

Glaise, a dark grey tom, the guard who had first guided Starrla and Ratter to Jack, burst through a side door into the room where Macavay and Jack were fighting. His pale blue, soulless eyes once again sent shivers down Brittnila’s spine as she saw him enter the room. All action stopped when Glaise entered, carrying with him a sense of extreme importance.

All eyes were suddenly dirrected at Glaise, and then he spoke. Three words, that didn’t fail to drastically change the lives of everyone in Jack’s Lair, whether they were present or not. Three words that altered the world of the Fortress Starrla had come from, Jack’s Lair, and the Jellicle world forever. Glaise spoke them only once, but no one needed him to repeat those words a second time. Time seemed to stand still completely, as every cat, Jellicle or Stray stood, disbelieving in shock. “Macavity is dead.”

For some this meant that their very existence was now pointless. So many young toms and queens had trained as fighters to attack Macavity’s Fortress. But the Hidden Paw dead? What was their worth now?

For others this meant terrible greif, sorrow, and loss of hope. They were used to their every action being directed by him. Their every treatment justified by his like or dislike for them. But the Ultimate Manipulator dead? How could they govern their own lies?

For still others it meant the end of an Era. For years their very actions had been thought out carefully so that they might help or help to destroy him. He had been the center of their existance. But the Nepolean of Crime dead? What would life be like without him constantly overshadowing them?

Macavity Was Dead.

AFTERWARD: Macavity’s sister Selerity (Selerity, who drove him to his own suicide by inflicting madness upon him. The same madness that had caused him to kill his mate, Etcetera, and to send Starrla and Ratter off on an impossible task to Jack, without a hope in the world.) took over The Fortress, and Macavity’s band of strays; no one dared question her after what she had done to Macavity.

Macavay left Jack’s Lair to join Selerity at The Fortress. Starrla, having no idea how to cope with the grief of her lover, or what to do because he was no longer there to manipulate her, followed Macavay, and Aerotiger came with her.

Ratter, finally realizing that Starrla did not care for him at all the way he thought she did, could not bring himself to face her again. He chose to stay with the other hench cats and guards at Jack’s Lair, vowing never to lose track of his sister, Brittnila again.

Macavity’s death changed all Jellicle and Stray life forever. It marked the end of an Era. There was so much mystery surrounding his suicide, mystery that would never be investigated, as long as Selerity had power over The Fortress. For some cats, like Jack, it was the ultimate triumph, for others, like Starrla, it was unbearable pain. For the first time in years of Jellicle and Stray history, Macavity wasn’t there.