Chapter Thirteen: Can't Shake This
I sense there's something in the wind
That feels like tragedy's at hand
And though I'd like to stand by him
I can't shake this feeling that I have.
-Sally's Song, Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack
(Amy Lee's version rocks!)
xxXxx
Haru didn't recognize the circular room, but was eerily reminded of all the Frankenstein movies she had watched to help prepare her sing for the talent show. The stone walls were tall, and the two tables with bookshelves were overflowing with scrolls and vials that she had no hope of recognizing or naming.
Her blood turned cold when she saw what Baron was up to.
Keeping an ungloved hand on a small mirror, the tawny feline was speaking low and urgently, raising the lid off what had to be a solid glass coffin with but a gesture.
A female cat's body rested within, every inch of her covered with multiple wrappings like a mummy.
'Wait… is that the body he made me?'
Haru didn't seem to be physically there, but her awareness was shifted to Baron's side so that she could see what he was calling to the decently-sized mirror in one hand.
It was her last morning on Earth. She and her parents had all passed out on the couch, a content mess of limbs and bliss. That is, until her parents woke up.
Her mother was the first to notice. "Hasho! She's not breathing!" she panicked, using the arm she had wrapped around her daughter's shoulders to shake her violently.
As the achingly familiar scene unfolded in the mirror, Baron's movements quickened as he used his magic to lift the vacant body onto an altar made from the same stuff as the coffin and poured a strange vial's contents over the body. Once that was done, Baron took a large ruby in his gloved hand, and began squeezing it.
"Can you loosen up?" her past self in the mirror asked in a breathy tone, not realizing that it was the first sign of her demise.
'Oh no,' Haru thought in horror.
With a look of determination, Baron squeezed the gem harder.
"Sure… sure felt…"
Haru tried to turn her consciousness away, but no. Her attention remained completely focused on her death and the slowly crushing ruby.
Once the gem dissolved between Baron's fingers, the human Haru died within the hand mirror. Very quickly, the feline began vigorously shaking it over the body until ruby dust began filtering through the reflective glass and onto the bandages.
Just as the wrapped corpse took its first breath, Haru opened her eyes with a horrified gasp. The brown half-cat sat up and rubbed her arms to make the chills leave her system. The effort failed.
"Not another nightmare… I needed a good sleep after yesterday!" A single glance at the covered windows indicated no sunlight, meaning another long wait until everyone else woke up.
Sighing tiredly, she picked herself up, grabbed the fallen blankets, and wrapped herself up like a mummy on the bed.
Wrapped like a mummy…
Haru choked back a sob. "No, Baron wouldn't do that. Baron loves me. Baron… knew I was going to die," she whispered in horror. "He was ready."
Regardless of how he treated her, she knew he was the sole reason she was here. How did he do it? Why did he do it?
… Did he kill her to be with him?
She wiggled one fur-covered hand out of the blankets and concentrated as hard as she could. Three tiny sparks were all she could summon.
"Oh, come on!"
ooOoo
At the first sign of light, Haru couldn't take the silent vigil anymore. Dressing herself in a light grey that mirrored both Baron's usual attire and his roses, she let herself out of her room to roam the halls on her own.
It was a strange feeling. Whenever she had left her room before now, she usually had someone by her side, either Muta or Dona. Baron had not returned to her room since her first day in this world, thought he had no problem with leading her back to it.
'He had a room ready for me. He had everything ready for me.' She looked down at her bare hands as her walk slowed to a stop. 'Where did this body come from? It's not mine, but people have no trouble accepting that I'm not from around here.'
A door opened behind her, making her whirl around with a surprised hiss.
The random older cat also jumped in surprise, his expression almost immediately turning stormy. His tone was sharp and scolding but he was making an obvious effort to keep his distance as he closed the door and side-stepped his way down the hall she hadn't seen yet, as if to block her path.
"Sorry, is this a private place? It's a little hard for me to tell what's forbidden and what isn't," Haru informed him, unable to keep a bit of bitterness out of her tone. "I'll just go then." She immediately turned to do as promised.
"Uwa! Ugh, Haru!" the cat man snapped.
Hearing her name made her stop in her tracks and look back at the ancient feline. He asked an irritated question that had Baron's name in it, making her flinch a bit.
But she nodded. "Maybe I can figure out how to ask him about things."
He held his hands up in a 'stay put' gesture before taking off down the hall he tried to block off.
'So I was getting close to where Baron sleeps? That would have been embarrassing.' But two nights of lousy sleep made her not too terribly worried about the impropriety. Rubbing a bit more of the drowsiness out of her eyes, she turned her focus to the nearest window.
A decent distance away was… a flock of giant crows? Oh, of course. Toto had to come from somewhere.
They were nestled securely into what she could only interpret as apartment holes in the side of the large mountain. It was actually cute to see hatchlings snuggle up to their parents in obliviously happy slumber.
Like she had been in her dream. The day she died.
Haru suppressed a growl and wrapped her arms around herself for comfort. "Why now? Why when things were finally looking up did I have to come here?"
Nothing answered her. Not even the roses blooming around the windowsill. Then again, it'd be a little creepy if they did start talking to her.
Haru bit back a laugh at the thought just before noticing rapidly approaching footsteps. Her large brown eyes automatically turned to see Baron almost running up to her, one hand keeping his hat on his head.
He looked like he hadn't slept much, either. His green eyes were worn and worried as he slowed to a stop right in front of her. His warm voice asked her something, but as usual, she couldn't understand.
"I'm sorry if the other guy had to wake you up, Baron," she apologized right off the bat. "But I have to ask you something. This body?" She made a downward gesture to herself with both hands. "Where did it come from?"
Baron blinked and cocked his head at her. His reply seemed dubious.
Haru growled deep in her throat, and tried again. "You made this body," she stated, pointing at him before pointedly rotating one arm as much as it was able.
Nope. He still wasn't getting it.
"Frankenstein!" she finally snapped.
That caught his attention. "Frankenstein," he confirmed, although he still seemed like he didn't know where this was leading.
Haru again made the downward gesture at her body, but then held her hands up in a clueless gesture. "What did you use to make me a body? How did you pull a Frankenstein?"
Baron's eyes widened in understanding. He said something that ended with a sigh, looking hesitant.
"Please? I think I deserve to know."
Biting his lower lip nervously, he wrapped one of her arms in his own and started heading down the same hallway he had just run down.
Haru's heart was jumping around like a jack rabbit as he led her into unknown territory, but forced herself to be steady. 'I can take it. Whatever this body came from, I can take it. I hope.'
After all, what could be more gross than robbing graves and sewing corpses together? Her body didn't have a single stitch, so he had to have done something differently.
Still being as gentle as ever, Baron turned a corner and pressed his hand against a stone in the wall, giving it a one word command.
The stone glowed a brief silver before the stones next to it began rearranging themselves. Haru inhaled sharply but her companion brushed his hand over her arms in a soothing gesture. His firm grip ensured that she wouldn't be able to go far.
The stones finished their reorganization, now presenting their short sides outward in order to make room for a door-shaped opening. Baron wrapped an arm around her shoulders before marching confidently into the opening.
Haru jumped on reflex as the stones started moving into their former positions behind them, but Baron didn't slow as he guided her up the winding staircase that was on the hidden side of the wall. 'Winding staircase... the tower?'
Sure enough, there was a door at the end of the staircase, which only had small and occasional windows to light it. Baron placed one hand against the door, making it also glow silver before opening with a soft creak.
Haru was immediately greeted with the tower room from her nightmare, making her shudder. It even had the glass coffin her body had been resting in. To keep it from decaying?
Baron said something soothing as he led her inside, closing the door behind them with one hand. He then escorted her to one of his more cluttered tables and opened one of the thicker books.
His voice took on the familiar 'pay attention' tone as he pointed at a picture surrounded by incomprehensible text.
It was a picture of a cat conjuring a... heart? Liver? Fine, organ, in mid-air. There was a black glass bottle in one hand that had a red mist that was surrounding the organ.
Haru stared incredulously. "This body came from a bottle? Instant cat?"
Baron shook his head, looking a bit frustrated. He looked around until marching to a cabinet and pilfering through it until finding a bottle much like the one in the illustration. He shook the bottle, looking further annoyed than before since it appeared to be empty. His mint green eyes strayed to Haru, wanting... something.
The tawny feline took a deep breath to calm himself and fetched one of the shards lying in front of a large mirror frame that Haru hadn't noticed before. Careful not to cut himself, he placed the shard in front of her, peeled off one glove, and set a bare finger against the edge. His brow furrowed with deep concentration.
The shard filled with grey mist, but flickered with images of her human form before it finally solidified on what had to be Baron's past.
From his own eyes, Haru could see that his past self was hard at work, uncorking the same bottle before pouring a small amount of...
"Blood?" Haru whispered, looking up at Baron and making a pulling motion at her wrist.
Baron nodded, gesturing with his head for her to pay attention to the shard.
Her eyes turn downward in time to see Past Baron's ungloved hands handle the spot of blood as easily as a bit of modeling clay, shaping it and manipulating it as it started giving off a red mist that he merely reworked into the blood spot until it reformed into... into a...
She backed away from the table while gagging in horror. One hand came up to press against her speeding heart, hardly believing that Baron had literally held it in his hands, had formed it and...
Baron took his hand off the shard, looking apologetic as he pulled on his glove and said something gentle.
Haru forced herself to look at him. "My bones?" she asked, gripping one arm to hold it in front of him.
He nodded.
"My eyes?" she asked while pointing at them.
Another nod.
Very weakly, she ran her fingers through the longer patch of chocolate fur on her head. She didn't ask, but Baron still nodded.
Blood. He literally made every inch of her new body out of blood.
"Haru?" he asked worriedly, saying more as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed gently.
Though scared and unsure, she did need the hug enough to squeeze back. "This entire body... you made it. Unbelievable," she whispered numbly while pressing her cheek against his heart, which was pounding like a drum.
Baron was still whispering gently, rubbing one hand over her darker patch of fur in a soothing manner as he swayed from side to side while squeezing her; anything to help her calm down.
Haru wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, holding her and whispering gently into her ear until she realized something.
"Muta and Dona," she said aloud, looking up to see his reaction.
He smiled warmly, his eyes glowing with a soft pride as he nodded.
"You got the blood from them to make me? I mean, the body?" she asked, making the pulling gesture at her wrist again.
Another nod confirmed it.
"... That's why they've been treating me like their little girl. You promised them a daughter of their own in exchange for enough blood to make me a native body. Everyone wins."
Baron squeezed her again, speaking low and soft as he rubbed his face against one of her velvety ears.
"Everyone wins... but why?" she asked, making him let go of her enough to step back. "I mean, it's one thing to have a major crush on me for whatever reason, but why did you make me a body? How did you know I was going to need one? Did you kill me to come here?"
The half-feline cocked his head at her, his eyes slowly filling with pain as he struggled to tell her something.
"Baron... how did you know I was going to die?" She accented the question with pointing at him, her temple, and then wrapping her hands around her neck for a choking motion.
He hurriedly but gently took her hands away from her throat, stealing a kiss on her knuckles as he wrapped one arm around her waist for a stolen hug. But the look on his face said loud and clear that he understood what she was trying to ask. His eyes darted slightly, trying to think of something. Haru could only hope it was something she could understand.
Baron scratched one of his ears around his top hat, thinking desperately but not coming up with anything. Giving her a frantic look, he took her by the hand and led her back to the table that had the shard. He hurriedly ripped his glove back off and pressed his thumb against the glass piece.
It filled with grey mist... but nothing else. Haru bit her lip nervously as Baron tried for several minutes to make something appear in the glass, clearly straining to make it happen.
All for nothing.
After maybe fifteen minutes, he had no choice but to admit defeat. He slid down the side of the table to sit on the cold stone floor, looking more tired and depressed than Haru had ever seen from him.
She made herself comfortable on the floor right next to him, making him look up in misery as he stated something that needed no translation.
I tried.
The brown half-cat smiled at him before wrapping her arm around his back for a gentle hug. "Then that will have to be enough."
Surprisingly not looking relieved at the support, he wrapped an arm around her to drag the girl onto his lap. Haru gave a mew of surprise, but all he did was wrap his arms around her and hold her close. His harsh breathing made it clear that he desperately needed to be cheered up.
A tiny smile reached her lips. "Need a teddy bear, huh? I guess I can fill in." With a bit of difficulty, she wiggled her arms free long enough to wrap them around his neck and squeeze gently.
Baron breathed a warm sigh against her neck, snuggling her even closer.
'Could his reason for bringing me here really be all that bad if he takes this much comfort in just holding me?' She rubbed her face against his shoulder just before remembering that it was the same one she injured yesterday, and his neck hadn't been in the best shape either. "Oops, sorry about that-" she tried to say while hurriedly removing her arms.
Giving her a very soft glare, he just adjusted her to face the other direction and moved her arms to around his chest instead. His body language said loud and clear that he was not in a mood to let her off his lap.
She gave him a shy smile and settled into her new position without a fuss. "All right, but I'll go ahead and apologize in advance if I fall asleep on you and wake up screaming."
As she slowly made good on the first half of her promise, her mind slowed down enough to realize a few more things that weren't adding up.
Haru remembered everything about being dead. If Baron had been able to pull remnants of her soul through a mirror, setting up a wormhole in the Asteroid Belt would have been completely unnecessary, as well as calling her soul into space in the first place. It would have been too much hassle if there had been an easier way to bring her soul here.
'Oh dang, but Dad would have been jealous if he could know I went into outer space. If it didn't require dying, that is.'
She hadn't gotten a good look at herself the first time she had woken up in this world, but distinctly remembered being in a patchwork body suit, not wrapped up like a mummy.
So why was the tower room spot on?
An involuntary shudder racked her body at the thought, making Baron snuggle her a little more warmly and start purring into one of her ears, interjecting it every now and again with a soft word.
'I needed his help to breathe at first. A brand new body explains why my muscles were too soft to really do much without help, and why my lungs weren't quite strong enough without a beginning nudge. He suspected enough to be able to save me from suffocation in time.'
Poor Baron. He saved her life twice, gave her a set of parents that adored her to pieces, made her feel more treasured than she had ever felt before, and here she was...
Doubting him. Still?
ooOoo
Haru watched the flames in the fireplace, sitting on the footstool in front of Dona as the older feline lovingly rubbed her hands over the girl's back and neck. She had been able to tell Muta and Dona that she was having trouble sleeping, but they didn't seem to quite understand the reason why.
Still, if all it would take is an extra bit of attention, then so be it. It certainly wasn't hurting her.
But that didn't mean she was looking forward to going to sleep. The brown half-cat breathed a deep sigh, closing her eyes against the intense light of the fire. Her arms came up to rub against the bare fur of her arms, since she was already in a soft blue nightgown.
Dona said something worriedly, but the only response Haru felt like giving was getting off the footstool to rest her head on the older woman's lap.
"I guess the blood was less gross than using corpses. I hope collecting it didn't hurt you or Muta."
Dona began rubbing her ears and head as well as her shoulders, replying with something that had the tone of offered comfort.
Haru rubbed her cheek against her second mother's leg, still lost in thought. "But this does explain why I look like a brown version of you, more or less." A tiny ironic smile crossed her lips. "I wonder if Baron let genetics do as they wanted, or if he made this body prettier than my human one to flatter me. It's kind of funny that I can't tell which."
Dona gave an especially affectionate scratch on her ear before kissing it. A happy sigh left her throat as she wrapped her arms around Haru and squeezed gently. The younger girl readily returned the embrace around the waist.
"Still... he did put a lot of planning into bringing me here. ... You must have wanted a child very much, to let him draw the blood," Haru whispered while snuggling her.
All Dona could think to answer that with was a deeper snuggle, which was cut short when Muta let himself into the room.
The large half-feline made a beeline for the two, kissing Dona sweetly before ruffling Haru's head fur with affection. In one of his hands was a crystal vial filled with a blue liquid.
The younger one beamed at him, standing up in order to steal a proper hug. "I hope whatever's in there will keep away nightmares."
Muta squeezed her like a favorite toy, nuzzling her head fur happily while saying something warm. Looking a little disappointed, Dona stood up and told him something. He answered casually, snuggling Haru a bit more as he guided her to the bed.
Dona pulled back the sheets, making the younger girl take a shaky breath before obediently climbing onto the bed. As her second mother lovingly tucked her in, Muta emptied out a glass bowl on the bedside table that had been filled with floating flowers. Once just the water remained, he uncorked the bottle and started pouring the blue liquid into the bowl.
A soft periwinkle mist almost immediately started flowing out like dry ice, filling the room with a very soothing scent that she couldn't name.
Dona snuck a quick kiss on the girl's forehead before keeping a handkerchief to her nose and mouth, her husband following the example in a heartbeat, but with his sleeve.
"Thank you, Muta," Haru sighed, rubbing her face against his large warm hand before he could take it back. "You and Dona make amazing parents."
His eyes melted with love, almost like he could understand her. He gave her an extra kiss around his sleeve before making a swift retreat with his wife.
Shortly after they left the room, the soothing scent had filled the room, subtle and comforting like the blankets tucked gently around her.
It wasn't long at all before the darkness claimed her as its own.
ooOoo
It was another wedding day. But it looked like the ceremony had already happened this time, because everyone in Baron's valley was sitting in the large courtyard enjoying a large feast. The sun had gone down by then, so the only light available came from glowing butterflies and small orbs that floated freely through the air. There appeared to be representatives from other seasons, but the only way she could tell was because some were dressed in darker hues and others were in looser clothing than the locals.
Haru was sitting at the head table by Baron's side, silently taking note of something heavy and metallic now clasped around her throat.
The tawny feline also had a collar around his neck, and although it seemed to be the norm for male cats to let their collars rest underneath their clothes, Baron's was proudly out in the open for all to see.
'Oh, now I get it. The collars are this world's equivalent of wedding rings.'
But still, it was a fairly boring feast. Occasional toasts were given, but the enthusiasm definitely wasn't there. For a celebration, there weren't really a whole lot of cheerful faces.
It was way too quiet, Haru decided. There was the ordinary noise of people talking and dishes clattering as they ate, but nothing else was really marking this as a special occasion.
Ah, yes. There was no music. No one was dancing. Did people even dance in this world? Haru couldn't remember seeing so much as one instrument since coming here.
Baron grabbed her hand, kissing it gently before helping her out of her seat. Once she was up, he swept the girl off her feet and announced something that produced a rather depressing amount of un-enthused cheering.
'Just what is wrong with everyone? I know some people don't approve of me being with Baron, but that many?'
Baron didn't seem to care, because he was already carrying her back to the castle. He wasn't quite running, but it was definitely a fast walk as he made the doors open with a look, jogged up the stairs, and to the wing Haru had almost explored that morning.
It wasn't until he opened the door at the far end that she realized what he had in mind.
He had carried her to a suite that was a bit bigger than the room she had been staying in, but there were little hints everywhere that these were Baron's personal chambers.
'Oh dear,' she thought in a panic.
Slamming the door behind them, Baron wasted no time getting her to the large bed. Once she was safely deposited, he lay down next to her, on his side so that she could be the center of his attention. Never taking his eyes off her, he took off his gloves and tossed them over one shoulder. Using both hands, he began very gently caressing her face and longer head fur.
Despite herself, Haru closed her eyes and sighed happily. It was a very soothing experience.
His hands trailed down to trace the collar around her neck. It wasn't as big as she had first thought, just heavy. What were those necklaces called back home that looked like giant golden bracelets? Torques? She was pretty sure her collar looked like some variant.
His large hands slid slightly upward to envelope her neck in their warmth.
Before they began squeezing.
Her eyes flew open to see Baron looking unbelievably triumphant. His grotesque smile increased as his grip did the same.
Haru tried to break free, clawing at his arms to make him let go, but nothing could make him budge. Less and less air was being given to her lungs… why was he dragging this out?
Why...