The Cough
It had been a couple of days since Vlad Masters mayoral statue was erected in front of city hall, and in those couple of days Maddie the cat hadn't seen her master at all. Late in the morning of what would be the third day Vlad finally returned. The millionaire was shivering from head to foot and looked like he had just come in from a blizzard. Maddie came running to greet him. "Hello my dear, I'm so sorry that I've been gone so long it was as if I was frozen in time."
Frozen in time was the operative phrase here. Two days ago Vlad had been frozen in Frostbite's realm to the point he was mistaken for a statue of himself in this world. It took the poor man three days to break free, but that's what you get for messing with the universe.
Maddie rubbed against her master with much affection. This warmed the latter's heart very much. Now if only she could warm up his body. "I don't about you Maddie, but I feel like a hot cup of tea." Maddie mewed at him longingly. "Yes, you can have my cream." The cat gave him a satisfied lick of the lips and the two made their way to the kitchen.
Later that evening, Vlad was in the library reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to Maddie. Just as he had reached the part with the Van Tassel's Halloween party, Vlad began coughing. It seemed like nothing at first, but every few sentences Vlad would fall into a coughing fit, the last of which was so bad he dropped the book. Maddie leapt from the arm of the chair in fear. "I think I'm going to turn in early tonight Maddie" Vlad said catching his breath. "We'll finish the story tomorrow." The wealthy man then rose from his chair, and slowly made his way up the stairs.