[///ON HOLD///] Animal House (Rendezvous #2)

Chapter 6

“Nora!”

Nora twitched and cracked her eyes open. The sun hadn’t even risen yet and someone was already calling her name. She decided to ignore it and closed her eyes once more.

“Nora!”

Who was that? It sounded like Dane. And accompanying his shouts were the barks and yelps of Archer and Raccoon.

“Nora! Get down here!”

She leaned up on her shoulder and glanced at Denora’s crib. Luckily, her baby slept soundly through all of her uncle’s yelling and her pets’ yipping.

“Nora! There’s a freaking demon cat in your clinic!”

“It’s a pet clinic, what’d you expect?” she murmured before she snuggled deeper into her bed.

“It trashed the place! Your equipment’s all over the floor!”

Nora immediately slid out of bed and quickly—but also quietly—made her way out of her bedroom and down to ground level. She turned the corner of the staircase and saw Dane standing in front of the reception desk, using it as cover for whatever he was looking at.

When he spotted her, he pointed over the desk.

“There!”

Nora walked through the door that led to the back of the clinic and saw that Ace and Mrs. Mills were there, standing cautiously. At their feet were Archer and Raccoon as well, dancing in excitement and barking wildly.

All of them surrounded a cat which had jumped onto the counters, where Nora had some towels and tissue. They were shredded to bits, but what Nora cared about was the dark, sleek, and beautiful cat that angrily hissed at those who had surrounded him.

“Get back!” Nora immediately shouted over the barking of her dog and fox. “Archer! Raccoon! Shush! Sit!”

They obeyed and sat down on their haunches. Ace and Mrs. Mills stood back as well as Nora slowly approached the feline. He continued to stand with his backbone arched up as he bared his fangs in a hiss.

“It’s okay beautiful,” Nora breathed. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Like she expected, the cat didn’t relax at all. But Nora didn’t give up and took another slow step towards him. His hair stood on end and hissed at her even more. At Nora’s feet, Archer and Raccoon were getting fidgety.

“It’s okay,” she repeated. “I won’t hurt you. You’re safe with me.” The cat crouched and Nora knew what to expect next. So she quickly said to those behind her, “Don’t shout.”

Right after she finished, the feline jumped off the counter and Nora raised her arm to shield her face. Mrs. Mills let out a squeak, but she listened to Nora’s earlier words and immediately covered her mouth.

The cat’s claws scratched against Nora’s arm before he slid off and landed on the floor, albeit gracefully. He stared up at Nora as she clenched her teeth from crying out. The claws hurt, but Nora knew he was simply frightened.

As the cat continued to observe Nora cautiously, she lowered herself and got on her knees. He twitched back, but didn’t run off.

“It’s okay,” she repeated again. “See? I won’t hurt you.”

He stared at her with sharp eyes, and Nora said, “Ace. Go grab some cat food from the inventory.”

Her brother immediately went to do as she asked as Nora continued to try and soothe the cat. He wasn’t as tense since he saw Nora remain calm even after his attack, but his guard was still up.