What Walks Among Us (book one)

Fleas, And Other Kinds Of Pests

After breakfast Beck and Chester had to go out to do some hunting I guess. All they said really was that they were bringing the grub, and wouldn't be back until nightfall at the earliest. It worried me a little bit, what if one of them got hurt? They wouldn't have Sam or Dr. Venson there to help them out and they had both already said they weren't very knowledgeable with medical skills.

Cody was in the kitchen currently, doing dishes or something, and Sam had left me with Chip and the remote telling me not to get off the couch unless Cody was carrying me. I had asked him with what I thought was a trick question, how I would get to the bathroom, and Cody had spoken up for him.

"I'll carry you," he said, bluntly as if I didn't quite understand and needed it to be dumbed down.

I saw a hint of mischief in his eyes though so I knew he wasn't totally being a butthead.

That, is how I ended up still in my sleep clothes, on the couch, with Chip sleeping in my lap while I petted her fur and watched Fast and the Furious, when Mabel came downstairs. I looked around and up at the clock on the wall above the kitchen door frame. It was nearly one in the afternoon and she looked like she had just rolled out of bed.

She was in a pair of black leggings and a pink tanktop, while her hair was up in a messy bun looking as if it hadn't been brushed in a good three days, and I was low balling.

When her eyes landed on Chip and I she gave a little sneer, "you brought the cat?"

I nodded quietly and pulled Chip closer to me, my knee didn't hurt as much as it did yesterday, and I wasn't sure if that was due to the fact that Sam had cleaned and bandaged it, or the fact that he had also given me two different pills and left the rest with Cody to be given to me when I needed them. I didn't know what they were but they swore that they were to help me, and I was really trying this whole trust thing.

"Why? You're probably just going to starve it, and it's going to die and then you'll just be friendless," she folded her arms and sat on one of the chairs, the one furthest away from my spot on the couch.

I frowned and looked down at Chip, "I would never starve her."

Mabel gave a snort, "Yeah, you would. You're irresponsible, you can barely look after yourself, let alone a cat, who probably is drowning in fleas."

Chip opened her pretty eyes and looked up at me as if she had heard the flea  comment, "No," I said, my voice coming out strong, "she doesn't, but if you're finding fleas on your person, and your clothing, I would recommend a nice hot shower with lots of soap."

I don't know where that came from, but it felt good to stand up for something, even if it was just Chip's honor. I could see in Mabel's eyes that she was furious, her mouth popped open to deliver a nasty retort no doubt, but she stopped mid breath as she looked at something beyond me.

I turned around as Cody came up to the couch, he was looking at us both with that gloomsday expression of his, and he held two plates in his hand, I figured it was lunch but I didn't move in case it wasn't. I couldn't see what was on the plates because while I was sitting and he was standing, the only thing I saw was the bottom of the plate, and it didn't give me any hints.

Mabel perked up and threw on a sweet smile, "Is that lunch for us, Cody?" she asked, practically purring.

I frowned, and wondered what her and Cody had done at the banquet last night to make her so comfortable around him, then I remembered it wasn't my place to ask. It wasn't my business what they did in their spare time, or at any time really. Cody looked at Mabel for a second, before tilting his head.

"It's lunch," he said.

I wondered why there were only two plates in his hand but remembered he probably didn't know Mabel was downstairs when he had made the plates. He handed me one of the plates and picked up Chip before she could try and commandeer one of my pieces of meat from my stroganoff. It didn't look like it had all the ingredients traditional stroganoff had, but it tasted good anyways.

Mabel licked her lips and sat forwards so that she could eat her food while it sat on the coffee table, she watched as Cody lifted up Chip and she wrinkled her nose, "You should put it outside, that's where animals belong," she said, her eyes flickering to me and looking me up and down.

I got the message loud and clear, and I hate to admit it but it stung a little. Mabel thought of me no more than an animal who should be treated poorly, and who should sleep outside with the bugs.

I frowned and looked up at Cody. If he put Chip outside I was going to go outside two. He paused and looked at Mabel before putting a plate in front of her and putting Chip on the table. The plate, to Mabel's horror, held cat food from a jar, and a little piece of smoked salmon, with a little tupperware of warm milk.

Chip dove right in, and if I was a cat, I probably would have too.

Mabel sat back in disgust and I swear I saw Cody smirk, "Come on Mabel, let's get you some food," he said, already turned away and headed back into the kitchen.

Mabel quickly recovered, "Can't you just bring it to me?" her voice was covered in sticky sweet sugar.

"You have legs, use 'em," Cody said.

Mabel looked at me, ready to protest and then she glared at my hurt leg, as she walked past me she knocked into my knee and I was happy to find that it didn't hurt more than a normal knee knocking would hurt. Yep, I thought as Mabel stomped into the kitchen, one was definitely a painkiller.

For the most part, the rest of the day went by pretty slowly, it wasn't until around sixish that Sam came back. It was weird to be able to look over and see the clock again, the boys even had a calendar and according to it, it was near the end of October.

Sam came in through the back door, I guess, because I heard him and Cody talking back there. I had yet to go around and explore the back of the downstairs, so I couldn't pinpoint where they were. Chip was asleep again, on my leg, and I was starting the fourth Fast and the Furious- Cody had been watching with me for the most part, but went in to make dinner a few minutes ago.

I didn't want to pause the movie in case they heard the tv stop and assumed that I was listening in on their conversation- which I was but I didn't want them to actually know I was. I settled for turning it down a little bit as I stroked Chip's fur. She purred in her sleep and I smiled.

".. go badly?" that was Cody, I'm guessing.

"Of course, if anything bad happens we'll just have to put them in cages until we can deal with the problem," Sam replied, nonchalantly.

I sucked in a breathe, were they talking about Mabel and I? Did they think that if we didn't cooperate and become their sex slaves willingly that they could just cage us up like some sort of animals? I could feel my temper rising, the same temper that had sprung up on me every time I had locked myself in my room to clean up whatever punishment my step mother had bestowed upon me. Though as I recall the anger was never towards her, it was always at myself for not doing anything to stand up for myself.

This time, I was angry at them. It took me a few moments to realize it was because I had come to expect them to be nice people. The way they had carried me around and taken me to the dr. The way that Chester seemed to see more than I would like him to see and the way Sam and Beck included me in on the teasings. Even Cody had done something that I had never expected. He had made me lunch and told off my sister even if it was a small thing.

I didn't expect anything close to caring from my stepmother, but these boys had tricked me into thinking I could lean on them.

I balled up my fists and let out a slow breath, trying to rationalize this. There was nothing, no other signs that they had been preparing me to be a sex slave.

I bit my inner cheek, making myself not assume anything. They weren't bad people, and nothing they had done so far would let me think otherwise. It was unfair of me to judge them based off of a conversation I had tried to listen in on, without their knowledge. Heck I didn't even get the full conversation.

I sat back in my nest of blankets and repeatedly told myself to stop trying to judge them just because I hadn't known them very long.

My attention snapped towards the kitchen as Sam walked in with what I could only describe as monster of a wolf. It had grey and white fur with some black fur sprinkled in, and light blue eyes. He stared at me for a second before sniffing the air.

"S-sam, what is th-that?" I stuttered.