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Hector and Otto were room-mates and good friends. They lived in the same apartment building for their entire lives. Hector's family had lived there since the early 50's. Otto's family moved in when Hector was around three. It was in Portland, Oregon. Both their rooms looked out to the river, one of the reasons Hector wanted to stay while they went to PSU. His parents had moved to California a few years ago, while Otto's lived on the second floor. Their apartment was on the top floor. The tenth. Hector was thin, tall, had long, straight, dark brown hair which he usually had in a ponytail. Otto was muscular, darker and had much less hair than Hector. It was short and spiked. They were both twenty two. The building they lived in was an old brick apartment building, much like the ones around it. It was shorter than the others on either side of it. Which were fifteen floors. On the roof, were a couple of basketball courts and a high chain link fence. The apartments inside were built around a large staircase which had a square gap which was always dark. The ceiling above the emptiness had a small opening, leading into a small crawlspace Otto had always tried as a kid to get into, but never succeeded. It seemed utterly pointless. Impossible to get to, and judging by the stairs to the roof, couldn't have had enough room to fit anything. Their apartment had two rooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room, the works. The only reason they could afford it was that they were good friends of the landlord, who had made them a deal for as long as they were in school.

Hector was awoken by a sound coming from the crawlspace above his room. He turned over, looking at his clock, cursing the raccoons that must have made their home up there. He sighed. He hated waking up alone. Ever since Otto had his girlfriend, Kelly, over all the time. He had been shoved aside and ignored by his best friend. He was lonely, finding it horrendously difficult to find a decent guy in town. He looked at the time, there was a minute before the alarm would go off. He turned it off and shook his fist at the ceiling and quietly said, "You lost me one minute of sleep you furry bastards." then slowly worked his way out of bed, and took a shower.

He lazily made his way into the kitchen, where a blond, thin and half naked Kelly stood, making herself some breakfast. She turned around to wish him a good morning, making no sign that she cared if her bottom half was exposed. Her voice was high pitched. Hector hated her. Not just for stealing his friend and controlling him in the usual way he'd seen women do to Otto, it was because of the fact that she got everything she ever wanted through lots and lots of sex. Hector tried to look halfway pleased to see her, but walked right past her and out the door, "Gotta go, Seeya later." He shut the door and walked down to the stairway, looking up at the opening. He saw something up there. A pair of cats eyes disappeared as soon as he noticed them. He shrugged and decided it could wait until he got home from class to see if there was a cat stuck up there. He bumped into the landlord on his way out the door.

He called out, "Bob! Hey, there's a cat in the ceiling."

Bob shrugged, "If it got up there on it's own, it can probably get out on it's own."

"But, what if it can't?"

"I dunno, if you can get it down, it's yours."

With that he walked off, clearly busy with more important things. Hector was happy to hear that. He had always wanted a cat.

When he got home, Otto was in the kitchen, cooking himself some lunch while doing some homework. Kelly wasn't anywhere in sight. "Heya Otto!" Hector said, walking towards his friend.

"What's up?"

"Ooh, nothing." Hector beamed.

Otto turned around, "Okay, what is it this time?"

"What's your take on cats?"

"They're alright, I guess. Why?"

"Well, there's one stuck up in the attic thing."

Otto nodded, intrigued by the excuse to finally live out his childhood dream, "How are we going to get up there?"

"I got an idea while I was in class."

"Elaborate."

"Right, so we snag the ladder and lay it across the stairs. The long one should spread across the hall"

"Sounds dangerous."

"Sounds fun."

Hector grinned and bounced joyfully. He sped down the stairs and stepped into Bob's office, "I need the big ladder, please. I'm going to go and get the kitty." Bob shook his head at Hector's enthusiasm, getting the key, saying, "Still act like a kid, ya know that?" under his breath. Hector grabbed the keys to the supplies in the back yard, grabbing the biggest ladder he could, having a hard time carrying it himself. Luckily, Otto was there at the foot of the stairs when he got there. Otto helped Hector get the ladder to the tenth floor. He tied a rope to one end and pulled the ladder to stretch across the ten story gap.

Hector was the first one to try and get into the opening. It wasn't just a hole in the ceiling, there seemed to be a reason for it. He lifted himself up into the opening and came across something he didn't expect. There was enough room for him to stand. He walked around saying, "Here kitty kitty." until he realized there were doors, there was a feint light coming from a window. There was so much dust on it that he couldn't really tell at first. He brushed it off. He knew it was a clear day, but he could only see dense fog through it. He dusted more of the dust off, until he could see the room clearly. He was in a hallway, much like the rest of the building. It didn't make sense. He knew he should have been standing in the basketball court on the roof. He nearly ran to the opening in the floor again and yelled out, "Otto! Otto! You have to come check this out!" The excitement in his voice made Otto rush. Otto was speechless when he saw it. Hector continued to clear out any windows he saw. Soon the room was filled with the dim light.

They split up, searching five of the six rooms, but found no cat. The rooms were about the same. Dusty, and full of furniture. As if they had been used in the past. When they got to the last door, it was Hector that got to it first. He tried to open it, but it was locked. "Open you little shit!" Hector tried to force it open, but nothing happened. Hector sighed, "Hundred bucks says the cat's in there." Otto laughed, "It probably is." Hector went back to exploring the rooms, looking for anything interesting. Other than the floor itself and the strange fog outside, everything was perfectly normal. Bob voice had come from the floor, "Hey! What are you guys doing up there?" Otto bent over, lowering his head down into the ceiling to explain what he saw to the landlord. Hector was looking at the door that wouldn't open. There was light coming from the crack under the door, and a shadow. As if someone was watching them through the keyhole. He couldn't stop staring at it, someone was living up there, in the room above his Hector and Otto's. "Hey. Otto. I think someone's been living up here." Hector couldn't pry his eyes off the keyhole. Otto lifted his head up to look up at Hector and began to say something before he lost his balance and started to fall into the apartment building. Hector spun around as quickly as he could. He heard the door being thrown open and something running past him. Someone in a long coat had caught Otto by the leg. From what Hector saw, the person had the legs and tail of a cat, though his figure looked that of a human. The person in the coat was struggling to keep itself up. Hector ran to his aide, gripping him across his midsection, which he felt was also furry like a cat. He helped this cat person get Otto back to his feet. The person quickly closed the coat, tying it shut before either of the two humans could get a good look at it. The creature sighed as it stepped into the light, revealing it's face. Which had the basic shape of a human, but was much like an American Short hair cat. Gray and black striped forehead, most of it's face was white. It looked nervous. Otto saw it and shook his head in disbelief, backing away slowly from it. He tugged on Hector's sleeve, "Hec.. Hector we should go. Now." Otto then lowered himself back onto the ladder and disappeared. Otto's savior ran back into it's room and slammed the door. Hector was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

Hector gathered his thoughts and knocked on the door the cat person had ran into. "Um, hey, thanks for saving my friend. He's grateful, even if he's too much a butt to show it." He walked back to the hole and heard the door open, "You.. You're not scared of me?" His voice was soft, slightly feminine but still had a man's quality to it. Hector turned around to see the cat person again. Looking at him carefully, he saw that he stood like a man, yet his face and feet were furry. His hands were crossed, and the coat was covering his entire body, so there wasn't much else Hector could tell from the looks of it.

Hector shrugged, "No, Not really. Maybe if you attacked me I would be."

The cat nodded, "I'm James."

"I'm Hector. How did you learn to talk?"

"Mother taught me."

"And where is she?" There were a lot of unexplained things he wanted to know now.

"Dunno. In the fog, somewhere, with dad."

Hector took a few steps closer, "And about this place?"

James looked back into his room, "Dunno. Was born here. Parents raised me and they tried to see about the fog. I guess I have a world of my own out there that's gone now." He sighed, lowing his head.

"I'm sorry." Hector replied, now close enough to pat him on the shoulder. "You must be starving. Can I get you something to eat? I live right under here." James nodded. Hector gave him a friendly smile, "Alright. I'll be right back."

Hector lowered himself onto the stairs and carefully made his way back to his apartment and into his kitchen. Otto was there with a serious expression on his face and said, "Chatting it up with the monster, I see."

"He's not a monster. I think this is some kind of magic thing. Like in those kid's books."

"Kid's stories? I think it's more of a horror movie."

"What? He saved you. You should be the one thanking him."

Otto rolled his eyes, "I don't trust it. Something is really strange about that whole place. I say we board that hole in the ceiling up."

"He's still a living thing! Jesus! How can you be so cold?"

Otto rubbed his eyes, "I don't care. Let it out. Do what you want. But I'm just telling you. Something about that floor isn't right.

"I know, I know. It's strange, but I don't want to trap him up there." He grabbed some food, anything he could find and put it in a bag, "Besides, I think you're jumping to conclusions." Hector said as he left the apartment and climbed back into the secret floor.

James took the food before Hector could pick himself up. James devoured the entire contents of the bag while Hector looked around James' apartment. It was much better kept. There was no dust, the kitchen and bathroom were spotless. As he walked back into the living room, James looked up and said, with a mouth full of food, "Feel free to look around. Don't mind the mess, I didn't have much time to clean." Hector looked back to James. He was now wearing a pair of slacks that had been ripped in the back to fit his tail through and a tee shirt. The clothes looked around forty years old at the least, as with the furniture. Hector sat down on the couch, opposite of James.

James looked up at Hector once he was finished, smiled politely and said, "Thank you. It's so hard to get food without being noticed. And rats and raccoons are horrible." He wiped his mouth with his paws, which were also like a cats, only he had thumbs closer to humans. He sighed, "I don't want to live up here anymore. My world is dying, probably already dead." Hector felt sorry for him. He could imagine what it must have been like to be stuck up here with no one to be with. Then an idea hit him. He grinned at James and said, "Well, maybe we can start working on a way to get you out of here. You could at the very least come down to my place, enjoy the view and a free meal." James' ears perked, he couldn't conceal his excitement, he jumped up and hugged Hector tight. Hector could feel how thin James was, though he was soft and muscular at the same time. He was starting to feel oddly attracted to this strange creature. Hector stood up, easing himself out of the thin arms, "I should get going. I've got some shopping to do." James nodded and walked into the empty hallway with Hector, purring. Before Hector could climb down, James grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Before Hector knew what happened, James had wrapped his paws around his waist and pulled him into a kiss.

Hector nearly jumped. It felt weird being kissed by this creature. But he felt like James was still human. He felt a little sorry for him. He had obviously been wanting this for a long time. James grip around him started getting shaky. It might have been pity that made Hector grab James' sides and returned the kiss. James pulled away, smiled at Hector and backed off, going back into his apartment, while Hector climbed back down. He went shopping and had dinner. When he got back to his door, he saw that the ladder had been taken down. The ceiling had been boarded up. He entered his apartment, put his groceries away and went into his room, worried about James being stuck up there, but James was sitting on his bed, naked. They had sex that night.

Hector woke up with his head some something soft and furry. It was breathing. There was an arm around him, holding him. He opened his eyes to see Jame's chest, which he was using as a pillow. He lifted his head. James was still asleep. He carefully lifted the thin arm off of him then heard, "Good morning." James was awake.

Hector sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Look. About last night." He had to tell him or else he was going to be beating himself up the rest of the day. But James cut in, "Yeah. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have done that. I got a little over excited. I'm sorry." He then got out of bed and walked across the room towards the bathroom, "You don't mind if I take a shower, do you?" Hector snapped himself out of the daze he was in and replied, "Oh, um, yeah, sure. Go for it." He slowly got out of bed and grabbed some clothes and got dressed while the other showered.

He left the room and walked into the kitchen. Otto was there, alone.

"Good morning Hector."

"Morning. Where's Kelly?"

"Went home." Otto was staring at Hector searchingly.

Hector looked back at Otto, confused, "What?"

"I know that look on your face." He smirked.

"What look?"

"That one. Every time you bring a guy over for sex, you are all red and guilty in the face."

"Yeah, so?"

"It was the thing from the extra floor, wasn't it."

"Why do you care who I bring home all of a sudden?"

"Because that's a stupid thing to do! Who knows what kind of diseases that thing is carrying!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It isn't even human! I dunno. What if it had Rabies or something?"

"Rabies?" He laughed. "Otto, Rabies isn't an STD."

"That's beside the point. You fucked an animal."

Hector flushed, "Well, technically I wasn't the one-- He's not completely an animal."

"Okay, Hector. I'm cool with you being gay. It's a little uncomfortable at times, but that's your choice. But this! This is crossing over into bestiality! We find a magical creature and what do you do? You sleep with it!"

"Would you be saying the same thing if it had been a female?"

Otto was raising his voice"Of course I would be saying the same thing!"

"Really? Because you've always found something wrong with the guys I date."

"This is completely different!"

"No, you just don't like thinking about me with another man. You're just as homophobic as your family. You're just to stubborn to admit it!"

Otto rolled his eyes and sighed, "I've been your friend since we were infants, and-"

"So that is what this is about." Hector was pointing at him, "You don't want to lose your drinking buddy, the person you hang out with when your girlfriend isn't around. You've always been such an attention whore. Yet, every single time you are with some woman, you ignore me and shrug me off like I don't exist. At least I still took time out to be around. Hypocrite."

Otto had no retort. He looked like he was going to say something, but didn't. He simply stormed off into his room. Hector didn't like what he told Otto. He regretted it instantly. He didn't want to think about it, but knew that Otto might have been right. He slept with something that had to have been some sort of mythical creature. He was even beginning to fall for him. The more he found those animal aspects appealing, the more Otto's words sunk in. He sat there in the kitchen for what seemed hours before Otto walked back out of his room, dressed in his work clothes. Otto looked down and Hector, "It was just one night. We all do stupid things. It's not like you're falling in love with it." Hector was about to respond when Otto cut him off, "And if you are, remember this: I'm probably the most accepting person you know. It saved me from a nasty fall and pricey bill, so I won't want it to be harmed. It'll be tested and probed. It's probably best to keep it private." With that, he left for work. Hector had never been so angry at Otto. He felt insulted, and knowing that everything Otto said was true, felt ashamed. He heaved a heavy sigh and sulked all the way back to his room, having no idea what he was going to do with James.

He walked into the room to find a wet James on his bed, glued to the window, ignoring the sound of Hector walking into the room, his tail flicking from side to side. Hector walked over to the bed, James glanced at him and went back to the scenery.

"It's beautiful."

Hector nodded, "Yeah, it's nice."

"I'm sorry I messed things up."

"You heard?"

"Most of it, yeah." He faced Hector, "I don't have Rabies, by the way."

"Yeah, I know." Hector chuckled.

"Would you find it creepy if I told you I've been watching you since we were kids?"

"Yes. That would definitely be placed in the creepy category."

"Oh. Well, I have. Both you and Otto. You guys are the closest thing I have to friends and family. And I don't think he likes me."

Hector laughed, "Who? Otto? Nah, he loves you. He's just jealous."

"Liar."

"Yeah, so?" He put his arm around James' shoulder

"I think it does count as bestiality."

"Yeah, probably."

"So, now what?"

"Lunch? Coffee? I know a nice place."