Inside the Wagner House
Chapter 2
"Albert? Albert, get in here!"
"I'm on the pho-"
"Get in here now! Y-you need to see this!" Gilda had almost completely backed herself up into the wall opposite the bathtub. The child—no, monkey—no, demon…well, it didn't act like that last one, that was for sure. Whatever it was, it was completely enjoying itself, splashing water everywhere. For a few moments it locked eyes with Gilda, only serving to bring more chills running up her spine.
The eyes were huge and colorless, yet reflected an intelligence she hadn't expected from the creature. (I suppose it's a he) she thought, daring to look a bit closer. Whatever he was, his entire body was coated in a thin layer of bright blue fur, topped with some tufts of longer fur on the forehead. The hands had a mere two fingers and a thumb, same minus the thumb for the feet, and the tail-oh goodness, the tail-was almost the length of her arm.
Albert came running in and looked to Gilda, puzzled and slightly annoyed. At a loss for words, she simply pointed to the tub and watched her husband's jaw drop down to his feet. A few more moments and he broke the silence.
"What in the name of hell is that? That's no kid, looks more like a big blue cat to me!" His arms were flailing so far apart that it made Gilda have to back up even more. The little creature giggled in response and pointed one of his thick fingers at Albert, completely oblivious to the tension. The man was unaffected.
"Look at him, seems like when he gets some teeth he'd be able to bite the heads off of your little birds!" Gilda's husband was jumpy in the best of times; she could practically hear his heart thumping faster. Sure enough, he started pacing the floor, casting nervous glances at the tub and to his wife. In the living room, a staticy voice called out from the phone.
"Sir? Sir, you wanted to report something?" Nobody in the bathroom dared to respond. There was a few more 'sir's, a click, and the woman on the other line had hung up after an eternity.
"What should we do?" Albert asked in a shaking voice. Gilda didn't answer. Curiosity began to overcome her fear; against her better nature, she took a few slow steps forward. The creature's attention was brought to her yet again. She crouched and, hesitantly, reached out one hand to him.
"Honey, I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
"Well, just…give it a chance, dear. I can get through this." The creature looked up at the limb, unblinking and wide-eyed, seemingly just as amazed as them. Cautiously, he reached out and gripped her index finger with a fuzzy hand, and started waving it above his head like a trophy. Gilda felt a smile creep across her face.
"I think he's harmless enough. Little thing couldn't kill someone if he tried." She looked up at her husband, with her finger still caught in the young one's grasp.
"He might even be human, what with the way he's acting." Albert turned to the child with a questioning look, then rubbed his brow and let out a long-winded sigh.
"Oh, I know what you're doing, Gilda. And it's not going to work."
"C'mon, look at this little guy! We can't just turn him away; who knows what people like that have in store for him!"
"People like what, exactly? We're not just going to leave this thi-him out in the cold or anything! Maybe if I call my bosses, they'll have room for him in the circus…" Gilda gave him a look which completely nullified any chance of that happening. He put his hands up defensively.
"It was just a suggestion. But I really don't think we should be keeping him around, who knows what we'd be getting into?"
"It'll just be for a few days. We have plenty of time to figure something out if nobody else does." Albert stood there for a minute, biting his lower lip. He leaned against the wall, mumbling his annoyances to himself, and looked down at the child with a scowl.
Of course it went right over his head, and the child reached up towards Albert's face with a wide grin to match. The man glanced away and tugged at his collar, ashamed at his own confliction. But Gilda was so optimistic, and the child so young, and, even with the threat of the unknown, the idea of leaving him out so repulsive…
"Well…I suppose. Not like you won't take him in anyway." Before Gilda could respond, her face already lighting up with excitement, he put a hand up.
"But do me a favor and keep him out of my hair. I'm still uneasy about the whole thing, but if this is really what you want to do, go for it." His wife was bringing a small towel down from the rack, which she used to dry the child with. His fur fluffed out so much during the process that only his eyes were visible under it all.
"Yep, he's a nasty little beast, can't you tell?" she said sarcastically. She smiled down at him.
"You could use a name."
"No, he cou-"
"Well, I'm not going to call him 'he' or 'the kid' for the next few days!" The way she put it, a few days sounded much longer. She hoisted him up into her arms, and once again he tried to make some grabs at her face.
"Aren't you a fuzzy one? You remind me of my old kitten that used to come by the house every so often. Little Kurtty, we called him, as a sort of joke. Our uncle's name was Kurt, so…yeah, that's the one! How do you like the name Kurt, honey?" Albert groaned.
"Name him whatever you like, I guess. As long as you keep an eye on him. I don't want people seeing this."
"Fair enough. I'll put Kurt in the extra room upstairs; there are no windows there, it should be fine." She took a few steps down the hallway, then paused to glance at her husband one more time.
"But honestly, I'd think you'd be a little more…excited." As if on cue, Kurt looked up at Albert from over Gilda's shoulder with a twinkle in his eye while, Albert was sure, memorizing his face. He found it amazing how his wife managed such feats of care; here she was now, babying a creature fished out of the river not fifteen minutes ago. It was incredible.
"Stop staring off into space and do something. We'll be upstairs." She walked up the staircase, Kurt still gazing down at Albert with an intense curiosity. Once they were out of sight he took a seat on the livingroom couch, shaking his head. Oh lord, what have we gotten ourselves into?
Suddenly, there was a mewling noise from the window, and a scrabbling at the glass. Albert got up to see an elegant-looking tabby on the other side, staring inside the house with its paws on the window.
"Oh, hello there. I don't suppose you want to come in to? Sorry, but I think we're all full." The cat pricked its ears at his voice, and looked up. Albert had never seen such eyes on an animal before. Like Kurt's, they brimmed with intelligence, but also included the cat's signature wariness and cunning. If he didn't know any better, Albert would have thought it nodded. After a few seconds, the cat rose to its legs and jumped off the window ledge, padding off into the forest with a graceful air.
Sighing, he closed the blinds in the livingroom, so nobody could look in. It was a paranoid concern, of course, but better safe than sorry.
They weren't opened again for the next thirteen years, and the cat never returned to see.