Dead by Midnight

NINE

   "Skipper, come here!"

Kit glances over his shoulder, looking out to his open door to the porch where his new pet was running around.

Skipper, that ratty dog he met not too long ago, was now wearing a new collar and violently tossed his toy around his mouth. Skipper paused though, hearing his owner call him and dashed back inside of the house. His claws tapped against the wooden floor as he dropped the toy, showing sharp canines as a snarl rang throughout the living room.

Kit smiled down at him rather fondly. Despite having so much energy to run up to him, nearly clawing up his leg, he softly chided the dog and gave Skipper a pat on the head.

"It's time to eat. Your portion is a little bigger today. I hope you can eat all of it."

Kit watched him scurry off to the kitchen area immediately where a good portion of meat was for Skipper. As his pet ate, Kit quietly worked on his computer on the couch.

There's quite a bit of emails to go through. Usually, he gets through them pretty fast, but there were a few that he had to sigh over and delete. He keeps getting a lot of these emails lately that it's been bothering him more than he'd like to admit.

After a while of working, Kit notices Skipper running out of the house once more with a toy in his mouth yet again, probably going out to the yard to play. He isn't too worried about the dog running off and never appearing again.

For the first few days, he let Skipper roam the property and the house. There were times when the dog would disappear into the trees and wouldn't be seen again for a few hours, but when it hit nighttime, Skipper always came back with a dead animal in his mouth. At those times, it felt like Kit was raising a cat, but no.

Sure, Skipper might look a little strange and was probably a bit more violent than the cute city dogs he knew, but how could he judge Skipper? After all, Skipper still looked cute to him.

Though he did worry about the animals outside. Due to Skipper's presence, there wasn't a lot since Skipper would scare them off. The deer, however, still showed up here and there. They had quite a number as well, so Kit wasn't too surprised to see around four or five moving around the house.

He just hopes Skipper wouldn't start chasing after the rabbits. It's bad enough Skipper kept killing small animals like squirrels, Kit doesn't need it happening again. Especially in this property. He might have to teach him how to restrain himself.

Before Kit could go out and fetch Skipper from wandering away, his phone buzzed. Kit sighed, picking it up and sitting back down on the couch.

"Hello?"

"Christian."

Kit stilled for just a second, not expecting his uncle to be the one calling. He and his uncle are close enough to be friendly, but his uncle hardly ever calls. He rarely even talks to his own family members and was basically a shut-in, so it's considered a miracle to even see him visit someone.

Kit lights up though. "Uncle Geoffrey-"

"Send money."

He hears his uncle rasp through the phone, already in a bad mood. Kit could practically imagine Uncle Geoffrey rubbing at his temples with bloodshot eyes and dark bags.

Kit still smiles. "Of course. How much?"

"Enough."

How vague. Kit doesn't really know just how much his uncle wants, but it's not the first time he's demanded for money. Still, it's not so much of a bother and Kit readily agrees. He'll probably send in a little more this time. He's got quite a bit saved up from the past year.