Title: The Fuzz
Author: OverFlowingBox
Fandom: Morganville Vampires
The Fuzz
Heat floated up off the sidewalk in waves. The sun was directly overhead the quiet streets of Morganville. No one was walking, not on a hot day like this, anyway. No one except a young, sixteen-year-old college student. Claire Danvers was a short, tiny, fragile-looking girl with short, black hair and wide brown eyes. She was moving fast today, trying to make her way home so she could eat before her next class. It was unusual for Claire to be so forgetful, but upon entering her first class, she realized she'd forgot not just her money for her lunch, but also her notebook for Physics.
She was walking as fast as her short legs would carry her, and almost tripped as she rounded a corner. She looked around, but it seemed she had tripped over the air itself. She looked down at her sneakers, but the laces were tied into lopsided bows. She scanned the sidewalk again. Things didn't just happen in Morganville. There was always a reason, and the fact that there didn't seem to be any reason for Claire to have almost face-planted on the hot cement was making her uneasy. Squinting against the sun, she raised her hand to shade her eyes. She surveyed the general area for a final time before shrugging it off nervously. I probably just wasn't paying attention to here I stepped, she thought restlessly. She turned back to the direction of the Glass House and began walking again, slightly faster than the last time. Until she heard it.
Claire stopped dead in her tracks and rotated around for the second time, listening carefully. There it was again, soft and low, but definitely audible. She took several steps in the direction of the sound. It was coming from the crevice between an empty Italian restaurant and an empty thrift store. Slowly, Claire inched towards the tight alley, preparing herself to run if she uncovered the worst.
The worst was not the bloodthirsty vampires that controlled Morganville, in Claire's opinion. Especially not in the middle of a hot day like this. Besides, Claire was Protected by one of the most badass vampires in town. No, vampires were definitely not the worst for her. There had been several killings around Morganville. All of them girls, all of them stabbed. That was the worst that she could run into today, and she was not planning on becoming the next victim. Not if she could help it.
She peered around the corner of the alleyway, but saw nothing. Brows furrowed, she stepped out from behind her hiding spot to look into the tight space head-on. Still nothing. But there it was again. A low growling that was coming from the very back of the alley. Claire squinted into the shadows, and to her horror, she saw a pair of glowing eyes. She backed up suddenly and whatever was in the shadows hissed. Claire stopped. Vampires don't hiss. . .
And then she heard another noise, a noise that was different from the angry growls. It was a mew. A high-pitched and tiny little mew. She approached the alley again and received another hiss. Slowly, Claire pulled off her backpack and kneeled just inside the shadows. She dug around in her bag for a few seconds before finding an article of food that she had packed for a snack later in the day. It was a cheese stick. It was a little warm, but not rotten or anything. Claire peeled back the wrapping and pulled off a string of cheese and held it out. Cats liked cheese, didn't they? At least the cat that she had had when she was little had liked cheese. She barely remembered Tom, but at least she knew that he, in fact, really had run away from home.
Cautiously, the cat that had growled moved towards her, eyeing her carefully. The cat sniffed at the cheese, but didn't get close enough for Claire to touch her. Slowly, she grabbed it in her teeth and began to eat. And suddenly, she was purring. She came closer to Claire, close enough for Claire to run her fingers along her soft fur. She was a beautiful cat. She was very fluffy with ginger fur and a pure-white underbelly. Her wide eyes were also ginger. She came right up to Claire and rubbed against her hand. The cat turned back to the alley and meowed affectionately. Four other, smaller cats came tumbling out of the shadows, falling over each other. Claire laughed and pulled another string from the cheese and watched as all five cats shared the morsel. They were all unbelievably skinny, as if they hadn't eaten for weeks. Well, of course they haven't, she thought, there's no mice around here.
Claire studied the cats. There were four kittens, one a yellow tabby, on a Calico, one a fluffy ginger like his mother, and one gray tabby. Claire tried to figure out how their genetics could have worked out like they had, especially for the tabbies, but she soon gave up. She sat on the concrete and began to play with the kittens, the mother snuggled comfortably in her lap.
It was a while before Claire checked her watch. Her heart gave a leap. She only had fifteen minutes to grab something to eat and get back to class. Careful of the cats, she stood up. They all meowed as she turned away from them. Never in her life had Claire had a pet that she could remember. As it was, she couldn't remember Tom very well. She looked back at the five cats. She couldn't just leave them, could she? She didn't know if vampires ate cats, but she wouldn't put it past them. No, she couldn't leave them. But what would Michael say? Never mind Shane or Eve. Michael had the final decision.
Michael Glass was Claire's landlord, and he was a vampire. But he was the good kind of vampire. Even if there were house meetings and votes, Michael still had the final say. Did he like cats? She looked down the street. She could see the Glass House, a huge, Southern Manor-type house, dwarfed slightly in the distance. Well, it was worth a short. Worst comes to worst, they put a sign out front that says Free Cats (to good home). Scratching a kitten behind the ears, Claire picked up the mother, who meowed warningly. Claire hugged her close to her body and took a few steps away. The cat meowed at her kittens, who followed their mother and Claire closely, little tails up.
The walk wasn't far. In fact, even with kittens trailing her, she made it home in less than five minutes. She shifted the cat in her arms to one arm while she fished in her pocket for her house key. She quickly opened the door and set the mother inside the entryway. She sat gracefully and flipped her tail, purring loudly. Claire turned to find the kittens struggling up the porch steps. She giggled as she watched them topple over one another. She bent down and picked two up and set them on top of the porch. She grabbed the other two and did the same thing. The kittens ran for the door and scrambled to their mother, where they climbed on top of her lovingly. Claire stepped inside and closed the door. She reached down and patted the mother before looking up.
At the entrance to the kitchen was her landlord, Michael Glass.
"No, no, no absolutely not," Michael said. The entire glass house was sitting in the living room, looking at Michael. Pale, messy blonde hair, and blue eyes, Michael was the cutest vampire Claire had ever seen. Eve Rosser, Claire's best friend and Michael's girlfriend, was sitting on the armrest of his chair, completely Gothed out today, with dark purple stockings, no shoes, a ratty black skirt and a purple and black corset. Her short, dyed-black hair was down and barely brushing her shoulders.
Claire was seated on the couch, her boyfriend, Shane Collins, was sitting next to her, his shaggy, brown hair pushed every which-way from sleep.
"Michael, I'm not just throwing them back out!" Claire declared, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"I'm allergic," Michael replied. Eve snorted.
"Bull. Shit. Maybe when you were alive," she said, standing up. Shane raised his hand.
"I hate cats," he volunteered. Michael nodded to him in agreement. This time it was Claire's turn to stand. The four all stared pointedly at the corner where five cats sat, four of which were rolling around with each other, biting and scratching playfully. "See, look, they hate each other. We need to just get them out of the house so they can kill each other somewhere that's not here," Shane continued.
"Shane! They're kittens! They're playing. It's what they do!" Claire exclaimed. Eve put an arm around her.
"I agree with Claire," she said. "We can't just leave them out there!"
"Yeah, you think they're all cute and fuzzy now, just wait 'till they turn on you," Shane replied.
"Earth to dumbass," Eve said, her eyeroll exaggerated by her raccoon-eye makeup. "If you treat cats well, cats will treat you well."
Claire turned to Michael, pleading him with her eyes. "Please Michael, they're only cats," she said quietly, clasping her hands at her chest pleadingly. Michael sighed, set down the beer bottle he was holding and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Claire, we can't. They need to go," he said. His voice sounded final. Claire felt tears coming into her eyes and she scrubbed furiously at them. Why was she crying over a few cats. She felt a familiar hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Shane. He was looking at her with those warm, caring eyes.
"Michael's right Claire, they can't stay here," he said. This time, Claire didn't stop the tears. She shook his hand off her shoulder and rushed to the cats. The mother wasn't purring anymore. Instead, her deep, amber eyes were staring up at her, a concerned look on her elegant face. Claire stroked her and cooed softly. "It's okay," she whispered, unsure if she was talking to herself or the cat. She peered over her shoulder. Nobody was looking at her or the cats. They weren't even looking at each other. A kitten climbed into Claire's lap and mewed.
"Okay, okay," Eve said, stomping her foot. "This is ridiculous! They're cats!"
At first Claire thought Eve was talking to her, but then she saw that Eve was staring angrily at Michael, pointing a finger in Claire's direction. "Come on Michael. They're really not bad!"
Michael sighed and shook his head. "No Eve, we can't. I'm sorry."
Eve growled and took a step toward her boyfriend. Tears were still falling from Claire's eyes as she watched the scene. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, and a warm hand was brushing away her tears, followed by warm lips pressed against her cheek. Claire felt herself snuggling into Shane's embrace, but she didn't take her eyes off of Eve and Michael.
"Michael Glass," she muttered warningly, "I've never, ever had a pet in my life. My entire life. Do you know how much that hurts?"
"They're cats, Eve."
"Exactly, Michael!" she yelled, stamping her foot again. Tears were forming in her eyes too, but she kept them under control. "Exactly! I love cats! I've never had one and I've always wanted one! And now there are five sitting here in the living room, and I'll be damned if I let them go!"
As if on cue, the fluffy ginger cat squeezed in between Claire and Shane (Shane glared at the cat) and meowed loudly. Everyone grew quiet and looked at her. She sat in front of Claire, swishing her tail across the floor. Michael sighed and stood.
"Please Michael?" Claire said softly, trying to keep her voice steady, but failing. Michael stared at her and sighed again, shaking his head.
"Fine. Whatever. But you and Eve are paying for everything, you hear? Anything that has to do with the cats, you pay for, got it?" he said. A slow smile spread across her face and she jumped out of Shane's arms and rushed to Michael, throwing herself at him in a bear hug. Eve joined suit and Michael put up with it for a few more seconds before prying free, leaving the two girls happily jumping up and down and hugging each other while he made his way into the kitchen.
Shane came over and planted a kiss on Claire's forehead. "Don't expect me to like them," he said to her, motioning to the cats. He then shuffled out of the room and up the stairs to his bedroom, where Claire heard the door shut gently.
She looked at Eve excitedly. "Let's go to the pet store and get stuff!" she begged. Eve blinked.
"But you have class!" she replied.
"Screw class! I have cats to take care of!" Claire smiled. Eve's faced twisted into a confused smile.
"Hell just installed an ice-skating rink," she said. "Okay, let's go."
The two girls exited the living room where Eve picked up the keys to her black Caddy. As she opened the door, she turned around and yelled, "Michael Glass, if I come home and find a single hair on one of those cat's missing, you are a dead man! That goes for you too, Shane!"
Then, she turned to Claire and pushed her out the door.
A/N: Lol, I couldn't resist. I was rereading the books (unfortunately I only have books 1-4 *sad face*) and I noticed that it said there weren't any homeless around or anyone begging for money or anything, but I also noticed that it didn't say anything about stray animals. So I thought, what if Claire brought home a bunch of stray cats? What would Michael even do? And so, this monster was created, mwuhahahahaha! Anyway, thanks for reading. P.S., if you are also reading my Daisy Chains story, don't worry, you can expect a new on soon!