Laura couldn't believe this. Things had been going so well too!
It had been almost six months since Carmilla had turned her. Not that that had been particularly planned, but one bad driver as she was crossing the street moved their plans up a few years. Who knew all it took was a near death experience to panic a centuries old vampire? Well, ok, granted this was hardly the first but still!
Grumbling to herself, she curled up in the tree and resigned herself to waiting. She knew she should have waited for Carmilla and Mattie to be home but she had been crawling under her skin all day. It was hardly her fault her shifted form was still basically a baby. Ok, was a baby. A baby cougar to be precise. Barely bigger than a housecat, she hadn't thought much about shifting in their backyard. The need to chase the squirrel had been fun, made more so by that fact that she is an excellent climber thank you very much. The not so fun part came from the fact that getting down was proving to be somewhat difficult. Mainly by the fact that every time she looked at the ground she froze in fear.
"Well well well, pet. What have you gotten yourself into this time? Hmm?"
Great. Peeking over the edge, Laura whined slightly as Mattie smirked at her from the ground.
"Mattie, did you find Laura?" a voice called from inside. Oh no.
Laura whined some more as Carmilla appeared in the doorway of the sliding door. It only took her a moment of seeing Mattie looking up to find Laura in the tree. A small grin crossed her lips as she leaned to the side, arms and legs crossing casually.
"Really, cupcake? Just couldn't wait for us to get home, huh? Well, that's fine. Come down and we can all run together."
Laura shook her head, glancing at the ground before huddling back toward the trunk. Carmilla frowned when she noticed the small cub shaking.
"I believe your dear kitten is stuck, my little monster. Maybe we should call the fire department? That is their job, after all. Getting pets out of trees," Mattie simpered in amusement.
Laura hissed at her slightly from above, ignoring the chuckles she got from both of them. Stupid useless older vampires! Her stomach rumbled slightly, reminding her that she hadn't eaten most of that day. The squirrel from before chattered at her tauntingly, making her let out small cries without even noticing. The other women straightened slightly on hearing them, their cat instincts reacting to the distress calls.
"Well, I guess I can go get her. No need to leave my creampuff stuck in a tree all night," Carmilla shrugged before shifting to her panther.
It took only a moment for her to scale the tree, ignoring Laura's yelp as she got a secure hold of her scruff and leaped to the ground. Mattie gave a few claps once they were on the same level.
"Very good, kitty cat. Now perhaps next time your little pet will wait before scaling such a big tree? Well, big for you anyway. Children need to grow a bit more before daring such feats," she mocked while giving Laura a small pat. Ignoring the tiny jaws snapping at her fingers.
Carmilla snorted before giving Laura a soothing lick, then proceeding to give her head a quick cleaning. No need to be so dirty now. Satisfied that her face was clean, she noted that Mattie was in her cheetah form near them. The woods awaited the trio, and they swiftly made their way towards the game trails. Thankfully a herd of deer were close to the river that ran through their property. Making sure Laura was settled in some brush nearby, Carmilla stalked slowly as Mattie did a full charge around. Hunting was always fun, especially with her sister. They worked swiftly and efficiently, bringing down a large buck to share. Mattie turned to where Laura was left, giving an impatient call to come join them. Both cats stilled when nothing happened. Mattie called again, a small snarl warning her to hurry up. When she still didn't appear, Carmilla gave her a wide eyed look before they both raced to the brush. The sight before them made them breath a sigh of relief. Laura was still there, sound asleep. Apparently her evening adventure had tired her out. Even so, she needed to eat. Mattie gave an annoyed snort before rolling the cub over with a sound smack, making her yelp as she was woken so abruptly. Carmilla growled at her slightly before nudging Laura to her feet, moving her towards their kill.
It didn't take long for them to eat, even if Laura cut her teeth on the antlers for a while. She really was such a child sometimes, no matter what shape she was in. Lifting her once again by her scruff, she ignored the squawks of outrage as they all trudged towards the house. Tonight had been fun, but Mattie was only visiting for a few more days and they all needed to clean up before bed. They were almost home when Laura went fully limp, her exhaustion winning out once again as she fell asleep. Carm gave a small snort as Mattie shook her head. Good thing her little cupcake was so cute. The sun was just starting to rise as they finally entered the house, Carmilla carefully depositing her precious cargo in the living room. Mattie curled around the cub, absentmindedly cleaning the blood from her face and paws. Carmilla did the same for her sister, purring when the action was reciprocated. It only took a few moments for them to get comfortable, a nice pile of cat cuddles in the middle of the living room.
Just a typical day in the Hollis-Karnstein household.