Chapter 4 is here!
And it featured my favorite character EVER!
Read on readers!
Enjoy Reading And Review If You Feel Like It!
Chapter 4
The Not-So-Secret Agency
She lay there in her bed, lost in thought. She doesn't know how long she had been there but she knew it was quite a while now.
Astrid was not at ease. Her heart was troubling at the feelings. She had loved Hackett for a very long time now but she was holding herself back from telling him about her feelings.
Her family knew about her troubling heart. They were trying to help her, except for her parents. Vincent and Linda demanded her to just tell Hackett about her feelings, turn him into Vampire and then pop out some children.
Astrid blushed so hard at the thought of the wedding nights. Her parents were eager to have grandbabies, despite that her older brother and sisters already had children.
Astrid asked some help from her siblings. In their cases, the feelings were reversed. It usually the guy who first fell for the female and her siblings fell for Vampires. None of her in-laws were ordinary Humans or once ordinary Humans.
But her siblings did tell her that if the female was the first one to fall first then the relationship will be strong. And if Hackett returned the feelings even if she was a Vampire and he was a Human, it was a true love, they said.
Though, no matter how many times she asked for help to sooth her troubling heart, her heart was still throbbing in pain.
Astrid sighed and rolled to her side in her bed, trying to sooth down her heart. She was thinking of the outcome if she did tell Hackett about her feelings and if she did not tell Hackett about her feelings.
If she told Hackett about her feelings, he would either returned the feelings or not at all. If he did not return the feelings, he was either did not have feelings for her or already found someone special other than her. If Hackett did returned the feelings, he would bound to found out the truth that Astrid was a Vampire and then Hackett would freaked out and dumped her and then died.
If she did not tell Hackett about her feelings, he would never know what she felt about him and he would one day found someone other than her.
Astrid tried to think positive but the negative ones that kept showing up in her mind. She squeezed her eyes close tight, fighting back her tears from spilling.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, remembering something. She remembered a person she met long time ago who helped her and her family. She remembered the famous quote that was known by everyone.
"If you find yourself trouble by something mysterious, or with problems that is hard to solve, there's a place you can go where you always find help. You just need to look for it"
He personally said that quote to her, face to face, after he helped her family.
Standing up from her bed, she dressed up into proper clothes and exited her home, telling her parents she'll be out for a moment. Since she was a Vampire, she could run for a long duration and at high speed. She arrived at the edge of a protected forest seconds later.
She entered the forest, following an invisible path that led the way she was looking for. The place Astrid was heading was very hard to reach by foot but she will not give up. She climbed up the side of a cliff with only a minor difficulty. Once she was at the top, she knew she had arrived.
There, placed beside the river that led to a waterfall, placed in the middle of a beautiful flowering field that stretched in ten feet of radius, was a small modest green house; a doll-sized modest green house.
It was the Cat Bureau.
Astrid had heard about the Cat Bureau a very long time ago; a business where always there to provide help, no matter how big or how small it was. Astrid had never been believed in about the Cat Bureau until she had met the owner personally.
Taking a few deep breaths, she slowly approached the doll sized house, knowing that she will meet a very powerful man, or to be more precise, a very powerful cat.
As Astrid approached the house, she could tell she was shrinking to fit for the house. Once she was at the double doors of the green modest house of the Cat Bureau, Astrid was now doll sized.
Taking a few more deep breaths for encouragement, she raised a hand and knocked the sturdy wooden door.
"I'll get it!" Astrid heard a female voice coming from the other side of the door with rapid footsteps followed closely. The door swung opened, revealing a person.
It was a female half-cat, as Astrid could tell from the long head hair that brushed her shoulders. Her fur was light brown and her pointy cat ears on top of her head and her tail were a shade darker. Her eyes were also beautiful brown. She appeared to be wearing a navy blue dress.
Haru Yoshioka smiled widely at Astrid.
"Baron, we got a client!" she yelled inside the house.
"Invite our guest in, Love," was her reply. The male voice was warm and with a hot accent. The she-cat turned back to Astrid, still smiling widely.
"Come in!" she said ecstatically as she opened the door wide.
Astrid felt nervous; she had never been into the Cat Bureau before. Once she was inside, Astrid couldn't stop gawking.
The place was beautiful. The chandelier hanging on the ceiling, a fireplace placed at the size, a large bookshelf placed at the far back wall of the house and everything beautiful that Astrid couldn't stop gawking. The style of the house was like in the Victoria era.
"Good evening, Miss Astrid Hofferson," Astrid heard a British accented voice, making her turned toward the speaker and froze. "Welcome to the bureau"
There he was, sitting behind the desk with a feather ink quill pen in his hand as he smiled warmly at her.
He wore a blood red vest over his white shirt and he wore white gloves. Behind him, near the large bookshelf was a standing rack where he hung his grey tail coat, a matching top hat and a wooden cane.
He would've been Human if it weren't for his feline head and an orange tail swishing behind him. His magnificent velvety fur was an orange tawny color that just bordered on being gold, and the bottom part of his face was a subtle cream color, except for the tawny orange underlined each of his slanted eyes, which were mint green.
Astrid couldn't believe that she was once crushing on this half-cat lord. He was the owner and founder of Cat Bureau, the person who had helped her family twenty-two years ago, the most powerful being ever lived on Earth; probably the whole Solar System.
He was none other than the Baron Humbert von Gikkingen.
Suddenly remembered her manner, Astrid cleared her throat and bowed toward the Cat Lord.
"It's a pleasure to be here, Milord," she said politely, very aware that the cat lord could kick her off from Earth any moment.
"Please, call me Baron," Baron told her as he stood up, revealing a grey pants and Astrid straightened up. "Sit wherever you like; make yourself at home," he told her as he approached a cupboard beside the white cabinet.
Astrid sat down on the red sofa, eyes darting everywhere in awe and fascination. She had never been to the bureau before and although the place was simple, it was beautiful.
"Milk in your tea, or lemon?" Baron asked as he took out three cups and saucers from the cupboard.
"Milk, please," Astrid answered after a small momentary thinking.
"Good choice!" Haru piped up and stood beside her fiancé. After Baron finished making the tea Haru handed a cup towards Astrid and then sat down on a red cushioned chair.
"Thanks," Astrid said as she looked inside the cream cup, fascinated. Haru took a sip and had a blissful expression on her brown furry face.
"That's my personal blend of tea," Baron stated. "It's a little different each time, so I can't guarantee the taste," he added. Astrid took a small sip from the tea. Her eyes widened at the taste and looked down at the swirling tea in her cup.
"Wow, that's probably the best tea I ever tasted," she said in awed, making the Cat Lord and his fiancée smiled.
"Then you're lucky," Baron spoke as he sat down on a red high back chair beside Haru. "Now, let's get down into business. What brings you here, Miss Astrid?"
Astrid's eyes were closed because of the tea when they were snapped open, suddenly realized on why she was there. She lowered down the cup, suddenly feeling shy.
"Well…" Astrid started, making the engaged couple leaned in a bit. She was blushing, embarrassed of telling her problem to someone powerful. She felt it was like a burden for telling this to them.
"Well…?" Haru asked, trying to help the girl to speak up. Squeezing her eyes tight shut, Astrid quickly told them her problem of her heart. How she had difficulty of telling Hackett her feelings, what would be the consequences if she did not did not tell about her feelings and the barrier between her and Hackett.
Astrid squeezed her eyes shut tighter, waiting for the engaged couple to laugh at her or something. When there was silence, Astrid hesitantly looked up. Baron and Haru shared the same smile on their faces.
"You know, Baron, her situation seems to be familiar," Haru turned toward Baron. He nodded before he answered as eyes were on his fiancée.
"Indeed, Love, very familiar," he answered, making Astrid tilted her head in confusion.
"What do you mean, very familiar?" Astrid asked. Baron suddenly grasped Haru's gloved hand, squeezing it. Astrid eyes the intertwined hands for a moment before it hit her. Her eyes widened in shock. "You mean… Your situation was like mine?"
Baron chuckled as Haru giggled behind her unoccupied hand, confirming her question.
"Of course, Astrid, and it brings back a lot of memories," Haru spoke with a smile on her beautiful brown furry face.
"How… I mean, there's an obvious barrier between you two," Astrid told them, shocked that the powerful person had once in a situation she was currently had. The engaged couple laughed.
"The barrier did not stop us from being together," Baron stated as Haru stood up and sat down on his lap, squeezing his neck affectionately. He hugged her back like a teddy bear, or to be more precise, teddy cat.
"I just love him to much I ignore the barrier," Haru said as she rubbed her furry cheek on Baron's broad shoulder.
"Why…?" Astrid trailed off the question, but Baron and Haru knew what she was asking.
"I love him because of who he is, even if he's a cat doll," Haru told her, managed to sneak a kiss to her fiancé. "And I confessed my feelings on the exact same day I met him"
"That fast?"
"Yup!" Haru giggled as Baron continued hugging her.
"And I admire a young woman who speaks from the heart," Baron stated and then kissed his fiancée.
Astrid sat there on the red sofa, staring at the making out half-cat couple with purrs accompanied them, ignoring the staring company. But Astrid was lost in her thought.
The situation Astrid was currently in was very similar like the cat lord's fiancé. In her situation, Astrid was a Vampire and fell in love with Human. In Haru's situation, she was a Human and fell in love with a doll.
In Haru's situation, she confessed the same day she had met Baron and the feelings blossoms as time went on. In Astrid's situation, she let the feelings blossoms and had not confessed her feelings.
Astrid had a better chance of having Hackett returning the feelings.
Beaming widely, Astrid stood up and thanked the couple who already stopped their sweet times together.
"Before you go, Miss Astrid," Baron called out, making her stopped in her tracks and turned towards the cat lord. Baron smiled at her as his fiancé smiled, knowing what he will going to say next.
"Always believe in yourself. Do this and no matter where you are, you will have nothing to fear"
Astrid stared at the Cat Lord in silence for a moment. He just gave her the famous quote that boosted up their confidence.
"Do you think he will return the feeling?" Astrid suddenly asked. The smile on the Cat Lord's face widened even further.
"Just trust me"
Astrid was surprised, suddenly feeling very confident of telling Hackett about her feelings. She waved the engaged couple goodbyes and ran back to her home.
"Ah, young love. Brings back a lot of memory, isn't it, Love?" Baron asked, and Haru nodded. Suddenly, she grinned mischievously as she tightened her grip on his neck.
"Now, where were we?" Baron didn't have any time since his mouth was assaulted by hers.