The doorbell echoed through the house, rousing all from their sleep. For the mice, this was an 
unfamiliar sound. They mulled uncertainly, waiting to see what this development would bring. Only 
Lila seemed to have a clue, remembering a vague reference the cat had made to his sister coming to 
visit. She held onto Jay, the younger mouse shivering in her grip as he hugged her back. 
     The doorbell sounded again, and this time rapid footsteps and cursing could be heard from 
upstairs. A few moments later he came rapidly down the stairs and almost tripped at the last two. 
     'Shit!' He growled, regaining his balance and walking towards the front door dressed only in his 
loose fitting pyjama pants. 'Just a minute!' 
     'What do you think is happening?' One of the mice wondered out loud. 
     'I think his sister's visiting...' Lila whispered. 
     'Oh great, now we can all die even sooner.' Came the mouse's reply. 
     'Shut up.' Jay interjected. 'This isn't the time.' 
     The cat opened the door, not visible from the kitchen but a female laugh could be heard as the 
visitor greeted her host. 
     'Therese, how've you been?' The cat's voice asked. Footsteps sounded as the pair walked back 
towards the kitchen, revealing the visitor to be a petite female cat with almost perfect white fur. 
     'Oh, I've been fine, just the usual you know?' Therese replied, stretching and letting her bag slip 
to the floor. The cat followed her in a moment after, carrying a much larger bag and setting it down 
beside the first. 
     'How are things with that sushi dealer you've been seeing?' He asked, rubbing his shoulder after 
setting the bag down. 
     'Oh they've been fine.' She replied. 'Ben's great. He's doing a course right now for the military. 
Speaking of which, how are things going for you?' 
     'About what you'd expect.' He answered, sitting down at is table. 
     'Major Clive Merek. Just pottering away the time between assignments huh? When are you going 
to get a hobby or something?' Therese asked. 
     'Well I guess when I'm retired there'll be plenty of time for that.' He snickered. 'Besides, the way 
things are between us and the canids, I might never get to retire. So it won't really matter.' 
     'But that's such a sad thought.' Therese sighed. She sat down opposite him on the table and 
rested her head on one hand. Her gaze panned around the room, taking in the barely kept state of 
the interior before coming to rest on the tank and its rodent occupants. 'Ooh, you still make good 
money I see. It's not cheap to buy tanks of live ones.' 
     'Yea, the military keeps me in pretty good standing.' Clive grinned. 'There were twenty in there 
when I bought them.' 
     'Oh you rich bastard.' She giggled. 'And they still make you live in a crap shack like this?' 
     'Ehh, it works, and it's close to where I need to be.' Clive shrugged. 'You want one?' 
     'Sure?' She grinned gratefully. Clive held up a hand for her to wait a moment, before standing and 
walking to the closet where he kept the board games. After a moment he returned and opened the 
chess box. 
     'How good has your chess game been lately?' Clive asked. 
     'Oh...?' She bit her lip. 'Pretty good I guess? Why?' She started to set the board up with a small 
smile. 'Are you going to play me for one? Since it's chess you're practically giving it away.' 
     'Not me.' He said, stepping over to the tank and opening the lid. Lila shivered, pushing Jay away 
from herself as the cat's hand reached in and wrapped around her. 'This one. We've been playing 
some... I guess you'd call them practice games?' 
     'What?' Therese looked puzzled as Clive placed the mouse on the table opposite her. 'You're 
making me play against a mouse?' 
     'Yep.' Clive replied. 'She's been, kind of a challenge. At chess at least anyway. I'm curious to see 
how it goes. You win, she's yours, you lose, she goes.' 
     'Wait!' Lila cried. 'You said that-'
     'I said until I decided otherwise.' Clive cut her off. 'Now get your mind in the game. This is your life 
on the line this time, you win and you get to go free. You lose and you wind up in my sister's belly.' 
     Therese giggled. 'Well this is an odd way to do things, but uhm, good luck I guess?' She looked at 
Lila with genuine affection in her eyes, making the mouse have to look twice to ensure she was 
seeing what she thought. Therese was not taking any cruel satisfaction from this as Clive had, in her 
mind this was simply a game to be enjoyed and the consequences dealt with after. But at the same 
time she had no doubt that the cat would make a meal of her without a second thought if the game 
went in her favour. 
     'Uhh, thank you?' Lila responded. 'I'd say you too, but given the circumstances...' 
     'I understand.' Therese grinned. 'Well, off you go.' 
     Lila nodded and looked at Clive for a moment before turning her eyes to the game board. Therese 
had set herself up as the black side, initially expecting to play her brother but hadn't attempted to 
change the sides since. Clive just watched with an unreadable expression. The only emotions any 
could be sure of at this point were enjoyment and fear. 
     Lila moved the pawn in front of her king, the same ploy she had first used against Clive. Therese 
responded by moving one of her own that instantly countered the four move tactic. Unperturbed by 
such a simple tactic being foiled, Lila moved again, this time taking her knight forward for an early 
offense. 
     Therese's eyes scanned the board constantly, periodically meeting Lila's gaze and making her 
heart race. Lila tried to focus on winning the game, tried to ignore the fact that she would likely not 
be able to save any more of the mice still trapped in the tank on the counter. And most of all tried to 
ignore the possibility that she could be dissolving in the white cat's stomach before the morning was 
over. 
     Over the next ten minutes, Therese made a series of aggressive moves designed to thin Lila's 
pawns and force a defensive strategy. Lila surmised that she could re-take the offensive but it would 
cost her a few key pieces, likely her queen among them. If she took that gamble and then found 
herself unable to compensate, she'd lose for sure. 
     'Nice strategy...' She muttered. 
     'Thanks. Clive can never find his way out of this.' Therese nodded with a smile. Lila played 
defensively for a few more moves, but when her knight was taken she knew it was a losing battle. 
She had to attack, and she had to do it now. Her bishop had an open line of attack to the cat's rook, 
but the rook was guarded by a knight. 
     Lila made the move, taking out the rook and subsequently losing the bishop in Therese's following 
turn. The mouse surveyed the board carefully before making a similar move, this time sacrificing one 
of her knights to remove Therese's own bishop. The cat smiled knowingly, not from an assurance of 
victory, but from the promise of a good game to come... 

** ** ** 

    Jack had awoken along with the rest of the mice when the doorbell had rang. He cursed himself 
for not being able to wake himself up sooner, and now watched from just behind the living room 
doorway as Lila engaged in what could be her last game ever. He had anticipated another day or two 
to work with, but the arrival of the second cat, and the subsequent challenge that the first had 
issued meant that Lila's time could be up. 
     Jack was at a loss for what to think. On one hand, they had all been as good as dead the moment 
they were caught. But then Lila had found herself in a situation that gave hope to the others. And 
Jack was only alive because of her. There was no sign of the other mouse that had been freed by 
Lila's first game, but all the same Jack hadn't expected that she would still be around. 
     From this low angle, he couldn't see Lila. All he could make out was the new cat from behind, 
sitting at the table and watching her opponent make each move before pondering a few moments 
and making her own. The grey mouse sighed to himself. He could be minutes away from seeing the 
only other mouse he had cared about in over a year about to die... 

** ** ** 

     Twenty minutes passed. Lila was down to a single rook and a bishop to guard her king, while 
Therese still held a rook, bishop and a knight. The game was only slightly in the cat's favour, but Lila 
knew that if worse came to worse she might be able to force a stalemate. Her priority had to be 
getting rid of one of Therese's pieces without losing her own, then she could worry about forcing a 
draw. 
     'You're definitely better than Clive, little mousie.' Therese nodded. 'Nice work, no wonder you 
haven't been eaten yet. But I think I'm about to change that.' 
     'You'll have to forgive me for not being so enthusiastic...' Lila muttered. 
     'I understand.' Therese replied, giving Lila a gentle scratch behind her ears. 'But a cat's gotta eat. 
At least you're getting a chance, right?' 
     'I...I guess.' Lila's voice almost cracked. Therese was so gentle and so sweet despite wanting to eat 
her. She was like a stark contrast to her brother, who had delighted in every mind game he could. 
     'Your turn.' Therese spoke, taking her hand away from the mouse and prompting Lila to look at 
the board. 
     'Oh no...' Lila murmured. In order to protect her king, the mouse had been keeping her surviving 
two pieces close by. But she had foolishly positioned both of them on black squares in her last move 
to guard against the cat's rook, allowing her to instead position her bishop with a line to both of 
them. She would only be able to save one piece, and it would be impossible for her to win or even 
draw with only one piece left alive. 
     'Do you see what you did wrong?' The white furred cat asked. 'You got a little too defensive there 
at the end I'm afraid.' 
     'But... I didn't...' Lila couldn't form any excuse, any reason or any string of words that might 
prolong her life. She looked desperately to Clive, but he simply shrugged. 
     'I guess your luck has finally run out.' He said, scratching his chin nonchalantly. 'Oh well, you had a 
pretty good run there. Much longer than you should have really.' 
     Lila squeaked in terror and began panting heavily as Therese's hand reached over and wrapped 
around her body from behind. The mouse squeezed her eyes shut as she was carried to Therese's 
lips and began to sob as she felt the cat's hot wet breath. The odour of a long day was carried on 
that stale air and was preceded by a long slow lick. 
     'Oh you're sweet.' Therese murmured, licking her lips. 'Thank you for the game little mouse. It's a 
pity you lost, but that's just how it goes.' 
     Lila couldn't form words, managing little more than a whimper as she was brought to the cat's 
opening maw...