A cranky neighbor

The night sky was completely covered with dark clouds signified an impending downpour. Leah arrived home and parked her car before getting out and walking towards her porch, where she noticed her neighbor, waiting for her with a small pet carrier in her hands.

"I'm so sorry, Kat. I completely forgot that you were bringing my new puppy today. I was at a friend's birthday party and I totally lost track of time," Leah apologized.

Kat smiled warmly and handed Leah the pet carrier. "No worries, Leah. I haven't been waiting for that long. Here's your new puppy. I hope you enjoy him."

"Thank you so much, Kat. I'm really excited to have a puppy," Leah said, smiling as she took the carrier. "Good night, Kat." She unlocked her door and was about stepping in but she noticed that kat was still standing there, smiling at her.

"Is everything alright, Kat? Do you need anything else?"

Kat's smile widened. "Actually, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about. Do you mind if I come in?"

"Um, I..." Leah paused for a moment. She and Kat were not particularly close. Despite being neighbors for five months, Leah knew very little about the woman. Kat was an odd lady who always kept to herself and had never talked to any of the other neighbors. This was only the second conversation they had ever had. Leah was tired and not in the mood for a conversation, but she didn't want to appear rude, so she invited Kat in.

"Sure, come on in." Leah gestured for her to come in.

Kat followed Leah inside and they settled down in the living room. Kat just silently sat there, staring at Leah with a wide smile which Leah found creepy but decided to ignore and speak first since kat wasn't saying anything.

"So, you wanted to speak to me about something?" Leah asked as she ran her fingers through hair.

"What are you going to name your dog?" Kat asked her, diverting from the question Leah had asked.

"I don't know." Leah carefully opened the carrier and watched as a little puppy timidly stepped out. She knelt down and gently petted him, making him feel at ease.

"I think I'll call him Max," Leah said, looking at the puppy with affection.

"Max?" Kat asked with a slightly raised brow.

"Yeah." Leah replied.

"I don't like that name. How about wolf or spider." Kat gave her suggestions.

"Thank you for you suggestions, but I think I'm good with max and besides his my dog, so I can name him whatever I want." Leah said and sat down back on the couch. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"I've actually forgotten what I wanted to say." Kat replied.

"Um, okaay," Leah said standing up. "In that case, I suggest that you go home, cause I think it's about to rain. You might remember what you wanted to say by tomorrow."

"It looks like your in a hurry to send me out of your house." Kat said with a frown.

"Look. I am really tired, it's late and it's going to rain any minute now. So I would really appreciate it if you leave, Miss Kat." Leah said with a calm, friendly smirk to try and make the woman understand.

The woman face squeezed further as she stood up.

"I told you not to call me Miss kat the other day. It's just kat." She smiled again and a creepy one this time. "We're friends remember. Right, Leah?" She tilted her head. "Why are you sending me away? Do I irritate you. Do I?" She asked as she took two steps closer to Leah.

Leah frowned at the woman's behavior. She was acting strange and Leah did not like it one bit. "I think you should leave, Miss kat." Leah said but the woman still stood there smiling at her. "I mean it, Kat."

"Okay, okay. I'm leaving." Kat chuckled. "Your taking this seriously. I was joking with you." Kat chuckled as she walked towards the door. The woman stopped at the door and smirked at Leah before stepping out, leaving the door open.

Leah walked to the door and shut it.

"That was weird." She muttered as she got down to pick up Max who was wiggling his tail happily.

"Come here buddy. I have a feeling that we are going to enjoy each other's company."

Leah rubbed the puppy's head as she made her way to her bedroom. She kept the dog on her bed before changing into something comfortable. She picked up Max from her bed and returned back to her living room before putting him down on one of the couches.

"I'm going to take the trash out." She said to the puppy, and it gave a little bark at her in reply.

"Cute," Leah muttered as walked to her kitchen to grab the trash bag.

"Stay here, okay. I'll be right back." Leah instructed Max and it bark again causing her to chuckle as she went out.

It had begun raining heavily outside. Leah quickly jogged to the trash can, opened it, and dropped her trash bag inside before jogging back to her apartment.

She got inside her house and locked the door. She ran her fingers through her wet hair as she walked to a couch and slumped down on it, exhaling. She turned to the spot where she had left Max but could not find him. However, the dog was nowhere to be seen in the living room.

"Max," Leah called to the dog, but heard nothing but silence. The house was totally quiet. She got up from her sitting position, her eyes scanning around the room suspiciously.

"Max, where are you, boy?" She called out for the dog, but all she heard was silence, except for the sound of rain falling outside. She got down on the floor to check if she could find her puppy under the couch, but he wasn't there.

To her relieve, she finally heard the puppy barking from the kitchen. She was about to stand up when she heard a small creaking behind her. As Leah pivoted to look behind her, she felt a heavy ceramic object slam onto her head. She could hear the sound of the ceramic shattering before she fell to the ground and immediately lost consciousness.

...

Just outside the house, two figures stood in the dark, observing the house from a distance, beyond the reach of the lights from the house. A male voice broke the stillness.

"Are you sure this is the place?" he asked.

The other person standing with him, hesitated before replying, "Yes, I'm sure."

Lucius tilted his head and gazed at her intently. He had sensed the hesitation in her voice before she replied him. "Is this the place, Samara?" he asked again.

Samara nodded, handing him the compass she had successfully created. "You can check if you want."

Lucius studied her for a moment before turning his attention back to the house.

"That won't be necessary. It's just strange that the witch lives in this particular house, and yet I couldn't sense her presence when I came here the other day."

Samara stared at him with a raised brow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I was here a few days ago. I came here the night i found you." Lucius replied.

"What did you come here to do?" Samara asked.

"Nothing serious. I just came to check on my new pet." Replied Lucius, smirking.

"Pet? What pet?" Samara asked as she stared at him confusingly.

"Stop questioning me, Samara. I don't like it." Lucius glared at her and she quickly turned her face from his direction.

"Wait for me in the car. I'll be back in five." He instructed her before sauntering towards the house.

Samara glared at his back as he walked away.

"So reckless." She mumbled under her breath.

Earlier that evening, when Lucius had asked her to draw energy for the compass from him, that he couldn't wait for a full moon, she had tired to convince him that it was dangerous and the procedure wasn't safe considering that his body was under restriction, but the stubborn man had insisted.

His impatience about this particular witch was just suspiciously disturbing. She knew very well that Lucius wasn't just trying to protect the her from the black witches, because they would have never been able to find her; she was the only one who could find her. So why did he want her so bad?.

Samara sighed. She could not help the uneasiness she felt. Though he had told her that he only wanted to keep the woman safe, she did not completely trust him about this matter. And, she disliked the witch in question.

...

Back inside the house, Kat stared at Leah's unconscious face with a satisfied smile. She had sneaked into the house while Leah was taking out the trash. And as for the puppy, she had lured it into the kitchen and locked it in there.

Kat got down on all fours and sniffed Leah's face. She sniffed the small trail of blood by the side of Leah's head. She stuck out her tongue from her mouth and ran it across Leah's face with her eyes shut. She opened her eyes back as she licked the blood on Leah's head and smiled, like she was satisfied by the taste.

"We are going to be friends forever." She said as she pushed some strands of hair from Leah's face. "Just the two of us. And Max of course." She chuckled and got up from the ground. She held Leah's hands and slowly dragged her slack body towards her room, whilst humming a song.

Kat suddenly stopped on her track and gently dropped Leah's hands, she moved away from her as she sniffed the air. trying to identify what she had just smelt, when the main door bust open. The cold breeze from outside, blew into the house. Kat sniffed the air again, her eyes immediately widened when she perceived the familiar, dangerous scent.

Kat backed away in fear as the the lights on the front porch flickered and then exploded.

"Lucius," she called softly, her lips slightly trembling as she stared into the darkness outside. She couldn't see a thing beyond the house, and even the street was completely dark.

"Hello, Kat." Lucius's cold voice sounded behind the woman.

Startled, Kat quickly turned around to face him. She had a horrified look on her face. "How... how did you find me?" she stuttered fearfully, backing away from him.

"Please, please don't hurt me. I haven't done anything wrong." Her voice broke as she spoke. The once-crazy-looking woman now looked dreadful.

"Go to the car outside and wait for me," the coldness in his voice made her flinch.

"And stay in the trunk." Kat stared at Lucius with shock.

"The... The trunk?" Kat asked to make sure she heard correctly.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Lucius tilted his head, his blue eyes scrutinizing her.

"No," she quickly shook her head. "I don't."

Kat knew there was no escaping Lucius now that he had found her. She had only two options; to obey him or disobey and face severe consequences.

"Then get out."

She nodded and hurriedly left the house.

Lucius moved closer to the unconscious Leah and squatted down beside her. He examined her for a moment without touching her, taking note of the small patch of blood near her scalp.

"You really can't stay away from trouble, can you?" he remarked softly he gently grazed her wet hair with his fingers.

His expression darkened momentarily, but he quickly regained his composure as he heard the sound of a small dog barking in the nearby kitchen. He stood up and walked to the kitchen door, which he opened to reveal a lively puppy barking and wagging its tail.

Lucius stared at the adorable little puppy in wonderment as it barked and wagged its tail. He crouched down to pet it gently.

"Looks like you're the only one who's not in trouble around here." The puppy licked his hand. "You're a friendly one, aren't you?" he said, scratching the puppy behind the ears. "I already like you. I think I'm going to keep you and her." He added, his lips curling into a mischievous smirk.