Cat

Raymond was still asleep after school that day, so Isaac decided to go to the music store. He hadn't seen James nor Andy since the bonfire, and he didn't want either of them to be weirded out by Raymond. Hopefully they weren't; he just wanted to hang out again.

When Isaac walked in, he saw Andy sprawled across the counter on his back. He didn't smile.

"James ain't here, if that's who you're looking for," he said, continuing to state at the ceiling.

"I..I didn't say that," Isaac mumbled. Andy had never been bitter like that. "I just wanted to say hi, since I haven't seen you guys since the bonfire."

"Hm." Andy sat up. "Yeah, that. James feels awful about that. He didn't mean to hurt the guy."

"Well, y'know. It's Raymond's own fault for chugging alcohol when he knew what would happen." Isaac walked over to the counter and sat next to Andy.

"You talk to Ray since?"

"Yeah." For a second, Isaac felt Raymond's freezing cold hand on his wrist again. "A lot, actually."

"What's up with him? I know that sounds weird, but..really. Does he have something going on?"

"Like, mentally?"

"Yeah."

Isaac wanted to tell the whole truth right there, but what would happen then? Andy would just think he was insane. "Probably. He's a little too obsessed with vampire things. Maybe there's something in his life that's missing, and so that's what he turns to? He hasn't gotten all that personal with me yet."

Isaac hated lying, but part of it was the truth. Raymond did have something missing.

Raymond had a lot missing.

"I just kinda feel bad for him," Andy said, shrugging. "I never told James about this, but when we'd walk home from here I'd see him in the cemetery."

Isaac's eyes widened. "What was he doing?"

"A lot of the time he had his face in his hands. I didn't say anything to James because I knew he'd be all loud about it. By the time we got home, he'd start fighting with Dad, so I never thought to tell him."

"How did you know it was him? Do you think he was crying?"

"He's got that long hair. No one else here wears suits that often, either. I never heard him crying, but it could have been silent. Maybe that's what's missing. Do you know if he's lost anyone?"

"I hope not. No one deserves that."

Andy gave a light smile. "Right."

--------------------------------------------

Isaac stood in the doorway of the mausoleum, watching Raymond as he lay still on the mattress. His hands were still folded on his chest, slowly rising and falling with his breath, and he was still on his back. He looked even more sickly now, like any gust of wind could just blow him into dust.

Isaac felt something rub against his ankle. He looked down, startled by the feeling, and saw a small orange cat looking back at him. It was a rather mangled cat, with messy fur and halfway healed scars on its abdomen. It meowed loudly, and Isaac quietly shushed it.

The cat, ignoring Isaac's directions, meowed again and walked right inside. It ran up to Raymond and pawed at his arm, and Isaac was too afraid to go in and stop it. He stayed in the doorway, biting his lip.

The cat climbed on top of Raymond's suit and plopped down on his chest. It started to purr, and it meowed once more in Raymond's face. Isaac finally turned around and started to walk away. If that cat didn't wake Raymond, nothing would.

And then he heard a laugh. He turned back around to see Raymond with his head lifted up, staring at the cat. "Hello there, kitty," he said in a soft voice, rubbing the cat's head. He glanced up at Isaac and smiled.

"Are you alright around cats?" He asked. "I know some people who are allergic."

Isaac walked back to the doorway and nodded. "I love cats," he said, thinking about his own one at home. Cinnamon was getting pretty old, but he knew his mother would take care of her.

"This is Diablo." Raymond moved his legs to make a space on the mattress. "You can come sit. I'd sit up, but there's a cat on my chest."

Isaac laughed and sat down on the mattress, carefully reaching out to pet the cat. It didn't seem to mind.

"So you've seen it before?" Isaac asked. Raymond nodded.

"He was losing a fight to some stray dog. Luckily I was able to grab him before any severe damage was done. He seems to really like me now."

"Can't vampires control animals?"

"Maybe. I don't know how to do it." Raymond picked the cat up and moved it off of his chest. As soon as he sat up, it went back into his lap. "I like a lot of animals. I've always been a bit afraid of dogs, though."

"How did you chase the dog away?"

"I just yelled at it and ran. I'm not very graceful."

Isaac couldn't help but feel like an idiot. He had believed all the vampire stereotypes of stoic, rebellious immortals who weren't afraid of anything and felt overwhelming angst about their past. Now that he was actually faced with one of them, he realized a lot of the tropes weren't right. Raymond was soft and friendly and polite, and he always thought of others and asked permission before doing anything serious..everything about him was just feathery and fluffy and it made Isaac happy. He wasn't in love- it took a while for him to fall in love- but Raymond just had that kind of personality that made everyone happy.

"Sorry I've been asleep all day," Raymond said. "That's normally what I like to do."

"It's fine. I've been in class all day."

"Oh, yes. How was that?"

"Boring."

Raymond chuckled. "Maybe I can take you somewhere not as boring," he said. "There's a beautiful creek near the forest. It gets prettier once it's dark, though." He covered his mouth, yawning. "I'll have more energy then, too."

"We should hang out then. Around 8?" Isaac wanted to give Raymond a chance to sleep some more. Plus, he was starving.

"Sure. You deserve to recuperate after class. I'll see you here, then?"

Isaac stood up and smiled. "It's a date."

Raymond's eyes lit up. "Yeah. See you then."

Isaac wanted to kick himself in the face the second he walked out the door. Why had he said it was a date?

Why did Raymond seem so happy about that?