IncuBUST

Nekomata

"Hold it like this," Nora said to the young zoo intern. "No, like this." She adjusted the baby cheetah in the intern's hand and the small beast squirmed and meowed indignantly. The intern raised the bottle of formula as if prepared to stab the creature with it and Nora hissed watching the cub edge away from the nipple.

"You're not doing it right," she exclaimed and the intern scoffed saying, "This is the only way to do it! The thing just won't hold still!" I stifled a laugh and Nora's big green eyes flashed to me. I quickly put on a serious face and she sighed before gesturing for me to come closer.

"I didn't mean to laugh," I said and she shook her head saying, "Never mind that. Do the thing." I raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "What thing?" She sighed dramatically and her pupils narrowed for a moment before expanding again and she replied, "You have a way with animals, Chase. Make it calm down."

"Me? You're a nekomata! Can't you communicate with it in cat-speak or something?" I asked and she frowned. I swear I could hear a low growl beginning in her chest.

"That's not a thing and you know it. Now lay your hands on that baby cheetah," she commanded and my face grew warm at the strange look the intern and the rest of the present zoo staff gave me. I sighed and took a step closer looking down at the writhing, yowling creature. I was only a tech, but if this intern was qualified to feed a baby cheetah then so was I.

"Do you mind?" I asked holding my hands out and the intern glanced at her supervisor who nodded. She handed the cat to me and I nearly squealed at how cute and fluffy it was. I held the small animal feeling the heat of its body and the rapid beat of its little heart. I smiled and held the beast close stroking its forehead with my fingertip.

It wriggled and meowed and then just meowed and then went still its eyes drooping closed. I held my hand out for the bottle of formula and the intern sighed before handing it to me. The kitten latched onto the nipple and began greedily sucking down the formula, its eyes still half-closed.

"You know you could have done this, Nora," I said quietly and Nora shrugged saying, "I like seeing you work your magic. A guy who's good with animals is a total turn-on." I rolled my eyes and she laughed continuing, "Plus, we've got others." She picked up another squirmy cheetah and another bottle of formula and set to work.

The little animal in my arms was just about finished with its bottle when my phone began buzzing in my pocket. I looked up at the intern and she took the animal from me. It remained calm for her and the fact made her smile. I pulled my phone out and looked at it seeing Sissy's name across the screen and the one unflattering photo of her in existence.

I glanced at Nora and the rest of the staff saying, "Sorry. I gotta take this." I walked out of the nursery and into the part of the zoo that was open to the public. It was a weekday so there weren't many people around just some parents with younger children and a few school groups.

I swiped right and held the phone up to my ear. Before I could get a word out Sissy's voice called, "Something's wrong." I sighed and said, "There's more whiskey in the pantry. The DVD player is on HDMI 4 and--"

"Octavia's gone!" she shouted cutting me off. I was quiet for a moment not understanding what she just said. I glanced around at the few zoo patrons and noticed a little girl with green skin and spines for hair. No one looked twice.

"Octavia's at school," I said finally and Sissy responded, "Taylor and I felt bad for stealing her bed last night so we were gonna bring her something nice for lunch, but when we got there and went to the front office to get visitor badges and ask where she was, they said some lady checked her out at like ten."

Once again, I was quiet. My heart was beating so fast I thought I might have been having a heart attack. I covered the receiver with my fingers and pulled the phone away from my face so I could gasp for breath without Sissy hearing. One human girl should not affect me so, but I was struck with stone-cold panic. I took a few more breaths hearing Sissy frantically calling my name from the other end and then I put the phone back to my ear.

"Who was the lady? What was her name?" I asked trying not to freak out.

"Ummm...ohh. I know I asked. Her name was Sharon or Charlene or--"

"Charlotte?" I said and she replied, "Yeah, that was it! The lady at the front desk said she was on the check-out list." I let out a breath. I didn't like that Charlotte had taken Octavia, but it could have been worse.

"Alright...alright. That's her aunt. The lady that was in the apartment last night," I said and she was quiet for a moment before asking, "What lady?" I sighed and muttered, "The older lady with the nice rack?"

"Oh yeah...well what should we do? Should we try and get her back?" she asked and I thought for a moment. I heard the door of the nursery open and I looked back to see Nora mouth, "Is everything okay?" I nodded slowly and then turned back to the conversation with Sissy.

"I don't...I don't know, Sis. What do you think we should do?" I asked and I heard her take a deep breath. Before she could reply there was a beep.

"What was that?"

"A text from Octavia," Sissy said and there was a moment of silence then a sigh of relief.

"She says she's okay and not to worry," she continued and I frowned asking, "Why didn't she text me?"

"I just asked and she said she didn't want to interrupt you at work," she responded.

"Aww," I murmured and she scoffed saying, "She told me to call you and tell you that her aunt has the will and wants to meet." She sounded confused.

"When?" I asked and Sissy took a deep breath before replying, "Now."