Domovoy

Chapter 1

Amelia was found in a shed at just a few days old. It was an old wooden building filled with rusted tools and heavy machinery. A thunderstorm hit that week causing the shed to flood. Her and her siblings sought safety on top of an old couch cushion that was floating around inside. Isaac and Teagan found the litter after they saw Amelia's mom screaming for help outside the shed door. They fell in love with the kittens and decided that they would keep one before delivering them to the local cat hoarder who took in strays. Isaac and Teagan didn't know which kitten to take considering they all looked the same. So they decided to choose whichever one purred first. When Amelia first purred it sounded like an airplane humming as it ascended into the air. They decided to name her Amelia after the famous pilot Amelia Earhart.

Teagan and Isaac bought their first house around the time that Amelia was three years old. They had stayed in a small apartment for her entire life so she was absolutely terrified of moving into a new home this big. There was a nook in the bathroom of the house that she hid in for a week straight until she got the courage to crawl out. Isaac was worried about her but Teagan knew that she was just in shock from the sudden change in environment.

There was something off about the house. Amelia could feel this as soon as she entered the door and was released from her cat carrier. She couldn't describe what it was, she just felt as though someone, or something, was already living there.
After a week of pure fear and anxiety, Amelia decided that it was safe to come out. So she crawled out of the nook and started exploring her new home. It was a 1980s split house with two flights of stairs. She had never seen stairs before so this was a foreign concept to her. She spent weeks practicing leaping from one staircase to the other. Trying to see how far she could soar before missing a step. She became used to the new house after a few months passed and that foreboding feeling that she first felt was starting to dwindle.

Isaac was six foot tall, stocky, but as gentle as they come. He loved Amelia and would let her get away with just about anything. Teagan was a slender woman who was much shorter than Isaac. She had long curly red hair that she often wrapped up in a loose ponytail directly on top of her head. Amelia loved to swat at Teagan's ponytail every time she bent over to grab something off the floor. Teagan wasn't as forgiving as Isaac so Amelia often found herself being scolded and having to be more obedient when Teagan was around.

It wasn't until about six months of living in the house before everyone started to notice that things were going missing. Amelia would hear Isaac and Teagan bickering about who left what and where. They would accuse each other of lying and get frustrated about the fact that the stuff was constantly being misplaced. They weren't by any means poor, but the missing items were starting to rack up and cost them more than what they were comfortable paying for.

Amelia started to make a game of it. When an item would go missing she would search around the house looking to find it. She wasn't sure if the items would actually reappear, but she wanted to at least try in the off chance that they did. This paid off because she had found Isaacs fidget toy. It was a jelly worm with tiny hair like pieces that sprouted out as if the worm was constantly surprised. She found the fidget toy while hunting cockroaches in the crawl space earlier that morning. The crawl space was indoors and could be accessed by a small, hobbit sized door in the basement. The previous owner was a handyman so he insulated the area and added carpet so that it was a clean space that could be used for storage. He did a great job of doctoring the space up, but there were still cracks in the foundation just big enough to let in unwanted guests.

After Amelia played around with the toy, pulling each little hair with her teeth and stretching it back and forth between her paws, she decided to bring it back to Isaac. She was excited to show him that she found the fidget toy, but Teagan found her first.

"What do you have in your mouth Amelia? Spit it out!" Teagan shouted. "I knew you were the one stealing everything!"

Amelia stood still waiting to be punished with the spray bottle. The fidget toy dangled from her mouth as Teagan continued to shout.

"I'm going to start making a list of everything that goes missing so that I can keep tabs on what you're stealing. For every item lost, one treat will be taken away!"

Amelia was confused as to why she was being punished. She had been enjoying the challenge of searching for the items and was proud of herself for finally finding one. She wanted to surprise Isaac and deliver it to him while he was working in his office.
Amelia dropped the fidget toy and slowly backed away so Teagan could pick it up. Even though she had been defeated she still felt as though the risk was worth the reward. She promised herself that the next time she found something she would wait until Teagan was at work and cautiously deliver it to Isaac in his office after she was finished playing so he could give her the attention she deserved for being so good.

That night Amelia laid in her window hammock and watched as the bats flew around the willow tree in the front yard. She laid flat on her back and used her foot to gently push the glass allowing her hammock to swing back and forth.

Suddenly she heard a sound running across the kitchen.
Pit pat - pit pat...
Pat - pat - pit pit

Amelia quietly rolled out of the hammock and crept up the stairs that led to the kitchen.
...pit pat - pit pat

She peeped around the corner and saw the silhouette of something small standing on four feet underneath the refrigerator.

    "Phew," she thought to herself. "It's just a lizard. It must have snuck inside the house through the crawl space and got lost trying to find its way out."
Amelia crept back down the stairs and returned to her hammock so she could stare outside and enjoy the night sky. She continued to watch the bats fluttering around, letting out a tiny chatter every once in a while.