The Menacing Cat's – Part 2
Tom stood motionless, his mind whirling at the revelation about Teeth. Two thousand people. And now this—Harry had casually let slip something even more startling.
As Harry scratched behind his ear absentmindedly, he gave a small, almost apologetic glance at Tom. "Yeah, Teeth... well, he doesn't really get along with most people. He’s picky, you know? You're one of the few humans he's let live."
Tom’s eyes widened slightly. He knew Teeth was dangerous, but this? The creature had a selective nature, allowing only a few to survive in his presence. Tom wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or unnerved, but the fact that Harry had been spared meant something—something important.
"Only you and me, huh?" Tom murmured, trying to keep his voice steady, though his thoughts were racing. "How... curious. What makes us different, I wonder?"
Harry paused, considering. "Well, I don’t really know. He just... doesn’t kill us." He shrugged nonchalantly, like it was a simple fact of life. "He's got a mind of his own, I guess."
Tom’s calculating gaze never left Harry. "You don't know what he is, then?" he asked, his voice cool but filled with an edge of intrigue.
Harry shook his head. "I don't know what Teeth is, no. He's not like anything I've seen. He looks like... well, like the monster from Amanda the Adventurer—except, his head's bald and he's got teeth that are bigger than steak knives. And no eyes, just dents where they should be. I think he’s more... creature than man."
Tom couldn't suppress a shudder at the description. Teeth sounded like something pulled straight from a nightmare—a grotesque amalgamation of terror and mystery. He could only imagine the unsettling presence of the creature, its toothy maw gaping open, with no eyes to witness the carnage it could cause. Still, there was power in mystery, and that’s what Tom was drawn to.
"Teeth is an enigma," Tom muttered to himself, his dark, calculating thoughts swirling. "A monster of sorts, yes... But why has he spared us? What’s the connection?"
Harry’s lips curled into a half-smile, though his eyes were clouded with something deeper. “Maybe he just likes us, Tom. We’re not so different from him. Or maybe he sees something in us that he doesn’t see in others.”
Tom studied him for a long, tense moment. Harry's nonchalance didn't fool him—there was a quiet depth in his words. A connection, perhaps not entirely understood, but unmistakable. Whatever Harry and Teeth were, whatever bond they shared, it was more complicated than mere survival.
"Perhaps," Tom said slowly, the calculation in his tone returning. "Perhaps. I’ll need to learn more about him. And you, Harry."
Harry just nodded, his gaze briefly flicking toward Teeth, who lay still now, the massive creature looking almost serene, yet still exuding a silent, ominous threat. "I think you’ll have a lot to learn about us both," Harry said quietly, a shadow of something unreadable in his eyes.
Tom couldn’t help but agree. The layers surrounding both Harry and Teeth were thick with secrets—secrets that Tom had every intention of unraveling.