Lila couldn't sleep. The weight of failure heavy on her mind made her toss and turn between 
bouts of uncontrollable sobbing and cursing her own weakness. Only when hours had passed and 
her eyes had run out of tears did she finally find sleep, and a measure of peace. 
     The peace was shattered when she rolled over, waking groggily and coming face to face with the 
enormous slitted gaze of her feline tormentor. His lips curled into a grin and he stood up, not 
breaking his gaze from hers. Lila looked away uncomfortably and checked the others, most of them 
were still asleep with only Jack being up. 
     'It was kind of peaceful watching you sleep.' He said. 'It must have been contagious.' He looked 
around the tank with a grin at all the other mice still asleep. 'Well, should we get started?' 
     Lila's heart sank as he glanced at the table, already with a box sitting on top waiting to be opened 
and played. The cat reached in and lifted her out, holding her in one hand as he reached in with the 
other. 'No...' She whispered to herself despairingly. The cat had picked an inopportune time to be so 
polite, electing to lift out the only other mouse that had been awake. Jack squirmed and squeaked 
angrily in the cat's grasp until he was dropped into the glass vase. 
     She was dropped on her side of the table as he opened the box and revealed the game to be 
chess once more. Lila looked towards Jack through the glass sides of the vase, meeting his stern gaze 
with trepidation. He mouthed the words Run first chance you get to her, but she couldn't escape the 
memory that she had won her first game of chess. She could win again. It was Jack, probably the one 
mouse in the tank most deserving of being saved. He wanted her to run, to save herself...
     But she couldn't. Not now. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head just slightly enough for him 
to know. He may have been resigned to being cat food, but she was not willing to give up on him 
when she knew that the game was one she could win. But on the other hand, losing him could just 
as easily be the final blow that shattered her own will to live... 
     'Do you want to go first?' The cat's voice snapped her back to focus and she nodded. 
     'S-sure. Why not?' She stammered. He spun the board carefully round, positioning the white side 
of the board to her. She took a deep breath and lifted her first piece, moving a pawn in front of one 
of her knights a simple square forward. He responded cautiously by moving a pawn two spaced 
forward in front of his adjacent rook. 
     'You seem to be a little more confident.' The cat observed. 'Or at the very least, more determined 
after that last game. Do you know this mouse as well?' 
     Lila looked down and examined the board, planning carefully her next move. She tried to ignore 
the cat's taunts and focus on the game, but she couldn't keep herself from glancing sideways at Jack. 
His expression had not changed and neither had the urgency behind his stare. He was scared, he was 
terrified, but he remained concerned from her. 
     'So, what's his name?' The cat asked. 'For that matter, what's yours?' He grinned, cockiness clear 
across his features. 
     'Why do you care?' She retorted. 'Chances are we'll only end up as food right? You're not going to 
let me go are you? You're just going to keep me here until I give up aren't you?' 
     'Oh don't be like that.' The cat grinned. 'I honestly haven't decided yet. I might let you go if you're 
still alive at the end of this batch.' 
     'Why? Have I earned my freedom after all this?' 
     'There's what, eleven left after this one?' The cat did a quick count. 'Yea, if you make it that long 
I'd consider it. Or maybe the amount of mice you manage to rescue would be reward enough in your 
last heroic moments hmm?' 
     'You're... you're a piece of shit.' Lila replied, making her next move. 
     'Not really helping your case.' He giggled his answer. The game continued at a slow pace, the cat's 
grin fading more and more as they progressed. It was apparent to Lila after another twenty minutes 
that her feline opponent genuinely struggled with this particular board game despite his seeming 
expertise in all of the others. It was an amusing and somewhat comforting thought. 
     'This... isn't really your game is it?' She taunted him, already making what she anticipated to be 
the third last move she needed to gain checkmate. 
     'It was... more my sister's thing.' He said. 'And I don't see her much anymore. Truth be told I 
wanted some practice before her next visit.' 
     'Really?' Lila said, feigning interest while she tightened the noose around his king. 
     'Yea. She's gonna be here in a few days, I was planning to surprise her but I guess I got nervous 
after losing that first game.' He made another blunder move, trying to corner Lila's queen. 
     'Well the key is practice.' Lila said. She moved her rook into alignment to place his king in check, 
forcing him to move the piece into one specific square to avoid capture. 
     'So I see...' The cat muttered, seeing the last step of her plan unfold as she moved her second 
rook into place. 'And that's checkmate again.' 
     'Yes.' Lila asserted, finally daring to look through the glass at an astonished Jack. The cat lifted the 
vase, tilting it and rolling the mouse onto the table's surface beside her. 
     'What are you doing?' He whispered, diving into Lila and giving her a tight hug. 'Why didn't you 
just run?' 
     'That's a funny thank you.' Lila whispered back. 'Now get out of here. Please, just stop worrying 
about me. I promise you as soon as I can I'll get out of here.' 
     'Hurry up.' The cat interrupted. 'Mouse, you're free, I suggest you get moving.' 
     Jack glared back at the cat, slowly moving to the table's edge before sliding down. He walked 
quickly towards the kitchen again, remembering the way he had seen the first mouse leave. 
     'I don't like your nonchalant attitude, tiny.' The cat growled, visibly frustrated now. 'You better 
start running before I change my mind.' 
     As much as Jack would have loved to show further bravado simply to irritate his antagonist, he 
was not willing to undo Lila's hard work nor sacrifice his own life for such a frivolous pleasure. He 
broke into a run, following the floor to the back doorway and squeezing through underneath to 
outside. Fir the first time in days, he felt the fresh air breezing through the fur on his face. 

** ** ** 

     The cat had packed up the chess board and disappeared from the room, curiously leaving Lila by 
herself on the table. Across the floor in the kitchen several of the other mice had woken up and 
were now staring back at her, wondering why she had been left unattended, and further wondering 
why she hadn't taken advantage of the situation. 
     She sniffed at the air, the cat's scent had vanished and she couldn't hear his footsteps. She 
crawled to the table's edge and climbed down, taking a quick look around before running over to the 
kitchen. There was no way for her to climb up to the top and access the tank, leaving her as hopeless 
to save the others as she'd been for most of the time she'd been here. 
     She couldn't get up on the counter, but from here she could see the staircase that the cat had 
gone up. Overcome by an odd curiosity, she moved towards it and made the jump to climb the first 
stair. She still couldn't see anything of note, so she climbed further. The staircase doubled back into 
the opposite direction halfway up, leading into a corridor that would be situated above the kitchen. 
     Her bravery was reaching its limits by this point and she slowed her pace. All of the doors she 
could see were closed except for one nearest to her. It was this one she crept towards, peering in 
slowly to see what was inside. She looked up at the cat, seeing him at a desk typing something. He 
waited a few moments before typing again, giving the impression that he was chatting by text to 
someone on the other end. 
     He smiled suddenly and clicked a button on the keyboard and his screen went dark. He stood up 
and turned towards the doorway, catching Lila by surprise and rendering her unable to hide. 
     'Hey.' He said. 'What are you doing up here?' 
     'I-I... I was just...' Lila stammered, unable to come up with an answer as she stumbled backwards 
in fear. She froze in place as he closed the gap in a single step and leaned down to close his grip 
around her. 
     'How did you get up here?' He demanded. 'Wait, did I forget to put you back in the tank?' 
     'Y-Yes...' She replied. 
     'Ugh, those stairs...' He murmured. 'Screw it, you're staying up here for now. I have today off 
work, so I'm gonna catch up on some sleep.' He carried her back into the room and sat her 
temporarily on the desk. She could still feel the warmth emanating from his recently powered down 
laptop as he looked around. His room was not large, most of it being taken by the queen size bed in 
the centre of the far wall and the rest being occupied by his computer desk and a bookcase. The 
walkways left little room for him to move. 
     'What are you... looking for?' Lila asked. 
     'Somewhere to put you for the night so you won't get away.' He replied. 
     'But... I already could have.' She told him. He stopped in his tracks, thinking for a moment.
     'Good point. Now why is it that you didn't?' He asked her, leaning in close. His breath had a slight 
mint air to it, suggesting that he had brushed his teeth and was now preparing for bed. 
     'I... I, uh...' 
     'Still want to stick around and try to save them huh?' He grinned. 
     'Yes.' She nodded uneasily. 
     'I guess you can stay then.' He said. 'But if you try anything, trying to get them out without 
winning a game, or trying to do anything to me? I'm gonna eat you on the spot. Got it?' His eyes 
narrowed into a steely glare that left her with no doubts that he was telling the truth. 
     'Of course...' She squeaked nervously. 'So, is here okay?' She sat beside the laptop's exhaust point 
where it was warmest. 
     'Hell no. In the bed.' He retorted. 'Don't worry, I only use the right side. You'll have plenty of 
room as long as you don't wander.' With that, he unceremoniously picked her p and tossed her to 
the opposite side of the bed. She sailed through the air with a panicked squeak and flailing limbs 
before landing on the soft covers. 
     She sat herself up, seeing him stretch and yawn before closing the door and slowly rounding to his 
side and climbing under the covers. The mattress and blankets shifted beneath her as he made 
himself comfortable. A single grey furred arm reached from underneath and hit a switch on the wall, 
leaving the room dark. Only a small amount of light was still filtering in from the crack under the 
door.
     Lila nervously waited until her eyes had adjusted before moving. She climbed slowly towards the 
top of the bed and attempted to reach the pillow. It took her almost a full minute to get atop the 
soft fluffy thing, and as soon as she laid down she was reminded that she had not been sleeping well 
either. She wedged herself just under the covers enough to keep warm before drifting into a light 
sleep. 

** ** **

     Her sleep was disturbed a while later by the sudden realization that she was cold. In her semi 
asleep state, she looked around the room, feeling a dreamlike euphoria as she remembered she was 
sleeping in a comfortable bed for the morning, not the cold coarse hay of her prison. But it was cold 
now, the covers had been ripped off the bed. 
     Yawning and rising to all fours, she crawled about wondering what had taken the blankets. She 
slipped and fumbled off the pillow, landing on the mattress. With her eyes still heavy from tiredness, 
she started to walk towards the lower end of the mattress, reasoning that she'd find blankets further 
down where the cat had probably kicked them in his sleep. 
     She grunted n surprise as she bumped into something solid but soft. Eyes suddenly wide open, 
she realized that she had bumped into the cat's hand, where it had fallen over this side of the 
mattress. He was sprawled on his back, the blankets kicked over the foot of the bed and beyond her 
reach now. He seemed fast asleep despite her bumping him. 
     She shivered, the air up here was so cold but his hand was so warm. 'Damnit Lila, are you nuts?' 
She muttered to herself. With her heart pounding, she leaned onto his palm, brushing her back 
against his fingers and revelling in the warmth of his loose grip. 
     Without warning his hand closed and his arm flopped about, landing with a limp flop on the cat's 
own belly. She grunted again in pain and shock, fearing that she had been caught but the sound of 
his soft snoring remained. After another few moments, his hand fell limply at his side once more, 
suggesting that he had moved her unknowingly in his sleep. A mumble of something she couldn't 
make out escaped his lips before the sounds of sleep continued, causing Lila to sigh in relief and 
settle back down. 
     But now... if his hand had been warm, the soft fur of his belly was heavenly. She allowed herself a 
few moments to soak it in, the softness and the warmth unlike any she had felt. She couldn't stay 
here, it was too dangerous. But for a few moments, she would be able to enjoy this. Just long 
enough to war up before she moved. Just long enough... to...