Broken Soul

"Oh..." a voice uttered from the balcony doorway. Dannie and Evan turned around to see Myra standing there. She didn't look pleased. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt..."

"You didn't," Evan assured her, taking a step back from Dannie. "Did you need something, Myra?"

"I just thought you should know the leader of the Midnite clan called, asking you to attend his event tomorrow," she informed him. "So you can discuss business."

"I already said I would."

"Yes, but he wanted you to confirm your invitation."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him to expect you. He also said to bring a guest. Will I be going?"

"It might not be safe," he told her. "If the Midnite clan are all attending, they might hurt you. I should go alone."

Dannie could tell that Myra was disappointed. But she didn't complain. "Alright. I'll inform him you'll be going. I'll leave you two to your conversation." Without another word, she disappeared through the room and went downstairs.

"I think she wants to go with you," Dannie observed.

"She understands why I can't let her."

"Evan..." Dannie asked curiously, "what kind of business do you deal with?"

"Property," he replied bluntly. "And money."

"Have you ever...killed anyone?" She remembered the awful things Ravyn said he had done. She didn't want any of it to be true.

"No," he answered. "Not that I can remember."

This was good. He couldn't recall killing Katie but at least he hadn't taken the lives of anyone since. "Have you ever hurt anybody intentionally or tortured them?"

"No."

"Do you steal your money?"

"Why are you asking me all these questions?" he remarked.

"I just heard rumors about you and I didn't know if they were true," Dannie explained.

"Sometimes a reputation is all you can use to protect yourself in a place like this," he said.

"Wait...Did you start those rumors?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because it keeps people away from my property," he elaborated. "In case you didn't know, vampire slayers still exist. Did you want everyone to think I was a saint with fangs that would invite you in for tea if you walked up to my door? Of course not. This way, people leave me alone."

Dannie smiled at him widely. "I knew you weren't bad."

"Oh, I can be bad," he warned her as he turned to walk back inside.

"Sure you can," she teased and followed him. She laughed and the sound of it made Evan stop suddenly. He could hear her in his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment and could picture a girl's face smiling at him. The vision was blurry but he thought it looked like Dannie.

"What's wrong?" she asked and stepped to his side.

Evan opened his eyes. He wasn't sure what to do with that vision. It was too brief to get information from. He guessed it was a memory resurfacing. It was trying to tell him he had heard that sound before. "Nothing," he replied. "I'm fine."

Dannie didn't believe him but she didn't pry. If he didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't force him.

Everybody ended up downstairs in the front room. October was rearranging one of the bookshelves. Evan was reading a book. Myra sat beside him writing notes in their planner. Dannie had just finished browsing through a newspaper and folded it up and set it on the table in front of her.

"This castle is huge," she muttered. "There's got to be at least one TV somewhere in here."

"Sorry, there isn't," Evan replied, his eyes glued to his book. "I don't need any of that mind rotting garbage in my house."

Wow, he really has changed, Dannie thought to herself. Evan used to love watching TV and movies and playing video games. Next to music, it was his favorite thing.

"How do you know what is happening in the world then?" she asked him.

"If you really want a television, I'll have Myra go out and buy one tomorrow," he promised. "Will that make you happy?"

"I guess." Dannie was bored now though. She didn't feel like waiting. Sitting there with nothing to do was not going to pass the time so she got up to find something constructive. When she passed the front door, she heard a faint sound coming from outside. Quickly, she unlocked the door and opened it and began to run out.

The others had heard her and were curious as to what was going on. "Danielle!" Evan shouted and within a second, he was right behind her and grabbed her arm. She almost screamed.

"My god, Evan, don't do that!" She gasped for breath.

"What are you doing?" he asked, ready to yell at her. "What did I say about leaving the castle??"

"Evan, chill out, I'm not leaving," she promised. "I just heard something and I-" There it was again. She realized where it was coming from. She ran over to the gate and there on the other side was the most beautiful cat she had ever seen. It was a white with long fur and its dark eyes sparkled up at her. When she approached it, the cat sat and meowed. "Awww!" she exclaimed and knelt down in pet it through the gate. "Come here, kitty!"

"Danielle..." Evan wasn't too sure about this. "Maybe you shouldn't-"

"Oh, come on, it's just a cat," she said and opened the gate for it and then picked it up. The cat instantly started to purr. "He's such a sweetie, can't we keep him?"

"He could belong to someone," Evan pointed out. "Leave him."

"Evan, there aren't any other people around for miles," she argued. "Someone probably dumped the poor thing." She checked for a collar and and didn't find one. "No owner."

"Danielle, are you sure it's really a cat?"

"Look at him, of course he is," Dannie laughed.

"No, I mean, it could be a shape shifter," he declared.

"How can you tell if it is?" she asked.

"October. She might know."

Without thinking twice, they took the cat inside and showed him to her. "Do you sense evil from this animal?" Evan asked her.

October silently stared at the cat Dannie was holding for almost a minute. Then she reached out to touch it. The cat growled and hissed at her then leaped out of Dannie's arms and ran away to hide.

"What was that about?" Dannie asked and hurried after him. She was too far away now to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Is it evil?" Evan asked his demon.

"Evil?...No," October replied. "But an animal?...I doubt it."

"Should we tell Danielle?"

"Let it be for now," she advised. "It seems harmless. It may be another demon. I'll keep a close eye on it. Just in case."

Dannie had caught the cat and fed him in the kitchen. Then she took him up to her room and pet him. "You are so pretty," she said and touched his soft, white fur. She smiled as she looked into his dark eyes. "I should just call you Erick. You remind me of him." The cat looked at her attentively after she said that. "Wait... Are you Erick?" The cat started grooming himself instead of giving any kind of answer. "Maybe not. You probably have no idea what I'm saying." She pet him again and he plopped down on his back and she scratched his stomach. "You're adorable," she giggled. "I guess you're more fun than a television. It is kind of nice to have someone to talk to even if you can't understand me. Myra seems to hate me and October is a little scary and Evan....He doesn't seem to want talk a lot. And I can't tell him much anyway. I just hope things get back to normal soon." The cat set upright and just looked at her like it was listening. Dannie smiled. "Do you think there's hope for me? Or am I a lost cause?" The cat meowed. She couldn't tell if it was a yes or no. It just made her laugh. "Thanks...I guess."

After a while, she fell asleep and the cat just sat at the foot of her bed and looked out the window. It almost appeared like he was waiting for something.