Music Recommendation: Reflections- Toshifumi Hinata

"When you were a vampire?" Eve asked the black cat, who felt the intense stare from the pureblooded vampire.

"No... I just made it appear as if it was a person in there because of the length of my scratches... I was a cat," Timotei explained warily, and when he felt a slight sway in his body, he quickly blurted, "I can explain!"

The black cat said, "You see... Some of my past lives have been tied to this family. As in, I remember being the pet cat of this family for four generations, before I died and came to be someone's cat again. I just have bad memories, and wanted to erase them! There was a child that threw me into the fire! And then that woman! She threw me out and I died. She's a violent woman! That grandmother of yours! I don't know how but I just ended up near the Moriarty family."

"A little too coincidental for you to end up being the pet cat of the same family. Four times out of nine?" Vincent questioned Timotei, his eyes keenly staring at the cat for more explanation. "And?"

"And?" The black cat looked back and forth, feeling the growing heaviness in the atmosphere, and he said, "You know as a cat, your memory gets erased when you end up taking birth again, and it leaves gaps in your mind, that I am not aware of and don't make sense."

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Timotei's words sank into both Eve and Vincent's minds, leaving silence in the cellar room. The cat continued, "So it isn't like I remember everything--"

"You were never a vampire," Vincent deadpanned, which had the black cat pause and looked at him in shock.

Timotei looked offended, "How dare you say that?" But on seeing Vincent glare at him, he sighed before confessing, "Yes... I have always been a cat."

The black cat had given Eve the feeling that it had always been a cat, where it sometimes slipped or talked. For instance the time when Eugene had only turned into a vampire and they were in the servant's quarters.

"But what is wrong in wanting to be a vampire? If the sea creature could give me a voice to converse with all of you, I should also be able to turn myself into a vampire, right?" Timotei asked Vincent and then looked at Eve, "I have full faith in you. You can do it! And I will be here to give you moral support for it!" The cat raised its paw, turning it into a fist.

"So the story you told us about belonging to a wealthy pureblooded family, having clothes and feeling naked, and being a ladies favourite was all a lie," Eve pointed, wondering what else the cat had lied about.

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Timotei vigorously shook his head and said, "Me? Lie? Never! I am the most honest cat you will ever find. I told you my memory had gaps but I seem to be remembering things. Now, I know you will think it's convenient but it is the truth! I am going to be the future priest and a priest shouldn't lie!" He blabbered.

"I think we can test if you survive as a vampire by staking you and having you in the coffin," Vincent suggested, but after a second, he said, "Perhaps a different chamber to keep your majestic self."

"No, no! I am not majestic at all. I am a humble peasant, who doesn't like the coffin. Blergh!" Timotei made a face while changing his tune. "I am such a small being, don't you feel pity to attack me? I did belong to a pureblooded vampire family, and my father had a big name. And I was a ladies man! Or a ladies cat, but by definition and gender, I am a male, which makes me ladies man," he tried to enlighten the two of them, "Everybody liked to hold me, and pet me, they used to like spending time with me... it's just that they spent time with me as a... cat. Not a person."

When Vincent dropped the black cat on the ground, Timotei quickly got his posture right and stood straight.

"Your father was also a cat," Eve pointed, and Timotei softly purred. The cat's tail moved on the ground as if sweeping before he realised the dirt and quickly pulled his tail and dusted it.

"Isn't that how technically I must have come to existence?" Noticing how careful Timotei was with his words, Vincent questioned,

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"This father that you spoke about. Who was he?"

Timotei chuckled, that sounded nervous, and he then said,

"See now, that is the funny thing... For years, I have been trying to find not just a sea creature to turn me, but also I was also looking for my father, and I found the person after passing many lives. I had a doubt about it a few days ago. It came quite as a shock and I had to take time to meditate and wrap my head around it."

The black cat continued to say, "My father, he had a power that people often don't carry and I haven't come across anyone else to hold it. It is the ability to control vampires, to bring them to their knees with one glance. I call it, making the person submit fully. A person will feel as if the person is carrying stones, and will not be able to stand up...The day Eugene was turned. Remember we all were in your room?" He asked Eve, and she nodded. He said, "Vincent holds that ability."

Timotei was Vincent's cat?

"But Vincent didn't know who you were when you both met," Eve pointed, trying to understand how that was possible.

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"Neither did I when we met after many years, but as I said, it is because of the gaps in my memories," Timotei continued to explain, and said, "Maybe it is because I am a cat with many short lives, that I have been able to carry a few past memories still in tact, but it might not be the same for others. But I am unable to remember the details and am on the path of discovery."