Disclaimer: I don't own Petshop of Horrors. This awesome creation belongs to Mari Akino. Amazing mind. Please don't sue me. ^^
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
'A dog?' wondered a young woman as she watched her father deposit a large canine onto the floor roughly. The dog yipped in surprise but the man simply ignored it. 'Why on earth would he get a dog?'
"Kitchen!" her father ordered, hitting the dog with the back of his hand. The canine yelped and scrambled into the next room, the kicthen, her nails clicking on the linolium tiles.
The girl watched the dog run from her hiding place of an old ventilation shaft that ran through the ceiling and ended right at the end of a dark hall and where the kitchen met. The dog was looking up at her new master, whining lightly.
"Shut up, you damned wench!" the man ordered, delivering another blow with his fist. "Burn this shit twice a day my ass." He threw a box of incense into the waste basket. "That Chinaman thinks he can pull off some sort of mumbo jumbo shit, just to make me come back and buy shit from him. Now you sit at the table and don't make a sound! Rebecca? Rebecca where are you, you little brat?"
The girl didn't move from her hiding place in the vent, but she held her breath as her father walked by. He searched for her, his breaths short and his steps heavy with misplaced rage. When he didn't find her, he returned to the kitchen and pulled a glass bottle partially filled with an amber liquid out of a cupboard and walked into the living room. She heard him flip the television on and turn the volume up. Then nothing, save for the normal sounds of a telecast. She let her breath out slowly and removed the grate from the opening, quietly dropping herself onto the floor. The dog had, by this time, trotted into the living room, where she let out a high pitched yelped and ran through the kitchen, nothing more than a streak of fur. The girl gasped as the dog ran by, listening to her father shout drunken curses at the canine. She shook her head and tiptoed to her bedroom, the only room with a door that was open. A whisp of fur passed by the corner of her eye as she entered her room. As quietly as she could, she shut the door, then dropped to her knees, peering under her bed. Two amber-brown eyes peered back at her from in the shadows.
"Hey there," Rebecca whispered softly, looking at the dog. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Come out?"
The dog just whimpered and squirmed even deeper under the bed. Rebecca sighed and pulled her wavy black hair up into a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes then dropped down onto her stomach, pulling herself forward slowly. She then slowly reached out a bruised arm, putting her hand within reach of the dog, so that it could get her scent.
"Hey there," she whispered again. "I won't hurt you. Why don't you come on out from under there? It'll be okay, I promise." The dog licked her hand, then crawled out of its hiding place, while Rebecca did the same. She climbed onto her bed and gestured for the dog to hop up. The canine did, licking Rebecca's face as it sat down on the cotton quilt covering the mattress. "There, that's better. Now, let's take a look at you."
She scanned the dog over, and couldn't help but think that it was kind of ugly. The dog was a large animal, and looked like a cross between a wolf and a greyhound. However, its coat, a striking grey streaked with a sable brown, was very beautiful and soft to the touch. Unfortunately the dog was now sporting a rather long cut over her right eye, where Rebecca's father had struck her.
"Poor thing. He can't even leave an animal alone," Rebecca muttered. "He already killed one creature. Does he have to torture more?" The dog whined slightly and laid its head in Rebecca's lap. "Yeah, I feel like that sometimes too. So... you came from Chinatown, huh? I think that's what Dad said..." She looked the dog over again and sighed. "No collar yet? I guess that means no name... so, I'll call you....China."
Suddenly a large smashing noise got the girl's attention. Half of a now-empty beer bottle was on the floor, its shattered glass strewn everywhere. "Where have you been?" demanded a heavily drunk man, staggering through the doorway. "Cook supper, you lazy brat!" He swayed for a moment, then resumed to leaning on the doorframe. "Ah, I see you've met your mother."
"Dad... this is a dog," Rebecca replied.
"How dare you speak that way to your mother?!" her father snapped, stepping forward to deliver a smack to Rebecca's face. "Now get to supper you ungreatful little brat!"
Without shedding a tear, Rebecca hurried to the kitchen, China following at her heels. Rebecca's father passed her by without so much as a second glance and returned to the living room. The moment that he was back in his chair, a new bottle of alcohol in his hands, Rebecca peered into the trashcan, trying to find the incense that her father had dumped. She found it, but it was ruined by the old food that it had landed in.
"I suppose we'll have to buy some more from your pet shop," she said to China, who was sitting at Rebecca's feet, staring pleadingly at the girl. "Are you hungry? We don't have any dog food, but I think I can find something for you." Rebecca opened the door to the refrigerator and pushed several bottles of beer aside, pulling out a few different covered bowls. Inside one she found some left over pot roast, and heated the meat up in the microwave, then cubed it, setting it down in front of China on a plate. China dug in hungrily, giving Rebecca a grateful glance before she did.
"Hmm," Rebecca said quietly to herself. "Leftovers aren't a bad idea. Then I can get some more of that incense from the petshop." She quickly threw together a meal of leftover meatloaf and some canned corn, then made a plate and took it to her father, who did little more than grunt at her when she handed him the plate. She quickly ran back to her room and pulled out a small jar where she kept her savings. Every time her father got his paycheck, and after he bought his booze and drunk himself to sleep, Rebecca would filch a couple of dollars and hide it away, so that when she needed to buy something, she could. She pulled out a couple of bills, then returned the jar to its hiding place burried in a pile of stuffed animals. The jar, decorated with three stylized tortousises, had been given to Rebecca by her mother. China joined Rebecca, and looked at her expectantly when she saw the girl don a light jacket.
"I can't bring you with me, China," Rebecca said softly. "I don't have a leash or a collar for you and I don't want anyone to take you away. So, you just... you just wait here and I'll be back as soon as I can." She shut and locked her door, then opened her one window, taking a deep breath of the chilly fall air. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She walked away from the window and pulled out two sticks of incense, lighting both and setting each in a seperate holder. "One to honor the spirits," she told China, "and one for my mother. "She loved this scent, so I always burn a stick for her at sunset. You just hide in here, and I'll be back with your incense as soon as possible."
China let out a whimper, but otherwise stayed put while Rebecca climbed out her window, shimmied down a drainpipe, then disappeared into the falling darkness.
*******
Chinatown rose up around Rebecca like a strange and mysterious world, the likes of which she had never seen. It had been easy enough to ask for directions, and in the dim streetlighting, with the hood of her jacket covering her face, no one thought anything strange of this teenager asking for directions to a place in the city that she'd never been to. She was glad that no one could see her face, because the strike from her father had left a rather puffy red mark... she didn't want people to think she was just some punk who'd been fighting.
"The place you're looking for is right over there," an elderly gentleman had said, pointing Rebecca in the right direction. "If you hurry up you can catch the owner before he closes down for the night."
"Thank you!" Rebecca replied, out of breath from running. She nodded politely to the elderly man, then jogged over to the doorway that he'd pointed to. The stairway that led down into the petshop was rather creepy looking in the dimly lit street, but Rebecca squared her shoulders and cautiously stepped down into the darkness. Once at the doorway, she knocked once, then walked inside.
"H-hello?" she called out cautiously.
"There is no need to be so timid," came a calming voice. Rebecca gasped when she caught sight of Count D, for he'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He chuckled softly, then smiled. "I did not mean to frighten you. Please, come inside."
"T-thank you," Rebecca stammered quietly, taking a few more steps into the pet shop.
"It is quite chilly outside," Count D said genially, looking Rebecca over once. "Surely you brought a heavier jacket."
"No. But it's all right, running here kept me warm, and it'll do the same on the way home, so I'll be... all right."
"I see. Well then, how may I be of service to you?"
"My dad came in and bought a dog," Rebecca explained to the Count, a bit out of breath, but slowly recovering. "The dog came with some incense that had to be burned twice a day. He uh... slipped on some wet leaves and the incense fell into a puddle of water. I came back to get some more."
"Was all of the incense ruined?" Count D asked.
"No," Rebecca lied, though she didn't know why. She didn't understand why the incense had to be burned, so perhaps she just didn't particularly feel like being scolded by a stranger. "I have China in my room, where I lit the only piece of the incense that made it." It was half true, at least... there was incense burning.
"China? What a beautiful name," Count D commented pleasantly. "You must be Mr. Robinson's daughter. It is a pleasure to meet you. Your father spoke well of you."
"I'm sure he did," Rebecca mumbled politely.
D smiled kindly while pulling open a drawer and pulling out a small, decorated tin. "Well, Miss Robinson, here is the incense that you need. And give China, and your father, my greetings."
"Thank you, Sir," Rebecca said with a slight, stiff, half-bow. And with the incense safely tucked away in her coat pocket, Rebecca ran out of the pet shop.'What a creepy place,' she thought to herself with a shiver. 'Well, at least I don't have to go back for a while and I've got China's incense.'
*****
Inside the shop D stood in the doorway, watching Rebecca disappear around a corner. "Such a secretive child," he murmered to himself. Out of nowehere a little creature with long ears and batwings appeared, fluttering down to land on D's slender, ourstretched hand. The little creature began to squeak rapidly, and D seemed to understand. "I see," he sighed. "Contract broken."
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
'A dog?' wondered a young woman as she watched her father deposit a large canine onto the floor roughly. The dog yipped in surprise but the man simply ignored it. 'Why on earth would he get a dog?'
"Kitchen!" her father ordered, hitting the dog with the back of his hand. The canine yelped and scrambled into the next room, the kicthen, her nails clicking on the linolium tiles.
The girl watched the dog run from her hiding place of an old ventilation shaft that ran through the ceiling and ended right at the end of a dark hall and where the kitchen met. The dog was looking up at her new master, whining lightly.
"Shut up, you damned wench!" the man ordered, delivering another blow with his fist. "Burn this shit twice a day my ass." He threw a box of incense into the waste basket. "That Chinaman thinks he can pull off some sort of mumbo jumbo shit, just to make me come back and buy shit from him. Now you sit at the table and don't make a sound! Rebecca? Rebecca where are you, you little brat?"
The girl didn't move from her hiding place in the vent, but she held her breath as her father walked by. He searched for her, his breaths short and his steps heavy with misplaced rage. When he didn't find her, he returned to the kitchen and pulled a glass bottle partially filled with an amber liquid out of a cupboard and walked into the living room. She heard him flip the television on and turn the volume up. Then nothing, save for the normal sounds of a telecast. She let her breath out slowly and removed the grate from the opening, quietly dropping herself onto the floor. The dog had, by this time, trotted into the living room, where she let out a high pitched yelped and ran through the kitchen, nothing more than a streak of fur. The girl gasped as the dog ran by, listening to her father shout drunken curses at the canine. She shook her head and tiptoed to her bedroom, the only room with a door that was open. A whisp of fur passed by the corner of her eye as she entered her room. As quietly as she could, she shut the door, then dropped to her knees, peering under her bed. Two amber-brown eyes peered back at her from in the shadows.
"Hey there," Rebecca whispered softly, looking at the dog. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Come out?"
The dog just whimpered and squirmed even deeper under the bed. Rebecca sighed and pulled her wavy black hair up into a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes then dropped down onto her stomach, pulling herself forward slowly. She then slowly reached out a bruised arm, putting her hand within reach of the dog, so that it could get her scent.
"Hey there," she whispered again. "I won't hurt you. Why don't you come on out from under there? It'll be okay, I promise." The dog licked her hand, then crawled out of its hiding place, while Rebecca did the same. She climbed onto her bed and gestured for the dog to hop up. The canine did, licking Rebecca's face as it sat down on the cotton quilt covering the mattress. "There, that's better. Now, let's take a look at you."
She scanned the dog over, and couldn't help but think that it was kind of ugly. The dog was a large animal, and looked like a cross between a wolf and a greyhound. However, its coat, a striking grey streaked with a sable brown, was very beautiful and soft to the touch. Unfortunately the dog was now sporting a rather long cut over her right eye, where Rebecca's father had struck her.
"Poor thing. He can't even leave an animal alone," Rebecca muttered. "He already killed one creature. Does he have to torture more?" The dog whined slightly and laid its head in Rebecca's lap. "Yeah, I feel like that sometimes too. So... you came from Chinatown, huh? I think that's what Dad said..." She looked the dog over again and sighed. "No collar yet? I guess that means no name... so, I'll call you....China."
Suddenly a large smashing noise got the girl's attention. Half of a now-empty beer bottle was on the floor, its shattered glass strewn everywhere. "Where have you been?" demanded a heavily drunk man, staggering through the doorway. "Cook supper, you lazy brat!" He swayed for a moment, then resumed to leaning on the doorframe. "Ah, I see you've met your mother."
"Dad... this is a dog," Rebecca replied.
"How dare you speak that way to your mother?!" her father snapped, stepping forward to deliver a smack to Rebecca's face. "Now get to supper you ungreatful little brat!"
Without shedding a tear, Rebecca hurried to the kitchen, China following at her heels. Rebecca's father passed her by without so much as a second glance and returned to the living room. The moment that he was back in his chair, a new bottle of alcohol in his hands, Rebecca peered into the trashcan, trying to find the incense that her father had dumped. She found it, but it was ruined by the old food that it had landed in.
"I suppose we'll have to buy some more from your pet shop," she said to China, who was sitting at Rebecca's feet, staring pleadingly at the girl. "Are you hungry? We don't have any dog food, but I think I can find something for you." Rebecca opened the door to the refrigerator and pushed several bottles of beer aside, pulling out a few different covered bowls. Inside one she found some left over pot roast, and heated the meat up in the microwave, then cubed it, setting it down in front of China on a plate. China dug in hungrily, giving Rebecca a grateful glance before she did.
"Hmm," Rebecca said quietly to herself. "Leftovers aren't a bad idea. Then I can get some more of that incense from the petshop." She quickly threw together a meal of leftover meatloaf and some canned corn, then made a plate and took it to her father, who did little more than grunt at her when she handed him the plate. She quickly ran back to her room and pulled out a small jar where she kept her savings. Every time her father got his paycheck, and after he bought his booze and drunk himself to sleep, Rebecca would filch a couple of dollars and hide it away, so that when she needed to buy something, she could. She pulled out a couple of bills, then returned the jar to its hiding place burried in a pile of stuffed animals. The jar, decorated with three stylized tortousises, had been given to Rebecca by her mother. China joined Rebecca, and looked at her expectantly when she saw the girl don a light jacket.
"I can't bring you with me, China," Rebecca said softly. "I don't have a leash or a collar for you and I don't want anyone to take you away. So, you just... you just wait here and I'll be back as soon as I can." She shut and locked her door, then opened her one window, taking a deep breath of the chilly fall air. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She walked away from the window and pulled out two sticks of incense, lighting both and setting each in a seperate holder. "One to honor the spirits," she told China, "and one for my mother. "She loved this scent, so I always burn a stick for her at sunset. You just hide in here, and I'll be back with your incense as soon as possible."
China let out a whimper, but otherwise stayed put while Rebecca climbed out her window, shimmied down a drainpipe, then disappeared into the falling darkness.
*******
Chinatown rose up around Rebecca like a strange and mysterious world, the likes of which she had never seen. It had been easy enough to ask for directions, and in the dim streetlighting, with the hood of her jacket covering her face, no one thought anything strange of this teenager asking for directions to a place in the city that she'd never been to. She was glad that no one could see her face, because the strike from her father had left a rather puffy red mark... she didn't want people to think she was just some punk who'd been fighting.
"The place you're looking for is right over there," an elderly gentleman had said, pointing Rebecca in the right direction. "If you hurry up you can catch the owner before he closes down for the night."
"Thank you!" Rebecca replied, out of breath from running. She nodded politely to the elderly man, then jogged over to the doorway that he'd pointed to. The stairway that led down into the petshop was rather creepy looking in the dimly lit street, but Rebecca squared her shoulders and cautiously stepped down into the darkness. Once at the doorway, she knocked once, then walked inside.
"H-hello?" she called out cautiously.
"There is no need to be so timid," came a calming voice. Rebecca gasped when she caught sight of Count D, for he'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He chuckled softly, then smiled. "I did not mean to frighten you. Please, come inside."
"T-thank you," Rebecca stammered quietly, taking a few more steps into the pet shop.
"It is quite chilly outside," Count D said genially, looking Rebecca over once. "Surely you brought a heavier jacket."
"No. But it's all right, running here kept me warm, and it'll do the same on the way home, so I'll be... all right."
"I see. Well then, how may I be of service to you?"
"My dad came in and bought a dog," Rebecca explained to the Count, a bit out of breath, but slowly recovering. "The dog came with some incense that had to be burned twice a day. He uh... slipped on some wet leaves and the incense fell into a puddle of water. I came back to get some more."
"Was all of the incense ruined?" Count D asked.
"No," Rebecca lied, though she didn't know why. She didn't understand why the incense had to be burned, so perhaps she just didn't particularly feel like being scolded by a stranger. "I have China in my room, where I lit the only piece of the incense that made it." It was half true, at least... there was incense burning.
"China? What a beautiful name," Count D commented pleasantly. "You must be Mr. Robinson's daughter. It is a pleasure to meet you. Your father spoke well of you."
"I'm sure he did," Rebecca mumbled politely.
D smiled kindly while pulling open a drawer and pulling out a small, decorated tin. "Well, Miss Robinson, here is the incense that you need. And give China, and your father, my greetings."
"Thank you, Sir," Rebecca said with a slight, stiff, half-bow. And with the incense safely tucked away in her coat pocket, Rebecca ran out of the pet shop.'What a creepy place,' she thought to herself with a shiver. 'Well, at least I don't have to go back for a while and I've got China's incense.'
*****
Inside the shop D stood in the doorway, watching Rebecca disappear around a corner. "Such a secretive child," he murmered to himself. Out of nowehere a little creature with long ears and batwings appeared, fluttering down to land on D's slender, ourstretched hand. The little creature began to squeak rapidly, and D seemed to understand. "I see," he sighed. "Contract broken."
