Jack’s head was suddenly abuzz with questions. Who were ‘they’? Why were they coming? Where was Cupcake? How did she get out? His eyes traced the path of the paw prints. They began at the bean bag underneath the trapdoor, and finished right where he was kneeling. They were a little scuffed where they stopped, so Jack guessed that she either had to jump, stand on her hind legs, or crawl to get to the exit. Jack remembered a story he had read when he was younger. It was about a boy who was trapped in a room, and the only way he could get out was through the bookcase. How had he done it? It was right on the verge of Jack’s mind… 

He got up and paced back and forth in front of the bookcase. Maybe it was blocking something- the exit could be behind it. Jack walked over to a side and pulled. Nothing happened. It wouldn’t even budge!  

Suddenly, Jack’s eyes caught sight of something. It was a book called ‘Handles’. The author was ‘Ima Doorknob’.

That’s ironic, thought Jack. Too ironic. He walked over to it and tried to pull it off the shelf. A faint ‘click’ was heard, and the entire bookcase swung towards him. Jack was hit and flew back towards the beanbag. He wasn’t put off, however, and jumped up straight away -but somewhat cautiously- to meet the sight before him.

His eyes slowly took in what he was seeing. It was Cupcake, proudly purring, and sitting in the lap of Jack’s 50- something year old neighbor, Darren. One hand being used to stroke Cupcake, Darren leered at Jack from a rickety old rocking chair.

‘I see you’ve found my study.’

To be continued…