Disclaimer – My RL name is not Alan Ball or Charlaine Harris... so True Blood ain't mine.
2. Follow Me Home
The incident, as all of the vampires in the Area were now referring to it, had occurred only a few days prior and there had still been no word from Tanner. Since there was no evidence to support my assertion that the six Weres had been attacking a human female this was perplexing. The only plausible explanation, and I had come up with many, was that the Weres were hiding something. Only time would tell, but on one thing Isobel and I agreed; that was no human female that the Weres were attacking that night. I hadn't been out walking since that fateful night, but suddenly I was gripped by the need to return to that neglected street. Rising from my chair I walked silently to the front door, the eyes of several vampires followed me, but I paid them no mind.
It didn't take me long to return to the scene of the crime and once there I moved directly to the wall. Maybe I could finally work out what I had seen that night? Unsurprisingly I couldn't identify anything unusual, in fact I couldn't identify anything at all other than Tanner and Crowley; I should have checked that night. The entire situation was niggling at me. I wanted to know what had happened that night simply because I wanted to make sense of what I had seen, but I also wanted to make sense of the situation so that I knew what the Weres were trying to hide. With one last perusal of the wall I had to admit that it was nothing more than a wall.
Turning to leave, I froze when I my hearing locked onto the sound of an approaching heartbeat. Before I could melt into the shadows, I was able to recognise that the heartbeat belonged to a cat; quite unusually it was headed directly this way. Again I turned to start making my way back to the nest, but something made me want to wait for the cat to appear on the street, so I stayed where I was and waited. Soon I could hear the soft footfalls of the cat as it walked towards me and in due course I could see it as well.
I have not had a lot of contact with cats over my long life. My people had not kept cats, although occasionally traders would pass through our lands with cats that they had stolen from the lands now referred to as Egypt. Then once I was a vampire, cats would avoid me, their innate perceptiveness allowing them to sense the danger I posed, sense the predator that I truly am. However, despite my limited experience with cats I could tell the one in front of me, that was making its way ever closer, was a beautiful example. The cat was a pale grey colour with black markings. There were two such markings above the cats eyes, one could imagine them to be the animals eyebrows, and two strong lines streaking away from its eyes, the higher streak starting from the corner of the eye like the kohl women used to decorate their eyes with. The eyes were the most striking. They were a clear, pale blue, the colour of clear blue tropical water that humans so often advertised as the perfect holiday destination.
During my appraisal the cat had gotten impossibly close and when she stopped in front of me and looked up into my eyes I could see exactly why these animals had been so closely associated with witchcraft and why the church had ordered them slaughtered in Europe five centuries ago. This cat's stare was too intelligent though and I tasted the air, checking whether I could discern the essence of a Shifter. There was nothing however, no matter how unusual, this was a perfectly ordinary cat. Finally, satisfied that I would discover nothing more in this dreary and neglected street, I began the walk back to the nest. My return to the nest was met with covert, but interested looks. The vampires gathered were either relieved to see me return blood free, disappointed that I wasn't covered in blood, or simply interested. As was my custom, I ignored them and retired to my study; as Sheriff there was always plenty of paperwork and other menial tasks with which to occupy my time.
"Oh look, a cat," Isobel murmured in surprise as she entered the study.
"Where?" I asked in with mild alarm and surprise, my eyes following Isobel's line of sight to the French doors that connected my study to the rear garden. Sitting by the doors, pawing at the glass panel was the small grey cat I had encountered earlier in the evening. "She must have followed me," I commented to no one in particular.
"She looks hungry," fussed Isobel. "Would you like some milk?" she asked the cat through the glass.
"Isobel..." I started to object.
"I'll get her some milk then we can go over the new applicants seeking permission to settle in the area," Isobel told me before disappearing towards the kitchen; she reappeared moments later with a dish of milk. Pushing the glass door open, Isobel welcomed the cat into the house. The cat entered without a moment's hesitation and started to lap up the milk Isobel had set down for her.
Isobel gazed down at the cat for the briefest moment before turning her attention to the applications. It took us only a few minutes to decide which applications should be accepted, which rejected and which applicants we needed to know more about. During our discussion I could hear the rhythmic lapping of the cat drinking her milk, when the lapping stopped she jumped onto my desk and sat on the form I was just about to sign.
"I used to have a cat when I was human. I wasn't supposed to, but I hid her in the kitchens so everyone thought she was just another kitchen cat for catching mice and rats. She slept on my bed at night though. It's strange that she isn't trying to avoid us," Isobel added as an afterthought. "Once I had been vampire for a few decades I tried to get another cat, but they were all so wary of me."
I didn't say anything in reply, but silently watched Isobel as she lost herself in memories.
"We could keep her," Isobel suggested, suddenly drawn away from her recollections.
"Could we?" I asked her, my tone conveying a warning that my words did not.
"We can and we will, because you'll indulge me," she said with a knowing smile.
"Not if she's going to be a nuisance," I continued to protest, narrowing my gaze as I looked down at the cat, even though Isobel and I both knew that I would allow her this small thing.
"She won't be any trouble at all," Isobel cooed to the cat as she lifted her from the desk and placed her on my chair by the fire. "What should we call her? Aurora? She looks more like a Sophia though."
Before I could tell Isobel that I didn't have an opinion on the subject, Stan strode into the study.
"What is that doing here? Sheriff, do you want me to dispose of it?" Stan quickly noticed the cat.
"You will do no such thing," Isobel snapped. "We're keeping her."
Stan didn't respond directly to Isobel's outburst, but he did turn to me with an incredulous look.
"The animal can do us no ill, Stan. What is the harm in allowing Isobel to keep her?" I lightly admonished him.
"I suppose it can't be any worse than when you let her have a human," he muttered before leaving, Isobel wincing slightly at his unnecessarily harsh words.
"Libitina," I offered, hoping to distract her from Stan's cruel words. Isobel met my eyes. Hers filled with questions and mild confusion, so I explained myself. "A name."
"I like it," Isobel smiled as I left the study and headed to my private rooms, retiring for the day. What I didn't tell her was that Libitina was the Roman goddess of death; Libitina was a fitting name for a cat that was to be a companion to vampires. Libitina was the lesser known of the two Roman gods associated with death so Isobel was unlikely to discover my morbid thoughts unless she actively tried to discover the origins of the name.
Once in my rooms I settled into a chair and began to read, finally setting the book aside when I started to feel the call to sleep. A glance at the clock told me that it was 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I barely needed rest anymore and this was unusually early for me to feel tired; especially when I rested just four nights prior. Discarding my shirt I moved to the bed. I stopped stock still when I noticed it, my body instinctively crouching and angling forward slightly, my hands curling into claws and my fangs starting to run down. It was in the centre of my bed, emitting a rhythmic sound as it slept. The sound was soothing and I quickly connected it with my unusual desire to sleep. Anything that enticed a vampire to sleep more than normal was dangerous however, anything that caused me to sleep for longer or at all even was a welcomed relief. Libitina didn't stir as I lay down beside her.
When I woke up, it was only a half hour to sunset and I hadn't rested that long in centuries, Libitina was gone. Two chapters later and the sun set making it safe to venture out into the main part of the nest. Bypassing the kitchen, I still wasn't hungry; I went directly to the study. Ever since the Fellowship bombed my last residence, the King required nightly updates on all known Fellowship and anti-vampire behaviour in each Area of his Kingdom. This just added to the layers of bureaucracy that I had to wade through as Sheriff, the main inconvenience caused by this particular task was that because it was directly requested by the King I could not delegate it to Stan or Isobel.
An hour later, maybe two, Isobel came in carrying two bottles of TruBlood, Libitina trailing behind her. It must be Thursday. One of the bottles was placed in front of me and Libitina landed graceful on the desk at the same time. Burying my annoyance behind a facade of blank disinterest common to all vampires I started drinking the synthetic blood while my free hand absentmindedly stroked Libitina.
"You bought her a collar?" I asked Isobel, barely concealing my surprise.
"Of course," Isobel replied, as though it were the most natural thing in the world for a vampire to purchase a collar for a cat. "I also picked up registration papers for her."
"Registration papers?" I asked, still confused.
"To register her."
"Why would we need to register her?" I was no longer even attempting to hide my confusion.
"Humans insist that all pets are registered," Isobel continued blithely. "Naturally, there is a small fee to be paid and we'll also have to get her vaccinated. The other thing we need to consider is whether we should get her neutered, if that's done it only costs $7 to register her, if not then it costs $30 plus we need to get an Intact Animal Permit which will cost an additional $70. Oh, and another thing, the Dallas Animal Services website says that registration is free if the owner is over 65 years of age, but I don't think we should bother with that, I don't think you're quite what they had in mind. It also says on the form that you need to be a member of a cat club or complete a course on responsible pet ownership. That sounds tedious, I know you don't approve, but we could just glamour the Animal Service Manager into signing off on completion of the course."
"Isobel," I stated calmly, in a tone that I knew would instantly garner her full attention.
"Yes, Godric?" Isobel's voice was laced with amusement.
"Why do you insist on including me in this?"
"Because Libitina's your cat," Isobel told me, her tone implying that it should have been more than obvious.
"No, Isobel, she is your cat."
"Then why did she sleep in your room during the day?" she challenged with a triumphant smile.
I didn't have anything to refute that observation with. With an uncharacteristic sigh I watched my hand slide through the silky smooth fur that belonged to the petite grey cat, my eyes quickly fixing on her new collar. The collar was beautiful.
"Isobel, is that a diamond?"
Now that I was paying attention to Libitina's collar it looked as though the art deco designs were formed by diamonds. Actually, when I really looked at the collar it appeared to be made from platinum; it resembled a bracelet more than a collar.
"Yes," Isobel conceded. "I couldn't find a collar nice enough for her when I was searching online last night, but then I found this stunning bracelet. The collar is actually made of two bracelets put together. I had it made special order and shipped express; it just arrived a few hours ago."
"And how much did you spend?" I asked, resigned.
"$160,000," she told me sheepishly.
The shock must have been evident on my face.
"It is from Tiffany's," Isobel defended herself.
I didn't bother trying to point out to her how ridiculous it was to spend such a vast sum on a cat; the fact that we had money to burn was completely beside the point. It didn't matter, it was already done. Accepting that there was nothing to be done I turned my attention to the registration papers. Isobel had already filled them out, I just needed to initial and sign them.
xxx
Applicant Information
Applicant's Name: Godric
Street Address: 2710 Maplewood Avenue, Highland Park, TX
Apt or Suite #:
Tel: (214) 521-2140
Fax: (214) 521-2141
Identification and Location of Animal
Name: Libitina
Species: Cat
Gender: Female
Age: unknown
Breed: Mixed
If mixed, prominent breed(s): Domestic Short Hair
Primary Colour: Grey
Secondary Colour: Black
xxx
After a few quick movements of my pen the form was complete and I returned it to Isobel, agreeing that this time glamouring the human to approve me as a responsible pet owner was probably for the best. Leaning back in my chair after Isobel had left, I watched as Libitina restlessly pushed at a few stray pens until they fell off the desk and clattered to the floor. What would Eric think of this? I thought wryly to myself.
A/N: This is a completed story, but I still love reading reviews so drop me a line.
This story hasn't been beta'd, that means there are mistakes. If/when you find one send me a message and I'll fix it up.