A Vampire's Rotten Heart

Spud

I lied down in bed. I hadn't gotten up since the wings came in. I didn't want to see them. I didn't want to feel them. I didn't want to be reminded that I wasn't human anymore.

Pete came into my room, holding his hands behind his back.

"Still feeling down, eh?" He walked towards me, bending his back forward. "Well, do I have something to cheer you up!"

"Mew?"

"Shh! You're ruining the surprise!"

Yeah. It was a cat.

Pete showed his hands, revealing a tiny, five-week-old kitten with fuzzy black fur who immediately leaped onto my chest.

"Mew? Mew!"

    What a tiny baby! I reached out to gently touch his back. He was so soft and fluffy and— Pete was was right. This was making me feel better.

    The kitten started playing with my fingers.

    "I think he looks like a Spud."

    Pete laughed. "I found him in a box on my walk. He matched your wings, and I figured he'd be a good explanation for all the shedding you're about to do."

    "You really like planning these things out, don't you?"

    "It's how I've stayed alive this long."

    "...And I've made things more complicated, haven't I."

    "That's an understatement! But don't worry. This is what we do. You aren't the first vampire we've fostered, you know."

    "I'm not? Gah! He's on my face!"

    I grabbed that rambunctious kitty and held him against my chest. What a goober! I started petting him, but he just wouldn't sit still. I had to constantly manipulate him so he wouldn't get in trouble.

    Pete was cracking up. "Nope. You're not. I've been a butcher for fifty years and a vampire for twenty. The blood in the front tends to draw in some visitors."

    He knelt over my bed and started playing with Spud as well.

    "You know, Maywell and I always wanted children, but we've never been able to have any. Takin' care of kids like you has really filled that void. This feels like what God put me here to do." He smiled. "I'm sure Maywell's got some yarn lying around somewhere... Hold here."

    He stood up and left the room.

    Oh, Spuds. He looked up at me with those big, blue kitten eyes, and I melted. He climbed up my chest onto my wing, and he started batting at my wing thumb.

    "Huh? Oh! You like that?"

    I sat up and bent over, letting wings drape down. I wiggled them, and Spud was in kitty heaven. He was looking left and right, not knowing what to do with this mass of fun stuff. He started batting with both paws. I lifted him up and giggled, and he continued to play.

"Aren't you just the cutest thing?" I nuzzled his cheek.

"Mew!"

    I rested my wing over my chest so that the fluffy side was facing up. I set spuds down on it and watched his tiny kitten paws stubble all over it. He really did match perfectly; if he were to lie very, very still, you probably wouldn't be able to see him at all.

    God, he was so small. And he was finally starting to settle down. I ran my fingers over his head, and he did a tiny kitten yawn. Soon enough, he fell asleep in the crook of my wing.