Standing at the threshold with my hand on the door knob I faced Seth with a serious tone.
“What I’m about to show you stays between us alright?”
“What have you got in there. A meat bomb or something?”
I scowled at him.
“I’m being serious Seth!”
“Alright, alright I get it will you just open the door already.”
When I didn’t move he sighed with an exagerated air.
“Please.”
Pausing for one more second I opened the door and Seth’s eyes widened in shock.
“Is that a real cat!”
Quickly shutting the door I shhed at him angrily.
“Do you want the whole slums to hear!”
Midnight lay mewing in Milly’s lap on the couch where they had probably been the whole time.
The second she saw Seth however she let out an almighty hiss and pelted under the couch at the speed of a microscopic spur all while growling under her breath with a chest rummbling roar.
“Guess she smelt your shifter form.”
I had expected Seth to be amazed by my new house guest.
Congratulating me with a job well done at finding something so rare even the uppers would die to have.
The reaction I got however was pure unhinged rage.
Speaking through clenched teeth that were strung tighter then the g-string sitting half way up my arse.
He addressed Milly while his eyes remained directed at me.
Saphire blues turning to fire out of fury for some unknown reason.
“Milly would you excuse us. I need to have a word with Rexy.”
Side eyeing me with concern I nodded my head.
“It’s alright sweatie take one of the muffins I got for you on the way out.”
Careful to give Seth a wide birth she practically sprinted out of my apartment without a sound.
The door clicking like a final drum signaling the inpending chew out.
Maybe a dog chew toy would help lighten the mood.
Thoughts anyone?
“What the fuck are you thinking Rexy!”
“What do you mean I thought finding a cat was a good thing. It means theres still animals alive in this shit hole we call our home.”
“A good thing! Rexy do you have any idea what they’ll do to you if they knew you were harbering a real cat here!”
“You make her sound like a futitive.”
“This isn’t a joke Rexy!”
“I’m not trying to be funny.”
Turning his back in frustration I moved myself around to make him face me.
“What would you have me do Seth? Return her to the streets so that someone else can find her! It’s the slums! They’d kill her as soon as they saw her!”
“How did she even get here. You’re seven stories up!”
I shrugged meekly.
“A window.”
Throwing his hands up in the air like it was the second coming.
How dare I open a window.
Even though I was pretty sure I closed it but thats besides the point.
“For fucks sakes Rexy don’t you care about your own life! All these things you do, the decisions you make always end up putting your own life at risk. Now why is that?”
I know I should’ve probably, most likely tried to calm his tyrand down, however me being who I am.
Well let’s just say what came put of my mouth was the furthest from placation you could possibly get.
“Maybe I’m judgment impaired?”
Wide eyes with pure furocious rage.
The growl that crawled from the deepest pits of his welled up being akin to a shriek oger roar equialancy complete with a talking donkey comedic side kick that just doesn’t know when enough is enough.
I swear a vien just poped in his neck.
“I’m fucking serious ALREXIA!”
Crap.
That’s one.
“You think that your life doesn’t matter. That nobody would mourn you if something ever happened to you. Well get it through your sarcastic head. I CARE! Your parents care. Milly cares. Do you hear what I’m saying Alrexia?”
Double crap.
Two and still counting.
“Do you understand what I’m getting at? Every time you risk your life my heart stops. Wondering if this is the time I never see you again! The time you disappear from my life forever. The fact that you really seem to not realise what your absence would leave behind astounds me.”
Stunned I couldn’t move.
Couldn’t speak. Find the original chapter at g.com.
While what Seth was saying really did hit me.
Hard.
That was not what had me stupified.
“Um Seth?”
Growling he barked.
“What!”
That’s when he felt it.
The luming figure standing right behind him.
Turning slowly he faced the opened jawl of what used to be a very small kitten.
Only now it was a panther the size of my couch.
“Rexy. Get behind me.”
“I don’t think I’m the one she’s after.”
Quickly putting myself between Seth and Midnight I tried to calm her with a reach of my hand.
She roared at me snapping to the side trying desparately to get at Seth.
Then the growl sounded.
Turning my head just enough to still keep Midnight in view I sucked in a breath.
Seth was no longer in human form.
He’d shifter into a large wolf as tall as my hip.
His blue grey furr sticking up with his hackles out.
Teeth bared with a low rumbling growl rolling over his tongue towards Midnight.
Spining around this time protecting Midnight I begged.
“Please Seth. Don’t hurt her.”
His eyes the same as when he was human glared at me as if to say, “are you fucking kidding me right now!”
Taking a deep breath I slowly faced Midnight once more.
“Please Midnight. He didn’t mean it. He was just trying to protect me. I promise he means us no harm.”
Her multicoloured eyes softened but didn’t shift from the wolf still growling behind me.
“Would you stop growling you’re scaring her.”
A sound like, “I’m scaring her! What about me!” Came from behind me.
“Please Seth.”
Almost like a groan of derision he stopped growling.
“See he stopped. Now come on. Let’s all just settle down and look at this calmly.”
Rolling her eyes like a human she started to shrink once more.
Returning to her former kitten self.
Doing the same Seth stepped to my side.
His anger gone.
Replaced by confusion.
“That. Is no animal.”
“What else could she be?”
“She’s a shifter just not a human one.”
I scuffed at the absurdity of the implications.
“You can’t be serious. There’s been no such mention of experiments like that. Ever.”
“There’s no other explaination. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Midnight looked up at us from her position on the couch.
Unable to talk.
To explain what the hell we just witnessed.
“Well what now?”
I turned to face Seth.
His previous words hanging between us like a trap door ready and waiting to suck us in to the abyss below.
“Rexy.”
“You don’t have to explain. I get it. You just want to keep me safe. Unharmed. Believe me I’ve tried to be different. To make better decisions. Safer decisions.”
Here I took a deep breath needing the time to gather my next words with care.
“That’s not living Seth. Spending my life avoiding who I really am just to please others. I won’t live like that. I refuse to live like that. Life has risks. I’d rather live mine taking those risks then playing it safe just to avoid being hurt.”
“You’re right. Of course you are. I’m sorry I just wish you’d do these things when I’m there to help not when you’re on your own.”
“You can’t be with me all the time. You need to except that I’m going to do things that you don’t like because that’s who I am not because I’m trying to get under your skin.”
“Friends.”
“We fight, we fix, we move on.”
“Agreed.”
Both of us turned towards Midnight.
It was almost like she was smiling at us with a smug undertone of, “friends. For now.”
“Now what?”
Inhailing long and slow Seth answered.
“Keep her here for now. Who knows maybe having a kitpanther might be a good thing.”
“Kitpanther.”
“It was the best I could come up with given the circumstances.”
“Fair enough. Kitpanther it is.”
“Alright I’ll leave you to it then.*
“You’re leaving? You don’t want to stay for dinner?”
“Do you want me to stay?”
“Of course.”
“Fine. As long as it’s not splice meat.”
I laughed as I finaly picked up the bags that had been abandoned on the floor.
It was a good thing Midnight stayed a kitten for the most part.
Otherwise it’d cost me a fortune to feed her.
~
After the argument and then the panther attack.
Is was nice to sit down and have a normal dinner.
One with no drama, no shop talk.
Just us.
Two people enjoying each others company.
With a kitten in the corner digging into meat that smelled like rotting flesh.
Every few seconds throwing a hiss towards Seth like he was gonna steal her food.
I swear she was the cat version of me.
Apart from that.
It was nice.
“Thanks for dinner Rexy. We should do this again some time.”
“Sounds good. Though maybe next time I feed Midnight before we eat not during.”
His laugh was a sharp contrast to roid rage Seth.
“Definatly. See you tomorrow Rexy.”
I waved before closing the door.
Leaning against the inside with a sigh of relief.
So that went as well as a night at the collusium.
Now that I had time to digest everything Seth said.
I realised he was right.
Without realising it I often did things without regards to my own safety.
It wasn’t always physical safety either.
It was emotional too.
All to often I saw myself as easily replaceable.
If something happens to me there would always be another to take my place.
Why was I like that?
Why was it so important that I filled the world around me with sarcasium.
Maybe its because I felt that If I made people laugh.
That’s how they would remember me.
They would always recall the times I made them feel good.
Then maybe, Just maybe I’d forget the bad things I couldn’t control.
The things that were always just out of reach.
It was one of the many conumdrums that was my obstrusive mind.
One that I both loved and hated at the same time. from here on out I’ll be reducing releases to one chapter per day in the morning time slot.
Thank you for for continued support.