51 Familial Bonds (12)

Some time later, Kyro moved and woke Iris up. She yawned and looked around, noticing that it was still early evening. What was wrong? Why did he decide to stand up?

He placed her on the bed and, while she was yawning and stretching, changed into his sport's wear. "I'll be back soon, don't destroy the house, all right?"

Iris nodded mechanically, her mind still muddled from sleep. He patted her head and left. There was nothing else required of her, so Iris just plopped on the bed, about to fall asleep again, but then, a thought struck her.

She rushed to her feet and sprinted to the study. Ha! Just as she had expected, he had left the computer as is. The display hadn't yet turned off, so she could go online without him learning of it!

First was the arduous journey up, but with ample motivation, it took her only a few minutes. And then, she sat before his keyboard and monitor, free to do whatever she wished.

But what was that? She was tempted to just change his password to something more manageable, but that wouldn't end well. Creating a new user was also out of the question; it would be way too obvious. What would she call it even? Use her own name?

That was one disaster she'd rather avoid. What then? There was no point in accessing all her media sites since she couldn't explain to anyone what had happened to her. It was better if they just accepted that she was gone and continued from there.

A middle-aged woman's image rose in her head. Along with it, came her stern, no-nonsense voice. "Iris, I don't care what you do. I'm not your mother, so do as you wish, try whatever you want. All I ask is that at the end of the day, you would be able to face yourself."

'Aunt Maddie…'

Iris opened a private window on the browser and logged into her email. Her idea was crazy, and would probably get her into trouble, but she knew she'd regret it if she didn't do it. Her aunt had been the only person that truly cared about her, and she couldn't leave her in the dark.

It was hard to write with paws instead of fingers, but not impossible. There was a lot of deletion and her message turned into a couple short sentences instead of the essay she had come up with, but it was fine. The thought behind it was what mattered.

'Aunt, please don't worry about me. I'm fine. Something came up and I had to leave, for a very long time. I know this sounds crazy, but I did it myself and it's something I needed. Don't look for me. I'll return when I can. Love, Iris'

Her paw hovered over the left mouse button, betraying her inner turmoil, but soon, she clicked send. There was no way to tell how her aunt might react upon receiving such a message—did she even know that Iris was missing? It's been only four days, and they lived in different cities—but it was better than nothing. At least this way, Aunt Maddie would know that her girl was alive.

There were footsteps in the corridor, and Iris swiftly cleared away the evidence. Before jumping off, she also pushed the button on the monitor to put it to sleep.

She didn't make it farther than the bedroom when the door opened and Kyro stepped in, but that was far enough. As if nothing had happened, she sauntered over to him, welcoming him with a scream.

Lucifer came over as well. The cat walked a few circles around Kyro's legs, then sniffed them and snorted. He was gone the next moment.

"Thanks," Kyro muttered dryly. When his eyes landed on Iris, he smiled at her. "I'll go take a shower now, so you won't have to run away too."

'Sure,' she agreed with a laugh and went in search of Lucifer. What was the cat up to?

She found him in the kitchen, behind the counter. A chicken leg was under his front right foot, and he was tearing meat off with every bite. When he noticed her, he let go of the meat and growled low in his throat. His fur stood up, and his face shifted to one that promised hell for anyone that came close.

Logic dictated that Iris should step back. Her current body was five times smaller than that of the cat, and she wouldn't have wanted to approach him even as a human. Lucifer looked positively feral right now.

However, Iris hadn't had the best of days today. She even had been told to eat insects and worms from today onward. And now, as if to add insult to injury, the cat was eating a juicy chicken leg and not sharing with her.

It was too much for her to take. If she was forced on a disgusting diet, then at least be considerate enough not to splurge in front of her.

With a fury that could burn all Earth, she started screaming. Her loud voice startled Lucifer, but he didn't move from his treasure trove. His head low, he growled back at her.

Iris didn't care. She jumped back and forth, screaming all the while. With her current form she might not be able to steal the food, but she could certainly foul his mood. It would have to be good enough.

Soon after, Kyro rushed over with his hair dripping wet. "What's wrong?" he called. His footsteps halted when he rounded the corner and saw the confrontation.

"You- You're gonna give me a heart attack like that." He breathed a sigh, relieved that nothing had happened. When he heard the fennec screaming like that, he'd been certain that Lucy had attacked it.

He grabbed the little fox from the ground, lifting it up and away from the cat. This didn't change much, though. The fennec kept on screaming, clawing at him to let it go so it could rush back to attack the cat.

"Hey, hey, it's fine. You've had your meal, didn't you?"

A freezing stare met Kyro's gaze, then the fennec began struggling even more vigorously. He could only hold it with his hand around its middle section while holding the struggling animal away from himself. Kyro was lucky the fox's limbs were short and it couldn't claw him like a cat might.

He told the fox he'd bring something tasty for it tomorrow, since Lucy had already eaten all of the leftover chicken, but the little one didn't seem convinced. The way it looked at him, Kyro was sure his words were treated as dirt. Or maybe a warning, for the little fox calmed down. Its actions slowed down until the fennec just lay limp in his hand.

Kyro frowned. He really couldn't understand what was going on through the head of this little creature.