NINE

Evelyn POV.
“My kitty,” Kitkat says as we finished putting all of our stuff away, I should’ve promised her the cat, I should’ve kept it until the cat got here, I grow and I learn, I should’ve known better. I’ve been dealing with littles for so long and I’ve been dealing with my Kitkat for over three hundred years as well, I know how to deal with her, but the whole running got me dizzy and unsure of my next move.
“Hello,” I answer my phone, seeing that it’s Logan, my heart started to beat quickly, did he find us that quickly?
“Hey, Eve, I heard you threatened everyone that works on the farm already, so I guess things are going well?” Logan asked me and I sighed.
“We’re waiting for a cat,” I answer him.
“Cat?” he repeats.
“It’s the only animal my little one is interested in,” I say and he laughs, he laughs out loud, he thinks that my suffering was very fun.
“Logan, you could’ve sent us to the suburb with a freaking cat,” I sneer through the phone.
“He’d find you that way, you know I wanted to keep you safe,” Logan lies.
“Liar, you needed someone to come and fill the farm, but I’m not taking care of any animal but the stupid cat,” I answer him.
“You only have to do some gardening, I’d send someone to take care of the horses, and good luck with the cat,” he says ending the call before I could swear or get out of the phone and kill him.
“Mommy, mommy, door,” my little one says, ready to run downstairs, we heard a knock on the door, and she’s going to go and get it.
“No, no, wait for mommy,” I say running after her, picking her up from the ground, I went down to the door, opened it and saw a young vampire standing there with an animal cage and tone of stuff that a cat would need.
“Hello, Miss, you requested a cat,” the guy says holding the cage up and making my little jump up on my arms.
“Yes, that’s the only animal we want,” I say opening the door and taking a step to the side allowing the guy inside the house.
“Where do you want me to set it?” the guy asks me, I look inside the house, where do I want the cat to bed.
“Near the backdoor in the kitchen,” I say deciding that would be a good place.
The guy set everything down, and I had to set my little one down as well, she sat near the cage eyes locked on the kitten inside it, the guy had a bed for the cat, a food bag, a plate, a couple of toys, a water plate and a sandbox.
“You have to feed her twice per day, don’t put too much food on her plate, make sure to play and entertain her, and the cat is very young, just a kitten, but be careful not to hurt your little one, and she’s a runner when scared,” the guy explains, I have raised animals before, I knew how to deal with a cat.
“Thank you,” I thanked the guy as he finished setting things up and ran out of my door, I went back into the kitchen ready to set the kitten free, I opened the door of the cage and she ran off, that was very expected.
“Kitty, come back,” KitKat whines following the cat around the house, the kitten picked a hiding spot underneath the sofa.
“Wait baby, the cat is scared,” I say going back to the kitchen picking some treats for the cat, and coming back to sitting on the ground, pulling Kitkat into my lap.
I offered the cat one of the treats and she took it right away, I handed Kitkat the second treat and helped her offer it to the baby cat, waiting to win the cat’s trust, after a couple of minutes of waiting the cat showed off her whiskers first, we could tell she’s orange, she had managed to run quickly that I didn’t even make the colour or shape of it, but I knew she’s tiny.
The treat was too hard for the cat to fight for much longer, it finally came out, a fully orange tabby with black strips all over it, it looked like some kind of feline but I couldn’t put my finger on it, maybe one of the animals that instincted with the radiation war?
“What do you wanna name her?” I ask my baby, watching the cat win more confidence after she had the treats.
“Uhm… I gonna name her…” my baby started and I in my head I was sure she’d name it something similar to kitty, cat, cookie, something easy.
“Yes?” I say waiting patiently for her to come up with a name.
“Tiger!” she says excitedly, picking the cat up and hugging it, and then it all clicked the orange tabby wasn’t just a normal cat, small enough to be one sure, but it’s a tiger, an animal that doesn’t exist anymore, and if I remember correctly, they are the kings of the jungle more powerful than a lion ever been.
“How did you know?” I asked Katie, I couldn’t even remember the name of the animal and she was one of the generation after the nuclear disaster.
“We learned it in school,” she says happily, they teach them about animals, the name must have stuck in with her.
“I need to do a quick call, don’t rough your cat,” I say not sure that it’s a cat anymore.
“Hello,” the same person answered on the internal call.
“I asked for a cat, got a fucking tiger,” I whisper yell on the phone.
“You asked for a kitten, my boss said to give you that one,” he says.
“Is your boss just as insane as you?” I ask him.
“No, my boss said a cat that’ll never grow up would be perfect for a baby that never grows up,” he says.
“A tiger is one of the most dangerous animals out there,” I remind him and his boss.
“Have you seen many cats out there anymore? They die too easily, and this cat is made to survive if you don’t want it, I can send someone to bring it back,” the guy offers me.
“Over my baby’s dead body,” I answer him, she was too attached to the fucking cat already.
“Then keep it, it’s a special gift, I don’t know how my boss decided to hand it over,” the guy says.
“Who’s your boss?” I ask I had no idea who ran this place, it’s just a D&L company project.
“Ryan Dracul,” the guy says and I went quiet, I should’ve expected it, after he saved Angel’s life, he and her two mates went from enemies to basic friends who asked each other for favours, that’s how he got the job I’m guessing.
“Thanks,” I say ending the call, I go back toward the kitchen and pick up one of the cat toys, it’s just a feather tied to a string, I hand it over to Kitkat and show her how to tease the cat with it, I wasn’t about to tell her that the cat was a real tiger genetically changed to be a kitten.
Katie loved it, she loved the idea of playing with the cat, teasing her, making her jump high to catch the feather, looks like I did one right thing by moving in here, I got Katie a new pet.
We played for more than an hour with the cat, she and KitKat shared the same level of energy, I moved to the kitchen and made us a more proper dinner than our sandwiches lunch, I also served the cat, I mean tiger her food.
“Mommy, she wanna try chicken,” Katie says handing the cat half of her chicken.
“This food is yours, and that food is hers,” I say firmly, not letting my little one to give up her dinner.
“She nu like it,” Katie speaks for her tiger.
“That’s what she’s getting, now open your mouth,” I say helping her eat her food so she’ll stop handing it to the cat.
“But mommy,” Katie whines yet again.
“Nu baby,” I say firmly, the dinner ended with no more troubles, I gave the little one a bath and got her ready for bed, but it seemed like it was not just Katie who’s gotten attached too quickly, the tiger jumped into the crib with her, curling around Katie as if she’s her mother sighing happily and ready to sleep.
I knew Ryan personally, and I knew he’s not a very emotional man, maybe that’s why the tiger is suffering from lack of love and hugs and is deciding to take it all out on my baby, I wasn’t sure if she’s going to be some source of danger and try to eat my baby in the middle of the night. I picked the cat out, but it gave me the same reaction of a little, she cried, I didn’t think that tigers cried not until now, she cried which made the vampire little to cry, and I lost the fight against them both, I picked my battle that day and let them cuddle back and get to sleep.
I sat on the bed next to them, making sure she wouldn’t eat her or otherwise, I checked my phone and checked my messages, people were asking where I went, and why I skipped the rest of my classes, but the scariest message came from Blair.
‘Hey, Eve. William is asking around about you, if you decided to run, you better be hiding well,’ Blair’s message said, I didn’t answer any of them, deciding it was better to avoid disclosing where I’m hiding right now.
I stayed awake for much longer than the little one, I didn’t have a bedtime, I opened a bottle of whine and enjoyed it in bed keeping an eye on the domesticated tabby and my little one, both sleeping happily in the crib, not a scene that you’d see every day.