Content warning: Physical Abuse, Homophobia, Implied Grooming
Word Count 7,326
October 29th 2003
“Oh! You’re actually here today!”
Lucas met Ariana’s stare who had stood before him, hair whipping in the cold breeze. It’d been a full week since he last seen her, not counting spotting her in the hallways at school. She wore an oversized sweater with a kitten wearing a Santa Claus hat, mewling, “Meowy Christmas!”. Her eyes were wide, their blue tint shining in the little sunlight that the sun provided.
They were at the viaduct once again; Lucas sitting along the edge with scraps of paper and a pencil while Ariana stood behind him. The water was deserted as the geese finally decided to begin their migration to the south. Winter would be coming soon, so he respected their decision to escape before the frost set in.
“What do you mean actually?” Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow. “Have you been coming here everyday since you found me here?”
“Yes. I thought you came here everyday, so I figured I’d start to stop by regularly to say hi since I don’t go to your house anymore.” Ariana said quietly, rocking back and forth on the heels of her torn shoes.
“Oh. Uhh...I’ve been doing alot of tutoring lately so I haven’t gotten the chance to stop by much.” Lucas looked away, scratching the back of his head. The statement was true for the most part; Cheren was finally back from Michigan so he’d been spending a lot of time with him to make sure he was prepared for midterms.
“Tutoring? Oh, I could tutor you, you know!”
“I don’t need your help. I have Cheren helping me.”
“I know that, but tutoring is more fun with your friends!” She gave him a cheeky smile as she continued to rock. Lucas glared at her in dismiss. She really thinks we’re friends now…He sighed under his breath.
“Cheren is my friend, and he’s smarter than you. You probably wouldn’t even help me much because YOU ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS.” Lucas hissed, standing up as he stuffed his papers into his hoodie pockets. He wasn’t in the mood to be interviewed today and considered heading home anyways; Ariana’s arrival was merely the push to do so. It was getting late too, roughly 4:47pm. His mother promised to make nachos tonight so he was excited to go home and enjoy them fresh.
As he stood up, Ariana leaned towards him, her eyes wide, worried.
“You’re leaving?” She squeaked. She had stopped rocking by then.
Lucas looked into her eyes and grimaced. “Yeah. It’s almost 5pm.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Look.” He lifted his watch to her face, bumping her in the nose. “You probably should go home too.”
“Oh...Oh, what happened to your watch? THe screen is all ugly and scratched.”
“...Uh.” Lucas quickly shoved his arm back into his pocket, his face flushing a bit. He forgotten that no one knew it was shattered. “I fell asleep with it on, and it kinda broke.”
“OOoooooh, your mama’s gonna be maaaaaaad!” Ari squealed, placing her tiny hands over her face with a smirk. Lucas glared at her before rolling his eyes.
“Actually, she’s not. It’s my dad’s and he can alway get it fixed, so it doesn’t really matter.”
“But your papa is away right now.”
“Exactly. It doesn’t matter.”
“But isn’t he gonna be mad when he finds out?”
“My parents aren't like yours, Ariana! They’re not going to beat me over a watch.”
“........I...uh.”
There was an awkward silence. A silence that extended too long for his comfort. Ariana’s face had fallen and she suddenly stared off into the distance, silent. She seemed off.
Did...I say something wrong?
Lucas shrunk into his sweater as he watched her; she had that creepy stare on her face she’d have when she decided to study him, though she was staring at nothing. Just off into the distance.
“Are you...alright?” Lucas managed to squeak out. His stomach churned as he reran what he said through his head at least a thousand times. He didn’t say anything necessarily wrong, right? His mother had warned him about speaking negatively about Ariana’s parents before due to him slipping out insults that’d hit Ariana harder than he’d think. Roughly about one year after her father passed, he had mentioned him in a joke, leaving Ariana teary-eyed and whiney for the rest of the day. It was the last thing he wanted right now.
“Huh?” Ariana looked at him, her eyes still wide.
“You. You just kinda, went away for a second.”
“Oh, yeah. I was listening for something. Sorry! What did you say?”
Lucas blinked. Are you saying you just ignored me?
“Nothing. Nevermind. I’ll see you around.”
“Oh, are you leaving?”
“I just said I was!”
“Oh. Okay, bye!”
Lucas froze mid-footing; He had expected to be followed again like last time, but Ariana simply stood there, zoning out like before. He gave her a look before retreating through the brambles, hands stuffed in his pockets. At least he wouldn’t have the spend ten minutes trying to get her to bug off.
To think of it, today was going surprisingly well. Not a single kid pushed him or called him a “faggot”, Cheren ordered him a new sketchbook to replace the one that was destroyed and he’d be having nachos for dinner. Not once did he feel the slightest surge of anger that’d leave him in a blind fury, it was a foreign feeling. He shrugged off the thoughts as a smile slipped onto his face. Might as well enjoy it while it’s still here.
By the time he reached the sidewalk, the bush beside him shook vigorously, causing him to squeak out of sheer shock. He sharply exhaled as he watched the bush rustle before going still once more. A chill ran down his spine as he tried to process what just happened, which was weird since he couldn’t exactly see anything go through it. It could’ve just been a random cat or squirrel he bothered by accident, but it shouldn’t have shaken the entire bush the way it did. He looked over his shoulder to see if it was Ariana, but she was still standing there, staring at him from the vidock.
“What are you looking at?” He called out, growing frustrated with confusion. She had this stupid look on her face, dumber than her usual derpy expressions.
Ariana shook her head before her face shifted into a weird shape; her eyebrows lowered and her mouth twisted at the corners, she began fidgeting with her hands.
“...Alright then.” He turned away, frowning with discomfort. He respected the fact her dad’s anniversary was soon, but it didn’t mean she had to be this weird about it.
He continued his walk, raising his head to the street once again. It was pretty bare outside, more than usual. A dull overcast covered the sky, a chilly breeze, distant honking of cars. Quiet, just as he liked it-
“You dummy, I told you to not come back here! Shoo, shoo!”
Ariana’s voice shook Lucas from his roaming thoughts, leaving him blinking before turning around. Was she talking to herself now? From where he stood, he could only see her.
He frowned, his curiosity pulling him toward the vidock again. It wouldn’t hurt to see what she was talking to before he headed home, it could at least give him a gauge on whether or not he’d have to explain to his mother why Ariana was covered in animal bite marks.
Upon squatting behind the nearest bush, he squinted and spotted a long strand of yellow fur near Ariana.
Oh, it’s just a cat.
There were tons of cats that roamed the area, strays weren’t anything new, but he did feel bad considering that with winter being near, the cat would probably get sick from the cold. He couldn’t help but wonder if Ariana was trying to bribe it to follow her home. Maybe that’s another reason she’s been coming here.
“Bu-But I’m hungry.”
This voice was new, and definitely wasn’t Ariana’s. It was light, a bit crackly and sounded similar to a voice he’d hear in his own classroom, one similar to his own; A boy’s voice. Lucas’s blood ran cold as he noticed he’d stopped breathing right.
Am I tripping? He squeaked to himself, squinting harder to try to distinguish where it came from. There was no one there other than a weird figure covered with what seemed to be fur.
Cats can’t talk.
“I can’t help you! My mommy wouldn’t let me bring sandwiches and you ate all the duckies, so shoo! Shoo!” It was Ariana’s voice again. She squatted to the pile of fur and tried to speak in a hushed tone. She was never good at that though.
“B-But don’t you have a house with food? Can I go there?” The pile of fur spoke back, their voice shaky.
“No! My mommy will hurt you or scream and run. Go into the forest, there’s bunnies and foxes that you can eat.”
“Bu-But there’s no more. I ate them all too.”
“You..you ate all of them?”
“I think…”
“Um...Um…” Ariana paused. “Um…...Give me a moment, I think if I can find a dollar, I can buy you something from the store!”
“Food?”
“Yeah! I just have to find money…”
“What does money look like? Can I eat it?”
What Lucas was hearing felt so fabricated, he had to sit back and take a deep breath to try to register it.
Granted, Ariana was still a kid. She had a wild imagination from what he recalled from laying in the bed of his room, overhearing downstairs as she slammed action figures against one another chanting the destruction of “the demon king” and “his tribes”. Maybe she had a device connected to the fur that gave it vocal cords. Wait, where would she even get something like that? Or, maybe she was talking to a kid from school..but why would they be covered in fur and laying on the ground?
He leaned back in for a better view, despite how tired his legs were growing from squatting and how painful the thorns shoved into his cheeks. This was too weird to ignore, and he wanted to see what it’d escalate into. He set his hand down momentarily onto the bush before letting out a yelp, a sharp thorn piercing his palm.
“Shit!” He whined, retracting his hand and instinctively giving it a lick. It wasn’t severe, but a little bulb of blood formed where he was pricked, causing him to grow queasy at the sight of it. He shut his eyes for a second and let out a sigh before looking through the bush again; he couldn’t let a poke stop him.
Upon looking again, Ariana had vanished along with the “cat”. He sat back, his mouth twisted at it’s corner.
Huh. Perhaps it was time to h-
“Who are you?”
“JESUS FUCK.” Lucas yelped, falling back into the bush before crying out at the thorns. He sat up quickly, wincing at each awful, stinging poke that settled into his face, causing tears to form into his eyes violently. His throat tightened as he clenched his teeth through the pain. So much for a good day!
When he finally opened his eyes, he faced a creature who stood on all fours, behind them, a long yellow tail whipping slowly. Their eyes were wide, sharp like a felines, blue as the sky on a good day. They had skin similar to his own, though much lighter; pale and flaky. Lucas held his breath through his tears, looking the creature up and down.
Oh god.
What is that?
Is that a human or...?
He was never fond of animals getting close to him despite his interest in them, they were usually primal and would get too aggressive for his liking. Memories of being chased by the neighborhood’s German Shepherd flashed before him as he blinked. Clearly, this wasn’t the same deal, but worse.
“Wait, Barry!! Get off of him!”
Ariana wailed, running toward the two of them. The creature twisted it’s head in her direction and growled, baring it’s razor sharp teeth. It’s paws dug into Lucas’s chest, tightening against the fabric of his hoodie. The sight of it made Lucas shrink farther into the bush, his eyes clouding with tears as the creature lowered its weight onto him.
I’m going to be eaten alive.
He closed his eyes, allowing his fate to set in. He was ready to accept it if it was truly what was going to happen and honestly he begged for it to happen soon considering he had just pissed himself.
Suddenly, the weight lifted off as footsteps scattered into his eardrums. There was hissing followed by a smack.
“Oooowww….” THe creature whined.
“I told you not to do that, you little jerk!”
“B-But, I just wanted to see who it was. They were tryin’ to sneak up on us so I was gonna kill em’.”
“That my friend, you big dummy! Look, you made him cry!”
Lucas opened his eyes as tears spilled down his cheek to see Ariana standing above him, pointing at the creature who was crouched defiantly across from her. It had a human’s face, ears and everything, though fangs that protruded over it’s lips; a mane of long blonde hair that was as messy as Ariana’s laid across it’s back and it seemed to have a human’s chest too, though where legs would be was fur and weird cat-like limbs.
“Alex, are you okay? I’m so sorry! I told Barry not to do that to people, but he doesn’t listen very well.”
“A-Ariana, what the fuck is that?”
“Huh?”
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??”
“You mean Barry? Oh, he’s my pet dog!”
“THAT-THAT-THAT’S NOT A DOG!!! IT’S NOT A DOG!!”
“Lucas, shut up!! God. You’re going to hurt his feelings.” She turned away from him and looked to the creature who was sitting quietly, wagging their tail. “Barry, he doesn’t mean it, he’s just a little spooked out from you jumpin’ at him like that.”
“So I am good at scaring people?”
“Yes! You’re going to be the best on Halloween!”
Lucas’s head spun, dumbfounded by what was happening. This is a dream, right? That’s probably why everything has been going to well today...It has to be a dream...Unless this is just a kid really good at dressing up...It’s not real. It’s not real. He rubbed his face and winced at the stinging, causing the bubble in his throat to pop. As much as he tried to hold it in, a sob escaped his lips, causing his face to burn in embarrassment.
THIS IS TERRIBLE.
“A-Alex...hey, it’s okay! Barry wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“Wh-Why is he crying?”
“Because you scared him! Shoo, go sit over there! I have to make sure he’s okay or my mommy will get angry at me!”
“B-But…”
“No, you were bad and you hurt his feelings, go sit!”
The creature’s face fell before darting off, letting out a weak guttural noise. Lucas squinted through his tears, watching them escape into the nearest bushes that lined the vidock. He took in a shaky breath, noticing he was free from it’s grip and rolled onto his stomach quickly, trying to get to his feet as quick as possible.
“Lucas, wait! Hold on!” Ariana grabbed him by the arm, pulling him off balance which made him fall back to the grassy floor. Dazed with confusion and panic, he just laid on his back, petrified. It was too much going on for him.
“Lucas, did you die?” Ariana squeaked weakly. “Please don’t die yet, or Barry will actually eat you.”
“A-Ah...A-Ah…” is all he could mutter. He just shut his eyes and tried to get his breathing to settle. Whatever it was, it had to be harmless since Ariana looked spotless. Though, his face was sizzling and his salty tears didn’t help the matter of the wounds. He whimpered through a sob and covered his face, trembling. This was so embarrassing and stupid.
He felt Ariana’s arm wrap around him and attempt to cradle him, though his weight made her struggle quite obviously. He squinted through his hands and looked at her, his face being tickled by the threads of her sweater.
“W-What are you doing to me?”
“I’m giving you a hug to make you feel better.”
He had no power to yell at her for doing so and just accepted it, it would help more than hurt right now considering the shock he’d just experienced. It lasted for at least a good two minutes before his breathing and head finally cleared, giving him a chance to finally speak.
“Ariana.”
“Yeah? Do you feel okay now?”
“What was that thing?” Lucas sat up, wiping his face after Ariana let him go. This surely wasn’t a dream considering the pain he just felt, usually stuff like that would wake someone up immediately, but he didn’t.
“I told you it was my new dog, Barry! He’s hungry and thought you were going to be food. He’s kinda silly and doesn’t understand that yet.”
“D-Dogs don’t eat people.”
“I know, but he’s a different type of dog. He has wings.”
“W-What? Wings?”
“Yeah! He’s the best dog ever!”
“I didn’t see wings.”
“He hides them. Barry, you can come out now! Lucas wants to see your wings!”
Lucas watched as the creature poked his head from the bush; it looked miserable now, it’s eyes were just as teary as his own and his stance was drooped. It stared at him before coming out completely, shaking off it’s pelt from the leaves which covered it. Lucas’s eye twitched at the sight of it. He had no clue what the fuck he was looking at.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” It squeaked nervously, poking its head toward him, its tail curled around its hind leg in a pitiful manner. “I only asked who you were.”
“I-It’s...alright.” Lucas sputtered, looking away toward Ariana. She was standing, rocking back and forth on her heels with a weird smile on her face.
“Show him your wings, Barry!”
“I thought you said I have to hide them or other humans will chop them off and sell them in the black market?”
“I don’t think Alex will do that, so it’s okay! Show him how cool they are!”
“Wait, I-I don’t really want to see them.” Lucas sputtered.
The creature ignored his croaky statement as it proceeded to hunch over violently, crouching his chest to the ground as it’s tail whipped violently. From it’s back, the skin folded, and warped before two large batlike wings shot out from it. It looked like a horrifying, painful experience, but the creature did it with a blank face.
“Oh god, that was disgusting.” Was all Lucas could say.
“Alex!!!!” Ariana squeaked.
“I...I’m disgusting?” The creature’s tail drooped.
Ariana waddled over to the creature and patted his head, wrapping her arms around him awkwardly. The creature nearly sat there, face squished between her elbows as it stared Lucas in the eye.
“I-I’m just being honest, but that was fucking gross.”
“Can’t be as gross as being covered in my own piss.” The creature shot back, nuzzling into Ariana’s chin.
Lucas blinked before looking down at his pants, his face growing hot once more.
“Ariana, I’m gonna beat that things’ ass.”
Ariana glared at him, letting Barry go. “No you won’t!”
“Is he challenging me to a fight?” Barry blinked, looking to Ariana with wide eyes.
“No, he’s not!”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Can you two stop?”
The two of them looked to Ariana who stood with a pouty expression, her arms crossed against her fuzzy sweater. Lucas rolled his eyes, glaring back at the creature who was peering at him. He refused to let something as hideous as it get away with trying to call him out like that. They didn’t have a single right to do so.
“I can’t believe I’m the only one here being mature! You two need to grow up.”
“Ariana, are you telling me to grow up when you’re talking to some fucking horror movie extra?”
“He’s not something from a horror movie, he’s Barry and he’s a demon dog, and you’re being mean to him for no reason! He could have eaten you, Lucas! And you’re only making him want to do that, and I’ll get in trouble if he does!”
Lucas heart stopped at the term “demon”.
“Did you say demon?”
“Yes. Isn’t that what you said you are, Barry?”
The creature was locked onto Lucas, it’s tail swishing against the ground as low guttural noises rumbled in it’s throat. Lucas shivered, seeing that it was legitimately pissed off.
I...I...It’s gonna kill me.
It stopped once Ariana smacked him on the back of the head, making him flinch and lower it’s fur.
“What?” It hissed.
“Aren’t you a demon?”
“Yeah, a Felinic demon.”
“See, he’s a doggy!”
“Ariana, feline means relating to the cat.” Lucas winced.
“........Well, whatever, he’s my new kitty!”
Lucas looked to Ariana, and back at the creature before looking at Ariana again. Now, Lucas wasn’t really a religious boy. His mother and father rose him in a community that believed in a variety of religious beliefs, but they all repulsed him, leaving their church visits to a minimum. It wasn’t that he believed strictly in the way science worked the way his father did, nor the way that his mother believed in a Heaven and Hell which would be the place you’d go after death; he believed in them both, allowing these explanations for life on Earth to warp into a mesh of nonsense that he preferred not to think about. He just preferred to accept things as they came. Being too religious would deem him a “sinner” and being an atheist would mean he’d go to the void after death, so being in between lead him with the content thought that’d he’d possibly become a new lifeform after his time had passed instead of burning into crisp or just ceasing to have a mind to use. Though, with the fact he still accepted the concept of Heaven and Hell, it meant that angels and demons were still a thing. From common knowledge, angels meant good and would appear where there was good, and demons meant bad and would only appear when things were bad.
Why is a demon here?
Does it know about me?
“Uh...Ariana?”
“Hm?” She looked to him with her wide eyes.
“Did you...summon him or something?”
Ariana stared at him and sucked in air, tapping her fingers on her side. She avoided his eyes before shrugging.
“I-I dunno. On Tuesday when I came here, I found him in the stream ripping apart a duckie.”
“You found him here?”
“Yeah. In the stream over there.” She pointed to the water.
Lucas’s stomach churred as he processed that that’s why there were no geese.
Oh, god. This is weird.
“And his name is Barry?”
“That’s what I like to call him! He told me his real name is Barrington, but that’s very long and boring.”
Lucas stared at Barry, furrowing his eyebrows. Barrington was certainly an odd name for a creature such as what he was staring at, reminding him of how Ariana’s mother would name all of her cats after actual humans. He looked away momentarily before starring Barry in the eye. The demon stared back before lifting its paw to its face to give it a lick.
“Is he from Hell?”
“I think so! He told me that’s where he’s from. He said he can’t go back so I have to find him food or he’ll get sick!”
“Oh...well...I’m...going to go home now. I’ll talk to you later.”
This had become much too weird for Lucas and he was failing to process the events unfolding in front of him. It wasn’t even fear that was getting to him, nor the discomfort of his situation, he was just confused of why a demon was on Earth and why it was even talking to Ariana.
I don’t want to deal with this.
He turned toward the street, brushing himself off as he headed through the bushes. Ariana rushed after him, grabbing his arm, causing the boy to flinch.
“What?”
“A-Are you gonna tell your mommy about Barry?” She looked into his eyes frantically before letting go. Barry stood behind her, tail swishing with curiosity.
“You’ve told no one about him, yet?”
“N-No! If I do, he might get hurt and killed.”
“Ariana, why did you pull me into this?”
“I didn’t pull you into it! You said you were going home, but you were watchin’ us from the bushes!”
“I only did that because I thought you were talking to yourself and I was worried since you’ve been acting stupid about your dad lately!”
Ariana paused and tilted her head.
Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose, his face growing hot again.
“I’ve been okay, if you were really worried.” She mumbled.
“I know. Ugh. Ariana, you have to tell someone about Barry, okay?”
“I can’t. He’s weird and everything that’s weird that appears on this planet gets put on the news and tortured for science! I don’t want Barry to go through that because he’s a demon. He’s very nice and soft.”
“D-Demons are bad.”
“I’m not bad.” Barry interrupted. “I’m just really hungry. I don’t know what you guys here think us demons do, but it’s probably over exaggerated. I just need some food.”
“What?”
“I-I’m just hungry. I don’t want to kill anyone.”
Ariana lifted her hands toward Barry in a “told you so” manner.
“See, he’s nice! He’s just real hungry, Alex!”
“...you’re really believing what a demon is telling you?”
“He’s not just a demon, he’s my kitty and my friend. Stop being so mean! He doesn’t wanna hurt anyone and just needs a sandwich!” Ariana hissed, stomping her foot.
Lucas had never seen Ariana so fired up over anything before, which put a grin on his face. It was hard to ever take her seriously with how squeaky her voice was, but seeing her pouting over something that could kill the both of them in a single blow was surreal. She had to be the one to summon it to Earth with how defensive she was acting and how much trust she was putting into the creature. She had to be well aware of its actual dangers, but considering the way they acted toward each other, they must have already had a connection. Barry wasn’t going to hurt her, and truly just wanted a meal and would go after everything on the planet before looking to Ariana as an option. It was an animal (definitely not human like him), so it wasn’t out of hand for it to be programmed to eat.
His heart fluttered, thinking of why she would even want to summon it in the first place, or how she even managed to summon it. He was a fan of horror movies, but never expected someone similar to occur in real life to someone he knew.
This is crazy.
“Ariana, how are you gonna feed him if you’re hiding him?”
“I...I don’t know. Can you leave some food out for him when you go home? Barry can fly over and eat and come back here to sleep! I don’t have any money and my mommy won’t let me bring anymore with me because we don’t have a lot at home.”
Lucas shook his head uncomfortably. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“My mom is gonna ask about it.”
“...”
Ariana signed and placed her hands on her hips, staring at Barry. Lucas frowned, wiping his forehead tiredly. Considering that Barry seemed harmless, and was just hungry, it was enough to allow him to put some level of trust into the creature (despite how terrifying he was). The sooner he’d help Ariana find him food, the sooner he’d be able to go home and try to forget any of this ever happened. Ariana had a point when it came to how they’d have to keep Barry a secret considering how the world worked: if people saw something like Barry, it’d immediately be on the news and folks would be stabbing him with needles. And Lucas still had a feeling Barry would kill someone without hesitation, considering the way he attacked him.
“Wait, you said you’re Felinic...so you’re like a cat?” Lucas shook from his thoughts with a sudden idea.
Barry blinked. “Yeah. I am. I can meow.” Barry let out a mewl, causing Lucas to freeze. He didn’t expect the pitch to be so...accurate.
“Ariana, aren’t you and your mom cat people?”
Ariana looked at him and frowned. “Well...yeah. She likes them alot, but our old one died last year and none of the alley cats want to hang out with her.”
“Tell your mom you found a cat that’s hungry. And then Barry is fed and you can still hide him.”
Ariana looked at Lucas with an impressed expression, her eyes widened with her mouth gaping. She suddenly grinned hard and bounced up and down.
“That’s genius!!! My mom will always cave in for kitties!”
“Am I gonna get food?”
“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah!!”
“Oh, cool! I’m starving.”
Lucas watched the two of them cheer and bounce around before rolling his eyes. It was the only logical thing he could think of considering everything he knew. He sighed and looked to his watch.
“I’m going home now.” He muttered, lowering his hand. He was uncomfortable and still shaking from his panicked state; he really just wanted to go home, shower and eat.
“Oh. Alright, that’s fine. Bye Lucas! Thank you, and don’t forget to not tell Kiki about Barry!” Ariana cheesed at him, rocking back and forth as Barry circled her, begging for food.
“I won’t. Uh, just make sure he gets fed so he doesn’t...eat you.”
He turned towards the bushes and rushed off, waving goodbye over his shoulder. He did what he could to get himself out of what Ariana had spurred, and hoped it would last.
---------------------------------------
“You’re so stupid, man.” Lucas hissed at Ariana who sat on the floor, bawling her eyes out obnoxiously.
The two of them stood before their terrified mothers as Barry laid unconscious on the floor, twitching occasionally. Veronica stood, holding a broom in her hand while Akira held a pan, both breathing heavily as they eyed the creature.
Ariana executed the plan extremely poorly,so of course he was dragged into the consequences of what she had done. After coming home, sneaking past his mother’s question of why he smelled so terrible with a shitty, but believable excuse (“Didn’t run home fast enough.”), he managed to shower and make a plate of nachos before Akira received a frantic call from Veronica expressing how a creature was breaking everything in her house. Akira asked no questions and dragged Lucas along with her as they sped to her house, explaining, “All we need to do is catch it, and then we can go home, okay?”
She only brought him because they needed someone “tough”. Lucas groaned the entire ride as he knew what was in store.
Upon reaching Ariana’s house, he could already hear the hissing from the inside and Ariana’s frantic calls for her mother to stop swatting at him. It was worse as he opened the door and Barry went flying over his head, tossing a box of cake mix across the room. The chase to contain Barry went on for a painfully long five minutes before Akira took advantage of her height and managed to grab the creature by the tail and whack him with a pan. Instantly, Barry collapsed onto the floor, out cold.
“This ain’t a fuckin’ cat, Ariana! What the fuck is wrong with you!” Veronica wailed, clutching her chest as she dropped the broom.
“M-mommy, he is a cat! You sca-sca-scared him!” Ariana cried back, too miserable to try to cover Barry’s limp body.
“CATS DON’T TALK AN’ OPEN UP ALL MY CABINETS AND JARS UP! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU BRING INTO MY HOUSE!?”
“L-Lucas, step away from it. I’ll call animal control before it wakes up, let’s just step away from it.” Akira let out shaky breaths, sighing as she shoved Veronica and Ariana away from Barry. Lucas just stood here, holding the dustpan as he looked up at his mother nervously.
Oh man.
“Mom, it’s alright. He doesn’t bite.”
“W-What?”
“Ariana...is right. It’s...it’s a cat. Just a weird cat. She found him a couple of days ago, and it’s just hungry.” He began sputtering awkwardly, trying to keep the mention of a demon out his mouth. He had to say something, or else they’d kill Barry.
Lucas wasn’t necessarily fond of Barry, but after some thinking, he did find him interesting. Not many people get the chance to be able to talk to a real life demon, and he wanted to learn the real reason why it was on Earth.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that it was actually here because of him, rather than Ariana summoning it like he thought of before. There were so many possibilities, and the thought of risking chances and ignoring it’s presence made him shudder.
“H-hun…”
“You knew about this thing, Lucas?”
Shit.
“...Kinda?” He shrugged. “It asked me for food.” He couldn’t think of much else to say, but he had to think of something to relax his mom and Veronica. “He couldn’t find anything on the streets to eat, and it said that without food, it’ll die. And it’s all scared so…”
“Tha-That’s why he freaked out. Ma, you s-sc-scared him! He jus’ wanted food!” Ariana whimpered.
The mothers looked to one another before looking back at Lucas and down at Barry. Akira’s face softened a bit while Veronica squinted.
“Lucas, honey, why didn’t you tell me about this in the car? We could have fed it so it wouldn’t have gone crazy.” Akira sighed, placing the pan down.
“Cause Ariana thought you’d try to kill it if I said anything.” He muttered.
Ariana looked to him and up at Akira and Veronica, sputtering into tears again.
“Well, shit. Looks like ya shoulda anyways cause it seems like it ain’t alive anymore.” Veronica face twisted at Barry’s blank, dead expression. “Ariana ain’t tell me it was a lil’ cat man begging for food. I thought she was talkin’ about a kitten so when she brought ‘em in, it started flying around opening everything up ripping open the food.”
“Whoops.” Is all he muttered. Ariana really didn’t think this through.
All of them stood in silence while Ariana continued to cry, staring down at Barry who remained still.
“...Do you know where it came from, hun?” Akira squeaked, studying Barry.
“Nope.”
“Is it...a human or...a cat? Or a bat?” Veronica mumbled.
“I dunno. I just know it was hungry.”
“...Maybe it’s an alien?” Akira looked to Veronica.
“Ki, aliens don’ look like that. They’re green and shit. This looks like a lil’ boy.”
“Well, it has wings.”
“I know, but, it ain’t an alien. He’s white.”
“Vee, that ain’t what I meant.”
“What? That ain’t what I meant either! I’m sayin’ it’s probably some nasty mixed up creature. Like if a human had a baby with a cat or sumn’.”
“Oh my lord. That’s...that actually happens?”
“I dunno. Just thinkin’. I mean it was talkin’ like a normal kid but the fella started flyin’ and hissin’. Shol’ ain't just a human.”
Lucas walked over to Barry as the mothers tried to decipher Barry’s origins. He was still breathing, just spazzed out from the impact he’d received. He placed his hand on his forehead, shivering at the odd texture of his skin. It was almost...rubber-ish.
“Hey...wake up.” He mumbled, giving Barry a little nudge. There was no response, so he gave him a swift smack across the face.
Barry shot up with a yelp before flopping back to his stomach. His eyes were wide, horrified as he glanced around at everyone. Ariana squeaked and stood up.
“BARRY, YOU’RE AWIVE!!”
Barry blinked before letting out a guttural noise before bolting over to the girl frantically, his fur spiked with fear. He climbed over her clumsily and wrapped around her, letting out weak terrified wails as he tried to hide behind her body.
Akira and Veronica had yelped out of shock upon seeing him dart off so quickly, finding refugee behind Ariana. It seemed as if Veronica was heading for the broom again.
“Ba-Barry, it’s okay. Everyone was just s-sc-scared. They didn-didn’t mean to hurt you! It’s okay, it’s okay. Shhhhh.”
Ariana wiped her eyes as she pulled Barry into her arms, cradling the creature as it trembled violently, clawing at her frantically as if he wasn’t close enough. Lucas grimaced to see how distressed Barry seemed to be.
“I-Is it actually crying?” Akira asked weakly as she watched Barry curl into Ariana’s arm, sniffling and sobbing.
“He’s very scared.” Ariana squeaked, patting his back. “Mommy, can we feed him? It might make him feel much better.”
Veronica blinked from her blank expression and frowned. “W-Whatever, yeah...What the hell does it eat, though?”
“It’s a cat, so give it meat?” Lucas managed to mumble out.
Veronica took the advice and returned, holding a package of ham.
“Here.” She tossed it onto the floor in front of Ariana. Barry didn’t move, staying clinged onto her.
“Hey, B-Barry? My mommy got you food. Look.” She tried to lean to grab the meat but Barry merely clung to her tighter, his furry legs hanging over her shoulder as he crawled toward the floor. She managed to snatch the package up and bring it to his face.
“Barry, look.”
Through tears, he examined and sniffed the food before licking his lips shakily.
“T-T-That’s food?” He mewed.
“Yes. For you, all of it!”
“Wait, Ari, I ain’t say give him the whole damn th-”
Barry had already tore into the packaging, ripping it apart and guzzling down the slices of meat. He was vicious and it seemed his entire denemore changed upon realizing he had something to fill his stomach.
Lucas watched, almost disturbed to see how violently a pack of meat could be eaten.
He’s definitely a demon.
After a minute, Barry sat up and stared at everyone, slobber trickling down his chin. He looked at Ariana briefly before lowering back into her lap, his pelt bristling.
“...Well. We fed it, so what no-”
“I’m still hungry.” Barry interrupted, his eyes were sharp as he frantically watched Veronica and Akira.
Veronica mouth twisted at the corners. “Well, I’d feed ya ass again if ya didn’t tear up my whole house. Look at what you did!” She spat, raising her hands at the mess around them. There was cake mix and random cans lying around, and they were in the living room. “Ya got the shit in my carpet!”
“Oh, Vee, don’t yell at him! He’s still scared.” Akira tried to relax her friend frantically. She clearly felt bad about what just happened to Barry, considering she was the one to knock him out.
“Don’t gimmie that, Ki! It ain’t even a human!”
“But still, he’s scared. Honey, we’ll give you more food, okay? Don’t be afraid of us. We were just scared of you because...we never have seen anything like you before.”
Akira had kneeled down to Barry and used the softest voice she had, which wasn’t hard considering that it was in her nature to do so. If she had to tame a tiger, she’d do it by smothering it in love and feeding it until it got fat, and that’s how she usually tamed Lucas.
“You can trust Ki, Barry! She means it. It’s okay. Look, everything’s okay now.” Ariana smiled weakly as Barry looked her in the eye. He obviously was having trouble trusting anyone right now.
“So you’re not going to hit me again?” Barry squeaked, looking back to Veronica and Akira.
“We won’t, I promise.”
“As long as you don’t go flyin’ around and shit.”
Barry’s pelt flattened slightly he let out a sigh, letting his grip loose off of Ariana. He sat up and scanned the room timidly.
“I’m sorry.” He mewled, not looking anyone in the eye. “I’ll clean the mess up, if I have to.”
Veronica seemed shocked to hear him offer to fix what he did. She placed her hand on her hip and rolled her eyes.
“Well, I sure hope you would cause I sure ain’t cleanin’ it up. You’re the one who made it.”
“I-If I clean it up, I can get more food, right?” Barry looked to Veronica frantically. He was still clearly starving.
“...Sure. I guess. THat’s after you clean up, though, alright?”
Barry nodded and stood up, his tail wagging slightly. “I’ll...get started now. S-sorry.” He crawled away toward the kitchen, lifting a box into his mouth on the way there.
Everyone watched him go, stunned at how quickly he seemed to shift.
What...just happened?
“Vee, don’t make him clean up on an empty stomach...look at him. He seems like a good kid.”
“Ki, it ain’t a kid. It’s a little monster. And, it ain’t gonna hurt to see how much work he’s gonna put into cleaning for food, might keep the lil fella around if he does good job, ya know? Ariana ain’t no good when it comes to givin’ me a hand around here.”
“W-What? I clean up!” Ariana squeaked, standing up.
“No you don’t, ya lil shit. Get your ass in there and him out. You ain’t got no right to be sittin’ around right now. You started all of this. Go.” Veronica shooed Ariana away before she could speak again, leaving her grumbling in dismay as she carried the cans toward Barry.
Lucas merely stood, still holding the dustpan to his chest, trying to register everything that just happened.
“Hey, ma?” Lucas looked to his mother who seemed just as confused.
“Yes, honey?”
“I’m hungry.”
“I-I know, we’ll leave soon, I just...want to make sure Vee will be alright.” Akira smiled weakly before she turned to Veronica, who seemed deep in thought. “Also, we should...try to find out what...the little guy in there actually is.”
“I don’t think he’ll hurt anyone as long as you give him food.” Lucas shrugged. “I mean, he...seems pretty food motivated. And it hasn’t killed any of us yet. Most animals are like that”
“I know, but honey, this...isn’t normal.”
“Oh, I know. It’s a talking cat thing that acts like a little boy. But he seems harmless.”
They all looked to Barry who had already managed to put away majority of the things he’d flug across the room and was heading towards the broom. Granted, he had no idea how to use it, and was almost too short for it’s height. He flipped it and scratched the pole side against the ground for a good second before Ariana walked to him and turned it around.
“...Vee, are you gonna be alright with...dealing with this on your own?”
Veronica looked over to Akira and shrugged. “I’ll call ya once I feed the lil thing and ask him some stuff. I ain’t gonna call the animal control unless it tries eatin’ me in my sleep. It’s actin’ just like a kid, at least for now. I’ll be fine.”
Akira sighed quietly, looking back to Lucas. “Well...Alright. I’ll call you later on. Let’s go, honey.”
Lucas followed his mother out the door, looking over his shoulder back to Barry and Ariana.
He’s going to be killed once they find out he’s a demon. Lucas shook the thought away quickly before climbing into the passenger seat in silence.