Alexa stood in the middle of a circle formed by the bodies of her attackers, all of them sporting several knives sticking in various places of their anatomies, choking and gurgling sounds coming from their slit throats. The brute closest to Alexa began crawling in her direction, a knife held in his bloodied fist. Alexa, who had been lighting another cigarette dropped the match on the floor, inhaled deeply, let out several smoke rings and sat on her haunches in front of the dying man who still held enough hate to want to try and kill her.
She looked at him with disgust and grabbing his short hair, pulled him up, took the knife from his hand and sticking it in his chest she commanded "Look at me! Why were you trying to kill this boy?" He spat at her and Alexa took the knife on his chest and gave it a twist. "Do that again and you'll beg me to fucking kill you, you son of a diseased whore." The man must have seen something in her eyes because now he was almost trembling in fear. Alexa wiped the spittle from her jacket, cleaned her hand on the man's shirt and asked again "Now one more time...Why were you trying to kill this boy? Tell me the truth and I promise I will kill you quickly."
The man said through gritted teeth "He stole something from our Mistress Furnallia. Something powerful she needed to make a goddess bow to her mighty will. But it doesn't matter if we fail and it doesn't matter if I tell you, because others will come after him and now they'll come after you. Nobody escapes the wrath of Furnallia, the Cat Woman. He's as good as dead. And so are you, bitch!" He then gave a mighty shudder and Alexa let him fall on the floor, dead.
"Well what do you know. A petty witch with delusions of grandeur who probably stumbled unto something powerful." Then going over to where the poor kid was trying not to pass out from the pain, she kneeled down beside him and began examining him. "You were beat up pretty bad, kiddo. Here, let me help you, I'm a healer. Name's Alexandra, Alexa for short." She helped him take off his t-shirt and saw the nasty cut in his side. it looked weeks old but was still swollen and discolored around the edges. Alexa whistled and said "Whoa! This looks nasty my friend and if I'm not mistaken, there's magic involved in this." She took a pouch out of her holding bag and getting out a small packet she sprinkled some of its contents on the wound. She waved her hand over it and immediately it began to glow a sickly green.
"Just as I thought. Poison and strong. This was supposed to kill you immediately but it hasn't, I wonder why. You must be under strong protection. Who do you serve?... er..."
"Matt, my name is Matt and I don't serve anybody. I'm just a regular somebody. Or was until I found the medallion." His eyes went wide as he said this, he apparently didn't have any intention of giving away this bit of information to this woman, even if she had just saved him. For all he knew, she was just another one of those crazy people after the accursed thing. He had tried to get rid of it after the first attack by throwing it in the lake, but the next morning it was right there on his night table.
And then there was the cat, a rather cute stray that had attached herself to him and for some strange reason made him feel safe. She even talked to him in his dreams, telling him to hold on to the medallion until she came. 'But who was she?' he asked. And the cat just answered 'You'll know when you see her, the woman with moves like a black panther. She'll help you remember.' He then looked closely at the woman working on his bruises and it hit him. "You're the one! You must be! You certainly moved like a goddam cat out there." Alexa just looked at him, perplexed at his sudden outburst.
"Excuse me? What in the hell do you mean by that? It was just coincidence that I happened to port here in time to be of help. You must be confusing me with somebody else. Now hold still so I can finish and we can get the hell out of here, ok?"
Matt just did as she said, noticing with amazement that as she touched him and said some words he could almost understand, all his aches and pains were leaving him. Soon it was as if nothing had happened, only the old wound at his side throbbed a bit.
"There, I've done all I could. That wound was made with a magical weapon and it was poisoned too. It's a wonder you're not dead by now. Can you tell me how it happened?"
Matt looked perplexed for a moment and after a few moments looked up at her and answered "I can't remember. Seriously, I can't. Something must have happened to me some time ago because I can't remember much. I can only remember the past seven months since I woke up one day. Before that, there's nothing. But if what she says in my dreams is right, you may be able to help me."
"What she says? What are you talking about? And who is she?"
Matt gave an apologetic smile and said "My cat. Well, she's not my cat, she just walked in through a window and made herself at home in my apartment. But she sometimes speaks in my dreams. At first I thought I was going crazy but she told me two nights ago about the men, about tonight and about you. I know how crazy it sounds."
Alexa thought deeply for a moment, then said "Not as crazy as you think Matt, me lad. Now let's get out of here and go someplace safe. You'll have to lead as I'm new here." And she smiled at him. He smiled back and getting up, marveled at how good he felt. He looked a her again and thanked her and she just made a self deprecating gesture. Then, after a few seconds thought, he took something out of one of his jean's back pockets and gave it to Alexa.
"This is what those clowns were after. What they almost killed me for."
Alexa brought it close to her eyes and took a good look at it. The platinum medallion had a radiant goddess standing amongst a pile of books and kittens, engraved in gold with eyes of diamond. It was certainly beautiful and looked harmless enough until Alexa felt a vivid vision take hold of her. She saw a very short but generously curved woman, long blonde hair streaming down her back almost to the floor and beautiful as only a goddess could be. She was dressed in a diaphanous gown of white silk and moved with the almost erotic grace of a cat. Beside her was Matt, but he looked different, self possessed and somehow older, regal. He was asleep on the floor at her feet, his head pillowed by a magnificent tiger. When her eyes fell on Alexa, she felt herself filled with a delicious sense of adventure and joy of life and then the goddess, for surely she was the goddess depicted in the medallion, spoke to her.
"Hello Alexandra. I've been watching you for some time and knew you were the perfect woman for helping my high priest come back to where he belongs. You know, he has a tendency to wander and sometimes he forgets who he is if the place he goes to gets a hold of his curiosity. But such is the nature of cats sometimes, they get easily distracted by interesting objects and places to explore. More often than not they forget the way home and need help. Will you help me, my kitten?"
Alexandra was speechless and was about to say yes when a nagging suspicion entered her mind. "Before I give you my answer, Kasslea, yes, I know who you are, I want you to tell me something. This restlessness that was eating me these past days, was it your doing?"
Kasslea laughed delightedly and answered "You're no fool, my kitten, so I will be truthful. Yes, I planted the devouring need to get away so you would be in the right place at the right time. I hope you're not mad at me for that."
"Mad? Mad? It was the best time I've had in so long I can't remember! Thank you milady. Of course I'll help you. Where shall I take him?"
The goddess smiled benignly at Alexa and said "Actually, he belongs in the same dimension as you, my kitten. Just go to my main Temple and deliver him to my High Priestess Samantha, she'll take over from there. You can help with restoring his memory and then Sam will help you return to your home. You do this and both him and me will be grateful to you forever and anytime you need us, we'll be there to help you. Just remember that, my kitten. Now go, take him home. But do so quickly, he's in danger here and as long as he doesn't remember who he is, he's helpless. The medallion can only keep him from getting killed, but he can be hurt. Be brave, my kitten."
And the vision receded, leaving Alexa with closed eyes and a smile on her face which lasted for a short time when Matt shook her shoulder and said "Alexa, we're in trouble!" And as she whipped around to look in the direction he was pointing, her annoyance turned to agitation as she saw what was coming down the alley.
