Once Taylor was safely back inside the hospital, he stopped to catch his breath. In all of his adult life, never had he ever run that fast, and for that long.

"Gosh........that was........horrifying! What was that thing?! And Flutters was a total bitch!" Taylor then took the time to fully collect himself.

Once he had, he made his way back up to James's room. Just before he entered, he checked his watch. He'd been gone for about 2 hours in total. Taylor then sighed, and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A voice asked.

"It's me, Taylor, I've come back safely."

The door opened, and Taylor was pulled inside by Redheart, who hugged him. "Oh Taylor, I'm so glad that you're home safe!"

Taylor hugged her back. "So am I Redheart, so am I."

"How did it go?" James asked. "What happened? Did you have to use your revolver?"

Taylor shook his head. "Fortunately, no, I didn't have to use my gun. However, I had the displeasure of meeting Flutters and Missy up close and personal."

James looked at him. "And what happened?"

"Well, I went up to the door of her house, and knocked. The place was so run-down, that I didn't think anypony still lived there anymore. Eventually though, Flutters did come to the door, and when she opened it, all she did was glare at me. I tried to ask her questions, but she was having none of it. I then asked about Missy, and in response, I was introduced to the creature that attacked you James. Such a 'pleasant' beast." Taylor rolled his eyes.

"Then what?"

Taylor sighed. "That's where things got dangerous. I kept asking questions, but in response, Flutters just lit up a cigarette, and blew smoke in my face. She then told me to 'piss off'. I did so, and she slammed the door in my face. I turned to leave, but half-turned back one last time to ask if she would be interested in coming to see you. In response, she screamed, and I quote, 'SIC HIM MISSY!!!!! KILL HIM!!!!!'"

Redheart was appalled. "She didn't! Then what happened?!"

"By that point, I was running away faster than if the devil himself had been chasing me. Flutters seemed to have been only bluffing, but I was too scared to call her on it. I kept running, and I didn't stop until I was safely back here."

When Taylor finished his story, both James and Redheart were shocked beyond words.

"Gosh, I thought that Flutters was my friend! However, after she made work as her slave in that cemetery, threw rocks at me when I protested, left me in that cemetery, had Missy rape me, and didn't seem to care about me at all, I terminated that friendship."

"As you should have" Redheart agreed. "Flutters is a danger to society as a whole, and needs to be locked up."

Taylor nodded. "I also agree with you James. Missy was quite obviously alive and well. How her blood was from a dead wolf, must have just been a mistake."

James wan't sure. "I would think that, however, while I was snuggling with her, I felt a patch on her stomach that seemed to be bloody. The blood was dried, crusty, and smelled god-awful. I felt a little closer, and it appeared to be a stab wound that didn't heal properly."

Now Taylor was getting concerned. "What? A stab wound?"

"That's what it felt like. However, I could have been mistaken."

None of the three in that room really knew what to think. They all agreed that James needed rest, and a cot was brought for Taylor, as he refused to leave James's side until this whole ordeal had been resolved. Redheart decided to coordinate with Starlight on taking care of James throughout the night.

That night, while he was sleeping, James had a dream. In his dream, he was walking through Ponyville. He exited town, and was walking through a field; a field that led to the pet cemetery. Suddenly, from seemingly out of nowhere, a cat appeared in front of him. James could see that the cat had greyish-white fur, a black tail, and one blue eye, and one green eye.

"Wait, Patches? Is that you?"

The cat appeared to be Patches, James's cat that had passed away years ago.

"Meow." The cat began to walk away.

"Patches? Wait! Come back!"

James began to follow what he thought was Patches. The cat was fast, but he was faster. However, this chase was getting closer and closer to the cemetery. Eventually, James reached it, but Patches was nowhere to be seen.

"Patches? Patches! Where are you? It's me, it's Willy! I want to take you home!"

There was no answer. James then opened the gates, and went inside the cemetery. He looked around, but there was no cat.

"Huh. Well, this was stupid. I guess that patches isn't here."

"You so sure about that James?" A voice behind him asked.

James whirled around, and standing by the cemetery gate, was a cloaked figure. The figure was completely covered in a black hooded robe, and was holding a sickle.

"Are you......are you the Grim Reaper?"

"Nope! I'm much, much worse!" The figure then pulled its hood back, and James suddenly found himself staring at the sadistically smirking face of Flutters!

"Flutters! You f@king bitch! What have you done with Patches?!"

Flutters laughed. "What? You're little kitty? I let Missy 'play' with him!"

She pointed to something behind James, and when he turned to look, his heart sank. In front of him was a headstone.

"Patches the Cat. 12 years old."

"YOU MONSTER!!!!!!" James screamed.

Suddenly, James felt something grab his leg. He looked down, and to his horror, there was a cat-like paw, with razor-sharp claws, coming out of the grave, and sinking into his leg! James screamed in agony, and tried to get away from the paw, but he couldn't.

Then, up from the grave, came something almost indescribable. It was Patches, but he was no longer the Patches that James had when he was a kid. This "Patches", looked like he had been chewed to death by a dog. His fur and flesh were torn and bloody, both of his ears were missing, as was his green eye. His tail was cut short, and his right back leg was little more than blood and bones.

"PATCHES?!?!?!? NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!" James continued to scream.

"Patches" however, decided to hurt James. He began to tear into James with his claws and teeth.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It was then, that James woke up screaming.

James? James! Wake up!" Taylor was trying to wake James up. Finally, he woke up screaming.

"GWAHHHH!!!!! Oh, thank God, it was just a dream!"

Both Starlight, and Taylor, were extremely concerned for James's well-being.

"N-no, I'm fine. I'm completely fine!"

"You don't look fine James. Do you, um, w-want to talk about it?"

"NO! I mean, um, no. No, I don't. At least......not right now."

James then lay back down on his bed. Taylor looked over at Starlight, who looked at him with equal concern. Neither of them knew what to make of what had just happened, and hoped that it was just to be a one-time thing. However, they were dead wrong.

Eventually, at close to 1am, Taylor managed to fall back asleep. Starlight wasn't far behind, but James continued to lie awake. He couldn't get back to sleep. He had this horrid gut feeling that something bad was about to happen. Just as he was maybe about to finally get to sleep, he heard a strange sound.

"......Meow......."

James thought he was hearing things. He looked all around the room, but couldn't spot the source of the noise.

"Hmm, must be do tired I'm hearing things.

"....Meow..." the sound came again.

"Ok, now this is starting to get weird, who or what is making that sound?"

James looked down at Taylor, but he was fast asleep. He then looked over at Starlight, who was also sleeping. 'Ok, so both of them are sleeping, so what's making....."

"Meow!"

James never got a chance to finish that thought. Just before he did, he happened to glance over at the doorway to his room. When he did, he got the shock of his life. There, standing in the doorway, just visible because the door was ajar, James saw a cat. And not just any cat either. This cat seemed to have greyish-white fur, a black tail, and one blue eye, and one green eye.

"No, no! I-i-it can't be! P-P-Patches?!" James whispered hoarsely.

"Meow." The cat, then turned, and began to leave.

"No, Patches, wait!" As quickly, and quietly as he could, James got out of bed, put his slippers and robe on, and after sneaking past both Taylor and Starlight, he made it to the door of his room, and opened it. He looked out into the hallway.

The hallway was dimly lit, and James didn't see anypony; anypony that is, except for the cat, who appeared to be Patches, walking down it."

"Patches? Wait for me!"

James then began to follow the cat. Sure enough, the cat led him through the hospital, down to the first floor, and then out of the hospital entirely.

"Huh? Where's he going? I need him to come back! Patches? Where's you go?"

"Meow!"

James saw the cat heading down the road. He quickly made the move to follow. This is where James should have stopped, and rethought his approach. Here he was, at past 1am, outside in the streets of Ponyville, dressed in a robe and pajamas, following a strange cat, after he'd literally just had a nightmare of himself doing the exact same thing that he was doing right then!

However, in his moment of clouded thinking, James wanted Patches back, so he continued to follow him, not noticing where he was going.

Patches led him through Ponyville, then outside of town. Over a bridge, down a path, and down a trail leading into the Everfree Forest. Still, even though James was starting to have his doubts, he continued to follow Patches. The minutes ticked by, and eventually, the trail left the Everfree Forest, and began to cross a field. Now James's sense of worry and dread began to get the best of him.

"Wait. This is the same path that leads to the Pet Cemetery! Why am I going down this road, I vowed to never return!"

Now James stopped to think about this. He began to get the very bad feeling that something was severely wrong.

"How do I really know that that cat is even Patches? I know that this isn't a dream, as I'm getting cold, but there's no way that that cat could be Patches, he died years ago. This is insane, I should turn back right now!"

And indeed, James did just that. He turned around, and began to make his way back to the hospital. However, before he could get very far, he suddenly heard a loud ruckus. It sounded like a cat crying out in pain. He also heard angry barking, and maniacal laughter.

"What in God's name......?"

Something was wrong. Now, instead of running away like he should have, James began running pell-mell towards the source of the noises.

As James ran, he saw the cemetery up ahead. He paused once he reached it, the noises suddenly stopping. Once the noises stopped, James stopped as well. Now, instead of just immediately investigating, James was both wary, and suspicious.

"Why did those noises just stop? Was all of this just a ruse to lure me here?"

James peered inside of the cemetery from the front gates, although he didn't enter. By the light of the moon, he could see that there didn't appear to be anypony, or anything inside, but that didn't mean that there wasn't anything there.

"Hello? Is anypony here? Hello? Do you need help?"

There was no answer.

Now James was really creeped out.

"Ok, I'm done with this, I'm getting the heck out of here!"

James turned, and would have run away, but all of a sudden, from somewhere behind him, James heard a metallic bang, and then something hit him hard on the back of the head. James immediately collapsed to the ground. Sure enough, whatever attacked him, screamed like a banshee, and attacked him again.

James was in such a state of shock that he was unable to scream. After one more hit though, everything went black.

The next several hours were all a blur for James. One minute he was out, then the next, he was being dragged, followed by a trail of his own blood, then the dragging stopped, and he heard what sounded like digging. After a while, the digging stopped, and he blacked out again. He came around again, when dirt began to fall on him. He couldn't move, as he was paralyzed from shock and fear. The levels of dirt around him got higher and higher. Instinctively, he was able to put his hands over his face to provide some breathing room, but the dirt kept coming. Eventually though, it stopped.

By that time, the full gravity of what had just happened hit him like a sack of bricks. Someone, or something, had just bludgeoned him with a blunt instrument, and, most likely believing him to be dead, buried him alive! James knew that he had to get out of the ground before he suffocated.

Thankfully, he was now almost fully conscious, and knew what to do. After spitting on one of his fingers to determine which way was up, he realized that he was on his back, but at such an angle that his head was at the bottom, while his feet were much closer to the surface.

James then held his breath, and after closing his eyes, began to claw his way upwards. Slowly, more and more, he continued to make his way back to the surface. He paused only to take a breath of air, and kept clawing. His oxygen levels were reaching the critical point, he was almost out of air!

"Come on, come on! Just a little bit more! I.....can....make....it!"

Finally, a few moments later, James felt his right hand break through the surface! He clawed at the dirt, so as to make the hole wider, and once he'd withdrawn his hand, he now had a breathing hole.

"Almost there.....Just a little....bit........"

James got his hand back on the surface, followed quickly by his other hand. Then, with the last of his strength giving out, he pulled himself out of his own grave, and lay on the ground next to it, gasping for air.

"H-h-help, m-me. H-help Me!" He coughed. "S-somepony, anyp-pony, help me!"

In response to his calls for help, a shadow bent over him.

"Oh, you poor thing." A female voice cooed. "You've been through so much tonight haven't you?"

"Y-yes." James muttered.

"Well then, we can fix that, can't we? Come on Missy, let's get this poor sweetheart back home. We should have all of the time in the world with him now. After all, he's just like us now!"

James was too tired, exhausted, and in shock to really comprehend what was said, but sure enough, he was gently picked up, placed on something large and furry, and transported away from the cemetery.

Just before he lost consciousness once again, James was able to mutter, "Oh boy, what's going to happen to me now?" Then he succumbed to unconsciousness.

Author's Note

Oh no, what happened to James? Who knocked him out, and buried him alive? Was it Flutters, and if so, why? And how was Patches real? Or was that just an illusion? And what did the figure who rescued James mean when they said, "We should have all the time in the world with him now. After all, he's just like us now!"? Most importantly though, what'll happen to him now?

Well, the only way to find out, is to keep reading, and I'll see you all in Chapter 6.

ScarFox out for now!