The Mood is Write

Mom-de-Plume
Original poster
DONATING MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. Multiple posts per week
Online Availability
It varies wildly.
Writing Levels
  1. Advanced
  2. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Nonbinary
  3. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
I'm open to a wide range of genres. Obscenely wide. It's harder for me to list all I do like than all I don't like.

My favorite settings are fantasy combined with something else, multiverse, post-apoc, historical (mixed with something else), and futuristic. I'm not limited to those, but it's a good start.

My favorite genres include mystery, adventure, action, drama, tragedy (must be mixed with something else and kept balanced), romance (again must be mixed, and more.

I'm happy to include elements of slice-of-life and romance, but doing them on their own doesn't hold my interest indefinitely.
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"Every-paw-dy wants to be a cat," the soft voice came from a white, long-haired cat, "Because a cat's the only cat that knoooows where it's at."

The feline slid to one side and puffed her chest as she purred.

"Tell me, everybody's pickin' up on that feline beat," another slide, "'Cause everything else is... obsolete!"

Her tail quirked as she bobbed her kitty booty side to side. Alone and aware of nobody else around her, she indulged her musical side while she waited for the arrival of the werewolves—her targets.

And so, the cat danced a quadrupedal dance as she sang to herself. The notes came slightly off-key, but the gusto with which she sang made up for it—to a small extent.

"A square with a horn / makes you wish you weren't born / every time he plays. But with a square in the act / you can set music back / to the caveman days!" She threw her head back as she finished the chorus and struck a pose. Ready to continue, she stepped forward into the next verse.

"I've heard some corny birds who tried to sing—" she let her throat open as she got more into the song she'd begun so idly, but stopped as she tasted blood in her mouth and closed it.

Large, yellow eyes crossed, and she looked down into her blind spot. Sure enough, a single drop of blood rested there. As she backed up, she found another.

"Damn," she cursed quietly as she sniffed up the blood and licked what had dripped, then darted for cover, choking on her own nosebleed as she gagged and flailed her tongue forward against her upper teeth, trying to scrape away the gaggy sensation as she huffed out her nose now that she wasn't downwind.

Once she hunkered down, ready to watch for the arrival of the wolves, she began to clean one of her paws and chew on the long fur between the pads, as though she'd not just choked herself.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Any moment now, she'd see them.

Any... moment...

Hidden in a picker-bush, the cat's eyes narrowed, then grew wide.

Her pupils dilated to circles with anticipation.

A buttwiggle signalled eagerness to pounce. Bloodthirsty, the angora cat waited with ears pricked and tail twitching.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Two Weeks Later

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A woman stumbled forward. Her white hair stood out bright in the light of the recently-full moon and the street lights.

Half-dried blood pasted her ripped shirt to her body, and she walked with a limp. She could hear howls in the distance as the wolves discovered the treachery that allowed her to get free of the pack.

"Fuck," she cursed, the word enunciated despite her distress. She hurried forward still further, checking car doors with a hand that left a smudge behind.

Locked, locked, locked, locked, and locked.

Finally, she thought to look at the buildings.

An open window.

She stared for several moments before she climbed through, into a bathroom. Carefully, she used her elbow to ease the window shut again, wondering at the lack of a screen only briefly before a wave of nausea hit her.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Morning discovered a white cat in a blood-smudged bathroom. Her hind leg, no longer broken, remained extended. Blood, twigs, and dirt clung to her coat as she laid sprawled on her side, chin flat against the bathtub's bottom.

She remained completely still aside from the subtle movements in her chest that offered reassurance that whatever strangeness happened during the night, the cat was still alive.
 
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Can't Catch a Bloody Break
Sunday September 24, 2017


Sundays were special for the Hawkes. Rupert rarely had the occasion to spend time with his teenage daughter, between school, art classes, tutoring, and his ungodly hours at the station. His daughter might have been some kind of genius and art prodigy, but she still needed some attention from the old man especially since now she had just started high school. Topics like boys and everything that came with it was going to drive him insane with worry, but as the daughter of the sheriff she had a certain protection from teenage douchebags. Still, there was nothing quite like spending Sunday morning in pyjamas and eating breakfast while watching corny movies.

These last few weeks Rupert had been working night shifts. Even though they were exhausting and usually boring, it allowed him to see his daughter in the morning when he got home and in the evenings when she came back from school.

In spite of his tiredness, the sheriff skipped his shower and began preparing their Sunday breakfast. Today was pancakes and bacon with fresh fruits, and before long the house smelled like coffee and delicious bacon. A low creak coming from upstairs told him Amelia was awake, and almost on cue the sound of a flushing toilet made the old pipes complain. Rupert smiled and called out in his bellowing voice, "Morning sunshine!"

A playful groan responded to him and soon his daughter dragged her feet in the kitchen. "Morning pa. How can you sound so... Energetic this early and this late?" The young girl rubbed her eyes and blindly made for the cupboard to grab a mug.

"It's a gift from Satan, meant to torment my daughter in the morning. No other reason or necessity for it really." Rupert chuckled and flipped a pancake, throwing some powdered sugar and cinnamon on the cooked side. "I got you some chocolate milk, it's in the--" He cut himself short when he saw Amelia pour herself half a cup of coffee before filling the rest of the mug with chocolate milk. "Since when do you drink coffee, miss?"

The girl took one long sip and moaned in delight as a small smile crossed her face. "Pa, I'm sixteen. Everyone drinks coffee now. But with the chocolate milk, it's bloody glorious."

Rupert pursed his lips, trying and mostly failing at hiding his amusement. "Watch your language young lady. I swear, you're growing up as fast as those white hairs in my beard." It earned him a choked laughter from his daughter, and with a wink he turned back to the stove to throw the finished pancake in a plate already filled with cooked bacon and berries. A smaller hand sneaked from behind him to grab a slice of the meat and disappeared just as quickly. Rupert shook his head and prepared another pancake. They remained in silence except for a soft humming of a familiar song by Amelia until she placed her iPod on the iPod deck and selected a song.

"My art teacher told me to try new music to get some inspiration. Apparently gloomy music will only cause me to make gloomy stuff." Before he could reply, some K-Pop started booming out of the speakers. "What do you think?" Rupert could hear the barely restrained laughter in her voice and he turned around to give her a face of fake shock.

"What is this nonsense? Oh! Oppa gagnam style!" On cue, both of them made silly dance moves to imitate the even sillier K-Pop artist, the "horse dance", but it only caused them to burst out laughing and continue their silly dancing. He flipped the pancake and sang out the Korean words as badly as he could, but his voice was still way too deep to really fit with the high notes of the song. Amelia laughed heartily and continued dancing, singing along the obvious words only. As much as he took pride in everything Amelia was, she was a terrible singer and it amused him to tease her about. "You're almost right on the note there!" That earned him a playful hit on the arm.

Once it was over, she changed for another genre completely and it brought a warmer smile on his face.

"Ma's favourite." Rupert looked at his beautiful daughter, who looked every day a little bit more like her mother, and gave her a small nod. "It'll be her birthday soon, I have the day all planned out for the visit." They continued to listen to Duran Duran in silence until all the pancake mix had been baked.

"All right, go choose a movie while I go wash my face real quick." The sheriff shooed her away to the living room before heading to the small downstairs bathroom. It had a bath just large enough for him to take a shower, and only big enough for toddlers to take comfortable baths. Humming Hungry Like The Wolf he closed the door and unzipped his pants for a quick pee, but as he looked over in the mirror above the sink, it gave him a surprisingly gruesome view of the bath. There was enough blood there for someone to have been seriously injured.

Rupert whipped around, quickly zipping back his pants, almost expecting to find someone half-dead in the bath tub. The window was open and the screen was nowhere to be seen, but he spotted traces of crimson along the windowsill the clearly lead to the tub.

"What the fuck!" He whispered to himself, not wanting to alert Amelia. There was a white cat dozing off in the middle of a pool of blood. Too much blood for a goddamn cat. Unsure what else to do, Rupert turned on the shower to a lukewarm temperature and watched as the blood drained away, hoping the cat would wake up or something.
 
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As the water hit the other side of the small tub and splashed back to sprinkle her fur, the cat's nose was the first thing that woke.

A new scent in the room. Male human. Meat, fruit, grain. Female human, not present but near.

Her nose made a soft whistle as her lips flattened and she sniffed the air once, only to snort a dried blood-booger and try again to sniff.

Water slid towards her, and then met her legs, belly, and chin. Thicker drops began to splash up and hit her, and her eyes cracked open, only to widen at the sight of rain in an unfamiliar and smooth-sided place. Blood began to thin and flow towards her—and the drain—from the sides and floor.

The cat lifted her head, then jerked a paw as water touched her toes. She shook her head, large ears flapping against her skull in a blur before she stopped and looked past the edges of the tub. A bloodied window to one side, and to the other a man.

Her eyes widened, and then her pupils as her twitchy-tipped tail tucked itself around her side and she rose to her feet. One of her sides pressed to the side of the tub opposite the man as she watched him.

One of her legs remained hovering just above the tub, blood matting the fur to inflexibility.

Her right ear flicked as droplets of water pelted it irregularly.

Only the scent of his confusion and concern kept a growl from her throat.

Pink nose wrinkled as a drop got her on the nostril, and a sneeze knocked her back a step. Her rump hitting the tub under the faucet set her skittering forward and into the downpour, where she stopped in her tracks and began to howl.

"WIAOW! WRAO!!" Quickly soaked, her flattened fur revealed a lithe figure underneath the fur. Blood from her coat swirled in the runoff as the beat of heavy drops wore away at the caked and dry mats.

"WAAOW!" Such a deep and loud cry echoed from the tub, followed by another like it before she backed up again, until her side rested against the cool ceramic. Her tail jerked violently side to side as her ears drew back. "Wrraoraoraoraoraow..." The chatter escaped between rapid-moving teeth.

Disoriented from her rude awakening, the cat's memories of the night before—and that she was not actually a cat—didn't register. All that did was that she was awakened, there was water from the sky, and a stranger was staring at her. A big stranger.
 
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Watching the cat writhe and scream was not how Rupe wanted to spend his first hour back at home. Staying as far as possible from the creature clearly in some kind of pain, he turned off the water and threw the closest towel on it. He was sure Amelia wouldn't miss the old Hello Kitty towel.

"Fuck. How did it even get in here?!" The sheriff's eyes fell on the open window. Right. He had planned on fixing the missing screen a few weeks ago, and it had completely slipped his mind. And now some wild thing had come to find solace in his bathtub. Gritting his teeth, Rupert quickly slipped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. "Uhhhh Amelia, honey?"

He remained leaned against the door for a short moment, trying to calm himself. The sight of the distressed cat had strangely affected him more than he thought, as though he himself had tortured the poor creature into losing the much blood. Now that he thought of it, there had been a lot of blood for just a regular-sized cat... Pushing the thought aside, he cleared his throat and made for the living room, his eyes instinctively checking the stove to make sure everything was turned off. They didn't need a kitchen fire in the middle of this nonsense.

His daughter was in the living room, scrolling through a Netflix list for movies they had both selected at some point. She looked around at him with a silly smile, cocking her head to the side. "What was all that noise, Pa? Hurry up, or I'll start without you!" Amelia pressed a button on the remote and Kung Fury started up on the TV.

"I uh... Don't play it now! Some wild cat jumped through the window in the bathroom, I'll try to get it out. It looked hurt but then it started acting all crazy. I don't want it to hurt us and give us rabies or something. Wait here and if you see a cat, do not touch it." Rupert had taken on his Dad-voice and gave Amelia a stern look. She hadn't done anything wrong, obviously, but the risk of rabies sounded real right now and he wouldn't let anything hurt his baby.

Once she had rolled her eyes and paused the movie, the sheriff grabbed a coat from the closet and took a deep breath. Should he announce himself to the crazy cat so that it wouldn't freak out when he would open the door? Unsure about himself but ultimately preferring to look silly than put himself at risk, he took a calm and soothing voice and whispered against the door as he pushed it open very slowly, "Okay, kitty, I'm coming in now, shhhh, it'll be okay, shhh..."
 
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Whump!

The cat cut off mid-yowl as the blanket fell onto her, and she zigzagged backwards until her rump bumped against a wall of the tub, and she fell still.

Rupert successfully deactivated the frightened cat.

His conversation with his daughter helped pull her from her panic now that she was still and quiet. She was forced to take a few moments to process her situation, but by the time she'd calmed, the man was already announcing his return.

A questioning and high-pitched mew, and then she pawed at the towel draped over her, trying to free herself, but not using enough force to make much progress as she hunched, body still aside from that pawing and the occasional pleading mew. With the matting on her hind leg gone, she rested her weight on it once again.

Now that he was back, it was too late to change her form. Tangled up in what appeared to be a Hello Kitty towel, she couldn't very easily escape, especially sopping wet as she was.

Hunkered low, she began to try and slink forward to get free of the towel, and ended up circling the inside of the tub, but making no progress.

She used another high-pitched mew, sounding heartbreakingly sad from beneath the towel. If she could get out from under it, she could make a run for it... she hoped.
 
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At least, the cat had seemingly calmed down. It was still making high-pitched sounds, but it was no longer scrambling everywhere madly. Rupert took a deep breath and closed the door behind him and leaned on it. What should I do? Just put it outside? Before he did anything else though he made for the window, intending on closing it, when he noticed that this too was covered in blood. With a deeper frown he shut the window, careful not to touch any of the blood, and this time he took a moment to properly analyze the situation.

With the amount of blood he had seen in the bath, on the window, and heck even on the walls of the shower... This was too much for a cat, no -- for a living cat. Something didn't add up, and for a moment he had a frightening thought that there might be more injured animals in his home, but that was discarded quickly. They would have left a trail of blood, surely.

Rupert sighed in resignation and leaned down to grab the towel-covered cat. He made sure it was wrapped up burrito-style, moving carefully as to not scare the animal further. Once it was bundled up in the washed-out and wet Hello Kitty towel, Rupert took a second to uncover its face. "For a rabies-crazy cat, you sure are cute. Sorry about all that." The sheriff wasn't sure why he was explaining himself to a cat. Its large glassy amber eyes were something otherworldly, hard to look away from and hinting at a further intelligence than that of normal cats. A shiver went down Rupert's back and he looked away from the cat's face. They already thought he had a few loose screws because of some of the things he firmly believed in, he preferred not to think what they might think if they knew he was questioning a cat's sentience.

Holding the bundled cat firmly in his arms, leaving it no option to skip away, Rupert left the bathroom and made straight for the front door. "I'll get rid of this cat, Amelia -- stay here and if other strange cats pop up, don't touch them! Love you." He waited for her mumbled acknowledgement, and stepped outside before locking the door behind him. "What am I gonna do with you, hm?" He looked back at the cat despite himself, and decided to walk to the nearby park instead of bringing it to the local animal shelter. He wasn't sure if it was the best idea, but something was bothering him about all this and if he brought the cat to the shelter, they might put it to sleep if it was indeed full of rabies. That no longer felt the case, but he was no vet.

The walk to the park was quick, they were only two blocks away, and the sheriff looked for a bench closest to the bushes. He sat down and held the bundled cat like one would hold a baby, and before he could stop himself he reached to scratch and pet its forehead, humming in a low and comforting voice. This was all very strange and he had no idea what the hell he was doing or why he was doing it, but he thought he should somehow let the cat know he wasn't going to hurt it. After a few minutes of petting its head and the glands on the side of its head, the sheriff cleared his throat and put the bundled cat beside him on the bench, working the towel off gently while whispering to the creature, "Off you go now. Please don't come bleed in my bathroom again."
 
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More sad cries came from beneath the towel as the hunkered feline scampered in slow laps around the perimeter of the tub. Aware of the man's return, Elizabeth played stupid, since she couldn't change form and free herself from the tower with him present.

His sigh made her stop, and the towel constricted her quickly before she felt herself lift from the floor. Nervous purring vibrated her throat as he freed her face, and she meowed at him as she stared back into his face, curious and alert despite the weird appearance that came with being sopping wet.

The thought came to her mind that her captor probably didn't get a lot of dripping wet white pussy, and her tail flicked briefly as her whiskers eased forward.

He broke the staring contest well before she got tired of it, and she could smell his unease. His apology already accepted despite the unfounded accusations of rabies, she opted to flop her weight against him as he carried her, purr like a lawnmower as she looke around on the way out. She craned her neck to look back towards Amelia.

She was a pretty little girl!

The purrito grew louder, and she mewed a greeting to the girl before Rupert carried her out the door and asked what he should do with her. She meowed at him, trying very hard to keep playing the dumb cat, but her purr shifted back to nervousness as quivering, too-large ears stuck upward with nervousness, only to flick about as she tried to look and listen in all directions.

Every car door along the way held one or more blood-smudged handprint from the night before, and some had still more smudges. Bloody shoeprints marked driveways and pavement in unsteady paths.

The evidence of her search for shelter the night before brought a quiet and fearful growl from the cat's throat as the autumn morning chilled her wet face and nose.

Throughout the walk, the skritches on the bench, and even the careful unwrapping, Elizabeth remained still, save her sniffing nose, darking eyes, and twitching ears. The moment she was free enough for it, she slunk from the towel onto Rupert's lap, keeping low. Attention far from him, she looked around for several seconds before she dashed away suddenly, to a place hidden by bushes.

She could smell the wolves, and with the human present, she couldn't take her other form, which meant that if the wolves didn't want a witness, he'd be easy prey for them, and that pretty girl he called Amelia—

Ohhh, she didn't want to think of it! She'd have to go back, though. If for no other reason than to clean up her mess... and the messes she left on all those cars.

First, she had to avoid the werewolves, though. They were still 'powered up' by the full moon, which meant she wasn't even safe in the daytime. She should have followed orders—should have killed them to a pup when she had the chance! She was too curious, though, and taunted them too much...
 
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Rupert chuckled as he watched the white cat untangle itself and crawl on his lap, only to leap away. That was that, he supposed. He couldn't shake the odd feeling that he was missing something, that this cat was more than just a stupid feline. But he had no proof and Amelia was waiting for him at home. The clever girl would definitely have something to say to him about this little adventure.

Brushing imaginary dirt off his pants, the sheriff pushed himself up from the bench. Once again, the short walk was spent deep in his thoughts and he didn't notice the blood prints on the car doors. The sheriff couldn't shake the annoying feeling that he was being watched. It was silly, no one was watching him through their windows, they were all very neighbourly and friendly. All he wanted to do now was eating some goddamn bacon and watch Netflix with his daughter. It was their only time together, he wasn't going to waste it thinking about this morning's incident.

"I'm back." His deep voice resonated in the house, and he found it strangely quiet. "Amelia?" The man's strong jaw clenched and the never-quiet parent fear for their child spread like poison through him, and in an instant he was on duty-mode to know where the hell his daughter was. The living room was empty, the pancake-filled plate abanbonned on a coffee table with Amelia's coffee mug. "Amelia!" Louder this time, and he heard some scuffles upstairs.

Without removing his brown steel-capped boots, Rupert slammed the door shut and dashed up the stairs, taking them three at a time. His heart was pounding, and he found himself more scared than anything else; scared that he had left Amelia alone right after something strange had happened, the same way he had left his wife and...

"NO. Amelia." He pushed passed the fear and slammed her bedroom door opened. There she was, sitting on her bed with her knees up against her chest, a wild look on her face. Like she'd seen something she couldn't quite understand. "Honey, what are you doing up here? I saw everything downstairs and I--"

Her large brown eyes shot up to her father's face, and he could read clear terror in them muddled with confusion. "I heard them, Pa. They... They s-sounded exactly the s-same." The young girl's voice was just a whisper, but Rupert knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You heard them, here?! Outside the house?" When she nodded, the sheriff had to use some iron will to stop himself from swearing out loud in front of his daughter. That couldn't be. It had been ten years, why were they back now? How did they find him? They lived on the other side of the city, in a completely different neighbourhood... His thoughts circled back to that cat, and for a wild moment he wondered if it had been meant as a distraction. His eyes fell back on his daughter and the gut-wrenching need to hold her and comfort her took over.

His shoulders dropped and his heart went back to a more stable rhythm. He dropped on her bed and pulled her against his chest, his hand stroking her head gently as he kissed her forehead before whispering, "Come here, love. Shhh, it'll be okay..."
 
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Elizabeth followed Rupert back to his home, keeping to shadows and brush with a coat newly dulled by a roll in some dirt. He was so preoccupied, he didn't notice her at all, and she hoped nobody else did, either.

Their arrival slammed the scent of a female human's fear into Elizabeth's sensitive nose with the force of a speeding semi. Stunned, she only barely got herself unscrambled in time to slip through the doorway, barely in time to avoid being slammed by it.

As Rupert charged up the stairs, Elizabeth put her weight against the door to ensure it latched, leaving a muddy smudge against it after she ensured it clicked shut.

This much fear, and it came from both of the residents she knew of.

She had just wanted to sneak in to wait until night and clean the bathroom, maybe take advantage of the safety of a door, but now—that wasn't an option now. The man of the house had been kind to her, in releasing her gently even after she freaked out all over the bathroom. Besides that, if the little one was in danger...

She turned from the door and followed the two scents up the stairs, only to stop at the top and watch the large man slam open a door. Elizabeth crept forward, tail curled around herself and pupils wide as her ears drew back defensively.

Low to the ground, afraid of what she might hear or smell or see, the little girl's quiet voice tore Elizabeth equally between increased terror and relief. Voices or sounds, exactly the same as... some past event. The father knew of it. It frightened both of them.

Now wasn't the time to reveal herself, not if she wanted them to be coherent. The two were frightened. It didn't take a genius to figure out that weird things scared humans, and she was a weird thing. She began to slink backwards, wanting to give them some space.

For now, she decided, she'd run the perimeter of the house and sniff for any invaders—aside from herself, of course.
 
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The rest of the Hawkes' day was rather uneventful. Once Amelia had calmed down, they had gone back to the living room and heated their food in the microwave and watched something a little less intense than Kung Fury. The girl spent the afternoon in the living room, never going very far out of Rupert's vision, and worked on homework. The man himself cleaned around the house. Dishes, laundry, food prep for the week, washing the mess in the bathroom. He used disinfectant for that, and he was forced to re-open the window to avoid the whole place smelling like Javel water. There was a nice autumnal breeze coming in, but took down a window screen from another room to put there in the meantime.

It was later afternoon when he finally crashed, and despite the day's worries he fell asleep like a baby. Amelia had firm instructions to come wake him up ASAP if the howling happened again. He wished he could have stayed up with her and even make her sleep in his bed, but she was a teenager now and they both agreed it was kinda ridiculous.

The girl prepared her lunch for school the next day, then re-heated some stew from the previous night. The smell of delicious beefy broth and sweet potatoes quickly filled the kitchen, and she took her time to eat, her laptop on the table as she watched an insect documentary on Youtube. Usually she would wear her earphones, but tonight... She didn't feel very safe wearing those and isolating herself from the various noise around the house and outside. The volume was low enough that she could still hear without stealing all of her attention.

It appeared soon that she had heated too much food, but she left it on the other side of the table, the aroma of it inexplicably comforting. Eventually she was watching another documentary and all the bad stuff from the table seemed to slip off her mind and she was finally able to giggle at the stupidly epic voice-over from the video. The night was probably going to be spent here watching Youtube until her father left for work and Ms Hundington showed up for her first weekly night shift. For once, Amelia was quite happy to not be left alone in the middle of the night, even though she was sixteen and old enough to be alone now.
 
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Elizabeth couldn't keep herself out of the kitchen once that smell started up. A day of hiding from the two residents of the house left her so hungry, especially after the previous night's chaos. Healing so much damage always left her with an empty belly, and this was no exception.

With Amelia watching documentaries and a laptop blocking her view of the second dish of stew, Elizabeth took her chance and hopped onto the chair opposite the girl, then leaned her front paws on the table and began to eat.

She began with polite lapping, but stopped after two when she realized it might be too noisy. The cat stared at the laptop, but Amelia's head didn't pop out from the other side that she saw.

So, Elizabeth began to take bites of the chunks that floated, unintentionally flicking broth in her efforts to get the human-sized bites into cat-bite-size.

It took very little time for her hunger to push her past any semblance of wanting to keep quiet, and she began to gorge fully, no longer caring if her lapping was too loud or whether the splatter of trying trying to get the delicious bites of meat and potato into her mouth would be noticed by the girl across the table.

It didn't even matter to her that her chin was turning brown from the liquid, or that the dust of her roll in the dirt was making a subtle film on the stew.
 
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Amelia's neck prickled suddenly in the middle of a video. It wasn't the content of it, but rather some other sound she was hearing that wasn't related to spiders. Her eyes widened and she counted to five, calming and reassuring herself that it couldn't be the dangerous beasts since the noise was coming from behind her laptop. Gulping hard, the girl leaned to the right until her eyes could see past the screen. A wave of relief and curiosity washed over her instantly.

There stood on the chair with its paws on the table, a dusty white cat with a large fluffy tail. It was flicking with interest, and the animal had an adorably pleased look on its face. Amelia felt a tiny pang of guilt that it was eating her father's lunch, but ultimately a smile crept on her face. She didn't say a word, simply watching the cat slurp away at the broth, beef pieces, and even potatoes. It appeared to be voraciously hungry, eating as though it was the first meal in a long time. Amelia amused herself with the thought that it might be the best meal it ever had, since her father's cooking was pretty epic and she had added her own couple spices to make it a bit more spicy.

"Why hello there." Her voice was but a whisper, all fear and concern melted away. A little voice in the back of her mind demanded she inquire how the cat had even appeared at their dinner table, but it was easy to ignore. The cat's eyes were a deep amber, nothing like Amelia had ever seen on a cat. There was something intricately special about this cat, but the teen couldn't put her finger on it.

Getting up slowly to avoid frightening the cat, Amelia tiptoed to the mugs cupboard and took out one they rarely used, a low but wide cup, and filled it with cold water. Without taking her eyes off the cat she placed the cup right beside the plate and sat on the chair next to it, waiting to see if the cat would accept the small friendly offer.
 
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The cat paused mid-bite and stared at Amelia.

Shit.

Her weight shifted, ready to bolt, but she sensed no anger or fear—only brief remnants of fear-scent fading quickly.

Elizabeth lifted her head and chirped in greeting before she continued her meal, hungry enough to be wholy brazen about it. It was good, if a little too spicey for her taste, but the way the meat fell apart, but the potatoes were still firm enough to eat without falling apart into mush left her purring and licking her lips between bites.

And then there was a cup of water. She trilled in pleasant surprise as she stared at it, big ears erect, and then looked up at Amelia. Eating so quickly was leaving her pretty thirsty... And the water, at least, was willingly given. It'd be rude to turn up her nose.

She shifted nearer the mug, then began to lap at the water, purring contentedly at its refreshing coolness.

The cat took turns eating and drinking until her belly bulged slightly, and the plate was empty, and the mug halfway there. Groggy from so much to eat, Elizabeth regretted overstuffing herself, but couldn't imagine leaving any leftovers behind. She needed a nap, though, and there was a sweet girl in the next seat who seemed like she'd pet her gently if she curled up on that girl's lap.

Plan decided, Elizabeth lazily stretched out towards Amelia, using just enough claw to snag clothing, but only lightly scrape skin, then pulled herself languidly over and flopped herself onto Amelia's lap, kitty motor running smooth and vibrating against one of the girl's thighs.
 
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The teenage girl kept a broad smile on her face as she watched the dusty white cat eat and drink. Its fur seemed to shine with the kitchen light, and Amelia let herself be hypnotized by it. Her heart jumped in her chest before a warm sensation filled her when the cat hopped on her for a nap. Unsure what to do but not wanting to disturb the sleeping cat, the girl reached over to her laptop and resumed watching videos.

Amelia's thoughts wandered to her father's warning, and for a wild moment she considered pushing the cat off her in panic. But it had been so gentle and so hungry. Such a cute thing could definitely not be dangerous. Besides, even if it was the creature her father had found in the morning, this one didn't seem hurt. With a determined nod, Amelia leaned back in her chair and began petting the cat. Running her hand along its back, along the spine, and scratching softly just above the tail. When the cat remained where it was, the girl ventured a bit closer to its face, scratching its jaw (she decided the cat was female, as she knew males had larger glands in their cheeks) and behind the ears.

It was almost ten at night when she heard shuffling over her head. Crap! The girl scooped the large cat in one arm, careful not to rough it around too much, and disposed of the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Her laptop was slipped under her arm, and up the stairs she ran as quietly as possible. She knew her father would check up on her before going to the bathroom, he always did. If she was still awake, he'd tell her to go brush her teeth before he jumped in the shower, and if she was sleeping, he'd pull the blankets over her properly. Once in front of her room though, she turned off all the lights and kicked her shoes off and blindly dropped her laptop on her desk.

"Okay, kitty, shhh, just... Hide here..." Amelia carefully placed the cat in a pile of clothes and half-covered it with a t-shirt. Then the girl slipped out of her jeans and jumped in bed, throwing the blanket over herself and praying her father wouldn't feel like he had to shuffle the blankets around her. After counting to ten to calm her breathing, Amelia finally let herself relax, her eyes closing regardless of her weak attempt to keep them open. There simply was something special with her bed and how being in it always made her sleepy...


Faithful to his habit, Rupert checked on his sleeping daughter. He smiled at her in the dark, his heart warming at the sight. The sheriff would do anything to protect her, even if it meant leaving early to scout the woods nearby to make sure there weren't any... unwanted creatures looming about. Leaving his daughter's room, he left the door opened, just a small crack really, and pulled out his cellphone.

"Officer Cooper? Sheriff Hawke. Yeah, I'll be there a bit later tonight. There are a couple things I need to check around here, neighbours reported sightings of uh, wild animals. Just wanna make sure we don't need to call Animal Control. Yeah, thanks buddy. Night." In truth, the sheriff had slept terribly. He had dark circles under his eyes, but his look was just as alert as any day. He was gonna go out there and check out every bush if he had to, until he was absolutely certain those horrible wolves were nowhere near his home. Nowhere near his Amelia.
 
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Oh... Oh, she'd been right. Amelia was a good child. Elizabeth decided she liked her a lot. The scratches to her rump were nice, though slightly distracting from her attempts at a nap, and when the girl grew braver and began to scratch her chin, the Hunter became an utterly smitten kitten.

She stretched her neck to let Amelia get to the best spots, catnap forgotten even as she began to doze off, and her head began to loll gradually more and more to one side.

Within minutes, quiet snores emerged from her nose as she slept, until a rude awakening nearly sent her claws into Amelia's thighs before Elizabeth realized that the child was moving with low panic.

Wide yellow eyes looked around as she hung over the girl's arm. Her tum didn't appreciate having her full weight on it, but she bore through it until the girl took her into her bedroom.

Uncertain what was happening, Elizabeth chirped a question at Amelia as she was placed on the pile of clothes, only to cut off and hunker, stunned at the sudden weight and dark atop her.

Hide here? Hide from what? This wasn't panic in terms of danger, she could tell, but was there something wrong? The feline remained in place for several moments before she huffed and lowered herself to a loaf ready to rise, should she need to defend the sweet girl already falling asleep in the nearby bed.

Slowly, she wriggled her face free and watched as the man who took her to the park entered. He smelled of happiness at seeing Amelia, but lingering scents of other emotions clung to him that offered plenty of insight into how little he'd slept.

Elizabeth waited until he exited the room, then slunk toward the door, crouched low as she went, and unintentionally dragging Amelia's shirt along with, right until she came to the cracked door and peeked out.

Sheriff Hawke. So, that was his name, and he was part of the local law enforcement. That either made things easier or harder, and she didn't know which. Not yet, at least.

He said he wanted to check sightings of wild animals. Wild animals, her butt. He knew more than he was saying over the phone, and... frankly, she was the reason they'd been heard this near, she was sure.

That left the question: stay and protect Amelia, or go with the girl's father and make sure he didn't get himself offed by wolves Liz riled up with her stupidity?

...

Amelia had a door protecting her. Her father had... what, maybe a gun? As much as her instincts shouted to protect the child, logic said the father was more at risk. Damn damn triple damn and a bugger!

A few moments' thought brought a decision, and when the white cat left Amelia's room, a protective charm rested beside the girl: Elizabeth's lucky sparrow-and-beryl necklace. Carefully, the cat did her utmost to keep out of sight, but remain near Rupert and ready to jump into action.
 
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Rupert flicked off the light from his flashlight. He wasn't afraid, but being alone in these dark woods with what he knew to be some kind of supernatural creatures... Well, it definitely sent a chilling shiver down his spine. He was wearing his uniform, along with a thick leather jacket and leather gloves. It was causing him to sweat more than was necessary since the weather hadn't cooled down yet, but he thought it was better to be safe than sorry. He had a change of clothes at work if necessary.

Memories of his wife flooded the back of Rupert's mind. Her smile, her laugh, her mumurred words late at night. His love for her had never faltered in the last decade, but he wasn't getting any younger, and even Amelia had expressed concern about his non-existant love life. The sheriff was at peace with it and felt himself ready to meet new women, but with his daughter and his work schedule... It might have to wait until Amelia was off to college.

Ruffling leaves made the sheriff focus back on what was in front of him. Rupert rolled his shoulders and his grip around his gun tightened. He never took it out of its holster, but tonight was different. Non-human creatures were roaming around, and they had to be put down. He had no idea how to do it, and it terrified him. But he had to do it, for his wife's memory, and for his daughter. If he could not protect her, then nothing would.
 
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Elizabeth scouted around Rupert, slinking in wide circles, and finding only old traces of the wolves—a day old, roughly.

Granted, that was up until she found one spot where the scent was fresh, and a tree was marked.

Her ears drew back, and she did her best to give the tree with the wetted bark a wide berth. It was too fresh for her liking, and getting her scent too close after the difficulty she'd just given those wolves...

She would have to start wearing onions or something to block out her scent, at this rate, especially if she was going to go back and stay in Sheriff Hawke's home, which was probably the safest place, and she did need to get her good luck charm back.

As she circled nearer to the man, she caught his emotional scents, and her ears pricked toward him as she paused mid-step, curious until she noticed the scent of blood.

Her blood.

"Found you," a voice whispered suddenly beside her ear.

Elizabeth jumped, flipped, and ran, tail fluffed, eyes wide, and ears back. She crossed through the Sheriff's path on her way to high-tail it out of there, only to trip over something she should have smelled earlier.

She rolled, then stopped, front legs spread and back ready to charge as she looked around for danger, until her eyes hit first a raccoon carcass torn to bits and nearly unrecognizable, and then Rupert's legs just beyond it as she panted.
 
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Rupert stopped dead in his tracks when he heard some scuffling to the side. His heart rate increased and he could feel the sweat building on the back of his neck and over his brow, but he didn't move. The cop took deep breaths and focused all his attention at spotting what the fuck was roaming around these woods. The noise had ceased after a second or two, but something had moved. The temptation to switch on his flashlight was overwhelming and he was just about to flick the switch when he spotted something white. And fluffy.

"Ts ts ts, kitty kitty, is that you?" Rupert clicked his tongue and made low hissing sounds, leaning forward with hopes of getting a better view of the whiteness before him. A gentle breeze ruffled the remaing leaves in the trees, carrying a scent the sheriff had no trouble identifying. Blood.

He swore under his breath and crouched, flicking on the flashlight on the lowest setting. The scene in front of him made him cover his mouth in disgust. Carcasses upon carcasses of dead animals lay in the bush. Raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, even a lost dog Rupert had spotted a couple days ago. Some of them looked almost a few days old, what with the amount of rot and flies, but a handful looked fresh enough that the blood was still shiny and runny. This reinforced what he had been fearing: some of those beasts had come by his house today, looking to finish what they had started ten years ago.

The flashlight shined on something white that made Rupert shield his eyes, and to his bewilderment it WAS the cat from earlier. How?! He had dropped it in the park on the other side of their neighborhood, what was it doing here? As more questions filled his mind, he caught sight of some movement opposite of the white cat. Without hesitation, he dropped back into a crouch and pointed his gun in the direction of the movement. It was no use turning off the flashlight now.

"Come out, you motherfucking monster, I'll blow your fucking brains out." The man spoke in a low and cold voice, his thumb pulling off the safety of his gun.
 
The light blinded the cat for several moments, dazing her as it shone directly at her, but not before she caught the same sight Rupert had.

So many carcasses.

In the spotlight, he could see blood dripping from her nose in a fresh trail. She sneezed to try to get it out, but it only splattered across her muzzle.
The man turned, and she was left blinded by the sudden darkness for a moment until she blinked it away.

The main aimed his gun at a coyote, which stared at him warily as she nibbled one of the fresher carcasses.

However, a pair of eyes higher than the coyote's reflected in the light before they disappeared into the darkness.

Elizabeth shot forward between the man's legs, fur fluffed and posture defensive as she kept between the sheriff and those eyes in the shadows. A growl emerged from her throat as she arched her back so high she nearly rose onto her hind legs, eyes forward, on whatever was in the woods.

She didn't care if Hawke thought she was weird for this. She was going to protect him, even stuck in this small form!
 
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"Wha-?!" Rupert nearly lost balance from his crouching position as the cat from earlier slipped between his legs and got all defensive. For a moment he thought it was directed at him, but once he turned the light towards the origin of the sound that had (clearly) surprised them both, he found it was only a coyote. This made absolutely no sense.

He knew coyotes didn't hunt like this, and this one was casually munching off an already dead animal. They were not rare in these parts of the county, but this one was particularly close to homes and children. He took a mental note to call animal control in the morning to have those carcasses cleared out. They didn't need a horde of carrion-eaters on top of those supernatural beasts.

With a sigh, the sheriff rose up and scratched his head, dropping his flashlight to his side. He had worked himself up for a coyote and dead animals. The cat in front of him was still all busied up and defensive, making him take a step back just in case.

"Alright, cat. You're being a bit creepy and stalking me. I gotta go to work now, don't stay around these parts, yeah?" It took Rupert a minute to roll his eyes: he had just told a cat to be careful. This mess was screwing with his mind and one day someone was gonna send him to the loonies for talking about supernatural wolves and sentient cats.

The walk back to his car was uneventful and without a look back, he drove off to the station, his fingers drumming on the wheel while he listened to music. Ms Hundington's car was parked in his driveway when he passed his house, and he sank into his seat with relief. At least Amelia wouldn't be alone tonight.