Music Recommendation: He'll be on You- Nathan Barr

Eve and Eugene stared at the black cat with shock, their hanging jaws open. The cat raised its paw again, licking it before dropping down as if it hadn't spoken a moment ago.

"Miss Eve, did you hear it?" Eugene whispered as he squinted.

Eve nodded, "I thought I was the only one."

Eugene walked closer to the black cat, which looked unbothered and questioned, "Hello, who are you?"

The cat hissed at him, glaring at the question imposed and demanding, "How dare you to question the great me without introducing yourself. All these--"

"Oh my God, Miss Eve! We have a cat that talks!" Eugene exclaimed, quickly walking backwards as a talking cat wasn't common and was considered a bad omen associated with witches. And everyone in the land knew witches only brought misfortunes.

Eve stared at the black cat, her eyebrows furrowed, and she questioned the cat, "How are you able to talk? Cats are not meant to speak the way we do."

The cat muttered something under its breath. Eve could only catch a few words, "... believe that the gracious me has fallen to speak to the lowly beings... time when I was great... one day will..." It had a scratchy voice, and by the sound of it, it seemed like it was a male cat.

Eugene leaned to Eve and whispered, "Miss Eve, I think we should throw this cat out of the house."

The cat glared at the human and snapped, "Throw I will, but you." And the black cat suddenly jumped from where it was sitting, right on Eugene's chest. This startled the man, and tried to get the cat off of him because he felt the cat's claw.

"AHH!" Eugene shouted, feeling the claws digging and Eve quickly caught the cat's scruff that flailed its paws and claws.

"Let me at him!" The cat shouted back with a growl and meow, "Put me down, you fish!"

Hearing this, Eve quickly let go of the cat, and the cat quickly dusted the front of its body as if it had dirtied itself. Even Eugene, who was patting his chest, turned his gaze on the black cat, which turned back to being unbothered. It muttered in angst, "I cannot believe what life has come to!"

h ltt nd mt ulr nvl t lghtnvlubm

"How do you--What do you want?" Eve asked the cat, who stopped puffing its chest with its paw.

"Turn me," said the black cat, and both Eve and Eugene stared at it. "Quick now!" It said with an air of superiority and arrogance, "I don't have all the time in the world as it has been wasted by walking around here. Turn me," it impatiently waited for Eve to move her hand.

At the same time, Eugene asked, "Are you the one who has been trampling on the plants and flowers all these years?"

The black cat huffed, "Where do you expect I would sleep? They were going to die some day," it turned to look in the opposite direction, as if something had stolen its attention for a second, before it turned back to look at Eve. "Now turn me into a vampire so that I can be on my way!" the cat said as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

This cat was a vampire? Or was this talking cat hopeful of turning into a vampire? In either of the cases, Eve couldn't turn the cat into anything.

"You know about me?" Eve asked in a low voice, and thankfully every townsfolk had returned to their homes, including their neighbour.

The cat harrumphed and then jumped on the edge of the platform. It said, "I have been around for a long time, and watching you from afar, Genevieve. Or Eve as you prefer. I was around when your mother was alive. I was there when you went to Hollow Valley, helping you show the way to the carriage so that you wouldn't miss it."

Eve stared at the black cat, and it stared right back at her. She never saw the cat in Hollow Valley... but showed the way. Her eyebrows furrowed before it widened, "You were the one who dragged my lunch box!"

"Did you expect it to be a ghost?" The cat huffed, "I have been helping you, and now would like you to return the favour. You hold the same aura as that wretched woman, who cursed me many years ago," it hissed in annoyance. "I lost you before, and it took a while before I found you here."

"Aura?" Eve questioned the cat.

"You didn't have it the last time I checked, but now... there's a different scent. You turned that vampire into a bat. I knew I had a good sense of smell. Since I turned into this small useless self, I can pick the best and the worst. It was only yesterday one of the woman here thought she could throw a dead rat on me, to think I would eat something so low," the cat got carried away with the memory and continued,

"There was a time when I was worshipped, and now I get disgusting rats. Spiteful humans, I will drain you all dry!" It snickered, before clearing its throat.

It was talking about Vincent...

She said, "You haven't told who you are."

h ltt nd mt ulr nvl t lghtnvlubm

"I am Timotei Velkan, son of Marius Velkan. A pureblood vampire from birth who was bound to greatness one couldn't imagine. Born four hundred years ago and turned into this thing after my twenty-seventh birthday. But the damn witch turned me into a cat! This is my eighth life--"

"How did you die seven times?" Eugene asked, and the cat glared.

"Do not interrupt me, you lowly human!" The cat named Timotei snapped at Eugene.

"Why did the witch turn you into a cat?" Eve questioned, and the cat softened on Eve's words only because it had favours to gain from her.

"I wanted to drink her blood. She tricked me and turned my handsome self into such a small being. But then if you look at all the cats, I am the one that is more majestic than the others," it raised its head while closing its eyes, giving the lower beings to admire his appearance, when in truth he was only a small cat.

Eugene whispered to Eve again, "Don't cats live only for ten fifteen years?" That was true, thought Eve in her mind.

"I am not a cat, but a vampire who has a longer life span," the cat hissed at Eugene. And as if remembering its hardship, it said to Eve in sorrow, "If you were to hear how I died, you would cry. Not just you, but even I cry with the pathetic ways I was killed. Attacked in an unfair way, or my great self would have escaped from it. One time I was sat upon, do you know how it feels? Then I was squeezed by a child. A human!" He then continued, "Twice in fire. Once, torturously by another cat, and then a dog, then a carriage, under the carriage. How dare they! Then--"

Eve stopped the cat from talking more and said, "I cannot turn you back."

"Of course, you can. The bat--"

"It isn't me. He does that himself," Eve cleared the air, and the cat stared at her.

Suddenly a snarling sound came from behind the bush, and everyone turned to look at the fence. The black cat hissed, "We will discuss this later!" And it quickly pranced away from there, and not a second later, another bigger cat followed him at speed.

The cat's appearance and temporary exit had left Eve and Eugene confused. Eve didn't know why the cat had related her to the woman's aura when she was only a mermaid working on advancing her abilities.

"Do you think we'll be seeing him anytime soon?"

"If he's alive..." Eugene murmured.

lghtnvlubm fr th bt nvl rdng rn

The following day in Skellington and in the Moriarty mansion, Marceline had finished her breakfast with her family and now walked in the long hallway. It was apparent by the smile on her face that she was in a good mood.

"Milady," a vampiress of the middle class appeared in front of her.

On seeing the newly assigned governess by her mother, she questioned the woman who was a vampire, "It is so good to see people of decent class stepping into the mansion. You can start teaching Allie from the beginning, as she seems to have forgotten how a vampiress should behave, and that she isn't a human."

"I have already started doing it since yesterday, Lady Marceline. I will be sure to ensure the right teaching as you would want," the newly assigned vampiress offered a deep bow to Marceline.

"Excellent," Marceline looked pleased. Noticing the woman had only tied part of her hair at the back and letting down the rest of it, she ordered, "I want your hair to be tied into a bun. You are the governess of the Moriarty family now. There's no reason for you to want to impress anyone here."

"Of course, milady," the vampiress looked slightly flustered.

Yesterday, this woman had tied her hair, but it seemed that after seeing her brother, she had decided to rework her appearance. As much as Marceline had a sibling like quarrels with Vincent, she didn't like a lowly woman trying to impress him when she considered the person beneath her and her family. He was still her brother, her family.

Marceline said, "Let me see how my sister is doing," and the governess adjusted the glasses that rested on the bridge of her nose, before they walked almost together. But with the high-class vampire two steps ahead. They made their way towards the piano room, but before it came the stairs. And next to the stairs stood the handsome silver-haired vampire.

"What are you doing standing here, brother?" Marceline asked Vincent with a smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Moriarty," the new governess bowed to him.

Vincent, leaning against the top of the railing, pushed himself to stand straight and spoke to Marceline, "Waiting for you of course."

"Me?" Marceline tilted her head, and a smile appeared on her lips. "Did you need something?" She then turned to the governess and said, "You can go to the piano room."

But before the new governess could walk, Vincent stopped the woman and said, "You are fired." The new governess looked flabbergasted and Marceline's eyebrows rose.

"What are you trying to do, Vince? We need a governess," a slight frown appeared on Marceline's face.

lghtnvlubm fr bttr ur rn

Vincent turned his gaze to look in the direction of the hallways and soon Eve appeared at the front of the stairs with her purple umbrella and lunch box in her hand. Marceline followed Vincent's sight. Her eyes widened before they narrowed on seeing the lowly human back in her mansion.

...what was she doing here? Marceline was sure that the human had left for good.

Vincent remarked with mirth in his eyes, "I don't know what you are talking about, but little sister already has one. Unless you want to keep this one for yourself, which you are welcome to do."