The Devil's Daughter

Chapter 8 - Panic Time

Chapter 8 - Mariana

Mariana panicked.  She silently ran over to a pile of boxes and hid behind it, hardly daring to breath. She couldn't shapeshift, Tom would notice the fire, and she couldn't jump out and yell 'surprise!' because (a) she would look like a freak and (b) she would have to explain how she got there and what she was, which could mean death. Tom called out the cat's name, but shrugged and turned away when she didn't appear. Mariana waited a few seconds before breathing a sigh of relief. That was close. She peeked over the top of the box making sure he wasn't there before turning herself back into 'Midnight'. She then walked out of the room, rubbing herself against Tom's leg, purring. He looked down and smiled.

"Heya, love," he said, gently picking Midnight up. "Where did you get to, huh?" Midnight just looked at him. He shrugged then carried her downstairs.

2 hours later

Midnight had settled down and was peacefully sleeping. Tom's doorbell rang, but she took no notice, only twitching her ear to hear what was going on.

"Hi, Tom!" A girl's voice. Midnight's ears flattened at the sound, but pricked up again when Tom sounded bored to death. It was clear this girl liked him, but he wasn't interested.

"Hi, Janet." Tom replied, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Janet didn't notice.

"I've done our Science homework!" Janet sounded really pleased with herself. Midnight got up, stretched, then went to sit next to Tom. Janet's small eyes wandered over to Midnight. "Oh, what a beautiful cat!" Janet squealed high-pitched. This made Tom wince. Janet reminded Midnight of a pig.

"Yep, found her before," Tom replied, obviously wishing this conversation was over. Janet ignored it.

"Can I hold her?" And before Tom could protest, Janet had bent down, arms out, moving further towards Midnight. Midnight thought quick. Her back arched, her tail straight up, fur standing up on end and teeth bared. Tom stood protectively in front of Midnight.

"I think you should leave now," Tom said, coldly. Janet looked irratated, and stalked out. Tom shut the door and turned to Midnight, smiling.

"You're a wonderfful cat, you know that?!" He said, picking Midnight up and cuddling her. When he let her down, she walked to the back door, pawing at it. Tom opened it and she raced out. Midnight jumped up onto the wall and out into the street. She ducked into an alleyway and, a few seconds later, Mariana walked out. She decided to get new clothes, so she walked lazily to the nearest shop, thinking humans are crap. On the way who would she bump into but Tom. He waved to her, recognising her immediately. She walked over to him, smiling.

"Hey! It's you!" Tom said, giving Mariana a hug. She hugged him back.

"Yeah, haha. What are you doing here?" She asked. He shrugged.

"I honestly don't know," he replied, laughing. He then looked in the direction where Mariana was looking. "You going in there?"

"Yep," Mariana said, "You wanna come with me?" Tom's face lit up.

"Sure!" He said as he followed Mariana into the shop. They came out half an hour later after Mariana had gotten into a fight with a member of staff. Tom and Mariana came out, laughing their heads off.

"My God!" Tom said inbetween laughs, "I didn't know you knew so many words!" Mariana had calmed down now.

"Yep. Did you see her face?" She said, smiling at the memory.

"Would you like to come for a drink?" Tom asked. Mariana nodded and followed him to his house.

Tom opened the door and let Mariana in first. Tom had a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Mariana asked.

"Well, just before I met you, I let my cat out and I'm pretty sure she went into the same alleyway you came out of." Mariana's heart was beating fast now.

"Just coincidence," she said shrugging.