Dark Lady, Bring My Nightmares!

Thursday's Pet

I smell rancid meat and I immediately sneeze. The scent can only mean one thing.

“They have a dog,” I say to my sister as we pause at the front gate of the large yard.

“So?” her amber eyes see only the large, white house with the light blue door and trim. I move closer to her, shivering despite my intent to remain stoically strong…at least outwardly.

“Maybe we should find another place,” I mutter.

“This house is perfect! I have been watching them for a week. The dog is merely a formality, annoyance, nothing more.” She moves closer to the house, aiming for the front steps. The sun beats down on us, sending its angry rays on our backs, warming us intensely.

I cringe. I remember all too well how easily my sister dealt with ‘annoyances’.

The front door opens and a little girl dressed in a pink dress, her blonde hair tied in curly pigtails with pink ribbons, her bold blue eyes falling upon us and widening slightly in pleasure.

“Oh!” She cries as she reaches for my sister, gathering her up in her youthful arms. “Are you lost? Are you…hmmm?” Her loving gaze falls upon me at last and I feel hope swell within me. Maybe, just maybe, everything will work out this time. “Hello, kitty!” she says and I move forward slowly, my tail flicking from side to side.

“Mommy! Can I keep them?”

***

I actually find the dog amusing. He’s only a year old and is just curious about us felines, not viscous. My sister, though, despises the dog. She’s always hurting him with her claws, making him yelp in pain if he journeys too near to her. Therefore, he has learned to stay far away from her but he and I get along just fine.

I find that Thursday, that’s the little girl’s name, is quite lovable. I believe that we have found a home at last.

“I don’t agree,” Pare hisses to me and I cease licking my paws.

“You don’t agree about what?” I ask as I look over at her.

“Listen to my words, Reka!” She growls and I sit up. Her gray fur is standing up due to her fury, her amber eyes dancing. “I don’t believe this is home. Not yet…”

“No…”

“I will kill the beast if you are too weak to do so!” She snarls. I have never assisted Pare in her killing of dogs, even when the dogs have been mean and harsh to us both. Normally, though, I would cower and allow her to have her way but I have grown to love Buddy.

“You will not harm him, Pare!”

“So! You have befriended our foe! I will eliminate him this very day!” Pare stands and expands her claws. Thursday and her family are away until tomorrow morning, from the snippets of conversation I caught earlier this morning. Pare has the time to do what she says. I hear a low growl and I look away from my sister. Buddy stands before the window upon which sill we currently sit, his back arched, his native tongue sending a warning I cannot decipher.

“Die!” Pare screams as she takes to the air, claws before her. Buddy catches her in his mouth and breaks her neck. I hear the gurgling snap, that is how I know she is dead. It happened so fast, I don’t think Pare even knew what was happening until it was done. Buddy drops her limp, lifeless body to the cold tile, looks at me with his soft brown eyes before walking away. I lay down in the sunbeams once more and stare at Pare’s body until the sun sets.

***

“How many is that?” I ask as I watch Pare struggle to regain use of her limbs.

“Seven,” she growls.

“Ah, yes,” I say, purring slightly. “How do you feel?”

“How do you think I feel, Reka? I just died!”

“It took you a little longer to come back this time,” I say as I sit upon the back of the sofa and watch my sister quiver. “I guess the closer you get to nine, the harder it is, eh?”

“Don’t be so smug! You do nothing at all to help! That is why you are still on your original life.” She snaps as she jumps up onto the sofa like a drugged beast.

“I look both ways before crossing the street, yes,” I say. “I choose to leave cords alone, am quite content to hide from mean dogs and play with nice ones, and I know better than to play in the fish tank.”

“Where did your little friend go?” Pare hisses and I shake my head.

“You should leave Buddy alone. Consider this a warning, sister, for I don’t think you shall ever kill Thursday’s dog.”

“Care to wager a fish on that, Reka?” Pare purrs.

I flick my tail and stalk away, leaving her to regain control of her body all alone.

***

I tilt my head and stare at Pare, lying behind the couch, her belly ripped open. The smell is horrid but I know that Thursday and her family won’t notice. It’s too subtle of a smell for humans as of yet. Only animals sense death this fresh.

“Eight,” I sigh as I watch her stomach slowly begin to knit itself back together. “Surely she should just leave well enough alone and let Buddy remain where he belongs.”

Pare had managed to lure the beagle into her waiting trap behind the couch. I watched from above as she flew at him, giving him some large scratches on his snout. Then, he lunged at her, his teeth tearing into her belly with a fury that startled me. When he was done, he looked at me and trotted away.

Pare rises to her feet, shaking and breathing heavily. She wanders away from me without a word.

“Eight, sister dear!” I call after her, as sweet as can be. “You are on your ninth life…best beware!”

***

Pare managed to slice Buddy awfully today. She didn’t try to kill him, she just allowed him close enough to swipe him over the eye. He was bleeding a lot when Thursday’s mom found him, whimpering. I sat a few feet away, Pare preened on the piano. I knew, from the look of Thursday’s mom’s angry glare that Pare and I were about to leave the house for good.

I would miss the sweet little girl, the soft beds and good food but I think I would miss Buddy the most. Since he is a dog and I am a cat, there is no way I can tell him so.

I sit and watch him as the family has a meeting. I can tell that the cats have overstayed their welcome.

***

Buddy won’t leave my side. The dad grabbed hold of Pare this morning and tossed her outside. I heard the squeal of brakes and knew, without looking outside, that she had used up her final life in an attempt to dash across the street. She never had any patience.

Buddy wouldn’t let them throw me out though and now they seemed to have accepted this fact. Buddy and I will get along fine, although this morning I ate a poisoned mouse and lost a life, at last. I will stay away from already dead rodents from now on.

It was definitely an interesting feeling to be dead. For the first life, you are dead for an hour or so before you come back. It is like being asleep for a long, long time and your body doesn’t wake up when you do. That’s why Pare stumbled around so much after coming back.

Anyway, being on life number two isn’t that alarming. I will continue to live as I have and with Buddy at my side, I am bound to be protected more so than I ever was with Pare. But, sisters stick together.

Until death do us part…

Nine times!