Raining Cats and...Jackets?

Chapter 2

A thread of joy sent a tingle of excitement through Pan's body as she paced back and forth through her bedroom, pausing only to rummage through the drawers of her dresser and to throw some outfits carelessly into a black suitcase, a small smile pasted on her face.

'Finally, it's about time for another home vacation.' She thought, happy that it was finally her summer break, and that her father had agreed that she could go and visit family. He was, as usual, busy with work, and didn't want to come, so instead tossed her enough money to last her and planned out a routine trip for her: She was to get on the Blue Highway #9 (a bus often seen on their street which stopped at the nearby bus stop), ride it until she reached Nishijoto (a city on the outskirts of the country) and was to walk to her house from there (about 2 ½ miles from her old house). He had agreed that she was old enough, and told her she would have to get a job soon to help pay for her own trips from now on - she had dismissed that suggestion instantly.

Now, she was packing, readying herself for the three-day trip with her family, her REAL family. Pan had never been the organized type, though she had concluded that neatness was sometimes needed, and was not about to slow down in her hasty gestures of throwing in a brush, toothbrush, deodorant, and some other materials - 'Y'know, just enough to get by.' She told herself.

The teen ended her packing by throwing in some CDs at the last minute - some country and a few blues - and slammed the top shut flamboyantly, zipping it and flopping onto her bed.

Pan had finally taken down her hair - which had fallen to a wave of curls from the braids and the showers in which the braids had stayed in - and now hung plainly about her shoulders, matching perfectly the large, brown eyes that stared so longingly out the window.

She lay back on the bed; her arms spread out, so that her feet were still on the floor but her upper half of her body was on the bed, and gazed solemnly at the ceiling. She felt so confined in places like this, so small, so trapped. As she had mentioned before, she had grown used to The Prison - she had come to call the closet of a room she had that - and had adjusted to it by the mere instinct to survive, but living and surviving had two entirely different meanings.

"Adventure," she said aloud with a small smile, blinking in response, "I need a mission, an adventure, a task.dammit, I need something to do!" she scowled angrily at the ceiling, as if blaming the cracked, bumpy surface for the predicament of life she was in.

A deep sighed soothed her nerves a little as she sat up and stretched, grimacing as her elbow and shoulder popped with misuse. 'Aw, you're just anxious.' She told herself, grunting as her left shoulder dulled with pain from the crack and rubbed it gently.

It had been three days since the late-night park visit she had experienced. Sometimes at night, she would dream of the mysterious beauty of the other girl with the marine-blue eyes, staring right into hers', piercing her soul with an unseen power - Pan shivered, interrupting her thoughts.

Personally, this other girl was a little creepy, but it hadn't bothered Pan that much. Though the event had freaked her out a little, nothing had happened, and she hadn't seen the girl since. Ah well.

She huffed when she stood and strode into the kitchen, grabbing a piece of computer paper from the desk and a ball point pen, scribbling quickly:

Dad, I already left, so don't go looking for me when you get home. I'll be back in three days, one day before school starts up again. Peace.

From: Pan

Pan paused there. She stared, mortified at what she had just written. From? She always used to end her letters or notes to her father with Love, and posted little hearts and stickers around it. But that was when she was little, and now, her father deserved much less.

She furrowed her eyebrows rebelliously and left the words as they were, placing the paper on the counter where her father should see it, and sauntered back into her room and over to her suitcase. Gripping the handle firmly, she lifted the bag and started out, but hesitated near the coat rack. 'Hey, where's my jacket?' she asked herself quizzically, staring oddly at the hooks, but shrugged it off. It was probably around there somewhere.

With a final look around The Prison, she grasped the knob, turned, and left the enclosed apartment, heading downstairs, out of the building, and onto the street.

The sun glinted off the young vampire's skin intriguingly as she made her way through the park's gate, brushing a strand of silky hair behind an ear thoughtlessly before she slivered over to a tree, leaning against its trunk and hiding from the terrible light of day.

Not that it bothered her much. It just scared her. Man was afraid of what they could not understand. The sun touched her skin, but did not burn or sear, and did nothing. Actually, it did less to the vampire than it would to a human. Yes, the sun touched her skin, but could not warm it, or tan it, try as it might. Bra felt no warmth and comfort from its rays, and therefore did not understand it. Besides, it hurt her eyes.

Which was why she wore the dark, classy sunglasses, and leaned under the large, shady tree, folding her arms in a cool look and quietly surveyed the area? Her eyes studied her surroundings, and a slight smile played her features as she remembered the encounter with that human girl, and how she had lost 'the catch'. Since then, she had returned to the park every day and night, waiting for the girl to return sometime so Bra could reclaim her find. It wasn't every day you found someone so beautiful and in shape to birth into a vampire.

Bra sighed, the smile fading as she gazed up into the branches of the protective tree, its arms reaching far over in pride at the years it took to grow, every second of nurturing worth it, and she thought more about the depressed girl.

'Her eyes were even pretty, and brown eyes are usually a mud or soggy color, but hers'.they were so thick, like syrup, but richer and deeper. She will make a nice companion.' Bra smiled again at the thought of making her find a vampire, and a friend at that.

'She could even find her way into the higher ranks of the cla-' her thoughts were cut short when a rugged, orange cat leaped from the tree above her and landed pristinely on the ground in front of the teen, shaking its fur and looking at her curiously for a moment before trotting away. Bra was seldom surprised, and it had startled her somewhat, but not as much as when another sound was heard in the branches.

The vampire looked up, sliding her sunglasses away with slender fingers, and smiled a little, "Come on out, kitty..." She cooed, but instead of a cat, down fell a black, rumpled jacket, full of leaves and twigs, right into Bra's quick hand.

"Well, last night's storm definitely had fun." she commented to herself, looking now down at the jacket in her paled hands and shook it out curiously - and stopped suddenly, staring at it. "Wait, this is." she trailed off again when she remembered that the pretty girl in the park the other night had been carrying that same jacket.

'Hmm, must have left it here.' She concluded, looking around for the name tag, and finally found it, printed sloppily on the back tag on the inside of the jacket.

"Pan Satuyashiro." The name rolled across her tongue easily like a ripple of water, as if it were meant to be said by her and her only, and a slow, mysterious smile crept up her pale face. 'Maybe I'll just keep this while.' She thought with a soft chuckle, and slid into the jacket gracefully.

It fit her well for the most part, aside from the long bottom of the jacket - the other girl had longer legs, Bra had noticed - and the back was loose from lack of muscles, but otherwise it was perfect.

She slipped her hands into the pockets, and paused in amusement as her fingers found wads of paper and trash - gum wrappers, empty mint boxes, a yellow lighter, a license - .license? Bra chuckled again as she looked down into her hand, in which was placed neatly on her palm, Pan's license. 'My, she might be beautiful, but she is quite irresponsible. Now, let's see.'

Name: Pan Satuyashiro

Date of Birth: 07-13-86

Height: 5'7"

Weight: 138 lbs.

Gender: Female

Bra scanned over the basics of the license, and laid her eyes on the picture, which was obviously outdated. The girl must not have had her picture updated since she had first gotten the license. Her hair was shorter in this, about the length of Bra's, and was streaked blonde, naturally, as odd as it looked, though her eyes and basic features remained the same.

"Well, well, Pan Satuyashiro. Fear not, for I will soon release you from the bonds of human life, and you will realize the joys of being a vampire." at that, she chuckled lightly, and stuffed the license back into the pocket.

End of Chapter 2

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