Avenging Angel
2/26-2/27/11
Daria frowned down at the fluffy, cuddly bundle of adorableness rolling on the ground at her feet. Her frown deepened when said bundle wrapped its paws around Daria's boot and proceeded to chew on her laces.
"And you found him where?"
"By the Chinese place on Dega Street. Isn't he just shoooo cy-uuuuuute?"
Quinn picked the kitten up and smooshed her face against his, rubbing her cheek into his fur as loud purring filled the air. Daria sighed.
"I don't know about this, Quinn. We're practically going to be housing the entire Barksdale clan for the next week until Erin's shower; I don't think a new pet will exactly help the confusion."
"Oh, hush. He'll behave like a little gentleman, won't you Angel?"
Angel beamed a little kitty smile at his new mistress's sister, who acquiesced with a small sigh.
"Angel, huh?" She reached out to scratch his chin and his eyes closed languorously. "Let's hope you can live up to the name."
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The doorbell rang and Daria followed her family to the door, Angel trotting along beside her. She stopped just short of the bottom step, hands in her jeans pockets, and sighed. This really was not how she had wanted to spend her Easter holiday. Coming home to visit her family and similarly returned friends, veg out with Jane and just relax for a little while- that had been her plan. Having to referee the match between Helen and her family had been an unpleasant and unwanted surprise.
The Morgendorffers plus one took a collective breath, and Helen opened the door.
"Mother!" she greeted, voice sodden with false enthusiasm as she stepped aside to permit the old woman entry. Her hair was shoulder-length, blonde just a shade darker than Rita's, and streaked with silver that blended so perfectly with the blonde it was almost invisible. Her hair was coated with so much hairspray it barely moved as she leaned in to greet her daughter.
"Helen." Daria watched in bemusement as mother and daughter air-kissed before stepping back to their respective corners. Eva Barksdale glanced shortly around what of the house she could see, expression pinched with distaste. "Honestly, Helen, to still be living in such a cramped space. When are you going to get yourself a proper house?"
Helen's face went blank, though her eyes smoldered dangerously.
"I like this house." she replied in a flat tone and turned to her niece. "Oh, Erin, look at you! You look wonderful."
Erin smiled shyly, hands laid on her belly as Helen held her at arms length and studied the girl.
"Thanks, Aunt Helen." Her eyes widened in delight and she looked down to see Angel twining between her legs, tail waving like a pennant. His golden eyes glowed under heavy lids. "Oh, you got a kitty! How cute!"
Eva glared at the cat as she watched it rubbing against Erin's leg, leaving fur on her cashmere leggings.
"A black cat? Oh, such poor taste!" And as everyone watched, dumbfounded, Eva forked the sign of the Evil Eye at the feline and sidestepped his attempts to butt his head against her ankle. Angel glared at her reproachfully and walked over to Jake, who reached down and gave his tale an affectionate tug. Angel sprawled at Jake's feet and flipped to have his belly rubbed.
Rita and Helen exchanged greetings, considerably warmer than that between mother and daughter and were fussing over Erin when Eva interrupted them.
"I don't suppose you'll be inviting us in?" Eva groused from her place in the doorway. Helen grit her teeth and stepped back from her pregnant niece.
"Well, Mother, after you went through the trouble of inviting yourself to stay, the last thing I would want is for you to feel unwelcome."
"It's unhealthy for a pregnant woman to be breathing paint fumes, Helen. Would you prefer we hold the baby shower in some hotel?"
Eva looked to the other girls where they stood at the foot of the stairs, Quinn with her hands at her sides and Daria leaning against the banister.
"Well you girls have certainly grown." Her eyes strayed to Daria's hips; she elected to ignore the obvious barb.
"Hey Gram."
"Hi Grama."
"Hey, Eva. Long time no see." Jake greeted amicably and Eva's expression cooled to glacial temperatures.
"Jacob. I believe I informed you that I prefer to be called Mrs. Barksdale."
"Yeah." Jake smiled. "And I told you to call me Jake. Need any help with those bags, girls?"
Rita, who stood just behind Erin, took her daughter's hand and helped her over to one of the sofas. Erin sat with a grateful sigh, eyes slipping closed as her six-month pregnant bulk sank into the cushions and slippered feet kicked up on the coffee table.
"Where's Brian?" Jake glanced out the door to the driveway, but saw no trace of his nephew-in-law.
"Oh, he's just fetching the luggage." Eva dismissed.
"And Amy?" Helen looked up from where she had been pouring Erin a glass of lemonade, brows drawn. "I thought she was driving in with you."
"She had a work thing." Erin accepted the glass with a smile and drank deeply.
"Amy will be joining us Tuesday." Eva took a seat on the couch by the window, drawing her slacks up by the knees as though gathering skirts as sitting on a throne. She opened her mouth to speak further when Angel hopped onto Erin's lap and moved to stand on her inflated abdomen, sniffing at her face with interest. Eva fairly shrieked, causing everyone to jump in alarm.
"Get that filthy beast away from her!"
Angel turned his head in her direction, ears laid flat, and growled a warning.
There was a commotion from the direction of the front walk and Brian came stumbling through the door laden down with what looked like a dozen bags. He managed to trip over the overnight bag sitting by the stairs and hissed a curse between his teeth. Angel hopped down and ran over to greet the newest arrival. Tail up and ears forward, Angel darted forward and rubbed against Brian's left ankle with a playful meow. Brian, eyes wide and teeth gritted with strain kicked out at the kitten, just barely missing the furry ribcage with his loafer.
"Get the hell away from me, you stupid cat!"
Angel growled angrily, swiped out a paw that drew bloody lines down Brian's exposed skin and hissed as he darted up Daria's leg and into her arms. She stroked the cat and glared flaming daggers at the hobbled, cursing man leaning against the banister, as did the rest of the party, minus Eva.
As Brian raised his head he caught sight of the cat in Daria's arms and froze. Angel had fixed him with a grudging stare and, unnoticed by the rest of the family, his eyes glowed a bloody, baleful red.
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In Daria's room that night, Quinn brushed Angel's fur with a boar-hair brush she picked up at the beauty supply and cursed Brian Chambers' very existence.
"I mean, did you see what he tried to do? And then he called him stupid! Like that loser can even start to talk, the little troll! Ooh, he's lucky I just got a manicure, or I would scratch his muddy brown eyes out!"
Quinn continued in this vein for quite a while, but Daria managed to convince her to leave the rest of the tirade for the next day and get some sleep. The girls turned the light out and climbed into their beds, Quinn's a roll-away as Rita had taken her room for the duration of the stay. The kitten was a spot of warmth curled up at her left side, purring gently as they drifted off to sleep.
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Three days passed in relative quiet. Amy arrived late Tuesday afternoon with the announcement that she had taken a room at Le Grand Hotel to avoid the pinch of housing nine people in a four-bedroom home. The extended family dined out that night, and all were pleasant in effort to avoid upsetting Erin's fragile condition.
Amy returned to the hotel, everyone else to Glen Oaks. Angel greeted the Morgendorffers and Erin with enthusiasm and watched Eva walk by with a narrow expression as he was pampered by his humans. Jake was just breaking out the kitty treats when an indignant shriek came from the direction of the guest bedroom and Eva came storming out.
"That... that beast has-has relieved itself on my bed!"
Daria and Quinn shared a knowing glance as Jake and Brian tried to keep from laughing. Helen marched into the guest room as Rita soothed her mother, leading her into the kitchen for a cup of tea while her room was made livable.
Angel snuggled into Erin's lap with a kitty smirk. First blood, and it tasted so sweet.
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Helen was filling Angel's water dish before bed that night when she saw him jump up on the pull-out beside Jake. She grabbed something from the table and called him. He reacted immediately, trotting into the kitchen with head held high, sniffing at his adopted mother.
"I'm not happy about what you did," Helen scolded gently as she knelt before the cat and stroked his back. "And I don't want you to think I condone such a thing, but-" She glanced shortly to either side to see that she was unobserved. "Good boy."
Angel's tail twitched happily as he crunched the treat Helen fed him. Smiling, she scooped him up and carried him to bed.
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The Morgendorffers came running at the angry yowl coming from the kitchen and found Eva, spray bottle in-hand, chasing Angel out into the back yard.
"Grama, what are you doing?" Quinn demanded as she reached out and snatched the mister away from the old woman. Eva had the gall to look scandalized.
"That horrible animal has already demonstrated that it is unfit to remain indoors. As long as I am in this house-"
"You will respect the members of this household." Helen cut in firmly, arms akimbo. Quinn shot an icy glare at the old woman as she ran to retrieve her cat. "And that includes Angel."
Thus began one of the famous Barksdale brawls. Daria and Quinn took pity on their cousin and took her out for a long brunch while the Alpha Females fought for dominance. Neither of them noticed how Angel seemed to fade from the window sill as he watched them drive off.
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Brian decided he needed a drink. Having to spend a protracted amount of time with his mother-in-law was bad enough, but add her megabitch of a sister and Gramazilla, he was about ready to end it all. At least Amy wasn't there, the last thing he needed were her sarcastic comments. That mouth would serve him much better, he mused as he slung his jacket over one shoulder and placed his foot on the first step on his way down to the car, wrapped around his-
Quite suddenly he was falling. As he tumbled noisily down the stairs, he caught just the smallest glimpse of a flicking black tail. Then he hit hardwood and his vision erupted into stars.
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The girls walked in chattering amiably, but broke off at Erin's gasp. She waddled over to Brian, who was nursing a broken nose on the middle couch in the living room.
"What happened?"
"Thad goddab cad tribbed be!" he snapped. His bloodshot, watery eyes took the power out of his glare. "The little bastard was lyig id waid at the tob of the stairs-"
"Lying in wait?" Daria scoffed over Erin's shoulder. "That's ridiculous. He's a cat, not a trained assassin."
"He knew whad he was doig!" Brian spluttered, but was cut off by a disgusted Quinn.
"That's enough!" she shouted and gently lifted Angel into her arms. He had been lurking nearby, taking pleasure in Brian's wary discomfort. "This is a kitten. A cat! He did not try to kill you! What is with you people?"
"I'b ouda here," Brian muttered. He shook off Erin's hand and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
Jake came downstairs a moment later, whistling a jaunty tune, and addressed the women with a smile.
"What'd I miss?"
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They were moving furniture around to start decorating for the baby shower in a couple days when Amy finally arrived.
"Where have you been?" Helen was tired from the constant combat, and so the query lacked the acid bite of accusation.
"Well, since I've taken time off work to be here during Erin's happy time, I decided to take the opportunity to do something I enjoy. Something I don't get to do much these days." She heaved a blissful sigh and flopped down on one of the displaced couches. "Sleep."
"It's nearly one in the afternoon." Rita pointed out as she measured the kitchen doorway for the banner she had ordered.
"Mornings are for suckers."
The women plus Jake spent the afternoon moving furniture, putting up streamers and balloons and otherwise beautifying the first level of the house in anticipation of the party to take place a few days in the future. When night fell and they ordered in Chinese for dinner, they never noticed that Brian failed to return.
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The road was a dark blur, broken only by the clean white beams of the headlights. The lights meandered across the blacktop, often swerving over the center line as the car's operator twitched the wheel too far to the left or right. Brian was more than a little tipsy, but his drunkenness took his mind off of the pain from his broken nose, so that was just fine. He sang along with a poppy tune playing on the radio, bobbing his head and causing his vision to cant dangerously. He laughed and reached for the beer resting in the passenger's seat.
A black blur darted across the headlights and Brian swerved, shouting in alarm. He skidded to a stop along a wooded stretch of road and sat, breathing heavily as he waited for his heart to stop trying to hammer through his chest.
"Whad... whad the fug..."
His eyes snapped downward at the sensation of something winding around his ankles. His skin crawled, tightening along his thighs and other secretive areas as a pair of golden eyes stared up at him from the foot well.
"Mrow."
"Do way." Angel slunk up into Brian's lap, eyes glowing crescents as he settled himself on the man's crotch and stretched up to rest paws on his chest. Whiskers twitching, Angel placed his velvet nose right in Brian's face.
Brian panicked and, in an irrational moment of fight or flight, floored the accelerator. The car took off down the road at breakneck speed, Brian flailing at the wheel with a cat standing in his lap.
"GED THE FUG AWAY FROB BE!" Brian screamed and batted at the cat with the back of one hand. Angel's ears turned back and he slapped out a paw, catching Brian in the face with claws extended. He screamed as hot blood trickled down into his collar, then again when Angel batted his broken nose. The cat jumped over onto the dash, blocking Brian's view of the road. As he watched, the kitten appeared to swell until it was more than double its original size. Brian's bladder let go as bloody light filled Angel's eyes and spilled over onto his inky fur.
The car took a turn at nearly 100 MPH, came up onto two wheels and slammed back down as Brian barely missed a tree that had grown out over the road. A low rumbling came from the cat's chest as it crouched behind the steering wheel. He shifted his weight on his front paws as though readying to spring, spread his jaws in a hellish grin and roared.
The car ran off the road, flipped twice, came to rest on its roof and lay still. The headlights stared like blind eyes into the darkness, the engine ticking as it cooled in the night air.
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Erin stood at the window, hands roaming over her belly in absent agitation. The sounds of a waking house swirled around her as Jake and Helen prepared breakfast, Rita set out Erin's prenatal vitamins and the girls busied themselves taking care of whatever little details were left by the way side. She tried not to fret, after all, it was far from the first time Brian disappeared for a few days after a fight. Still, Erin could not but help feeling something was wrong.
"He sure is taking his time."
Erin looked around, surprised to see Daria at her elbow. Her face was blank as usual, but she watched Erin closely out of the corner of her eye. The older woman smiled, touched at the concern.
"It's okay, he's probably just sleeping it off somewhere. I'm sure he'll be back in time for the shower."
"Mm." Daria turned to study her cousin for a long moment, then seemed to come to a decision. "How does chocolate french toast sound to you?"
Erin grinned, the first true expression she had shown since Brian stormed out the day before.
"If it comes with a cup of real coffee, you can count me in."
It was another day before the police came knocking at 1111 Glen Oaks. The afternoon before the shower that would celebrate the coming birth of their child, Erin learned that her husband had died in a car wreck two days before. The alcohol level in his blood was nearly twice the legal limit. It was assumed he lost control of the car, or fell asleep at the wheel.
Erin was asked to accompany the officer so that she could formally identify the body. She fainted before she had gone two steps, and in the confusion that followed no one noticed Angel walk up to Eva where she stood in the kitchen doorway.
"Mrrow." She looked down to find the cat butting his head against her leg, eyes bright and hopeful. Disgusted, Eva pushed him away with her foot, causing him to tumble over.
"Shoo!" she hissed at the kitten, who had now gained his feet and walked closer as the old woman retreated farther into the kitchen. She bumped into the counter and Angel sat at her feet. He leaned his head forward and opened his mouth. The delicate tinkle of metal on tile broke the silence. Gold gleamed in the light and Eva's eyes dried from lack of blinking as she stared at Brian's wedding ring. Angel began to purr, the delicate sound deepening as his form swelled and as his eyes began to glow. Eva felt her heart seize in her chest as her left arm turned to lead.
Eva sucked in breath, trying to fill her dead lungs, but could not find the strength to scream.
End.