Sunset.
I awake. Not gradually, but all at once. Climbing to my feet, I stretch my muscles, warming them for the task ahead. Lightly, I jump out of the box and nudge open the closet door.
My pupils adjust to the brighter light painfully, although the room would seem dark to him. I cock my head, listening. Ah, he is in the kitchen, preparing my dinner, no doubt.
I pad down the hallway noiselessly, passing each familiar room. There are no pictures of me, and no mirrors hang in any room in this house. It was part of our original arrangement, that.
Pausing in the doorway, I watch him cutting the meat at the counter. It is always beef, freshly cut. I like it bloody. Saliva squirts in my mouth, and I yowl, startling him.
“Alexis, you scared me.” He smiles and reaches down to touch me. I arch my back beneath his strong hand, wind my body around his ankles.
“Are you hungry? Of course you are.” He sets the plate on the floor beside me and I can’t help it, I snatch the meat and begin to chew. He chuckles, but I don’t mind.
We have been together a long time, he and I. He rescued me one rainy night soon after I was transformed. He must have known what I was, for instead of offering me milk, he soaked a rag in his own blood and gave it to me to suck.
Many years have passed since that night. His hair, once black as ebony, reflects the snow, and his strong shoulders are stooped now. Still, he is strong, my human.
“My, what a hungry little lady,” he croons, going down on one knee beside me. I growl in warning, and he chuckles again.
“Not to worry, Alexis my love. I prefer my meat cooked.” I lick every last drop of blood from the plate and sit back on my haunches. Time for a bath.
“I’m getting old, Alexis,” he says, washing the plate in the sink. “Today I visited the doctor.” I turn one ear towards him while I finish my bath. “It doesn’t look good. It’s eating me alive.”
Disinterested, I sniff out the water bowl and lap it up. My human continues to talk, filling the air with a comfortable noise.
“And I’ve decided that I don’t want to sit around waiting to die.” Idly, I wander around the kitchen, meowing. He’s starting to bore me a bit. Usually we go for a ride in his vehicle, or I sit on his lap while he watches the box. Tonight is different, though. My human seems restless.
Soon I must hunt. The bloody meat suffices, but I crave fresh, hot blood. The choosing of each victim was something else I enjoyed. Pretending to be a mortal, I meowed and purred, allowing my potential victim to caress me. These humans never seemed to suspect one so beautiful as I. I never killed, though. Just a deep bite, a few sucks, and I let go, partially satisfied. Then I sought the next giver of blood, and the next, until my belly fairly groaned. Only then did I seek my box, my haven, my home.
“Alexis,” my human says, bringing me out of my reverie. “You have been the best thing in my life.” We are in his bedroom, only a few feet from my box. He sits on his bed; I leap up next to him. He strokes me absently with one hand while he fiddles with an object in the other. I look closer; the object is one I have seen only a few times. It is of black shiny metal, I do not know its name. My human sighs deeply, and a murmur of disquiet rolls through my body. My whiskers twitch; something is not right. I sense anxiety and fear, two emotions my human rarely exudes.
“Good bye, Alexis,” he says, rubbing my head where I like it best. “I love you.”
BAM! Shrieking, I jump off the bed and zip out the window he leaves open for me. I run until my breath is ragged, that horrible noise still ringing in my ears.
My human. What was the significance of the noise? I have to find out. I creep back stealthily, for flashing lights have surrounded my human’s abode.
I recognize none of these humans, and want to scratch them to death, sink my needle sharp teeth into their soft flesh. Instead, I creep around to the window and jump up on the sill.
My human lies on the floor, and the wondrous odor of fresh blood fills my nose. But something is wrong. The blood smell emanates from…my human. Several humans gather around him, yammering words I cannot understand. None notice me. My heart beats fiercely with an unknown emotion, my eyes burn.
I stay there, watching, until my human is taken away and the night begins to wane. Finally I leap to the floor, and circle the stain on the floor. I sniff, filling myself with the scent of the only thing I ever loved, the only thing that ever loved me. I realize there is one way my human will always be with me.
Licking my whiskers clean, I climb into my box and close my eyes.
**author's note: This was one of my first stories from 2003.
I awake. Not gradually, but all at once. Climbing to my feet, I stretch my muscles, warming them for the task ahead. Lightly, I jump out of the box and nudge open the closet door.
My pupils adjust to the brighter light painfully, although the room would seem dark to him. I cock my head, listening. Ah, he is in the kitchen, preparing my dinner, no doubt.
I pad down the hallway noiselessly, passing each familiar room. There are no pictures of me, and no mirrors hang in any room in this house. It was part of our original arrangement, that.
Pausing in the doorway, I watch him cutting the meat at the counter. It is always beef, freshly cut. I like it bloody. Saliva squirts in my mouth, and I yowl, startling him.
“Alexis, you scared me.” He smiles and reaches down to touch me. I arch my back beneath his strong hand, wind my body around his ankles.
“Are you hungry? Of course you are.” He sets the plate on the floor beside me and I can’t help it, I snatch the meat and begin to chew. He chuckles, but I don’t mind.
We have been together a long time, he and I. He rescued me one rainy night soon after I was transformed. He must have known what I was, for instead of offering me milk, he soaked a rag in his own blood and gave it to me to suck.
Many years have passed since that night. His hair, once black as ebony, reflects the snow, and his strong shoulders are stooped now. Still, he is strong, my human.
“My, what a hungry little lady,” he croons, going down on one knee beside me. I growl in warning, and he chuckles again.
“Not to worry, Alexis my love. I prefer my meat cooked.” I lick every last drop of blood from the plate and sit back on my haunches. Time for a bath.
“I’m getting old, Alexis,” he says, washing the plate in the sink. “Today I visited the doctor.” I turn one ear towards him while I finish my bath. “It doesn’t look good. It’s eating me alive.”
Disinterested, I sniff out the water bowl and lap it up. My human continues to talk, filling the air with a comfortable noise.
“And I’ve decided that I don’t want to sit around waiting to die.” Idly, I wander around the kitchen, meowing. He’s starting to bore me a bit. Usually we go for a ride in his vehicle, or I sit on his lap while he watches the box. Tonight is different, though. My human seems restless.
Soon I must hunt. The bloody meat suffices, but I crave fresh, hot blood. The choosing of each victim was something else I enjoyed. Pretending to be a mortal, I meowed and purred, allowing my potential victim to caress me. These humans never seemed to suspect one so beautiful as I. I never killed, though. Just a deep bite, a few sucks, and I let go, partially satisfied. Then I sought the next giver of blood, and the next, until my belly fairly groaned. Only then did I seek my box, my haven, my home.
“Alexis,” my human says, bringing me out of my reverie. “You have been the best thing in my life.” We are in his bedroom, only a few feet from my box. He sits on his bed; I leap up next to him. He strokes me absently with one hand while he fiddles with an object in the other. I look closer; the object is one I have seen only a few times. It is of black shiny metal, I do not know its name. My human sighs deeply, and a murmur of disquiet rolls through my body. My whiskers twitch; something is not right. I sense anxiety and fear, two emotions my human rarely exudes.
“Good bye, Alexis,” he says, rubbing my head where I like it best. “I love you.”
BAM! Shrieking, I jump off the bed and zip out the window he leaves open for me. I run until my breath is ragged, that horrible noise still ringing in my ears.
My human. What was the significance of the noise? I have to find out. I creep back stealthily, for flashing lights have surrounded my human’s abode.
I recognize none of these humans, and want to scratch them to death, sink my needle sharp teeth into their soft flesh. Instead, I creep around to the window and jump up on the sill.
My human lies on the floor, and the wondrous odor of fresh blood fills my nose. But something is wrong. The blood smell emanates from…my human. Several humans gather around him, yammering words I cannot understand. None notice me. My heart beats fiercely with an unknown emotion, my eyes burn.
I stay there, watching, until my human is taken away and the night begins to wane. Finally I leap to the floor, and circle the stain on the floor. I sniff, filling myself with the scent of the only thing I ever loved, the only thing that ever loved me. I realize there is one way my human will always be with me.
Licking my whiskers clean, I climb into my box and close my eyes.
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