Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Liberty

        Liberty sat quietly in the kitchen. She was a pure black cat and wears a white collar.

        She lifted her nose to smell the air reviling. Her blood red eyes followed her human "Mary" who was busy about the kitchen.

     Liberty could smell the special cat snacks and dog treats her owner gives them everyday at sun-high.

        "Yuck!" Liberty thought to herself. She hated cat food, especially canned cat food.

        "Liberty, Bobby, Meal time!" Mary sat the canned cat food on the kitchen counter and sat the dog bowl on the floor.

        Liberty jumped onto the counter and approached the can of cat food. She held her breath so she couldn't smell its sloppy unattractive scent. It smelled like garbage to her.

        Just then, a tiny black and white shih zuh came strolling in, his long nails tapping on the hard floor.

        He was an old dog. His long fur reached the ground, but was very well groomed. Liberty thought that it was so funny how he looked like a wash mop crawling around with his long droopy hair and short legs.

        A rubber-band cinched the hair on top of his head; keep it out of his eyes.

        "Oh great, I have to eat these hard foods again?" He muttered.

        Good old Bob, or as the humans call him 'Bobby'. He was in his 11th year, which was typically very old for a dog. If it wasn't for his lazy walking and cranked voice, it would be hard to tell he was actually elderly because he still acted like a younger dog. Plus the dark green collar around his neck somehow made his appearance look younger.

        Bob was easy for Liberty to get along with. He was a wise dog.

        Liberty was the only cat that Bob had ever talked to. She had a strange ability to understand what other animals were saying. She could understand dogs and even humans, too. She could only speak back to most animals though, not humans.

        Liberty sighed. Humans were always the talkative ones, next to the yelping dogs of course. And it would be great for her to speak to the ones who cared for her, but for some reason she couldn't.

        Bob always bothered her here and there, but he was nice. She loved him like a grandfather she never had. His loud barking and his lack of understanding sometimes bothered her. Liberty liked the wise, funny, comforting part of him.

        The shih zuh slowly made his way to his food bowl.

        Mary waited, leaning against the kitchen door that lead to the dinning room. She would stay in the kitchen with them for a moment or two, just to see if they were eating their food. She didn't like to waste any food and didn't want the animals wasting food, either.

        She wore a white apron as if she was about to cook dinner. She always feed them treats before her and her husband ate dinner.

        Liberty didn't want to take a bite out of her food, but she didn't want Mary to think it was going to waste, so the cat bent her head down, and pretended like she was eating. Bob did the same. It was something he learned from Liberty.

        He didn't enjoy how the solid food made his teeth hurt. Liberty wished the humans could understand her, so she could convince them to change the menu.

        As soon as Mary left the room, Liberty turned and kicked the can of food onto the floor with her hind leg.

        It was Bob who would eat this food. She stayed careful not to splat the food on Bob's head. That would be a mess she wouldn't want to lick up.

        The sloop spilled everywhere on the floor, but Bob didn't care. He liked to eat things when they were not stuffed in cans.

        Bob padded up to the cat food with his curled up tail wigging in joy.

        "Thanks." He said before gulping up his meal.

        "You’re welcome."

        Liberty jumped down from the counter firmly landing at Bob's side. She gave him a friendly lick on his little floppy ear.

        Usually Liberty did not get along with others, especially dogs. Oh, dogs no doubt annoyed her to craziness! But Bob and Liberty seemed to always get along.

        Liberty let out a faint snort of laughter as she remembered Bob's young friend, Chars, who belonged to Mary's friend. Chars is a huge black and white Great Dane and it has been months since he had last visited. He was the silliest and most clumsiness dog Liberty had ever met. Liberty tolerated Chars, but he was just too much of a dog for her. She preferred Bob.

        Liberty showed respect for her old fellow, Bob. She always told him everything, because she trusted him. Mostly because Bob had no other dog friends he could tell them to, or would tell them too.

        Bob knew Liberty wasn't a normal cat. She had blazing red eyes, a mysterious demeanor, the strange ability to understand other species, and most of all a dangerous craving for blood. She didn't need food or water to survive.

        The humans call this a 'vampire'. Liberty heard them joking about it when they noticed her unnatural red eyes.

        Another time they saw her licking Mary's husband, Jacob’s blood off the floor when he got injured at work. He had a cut leg and blood was leaking on the floor. It was the only thing that Liberty wanted to feed on. Blood.

        Liberty began to eat the hard pellets and bits that Mary had given Bob. She hated dog food more than any other. But, Bob couldn't eat them; he was too old to eat hard foods anymore. If she doesn’t eat them, their owners would think that Bob didn't get anything to eat. They might think that he is too old and bring him to the vet.

        They don’t know that hard food hurts his teeth.

        After the little dog was finished eating, he went to take a nap by the couch in the middle of the front room.

        The house was huge, but Bob stayed in very few places in this mansion of a home. Sometimes Bob would get lost in such a big house and would need help finding places.

        Liberty went for the kitchen window after she ate the bits. Luckily, the window was open this time. She stood behind the sink with her head out the window. The cat started coughing and managed to make herself vomit the dog food she just ate out the window. Her stomach couldn't take that kind of food, and that is why she hated it.

         Calmly cleaning herself up, Liberty overheard her Mary and Jacob talking about something. She heard the word ‘cat’ come up.

        Are they talking about me?

        Jumping down from the kitchen window, she curiously stalked into the dinning room to see Mary and Jacob seated at the smooth, rich wooded table.

        Liberty sprang up into Mary's lap with listening ears. Mary greeted her and began petting her head. Liberty started purring loudly. Her humans were the best.

        "I'm telling you we searched for like 2 hours," said Mary to Jacob.

        "Well, if he ran off, you can always find another kitten to bring home," Jacob suggested.

        Another kitten, Thought Liberty. They want another kitten? I should be the only cat around here!

         "I just feel bad. It was my fault I left the car door open, and now he's probably some were hungry and alone..." said Mary.

        Oh, poor cat! Liberty thought with sarcasm.

        "Don't worry." Her husband interrupted," We can go back to the shelter and see if they have any more of those forest cats. Tomorrow though," He added.

        Great, Thought Liberty, They must think I’m a freak if they want to replace me with another cat!

        Liberty's purring faded away at the thought. Mary paid no mind and continued to stroke Liberty.

        Finally, Mary nodded and replied, "Okay," in a small voice.

        For a few minutes Mary, Jacob, and Liberty sat in quietness. After a moment Jacob pushed his chair back and stood up.

        "How about we cook dinner now?"  He asked as if to break the silence.

        Is it just me? Liberty thought, or is everything more awkward with me around?  

                                                               

        That night Liberty lay curled up on the front porch of the mansion. She begins purring into sleep.

        Liberty glazed up at the night sky one last time to see a full moon shining brightly in the sky. The cold breeze that whispered through the warm air cooled her. Laying her chin on her paws, Liberty's purring faded as she fell asleep and drifted into a dream.

        Liberty became blinded by utter darkness. She was somewhere, but didn't know were. Sniffing towards where the ground would be she scented something odd, a forest like scent and the scent of other creatures.

        What other creatures are here?

        She stalked along wet grass. Liberty smelled the scents of wild creatures everywhere. She heard terrifying sounds. They were growls, howling, and snarling. Her heart began to race and she became nervous. Monsters? She hoped that she was wrong.

        Her blood runs cold. It felt too real, but Liberty knew she was dreaming. Yet, the graphic sounds and smells made her scared. The cat began to tremble.

        She could see nothing but pure darkness.

        Liberty crawled along the ground trying to stay away from things that can try to attack her, like the monsters she heard, growls echoing.

        Every step she took only made things worse. The smells got stronger and the growls grew louder. She was surrounded by the creatures in the dark.

        The cat knew there was something about to reach out and get her; she could smell it, hear it, and feel it.

        This is a nightmare. A familiar nightmare...

        The terrified cat froze in fear unable to catch her breath. Liberty swung her head left to right, eyes wide, in effort to see what was lurking in this dark place, but still nothing!

        Desperately Liberty told herself: It’s just a dream, nothing can hurt me here! This 'fear' is just all in my head! It's just a dream.

        Liberty, as hard as she tried, could not drown out the fear.

        She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head wildly, trying to wake herself, but it didn't work.

        Then, in a flash of pain, the black cat felt sharp claws sink deep into her back. Something got her.

        This seemed more than just a nightmare; she clearly felt the agonizing pain as the claws sank towards her spine. The creature snarled loudly at her. Liberty was too shocked to yowl from the pain.

        She could hear the blood roaring in her ears.

        Wake up!

        Liberty tried to escape, but the creature's insurmountable weight kept her pinned down.

        Liberty's legs fell limp to the ground as the beast raked her deeper. She tried to swing her head back to get a glimpse of the attacker in the darkness, but she had become paralyzed.

        The cat wanted to swing her head wildly again to wake her, but she couldn't move one bit.

        The claws sunk deeper and deeper into her back. Liberty thought to herself, “This must be it. I'm dying! But, how can I die in a dream? Did I die while I was asleep?"

        Her thoughts went blank and her breathing stopped.

        A beautiful blue glow shined in the distance reflecting off her eyes: It quickly faded into a deep blood red color.

        Suddenly the darkness was broken with a bright light flashing in front of her motionless body. All the horrible scents and sounds had faded away from Liberty, along with most of the feelings.

        Back on the porch Liberty's eyes snapped open. She jerked her head up to see the familiar yard of her home.

        It was morning.

        Bright sun light began pouring through the trees, making everything visible.

        Finally, she had waked from the nightmare, but the pain in her back from her dream still seemed real.

        Liberty turned to lick her back to shake of the felling. Her heart lurched as she spotted a claw scar on her back across her spine.

        Was that there before? She nervously asked herself. No.

        She licked her fur again, but now the scar was gone.

        Then it all came back to her. 

        A Vampire...

        Liberty realized her nightmare was of a memory, something that happened to her long ago, something that she had almost finally forgotten.

        A Vampire... a vampire is one that has come back from the dead.