The Cat's Tail

"Found you!"

A voice cut through the fog of smoke and reached the girl’s ears like the sky peeking out after a storm. The girl’s eyes were already dark and devoid of hope, but the voice resonated hope back into her pupils as the source walked out of the cloud of smoke and presented herself before her.

"Are you okay?" Asked the masked girl in a big hoodie. "No, you can answer that later."

The girl stood up as the masked girl told her to do so; confusion crossed her features as she gazed directly onto the masked girl and then to the blurred hole she came out of. The room past the hole that was already burning was the one where her two younger siblings sleep, the one she checked out moments ago.

A sour expression, and a question came to mind. "Where exactly did she come from? How did she break a hole through the wall?"

Just then...

Bzzzzm!

Fire from outside the hallway devoured the door. Panic crossed over the girl’s eyes as the only window of her room had also been sealed by the fire.

"T-There’s no way out," the girl curled further into the corner of the room.

"Come here."

The girl looked back to the masked girl, who then opened her arms in invitation. The masked girl’s voice was oddly calm and reassuring despite the situation they were currently in, as if she truly had everything under control.

"Hold on to me."

And it compelled the girl to move, to hold onto the masked girl as she also held on to the girl with one hand before looking up into the ceiling.

"Close your eyes and hold on tight. We’re going up."

The girl nodded before she could question what the masked girl meant by going up, fully trusting her whole being to the mysterious masked girl just as she felt the ground disappear from beneath the soles of her feet.

Craack!!

A loud, crisp sound of wooden material being ripped open by something crashing against it rang in the girl’s ears, though she felt nothing but the sudden breeze crashing against her and the mysterious girl out of nowhere.

The girl opened her eyes, looked ahead, and was left breathless at the sight before her, the sight of nothingness and flickering lights. The night sky.

Just as she was wondering why she was looking at the sky, she looked down to the street right outside her burning house. There, in the middle of the road, was a fire truck. Right next to it were her family—her mother, her older brother, and her two other siblings.

Along with the others on the street, the girl’s family were all looking at her just as she was looking down at them. Everything went so fast that by the time she realized she was actually high up in the sky with the mysterious masked girl holding her, gravity seemed to want them back down.

Callisto tightened her hold on the girl as she landed perfectly on the roof of the house on two feet with a loud thud.

Meanwhile, the watchers were at a loss for words. Especially the girl’s family and her mother with a tear-streaked face.

Callisto jumped one last time to land softly on the ground, encouraging the girl, who still had her arms wrapped tightly around her, to open her eyes.

"Hey, it’s fine now," Callisto said, her voice soft and reassuring. "You’re safe."

The girl slowly opened her eyes. Realizing her feet were on the ground, she released her hold on Callisto. The girl looked at the masked girl with a grateful expression on her face.

"Thank you, Big Sis," the girl said, then her eyes widened for a moment as if the name she gave the mysterious girl came out wrong from her lips and fell into thought. And then, she felt the pieces clicking into place and spoke again. "Thank you, Cat Girl!"

Callisto’s breath hitched in her throat by the unexpected nickname. Unsure on how to react or what to say, she ended up just giving the girl a sincere smile and a gentle pat on her shoulder.

"Your family’s waiting for you."

The girl turned to where her family was. They remained still, speechless, unlike the girl, whose tears began pooling in the corner of her eyes. They were not out of sorrow or despair, but they were tears of relief and joy that she was alive.

"Mother, Big Brother, everyone!"

The girl started moving, running with reaching arms towards her family. Her mother returned to her senses as she saw her daughter crying and heading towards her, unable to hold back her own tears as she accepted the girl into her warm embrace.

"Oh god," the mother exclaimed, placing a kiss on top of the girl’s head as her other children stood besides them. "You’re alive! Thank god!"

At that moment, a man wearing a jeepney driver uniform squeezed past a crowd of people on the street who were watching the family reunite with the girl. He was panting heavily, and his face was glistening with sweat after running as fast as he could to get to there; his eyes landed on the family now huddled together in front of him.

His mouth opened, his voice rough and exhausted. "Marcel, Arnel, Chelsea, everyone..."

The mother heard the familiar voice and turned to the man. "Dear..."

The mother had a look of relief and optimism on her face as the man approached them, embracing the whole family.

"It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of everything," the man promised to his wife and children.

Callisto felt a sense of accomplishment watching the family reunite, but she could not stay there for long. And she could only hope she hadn’t stayed out very late and made Oner angry and worried.

Right as she was about to jump out of the scene, a voice of a middle-aged man stopped her from moving.

"Wait!"

The barangay captain appeared before Callisto, demanding her to halt.

"Sorry, I can’t stay for long," said the masked girl.

The barangay captain had a lot of things to say after everything he had just witnessed since the girl came out of nowhere, but he also understood that he didn’t have much time to speak everything out of his mind. So he chose the one he thought he really needed to say the most.

"Thank you for saving their daughter." He gestured at the family not far from them. "I don’t know how you did what you did, but the fire truck wouldn’t have gotten here in time to save the girl by ourselves, so thank you."

To show his full appreciation, the barangay captain even lowered his head before Callisto. Callisto looked surprised for a second, seemingly caught off guard by the gesture. But in the end, she offered him the same sincere smile she gave the girl earlier.

"Please raise your head."

"Thank you." The barangay captain raised his head, meeting the girl’s gaze once more.

"I’m glad I could help."

The sound of blaring sirens sounded off from the distance. The people on the street turned in the direction of the source and found two fire trucks approaching the scene, their horns and sirens a stern command for the people standing directly in the way to step aside.

The barangay captain had a sigh of relief as he watched the two new trucks work on the fire.

"You should go, Kid," urged the captain. "The respondents and I will take

it from here."

Callisto nodded. "Right."

The girl jumped with a powerful kick on the ground, stealing the attention from the people nearby one last time before disappearing into the roof of a house.