The Neko Witch

Haseieus picked up the expensive looking bottle of wine. His little brother, Ruayde, was hitting on the store clerk using a bunch of bananas. Haseieus rolled his eyes and put the bottle in his basket. The two were having a small get together with his friend, Dred, who was terrible at picking up chicks. He felt a tap at his shoulder. It was the store clerk, holding Ruayde by the ear.

"Does this person have any relation to you, sir?" the clerk asked.

Haseieus felt the strong desire to say no and walk away but sighed, "Yes, that's my little brother."

"You might wanna put a collar on this one," the clerk said, roughly pushing Ruayde at his older brother. His blond hair flying everywhere.

Haseieus laughed, "Will do, now do I use a dog collar or cat collar? Maybe a muzzle would suffice?"

Ruayde's face turned white as he shook his head hard from side to side. The clerk looked horrified. Haseieus smothered a smile and paid for his wine and chips.

His little brother wrapped one arm around his shoulders, "Thanks for the save, bro. But can you try to not sound so serious next time?"

"That would take the fun out of it," Haseieus laughed again. He gave Ruayde the car key as he put the groceries in the trunk of the red Prius. It was his brother's idea of a stylish car. Personally, he preferred a Chevy Camaro ZL1. The Exorcist car.

"So, who's all coming? I hope you invited a lot of good looking people." Ruayde started his car up, closing his eyes to listen to the hum of the engine.

Haseieus turned the stereo on, "Well, we invited most of our building's tenants. And then there's the person you hate...."

Ruayde slammed on the brakes at the stop light. "You did not invite that werepanther of a friend of yours to our party."

Haseieus smirked. Ruayde and Dred have hated each other since day one. That was one of the large reasons Haseieus kept him around. If he wanted some quiet time he invited Dred over for video games. Ruayde always left the house when he was around. The elf boy growled, hitting the gas with all his might.

"If we get caught by the police again, I'm blaming it all on you." the half vampire told his little brother. Last time the two got caught speeding, Haseieus had left a few packets of blood in a cooler in the back seat. That took a lot of explaining before he was let out of the damned prison cell.

Ruayde snorted, "You're lucky, you look like dad with your green eyes and dark brown hair. I'm stuck looking like mom with my freaking blond hair and crystal blue eyes."

"Hey, I heard Dred likes blonds," Haseieus ducked as his brother tried throwing his shoe at him. They were out of the car now, in the parking lot to their apartment complex; The Vell. The lobby man held up a package that Haseieus needed to sign for. Ruayde took the bag of groceries and headed into the elevator.

"Trouble in paradise?" the lobby man asked.

"Shut it, Rick. You know he's my little brother," Haseieus signed his signature, handing the clipboard back over the front desk and grabbing the package. Ruayde was holding the elevator open.

"Hurry up, I gotta piss," his little brother whined. He smiled and pressed the button that would take them up to the seventh floor. The elevator buttons didn't have numbers. The tenants had to solve the riddle before they could go to their room. It was a rule of the complex. The manager thought it would cut down on the risk of break ins. As the elevator pinged to let Haseieus and his little brother out onto their floor. The walls showed various paintings of Ruayde's choosing every few feet. The two brothers dominated the seventh floor purely because they were the owner's sons. Their sister had the penthouse suite, of course. Her and her girlfriend were going on three years. Ruayde always offered fashion advice. Haseieus just wanted to be able to plan the wedding.

A couple hours later, the party was in full swing, guests were enjoying the Laster brand wine. Ruayde had his arms around a guy and a girl, flirting and trying to get them into his room. His enthusiasm showing clearly from the tent in his pants. Haseieus nursed a margarita and looked for his friend. Dred stumbled out of the elevator clutching his left arm across his chest.

"She dumped me for him!" he let out a pained cry, falling to his knees.

Haseieus turned the music off, signaling to everyone that the party was over. Ruayde pouted, his excitement level going down drastically. As the flow of people out the door slowed, Haseieus motioned to his little brother to grab the emergency first aid kit. Ruayde came out nearly completely sober and began bandaging Dred's arm. Too exhausted to care that it was his mortal enemy.

"My old friend, what happened?" Haseieus asked, kneeling next to Dred.

"M-my girlfriend.... Sh-she was sleeping with him more than she said she was. Then she told me she's pregnant with his kid!" the werepanther broke down into an incoherent blubbering mess. Ruayde finished wrapping his arm up and helped his older brother lift Dred into a spare bedroom. Haseieus walked into the kitchen to make some coffee, they all needed it at this point. He wondered when he was going to break the news to them that he was Ace. He didn't have the sexual desires the two in the other room did. He was thinking about getting a rescue cat. As the half vampire walked back into the spare bedroom carrying three extremely hot cups of coffee he gasped. He saw his brother and his best friend cuddling. Smiling slightly, he shut the door, confused on how that happened. Ruayde can't be that drunk can he be? And Dred is sober....

He brushed it off, thinking about names for his new cat. Affine for a girl. S'mores for a boy. He shrugged lightly. The cat would choose him. He grabbed his keys and got his coat on, making sure to spray his cologne so he didn't smell like alcohol. The pound was a few miles away. This could be fun. Haseieus started his pickup. He probly should have gotten supplies first. He decided the pet store was his first stop. He ended up getting five bags of kitty treats along with a large bag of blue ribbon pedigree cat food, a big litter box, and a massive container of kitty litter and a collar.

The lady behind the front desk at the pound smiled when she saw him. Yeah, yeah, it's just a pretty face with nothing to offer. Haseieus thought to himself as he signed in to go look at the cats. The lady let him in, still smiling.

"This here is our most recent inmate, she was found underneath a dumpster scrambling for scraps," the cat she was pointing to was a grey and white one that was barely two years old. It was still a kitten. As soon as Haseieus met the little one's yellow eyes, he fell in love for the first time in his life.

"Oh yes, she'll do perfectly," he said, not taking his eyes from the cutie. The lady froze, she wasn't smiling anymore.

"Sir, she's fairly new still and we aren't sure if she's had her shots...."

"Well, hurry it up and figure it out, that's my kitty and I wanna take her home," Haseieus demanded. The lady sputtered for a second then nodded slowly, unlocking the kennel. He didn't even wait, he reached in and picked up the little fur baby. The lady went back to smiling and had him sign the papers for custody.

When Haseieus and his new baby got home, they walked in on Dred and Ruayde still cuddling but now they were in the living room watching Oprah. Haseieus hefted his kitty up onto his shoulder where she proceeded to curl up on his collarbone.

"Guys, I'm home. And I brought a new member of the family," he said proudly, sitting down in his recliner. "Meet Lacy." the kitten mewed and moved onto his chest, digging her claws into his shirt so she could stay in one place. She purred softly and all Haseieus could do was smile.

Dred tilted his head, "What the hell?"

"I'm Ace and I didn't want to be alone now that you two are an item, so I brought in my one true love," the half vampire nuzzled the purring fur ball on his chest, making her purr even louder.

"Cool deal, bro, that her stuff on the counter?" Ruayde asked, no judgement in his voice what-so-ever. Haseieus nodded, falling asleep where he sat. Dred whispered something into Ruayde's ear and they went to set up the kitten's things around the apartment. When they were gone, Lacy turned into a human female, stretching out and turning back as soon as she heard them come back in. Dred froze, growling.

"What is it?" the elf wondered aloud.

"That cat isn't what she appears to be. I smell hybrid blood." the werepanther said quietly.

Haseieus stirred from his slumber, "Hmm? What'd I miss?"

Dred and Ruayde looked at each other, coming to a silent agreement. They'd hold off until they had some hard evidence. Haseieus smiled at Lacy who was still curled up and purring on his chest. They were going to be having a lot of good memories together, he could already see it.

Haseieus and Lacy were the best of friends. She would often laze about in his window until he got home from work. Dred and Ruayde's relationship was progressing rather quickly....

"What do you mean I can't wear cashmere?! It looks fabulous on me!" Ruayde complained loudly.

Dred growled. "For the last time, cashmere makes my nose itch. Not to mention it's rather outdated."

Ruayde gasped in exaggerated offense and stormed off to the bathroom to change. Dred rolled his eyes, glaring at the feline hybrid sitting in the window. Haseieus hadn't quite made it home yet.

"It's just you and me, Lacy.... Feel free to tell me what you are at any point in time," the werepanther muttered. The kitten perked up her ears and sat on her haunches, slowly transforming into a woman.

"A Neko is my witchy game. I'm a familiar." Lacy stretched, retaining the catlike ears, eyes, and tail.