Ethan was flabbergasted by the whole experience, and for an embarrassingly long moment, he just stood before the creature with his mouth hanging open. He had seen something so far beyond his experience and understanding that no words would greatly alleviate his fears. Only time could possibly help him come to grips with all he had seen. He shook his head and stared at the creature. 

“I... I don't know what to say,” Ethan mumbled, staring at the creature. “I need some time to think about this.” And with that he ran off towards home. Honestly, he was too shaken up to spend much time around a group at the moment. It seemed that either hallucinations or an encounter with a magical creature seemed like a good reason to skip a club meeting.

When he reached home, he ignored his mother sprawled out on the couch, and noticed that his father was away. The last thing he wanted was to tell them about his experience. Hell, they would probably have his crazy ass committed to an institution. So he walked down the hall to his room and sat down at a piano he had bought cheaply and had paid for both the cost and the professional moving and tuning himself. Trying to calm his thoughts, he played the “Moonlight Sonata” from memory, along with a few Chopin Nocturnes and a Mozart Sonata. 

But after about ninety minutes, he stood up, opened his laptop, and proceeded to research everything he could about hallucinations, magical creatures, and strange sightings from history. There were certain creatures that could change shape at will, which traversed several religious and cultural stories. Most commonly, they were called [i]youkai[/i]. Some modern day “pagan-like” religions believed that the youkai had always existed, but in the last few hundred years had gone into hiding to separate themselves from the onward advance of humanity. Ethan had to admit that it sounded eerily similar to the cat-thing's story.

His research and intermittent piano practice lasted long into the night, far longer than he should have stayed up on a Sunday night, as it was a school night, after all. But eventually, Ethan changed into his pajamas and fell asleep. 

~*~*~

The next morning, Ethan awoke, dressed for school, and hopped onto his bike towards that dull building where he spent most of his time reading about other subjects on his laptop, or (now shattered) cell phone.