Only when I was certain they were long gone did I carefully peek my head out from underneath the heavy, suffocating sheets.
The room was pitch black, illuminated only by the thin, silver streaks of moonlight cutting through the small window pane. I looked around, scanning the dusty canvas frames and forgotten furniture, but I saw no one.
Not even the cat.
Did I hallucinate the phantom feline out of pure survival panic?
I thought to myself, letting out a long, ragged breath.
Whatever. It doesn't matter.
Thinking that the mysterious animal had probably slipped back out through the window gap by now.
I turned around on my knees, ready to let the glowing brass compass locate Josephine's hidden poison, but the moment I shifted my weight, my entire body froze solid.
Right there, sitting comfortably on a dusty crate directly beside me, was a plump orange cat. It didn't have a care in the world.
