Alex sat the diary back on her nightstand and got out of the plush purple, queen size bed and ran across her room to get her sneakers. She glanced back at her bedroom window and smiled seeing the rain stopping but she knew it wasn't going to last very long. Shoes, shoes, shoes! Alex frantically thought to herself, looking for her sneakers.
Her room was a disaster. The master bedroom had three different litter boxes on each corner, four pet size plush beds-pink, blue, green, and muddy brown. The dark blue curtains destroyed at the ends by two mischievous kittens and her favorite Disney shirt was on the floor, slobbered by the dog. The carpet very much needed a deep cleaning from all the 'accidents' and dirt and split drinks. She let out a defeated sigh and fell back on her bed.
"Guys, this isn't funny anymore," She got back up and walked out of her room. "Give me back my shoes!"
She ran down the hall and turned to the left into the small living room. On the couch was a fat, cream cat with orange patches on her right ear and back. She was sprawled out asleep on the rundown furniture dreaming about chasing mice (least that's what Alex guessed from the way the cats tail was wagging). The feline opened one eye when Alex walked over and placed one paw over her other eye.
"Dreaming again, Miss Duchess?" She kneeled down and scratched behind Duchess' ear. "Chasing mice? Catch em this time?" She smiled when Duchess shook her head. It seemed odd she could understand what she could say even though the cat couldn't talk. But then again, she had Duchess for over a year. Duchess used to be an alley cat fighting for her next meal. It took her a three weeks for her to get used to things and an additional four weeks for her to get used to Chauncer the bulldog.
"You haven't, by chance, seen my sneakers have you?" She asked sheepishly.
The cat just hopped off the couch and walked into the next room which was the kitchen. It was slightly bigger than the living room and like the master bedroom, it needed to be clean. Piles of dirty dishes in the sink, burnt pots on the stove (an attempt to make boiled shrimp and forgot there was oil in it), and the trash needed to be taken out. Alex turned her head to the right hearing a small "mew" and she cringed. Her favorite light blue sneakers were attacked by two frisky kittens. One was white with gray paws, bright blue eyes, and a small pink bow around her neck. She was pawing the shoe strings with big eyes. The last one was a black tom with golden eyes and white paws. This one was tearing into the left sneaker.
"You're never gonna give me a break, aren't you?" Alex sighed, picking the kittens off her torn up sneakers. She glanced at the nearby table and saw her chubby bulldog watching. "And you're supposed make sure they don't tear my stuff!" Chauncer only grunted at her.
When Duchess first came into their lives they didn't expect a few surprises. Alex thought it was a cute surprise until they got older. She named the white-gray kitten Cinder after one of her favorite princess'. Cinder wasn't much trouble; all she would want is pretty bows to play with. Then there was her brother. Alex named him Loki after a friend of her's favorite Marvel villain. If Cinder was the nice and quiet one, Loki was the rowdy and naughty one. Alex lost count on how many of her things was turned into Loki's personal scratching post and litter box.
"You're living up to your name, Loki." Alex smirked putting on her shoes. "But next time, find something else to tear up." Loki only meowed and pawed out to find more mischief with his sister in tow.
Alex looked at the kitchen window and to her relief, it wasn't raining too hard. She grabbed a coat and ran out of the apartment and into the streets. The bookstore was down the street and she remembered it closed at 6. She looked on her phone- 5:15p.m. If I run, maybe I can get there in time and find a couple books. She nodded to herself and scurried across the soaked sidewalk, hoping she wouldn't fall and break her back or something.
It was a small town with traffic like a city. Every now and then it would be busy but it was tolerable. Alex didn't live far from her brother who lived a two blocks down. So if anything happened, she could just pack up the pets and run to his house. She doesn't mind living on her own. It was just the thought of people watching her when she was out. Right now, she felt like she was being watched. There was only a few stragglers but she felt a cold, dark stare behind her, just starting down into her bare soul. She shivered when she felt a gush of wind on her neck and a slight touch on her shoulders.
"Open the damn door!" She screamed, bolting the rest of the way toward the bookstore. One of the workers opened the door just when she crashed into the stack of books in front of her. She groaned in pain under the massive stack of books.
"Someone call animal control. There's a beast in here." Alex heard a vulgar, high-pitched cackle above her. She glared at the owner. Above her was a tall, dark brunette with dark blue eyes. She wore a red low cut shirt that showed too much in Alex's opinion. She had thigh jean shorts and black leggings and red leather, high-heeled boots. She also wore too much mascara and dark blue eye shadow.
"Belinda." Alex hissed.
"Hello, beastie." Belinda grinned.
"I have a name!" Alex shot up from the pile.
"I know, but I like 'Beastie' better. I'd watch that attitude of yours, Uasal. Soon I'll be Queen of the Festival." Alex cockily smirked.
"You, my 'friend', are the Queen of Jackasses!"
"What do you know?!" Belinda slapped her hard. "You know nothing!"
Alex nearly fell back but one of the workers caught her. She looked up and smiled seeing her friend Cosette. Cosette is her brother's fiancee who worked at the bookstore's cafe. She had long red hair and some parted over her left eye which were brown. She wore a white dress with a green apron with the store's name and white shoes.
"Girls, girls, let's take a trip down the road of forgiveness and compassion here." Cosette dusted Alex's arms and looked over at the hot-tempered Belinda.
"Compassion?" Belinda scoffed. "Little mocha-chino, I'm busy right now."
"Well I'm busy watching your downward spiral." Cosette rolled her eyes.
"Mind your own business, bitch."
"Hey, she's the fiancee of the man who's running this years festival!" Alex yelled.
"For now. Belinda White is going to win~." Belinda chimed, walking out of the building.
"Look there, Cosette. It's not every day we see a horse with two asses."
"You're lucky I was here tonight."Cosette slapped Alex upside the head.
"Oww! I could've handled it myself." Alex rubbed the back of her head, following her to the fantasy section of the store.
"Sure you would. You didn't hit her back when she slapped you."
"Hey, I know when to back down from a fight." Alex pouted.
"Like the Wasabi Noodle incident?" Cosette playfully smirked.
"She started it and you know it!" Alex's face turned red at the memory. Cosette laughed a bit and got a couple books.
"Uh huh." She turned to her. "See anything you like?"
"Not really. I need to head back soon or else Loki destroys the apartment again. Do you guys have anything new?"
"Not since yesterday." Cosette shook her head, straightening up some romantic novels.
"That's alright. I'll find something and meet you at the cashier." Alex walked to the next shelf of books.
"Okay, but hurry up. We're closing in ten minutes!" The red-head shouted. Alex ventured down the shelves until she got to the second-hand books. They were cheaper to buy than the hardcovers and she thought they held more a story than hardcovers since some of the books she owned were second-hand and they had more words in it. She eyed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll and yanked it off, squealing. Alex walked out of the aisle but she noticed something on one of the shelves above. She eyed a small, worn-out red book alone on the side.
"What is this?" She asked herself before opening the book. It was called The Labyrinth and there was no author or copyright. She lightly traced the title and flipped through the pages. It was a bit small for a book. But Alex thought it was kinda cute. So she walked to the cashier with the two books.
"Found anything you like?" Cosette asked, scanning the books.
"Yeah. Hey, do you know about this book?" Alex asked, pointing at the labyrinth.
"Not much. This thing has been here for a couple years now. A girl came in and gave it to the manager saying she didn't want it anymore."
Alex frowned. Who would want to give up a cute little book? She thought, handing her future sister-in-law $15 (The Labyrinth was three dollars and he wonderland book was $11.05) and walked out of the building and into the cold streets. From the sound of nearby thunder, it could rain again but Alex wasn't risking running through the soaked sidewalk this time now that she has extra weight on her.
Alex looked in her wallet and found ninety-five cents left over from purchase though it wouldn't be enough to pay for a bus ride home. Her legs ached from walking and she sat down on a nearby bench which was soaken wet but she didn't care. Glancing at her shopping bag, she fought the urge to read her books especially the little book. Alex rubbed her forehead tired then smiled daydreaming.
"Wait until you get back home, Alex. You can read it in your nice warm bed and Miss Duchess would be lying right next to you and Chauncer will be next to the bed snoring with Cinder on his back cuddled up. Heh, I bet Loki's wondering how long I'll be gone and try scratching my favorite stuffed dragon-" Alex stopped midway. "MY STUFFED DRAGON! LOKI!" She leaped up, slung her bag over her shoulder, and swatted a owl nearby to the wall. Alex froze watching the owl slide down the wall then plop on the soaked cement.
"Oh my God! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She panicked, slowly picking the poor bird and rubbed its chest with her thumb. The owl opened its eyes staring at her and let out a weak hoot. She stared at it and looked up when it started to pour down hard. "Here, let's get you nice and dry." Alex took off her gray coat and wrapped it gently around the owl. She ran the rest of the way back while shielding the bird and her books from the rain until they reached to the dry apartment. She slammed the door and slid down the door.
"I'm home!" She yelled and slowly got up. She took off her sneakers, setting them by the door and walked to her room. Loki and Cinder were sound asleep in one of the pet beds with Duchess curled around them protectively and Chauncer in his own bed snoring. Alex smiled at the sight then gently set the owl down in one of the empty beds. It looked up at her as she got the first-aid kit from under her bed.
"I'm really sorry for this. I didn't notice you were there." Alex whispered, walking back to and looked down at the bird. "Funny, I didn't know there were owls here." She examined its wings and noticed the left wing was twitching a bit. "Poor thing, your wing is a bit bruised." She wrapped it up gently then kissed the wrapped wing. "There."
Alex got back up and changed out of her wet clothes and into her dry black pj shirt and pants. She climbed onto her bed and dug into her bag for The Labyrinth. The owl tried to fly up on the bed but it crashed into the covers. Alex lightly giggled and picked up the bird softly. "You want me to read you a story?" She set it on one of the extra pillows and opened the book.
"In a kingdom far away, there lived a beautiful princess. When she was little, her mother passed away and her kingdom grieved for their deceased queen. One day, the king remarried and he didn't know the woman's true nature. She was cruel to her step-daughter and forced her to work, clean, and take care of her baby brother, not allowing her to leave the castle. But no one knew that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the princess and gave her certain powers..." Alex read out loud, sinking into her covers and pillows."Goblin King? Huh, that's new. Is he ugly and covered with warts? Is he handsome and regal? If he is handsome, what does he look like?" She flipped through the pages for a picture but the only one she could find was a picture of what looked like a maze. "No picture of him.." She frowned. "Nice way to keep me at suspense, Goblin King." She pouted. The owl tilted its head amused. Alex yawned loudly while rubbing her eyes.
"Listening to the rain makes me sleepy." She mumbled, putting a fairy bookmark in and closed the book. She got up only to turn off the lights before slumping back to bed. Alex pressed a button on a small remote, making her DVD player play a soft melody. "Crescent Moon by Kaito." She said, looking at the owl smiling. Suddenly, a small mew broke out and made Alex look back at the pets. Loki was half awake and scared. Alex lightly smiled. He's probably having a bad dream. Once again, she got out of her nice warm bed and picked up the crying kitten.
"Dimly illuminating the wooden platform of the stage, I played notes on the parquetry. The beautiful crescent moon disappears into the clouds, and I don't have an umbrella." The owner lightly sang, rocking the black kitten while swaying a bit to the music. Morning comes, as if it were the thawing of spring. If our frozen love, someday flows hot, then I'll embrace you in the endless rain. If you are hiding away your answer, then I'll somehow whisper to you with my unchanging voice and at the very least, I'll wrap up your broken heart."
The tiny black kitten's eyes grew heavy and let out a small yawn before slipping into sleep. His owner kissed the top of his head after she set him back down with his sister and mom. "Good night, Loki." She whispered softly and returned to her own warm bed. She stroked the owl's chest one more time before drifting off into her own slumber. "Good night, everyone.."
Two chapters in one day! But this one took almost 4 pages and a half! *plops back tired*
I wonder who the owl is~
Again, I do not own The Labyrinth. Jim Henson owns it!
I only own Alex, the pets, Cosette, Belinda, and David!
The song Alex sang is by Kaito/WhiteFlame called "Crescent Moon" watch?v=eYMAjfq7UB0&list=LLK9Z1_L95ScyEohpngnQH1w&index=1&spfreload=10. I do not own that song!