There's more than one way to skin a cat — so why not try some?
Feline Fiasco
I suffered through three-quarters of my classes and finally had lunch! Seriously, the high point of the day! I couldn't wait to freeload off someone when I finally got to the buffet. It's usually enough to give a cute look at a human, and they'll do what I want. This is certainly a very useful ability that I inherited from another ancestor.
I had already singled out a potential victim when Alice showed up and successfully stopped me from addressing the poor human.
"I'll treat you," he offered with a kind smile.
Free food is always delicious, no matter who pays for me.
"Sure," I nodded.
While Alice took action and bought my lunch, I waited a little further away. I observed Alice for a long time — his always tidy, combed hair, his broad shoulders, his back. He certainly stood out from the others, being tall; he had grown even taller than me by a few inches. He always wore unremarkable clothes, simple shirts, hoodies, and dark pants. He was constantly surrounded by a calm aura. I swear, he was like an impersonation of earthly peace and balance.
He had been following me since the first day of my second year. He was always around me – which didn't prove to be a challenge since he became my classmate. He just watched me quietly and smiled. Of course, I tried to avoid him at first, but Alice was a born foxhound of the worst breed, so I finally had to come to terms with the situation. Especially after Alex started to like him and deeply rejected my idea of how to eliminate the irritating presence following me.
Alice walked back to me with his usual slight smile and gave me two slices of pizza. After that, we found the others in the dining room of the canteen and sat down at the table. Usually, only those who really pay for the canteen can come in here, but no one had the guts to expose us.
Alice and I were the last ones; everyone else had already arrived. Jo and Coffee were sitting next to each other, the girl telling the vampire something insignificant with a kind smile. Coffee's lips curled up a little, but she soon took a sip of her coffee, so it seemed as if it was only a mirage. Vampires don't eat human food — they can't eat it; they can't digest it. Still, the vampire girl ate everything Jo made for her each time.
I once asked her what it tasted like — Coffee didn't answer. It wasn't that she didn't feel the taste of the food and couldn't tell. By no means. It was simply disgusting to a bloodsucker, but she would never have said that. Coffee quietly poked her fork into the next slice of pancake and lifted it to her lips. She chewed it, and swallowed it, all without a single grimace. Vampires are really weird creatures.
I sat down next to Alex, who had just devoured his fourth sandwich in a row, and I started eating my pizza too. I raised my eyebrows questioningly, but he shrugged. I'm sure he's smelled something fishy again; he just didn't want to tell me. No matter, I'll get it out of him anyway. What are best friends for, if not for that, right?
(...)
Since Alex refused to carry his butt home yesterday and didn't reveal the reason for his sudden depression, I decided to uncover the mystery myself. I listened a little and probed a tiny bit, as I used to — like humans, monsters drop quite a few valuable crumbs of information after the right amount of alcohol. Several customers whispered about the rioting and blood trafficking of wild vampires. And about yesterday's murder.
"Maybe he's responsible for it," one guy said to the other, "if you think about it, we haven't heard of him lately."
The other one nodded in agreement and would have just added something when I placed a mug of beer on the table with due force. The two drunken pals shuddered, then slowly raised their startled eyes at me.
There was a gentle smile on my lips, the sheer sight of which was enough to send shivers down their spines. "What were you talking about, boys?"
"Nothing!" one of them said quite anxiously.
"Thanks for the beer!" the other added quickly.
I left the two drunken fellows there. Hajnal was leaning against the wall next to the counter. I wasn't overly concerned with my boss's presence; I just walked past her and started wiping a few glasses.
"Don't scare away my customers," she growled quietly.
I grumbled back something incomprehensible under my breath and Hajnal sighed deeply.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, "Paying too much attention to the rumors about the 'demon' doesn't help the situation."
"What should I do differently then?" I inquired lightly, "Shall I let hunters and warped monsters pester the pub, all looking for this 'demon'?"
She grimaced.
"All I wanted to say is that you're just making them believe the rumors," she said.
"They think what they want," I shrugged, ending the conversation.
My boss sighed again and disappeared into her office.
No one knew too much about this alleged demon. The most information that could be gathered was a tale of a particularly bloodthirsty monster who wore the devil's mask. Why was his mask described that way? Well, it's supposed to send chills down your spine even if you catch just a glimpse of it. It is said that if you are lucky, he will vanish into the night in an instant like a dreadful mirage. If you are not... well there isn't really anyone who can tell what happens then. Bullshit, I say.
It's not as if I was particularly interested in the matter; I just happened to hear the address where some woman was killed. Most of the regulars, though they never openly mentioned it, shot me rather meaningful glances when discussing the murder. I figured if they were so keen on getting me to visit the place, I shouldn't disappoint them.
At the time, I had no clue that, aside from the scent of the woman's blood and the stench of the vampire, I'd also encounter Alex's scent lingering faintly in the narrow little street. I crouched down to examine a small dark spot on the cobblestone more closely. Scanning the surroundings, I found no other traces besides that dry bloodstain—someone had thoroughly cleaned up.
Relying on my nose, I tracked the faint scent of the cemetery, which no doubt belonged to a vampire. I could almost envision how this unique essence intertwined with Alex's scent. After just a few minutes of walking, I found myself next to a few dark containers. Even though someone — presumably Alex — had attempted to erase any evidence, the situation remained clear.
I nudged one container slightly apart from another and immediately spotted a few blood droplets on the side. These dried drops differed from human blood. The nectar that coursed through a vampire's veins was darker and denser than human blood, and each drop exuded something intoxicating, an irresistible aroma. Even in their dried state, there was something incredibly tempting about them.
I averted my gaze from the blood drop and examined the small pile of black ash at the base of the wall. The flames had etched faint, sooty patterns on the brick wall and lightly scorched the ground. Presumably, the vampire's body had been consumed by unimaginably intense flames after its demise.
I had no doubt that Alex was attempting to dispose of the body using this method – he had witnessed me employ such tactics several times before. However, Alex wasn't adept at concealing all the clues, so the partial shoe print I found not far from the vampire's ashes didn't surprise me.
I sighed deeply and eradicated the telltale mark. I didn't believe that the evidence I discovered was enough to track down Alex, but I had been trained to be cautious. I took in a lungful of the night air, and I knew that the wolf's scent would dissipate within a few hours. I felt there was no need for me to do more than this; to anyone who didn't know Alex, the subtle essence likely wouldn't even register.
On my walk home, I contemplated the extent of danger my favorite werewolf might have thrust himself into. My musings continued as I wandered around my apartment. I attempted to tidy up the place somewhat, at least enough to create the illusion that two regular people lived there. After all, typical humans don't have a five-inch-thick layer of fur on their carpets, especially when they don't own pets...
What can I say, Alex was late. Bloody late, it was four in the morning, and he was nowhere near to be found! What kind of trouble had that idiot gotten himself into again? I didn't underestimate him; he wasn't a feeble human who would drop dead at the first sign of trouble.
However, a lone wolf without a pack is vulnerable. Since werewolves weren't gifted with a charming smile like mine, he couldn't easily talk his way out of a dire situation if a group of monsters set their sights on him.
Alex once had a pack. His father was the alpha, so he was destined to follow in his footsteps – even after his parents' death. When he turned fourteen, some pack members decided that he had to prove his mettle, and he was expected to kill some humans.
Needless to say, Alex didn't go through with it. Something wasn't rigth in his head as he genuinely liked humans. Well, for me the only thing I like about humans is that I can make fun of them and take advantage of them. In any case, Alex liked them in the most unmonsterlike sense of the word — which I believe is the first sign of insanity, but since I don't want to smash his little soap bubble world of idealism, I usually keep that thought to myself.
I seem to have drifted off-topic again... So, I was narrating that sweet, innocent little Alex didn't meet the expectations in the end. That, however, wasn't the major problem. The real trouble began when a rogue wolf challenged him for the alpha title and peaked when the young wolf lost the duel.
Actually, the outcome wasn't all that surprising, but of course, as a leader, he couldn't avoid the challenge. Doing so would not only bring shame upon himself but upon the entire pack. When alphas lose challenges, the victor typically kills them as a sign of respect. In any case, Alex survived – perhaps due to his youth, but it's not important now. He went from being an alpha to a solitary omega in an instant, and that's when we decided to live together.
It was raining. I was just about to stand up — since I wouldn't be smarter sitting around waiting for my retarded roommate — and then torture him for all the stupid things he had done to me that day. Occasionally, Alex would spend the night with some woman when he succeeded in picking one up for the evening. But today he wasn't in the mood at all to suddenly fool around with a chick or two.
No, not at all. Instead, he was making a face all day as if he were on the verge of being accused of witchcraft and then burned at the stake, but at least hanged. So, no matter how fickle his mood could be, it was highly unlikely he'd suddenly develop a hankering for casual encounters. He must have gotten involved in something, and likely something exceedingly perilous if he hadn't uttered a single word to me. His stubbornness was a real nuisance.
Well, as I was about to finalize my thoughts – or more accurately, my mental grumbling – I heard the approaching footsteps, followed by the faint click of the lock and the barely audible creak of the door. I had been on the verge of standing up to start giving my best friend a piece of my mind when I abandoned the idea. Alex looked half-dead even before I could lay a finger on him. Despite the heavy rain, there were dark splotches on his clothes, and the metallic-sweet aroma of fresh vampire blood emanated from him. My sense of smell wasn't as acute as a werewolf's, but even an ordinary human would have smelled that...
"What the heck did you do?" I asked, not quite kindly, then my gaze slipped to the fleabag in his hands. "And what the fuck is in your hands?"
I sincerely hoped that my nose was wrong, and he was clutching the severed body part of some monster so fiercely. Seriously, I would have been happier if he had said that it was the severed phallus of another werewolf that he wanted to keep as a mascot. Anything would have been better than what he said next.
"Listen, Shay, don't get mad..." He always starts like this when I genuinely have a reason to be furious.
"Don't get mad?" I questioned in a calm voice, though I was really in the mood for screaming, "What would make me mad, dear Alex?"
He swallowed hard. He was aware of what it meant when I used such a kind and smooth tone: hell that could break loose at any time. The thing meowed. That was the moment when that particular thread was torn. I appeared in front of Alex in an instant, and his pupils dilated for a second in surprise. Although Alex himself is a monster, even he isn't always able to fully comprehend my speed.
"Hey, kitty," I said gently as I stroked the smeared fur.
When my fingers gripped the fur roughly, Alex didn't even have time to resist, the thing was already writhing in my hands.
"How cute," I added with a kind smile that burst into a diabolical grin the next moment. "Which window should I throw it out of?"
At that time, I felt a very strong urge to test whether cats really fall on their feet. It doesn't matter much when I throw it under the wheel of a truck, though.
"Shay!" Alex shouted.
In that one word, he had all his emotions in it: blame, outrage, and plea. If you get down on your knees, mate, maybe. I started with firm steps towards the window, but the fingers on my shoulder stopped me.
"At least listen to me first, dammit!"
The cat, meanwhile, meowed annoyingly and writhed in my hand as if I were already killing it.
Anyway, Alex's puppy eyes hit the target and I finally threw the furball towards him with a sloppy gesture. He reached for it with fright and to my utmost unhappiness, managed to catch the pest. He even gave me a nasty look, then reassuringly stroked the fur of that abomination.
"Now, start the explanation, before I throw that nuisance out with you."
Alex didn't appreciate the idea, but he didn't growl too much because he knew I would really take action if he couldn't bring up some convincing reasons against it. He brought my enemy into my house, goddamnit!
"I met an ignoble wandering around town yesterday," he explained quietly.
I didn't tell him that I actually knew about it, I let him just believe that there are things I don't know about. I just want to note that if there are any, just a few.
"I didn't want to talk about it, I took care of it easily and thought he must have been a nomad, but..."
He paused for a moment as he looked me in the eye to make sure I wasn't really going to push him out of the window the next moment. I showed no signs of fury, so he continued.
"I met another one today. He devoured an old lady; she was the owner of the kitty... I couldn't leave it there now that it didn't have a home anymore..."
"Why not? You know, you should have turned around and walked away without the cat! It's not that complicated. You don't have to play the hero right away! Cats have multiple owners at the same time, someone would have adopted it! But if not, and it couldn't survive on its own, it deserves nothing more than to return to the cycle of nature as a host for different worms."
Alex looked at me pretty nastily again, but my position changed little from that.
"What do you want to do with it now?" I asked but with that typical do-not-dare-to-say look.
Well, he said it.
"I'll keep it."
"Horseshit." That was all I thought of his idea.
I don't even know from where the idea came to his mind that I would welcome this thought on the subject. After all, he knew exactly how much I couldn't stand these parasites.
"It won't bother you; you won't even notice it's here," he tried to argue, but it didn't work on me at all.
"How the hell wouldn't I notice its presence when we share a room? If it can't become invisible or doesn't have a chameleon relative, it's physically impossible for me not to notice!"
"Only until we find an owner for it," he bargained.
"I have no doubt that we would be left holding the bag," I stated.
"But..."
"I'm tired now, and I think you also might want some rest, but I don't want to see that pester here tomorrow morning," I said.
Alex could hear the threat in my voice because he didn't object anymore. He only saw me bloody serious a few times, and Alex already knew that there was simply no chance against me at such times. I yawned, then sent another piercing look to the unfortunate animal, and fell with a small whop on my bed.
I was a little bothered by what Alex said. Even more bothered than by the presence of the cat. If stray vampires are snacking and rioting all around Pécs, why haven't the nobles moved yet? So far, I haven't given too much importance to the other two murders that happened last week — after all, humans come and go.
However, if the cases are all tied to bloodsuckers, there is indeed cause for concern. Nobles don't need a week to deal with some of their fucked-up fellas. Something's fishy here. I need to talk to Coffee tomorrow. It's no wonder that I had such a bad feeling about the whole vampire issue.