Puppylove

Chapter 2

Vampires do not dream – that was one of the many minor downsides to the curse Alejandro had come to name in his time. He had gained a newfound appreciation for benign things – aging, dreaming, eating delicious food. Even exercising looked like so much fun to him when others did it these days. If only he had taken his time to experience at least some of those things before his first demise. If only. Although many humans wished to live like so, being forever 20 years old does have its downsides. You never fully mature; that's one of them.

Alejandro felt hands gripping his shoulders tightly. Whoever they belonged to was shaking him furiously.

"Wake up," a voice whispered, "Please, it's important."

Alejandro's eyes flew open and he sat up instinctively. The panicking redhead sitting next to him on the bed leaned back in surprise.

"Wha-" Alejandro opened his mouth to speak, but Tilly put her hand over his mouth to hush him. Her eyes whipped to the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. From the gap, Alejandro could see a key on the lock.

"Speak quiet," Tilly's voice was extremely hushed, Alejandro strained to hear her properly.

"Why?" he mouthed.

"The dogs might hear," she hurriedly explained, her gaze restlessly moving from him to the door.

"Dogs?"

"The Brees came. I said I would go to my room and came to wake you up. I was scared they would hurt you." She was now trembling slightly.

"How did you even get in?" Alejandro asked, still half asleep.

"I had a key. I hid it from dad in case they came."

A creek of the stairs had her attention at the door again. It sounded like it came from the lower side of the landing.

"I will talk to them." Alejandro went to get up.

"There are so many!" Tilly whispered, and tried to keep him from doing so. "I counted five."

"Just five?" Alejandro smiled. "I have seen a hundred angry people try to get to me and fail all at once." He patted her shoulder and stood. Tilly got up as well and went to walk ahead of him. In the case of a dog jumping to grab him, he supposed it would be safer for her if he walked ahead, but then again, he sensed no anger in the air. Only fear, from Tilly, and copious amounts of confusion wafting from downstairs. As they rounded the corner onto the landing, the scraping of dog's nails on the wood floor sounded as a red furry figure skittered into the hall to hide. As he came lower and lower, Alejandro could make out a figure standing at the open front door. It wasn't a dog – it was too big and the fur was too long, too coarse. It was the size of a wolf, but with the colour of a fox, and it had legs like a deer. The legs were long; so long that if the creature stood on two legs it would easily reach the ceiling. The shoulder of it reached past his hip. Even though Alejandro wasn't the tallest man, he knew this creature looked big for the average man as well. It wasn't a wolf either, as its face was too fox-like.

The creature guarding the door perked up as it spotted him. As Alejandro stepped on the ground floor, he noticed the smaller creature in the hallway. It was almost half the size of the one at the door, and seemed a lot younger. The small one wagged its tail and tilted its head, but then looked toward the sofa and its ears pressed back. Then he spotted the one on the sofa. It was spread all across the two seats of it like it owned the place. Its eyes went from the small one to Alejandro, with the cold, hard look in them not changing at all. The one at the door seemed the biggest by far, but this one was not small either. None of them were.

The chatter that had been constantly streaming from the kitchen finally registered in Alejandrio's mind. He and Tilly stepped into the kitchen, where a curious scene awaited them. On the floor was another red creature, the same size as the one on the sofa. Its eyes were glued to Mr Mazie, who sat calmly at the round dining table. He had poured himself another cup of coffee, and on the table was Tilly's mug, half empty. The person who captured Alejandro's attention, however, stood in the middle of the kitchen, talking with Mr Mazie. She was tall, strong looking, and strangely handsome for a female. Pointy ears poked from under her raven black hair, which was as thick and well-combed as her masculinely beautiful eyebrows. Her dark brown eyes tracked to Alejandro the moment he stepped into the room. Her expression was cold, but not in a callous way. Rather, she seemed calculated – even professional.