Carmilla's mother looked at her with disappointment in her eyes.

"I can't believe you would do that to your own brother!" Carmilla flinched as her mother's hand raised. Her eyes somewhat softened as she saw the younger vampire flinch and quiver. "You're my glittering girl... but you need some type of punishment for this dear. Nothing too harsh, but enough to make you struggle so you can see how lucky you are to be in such a loving family." She rested her hand on top of Carmilla's head, causing Carmilla to stop quivering and freeze in fear. Flashbacks of all those years sealed in a coffin full of blood made her eyes sting with tears she couldn't shed. "I know what you're thinking darling and it's nothing that horrible. Stand and turn into your panther form." She removed her hand from Carmilla's head and stepped sideways, Carmilla standing and closing her eyes, feeling her body and muscles stretch and go down on all fours. She opened her eyes and looked up at her mother, before she felt her cold finger tap her forehead and everything shrunk even more. She tried to roar in protest but the hair on her tail puffed up in shock as she heard a meow come from her mouth. She tried her hardest to revert back to her human body, her mother just smiling. "You're now a small black kitten. And you shall stay like this until I feel you have learned your lesson. As for feeding, don't worry I've made it so you can sustain yourself with animal food and human food. And I made sure your animal body can 'grow' as they say." She picked up her phone dialing a number. "Yes, animal control, I seem to have a stray kitten in my house. Yes of course." She walked out of the room, leaving Carmilla alone in the room, panicking, running around in a frenzy, hyperventilating. She managed to catch eye of a reflective surface and rushed to it. In her reflection she saw a small black kitten with honey, golden eyes. She stared at that reflection for what seemed like hours, occasionally lifting her paw to make sure it had remained as a paw. Suddenly the door was yanked open and chaos ensued. Two men wearing coveralls, carrying a net and a leash began to rush at Carmilla. She tried to run. completely skidding against the wooden floor before finally getting some grip and lurching forward. She ran around her mother's desk before noticing they had cornered her against the desk. The net swept her up in seconds, her mother smiling coyly from the door as she handed the other man the cash. Carmilla was carried outside, towards the crappy truck that belonged to the shelter they were going to take her to. She recognized the name on the side immediately. 'Silas Shelter' were in ugly block letters on the side. Of course her mother had picked this one specifically, it was one of those shelters no one went to, no one bothered because all the animals were either old or sick. They refused to kill animals there which told her her mother cared at least the slightest bit. They opened the back door where there was several cages, all which already had an animal inside, all of them dogs.

"Where do I put the cat?" The one holding the net asked to the other one who was making his way through the drivers side.

"Throw it in with the aggressive one. Maybe that way we can get rid of it will be less animals." Said man number two, pulling the keys out of his pocket. The one holding the net conceded and threw Carmilla into the cage with a strange looking mutt. She sent a glare over his way before curling up in a corner of the cage, staying away from him. The dog exhaled sharply before turning his attention away from Carmilla. The truck started and began to move forward. She figured she might as well relax until they got there. After about 20 minutes of being slightly tossed and turned, suddenly there was screeching of the tires, she was tossed towards the opposite side of the cage where the dog was laying. They collided, Carmilla's head on his muzzle as the dog reacted whipping his neck around to chomp down on whatever he could, catching her hind paw as Carmilla flipped in the air. A deafening screech escaped Carmilla as she unsheathed her claws and sunk them into the dogs side, seeing the bloodstain his fur as he let go. She hissed at him, pulling away, limping slightly, her back left leg hurting more than any pain she'd felt in a while. The back door opened, letting the sunlight poor into the cages, the two men, picking them up and hauling them inside while muttering. "Stupid animals." The onfloor vet that greated the animals rushed over upon seeing Carmilla and the mutt both bleeding heavily. It was then I noticed my breathing had become labored. The last I heard she was screaming at the men for having the idea to put us both in the same cage. Then everything shifted to black.

It was warm, and I felt my left leg stiff, I groaned, my eyes snapping open when I realized it was a tiny whine instead. The first thing I saw was that I was in a cage again, by myself but in a cage. I tried lifting my hand to rub my face but was greeted by a furry black paw. Then it all came back to me, I tried to stretch, my leg still wrapped as I tried to kick it off, the vet coming quickly to stop me.

"No you don't kitten. You need to get better if you're ever going to get adopted. We have you all checked out and you're ready to go on the floor, we were just waiting for you to wake up." She cooed at Carmilla. Carmilla just staring up at her as she wondered if she did this with all the animals. She didn't even notice when they had arrived at the rows of cages. There was many dogs barking, and cats meowing as they reached an empty one, where the vet set her down and closed the cage. Carmilla's stomach growled as she looked over at the bowl that sat there with some tuna. She wrinkled her nose in disgust but walked over anyway, sniffing it before eating a small piece. After realizing that the taste wasn't so bad on her tongue she continued to eat slowly. She watched as the other animals calmed down a few minutes after the nurse left. She finished eating and drank some water, going to the darkest corner of her cage and curling up. She knew it was going to be a while before her mother deemed her worthy of giving her her form back so she might as well get used to it here.

Several days had come and gone. It was the same routine, wake up, eat, curl up in the corner and watch people come and go, completely ignoring her cage since she blended so well it looked empty. Her bandages had slowly become less and less until now it was just precaution so she wouldn't lick at the wounds. Today was like any other of those days, where she finished eating and curled up into her corner. She had just gotten her eyes closed when the ring of the bell of the from door made her ear twitch. Followed by the annoying crying of a small girl. Carmilla rolled her eyes.

'Another one of these kids wanting a puppy I see.' She thought to herself as she relaxed again. She could hear the voice of the person with the young girl.

"Laura, honey, this is the last shelter. You haven't liked any of the puppies in any of the other shelters. Please choose one of the ones here okay?" Carmilla assumed the girl nodded through her crying, because the man who was presumably her father replied. "Good, now come on, stop crying, lets go get you a puppy." There was a hint of sadness in his tone but Carmilla ignored it, going back to trying to doze off. They walked to the back, where the animals were held. The dogs went crazy and began to bark and wag their tails. The little girl perked up immediately. When she heard running she opened her eyes to look where she had run off to, to see who was going to leave this place next. The girl was kneeling in front of the cage almost directly in front of Carmilla. The girl looked to be no older than 7 years old. The small puppy in the cage, a blue nosed pitbull, barking widely and happily. Carmilla scoffed to herself, of course he was next. She let her eyes fall closed again. When she heard the small girl cry out.

"This one!" There was a small amount of silence followed by her father's voice.

"Honey there's nothing there." The man sounded confused.

"It's right there! And it's hurt like me!" At this Carmilla's eyes opened lazily, before looking shocked as the little girls finger pointed right at her. She noticed the small girl had her right hand covered in gauze, a big band-aid on her right cheek, and you could see some thick wrapping gauze on her left leg under her pants. The vet from the front walked over. She looked at her list before reading the records slowly.

"This is a female kitten, black fur so hard to know what breed. She's only a few months old, her leg was hurt by a dog but it's all healed up the wrapping is just until it seals up completely. We haven't thought of a name for her." The nurse smiled cheekily as she saw 'Laura's' eyes sparkle.

"Honey, I thought you wanted a puppy." Laura shook her head and kept pointing at Carmilla.

"Want to go in and see if she likes you?" Laura nodded eagerly.

'Uh oh.' Carmilla thought to herself before being scooped up by the little girl. She was ready to scratch her way out of her grasp when she noticed that her hold was gentle. Carmilla decided to just stay still, swaying her tail back and forth, the nurse looking somewhat shocked. Yes people had asked about Carmilla once or twice but their dreams were quickly shattered as Carmilla scratched at the first sight of toddlers hands going in to pet her. Laura just held her, beaming at her father. Carmilla just lay there lazily, waiting to be put down. She didn't react until she heard the click of a pen as Laura's father handed the clipboard and the signed paperwork over to the vet, shaking her hand. Laura squealed, causing Carmilla's ear to twitch. Then, before she could protest, she was being carried out by the small girl, then was placed in a cardboard carrying box with holes. Laura held it excitedly.

"Daddy can we go to the pet shop to buy stuff for her?" She climbed into the passenger seat, Carmilla on her lap inside the crate.

"Of course honey. Have you decided what you're going to name her?" Her father started the engine and began driving towards where Carmilla assumed the petstore was.

"Hmmm. I'm going to name her Cupcake!" Laura said after a few minutes of thought. Her father just chuckled as they pulled into the store. "Daddy can we take Cupcake inside?"

"Yes we can sweetie but since she doesn't have a harness yet, we're going to have to take her in the box. But let me tell you what. We'll make her her collar and get a harness and pay for it so you can put it on her then keep shopping so she won't be stuck in that box the whole time. How's that sound?" Laura grinned widely, showing she was missing a tooth. They both got out of the car, Laura still holding the box close. As soon as they entered the store, they stopped at a terminal right by the door, where there was a screen prompting to select a tag shape, which Laura chose to be a heart, then prompted for a name which Laura convinced her father to let her type it in, her tongue sticking out to touch her top lip as she concentrated. Her father then did a quick task of putting their information on the reverse of the tag. Once that was done, the machine whirred to life for about 2 minutes until it gave them the tag and Laura scooped it up, holding it proudly in her hands, leaving Carmilla to be picked up by Laura's father, chasing after the small girl who ran towards the section labeled 'Collars, Leashes, Harnesses.' Carmilla peeked through one of the holes to see the girl with the same concentrated look on her face, holding two collars, one a bright pink, the other a light blue. "Which one do you like better sweetheart?" Her father put the box down as Carmilla grimaced at the pink. Normally she didn't mind the color but that hue of pink was too much for her.

"I don't know daddy." Laura sat there was her brow furrowed even more, if possible, making a small crease between her eyebrows that was clearly going to get more pronounced if she kept making that face every time she had to make a decision. She suddenly looked up at the box where Carmilla was held. "Can we open the box to see which one cupcake likes?" Carmilla perked up at this, if they opened the box, she might have a chance to run. Laura's father nodded before opening the box slowly, Carmilla springing out and running the opposite direction of the family, Laura's father running quickly after her. She took a sharp turn and hid in the next aisle and decided to stay there and wait until they left. After what seemed like forever, she saw Laura's father walking back, shoulders sagged in defeat.

"I'm sorry sweetie." He murmured lowly. Carmilla could hear the quiet crying of the small girl, she sighed to herself and looked around to sprint for the door when she heard the small girl speak through her crying.

"Why does no one like me daddy?" She heard the voice shake as the girl sobbed. "All the kids in school hurt me. All the teachers hate me. Mommy left because of me. And now even Cupcake doesn't want me." The last vowel was extended as the girl fell into another sob.

"They don't understand you honey, they don't see how amazing you are. Even though it wasn't okay that they put you in the hospital, they just don't understand you. I can have a talk with the teachers if you want. Your mom... your mom didn't love me enough to stay, and I didn't want to lose you, so you stayed with me. And Cupcake has probably never had a family before. She was just a kitten and she was scared. But you know what darling? I love you." Carmilla heard him give a grunt as the young girl threw her arms around her father. Carmilla pondered her situation for a second. Live as an alley cat with threat to a shelter or be at someone's home and make a small child happy. She may have been nearly 300 years old but she wasn't heartless just yet. She sighed and started making her way back over to the small girl who was still crying in her father's chest when something caught her eye. A bright yellow collar sat there inoffensively, causing Carmilla to roll her eyes.

'Damn fate.' She thought to herself as she lifted it in her mouth, padding over to the small child, who looked up from her father's chest, seeming to have heard the small feet.

"Cupcake!" She jumped off her father and ran forward. Carmilla flinched letting the collar fall from her mouth, closing her eyes, getting ready to get the petting of her life, but it didn't come. When she opened her eyes, what she saw was the small girl sitting across from her, eyes slightly red from crying as she lifted the collar. She slowly reached out a hand but left a small distance as if telling Carmilla to come forward when she was comfortable. It surprised Carmilla, but she still took a minute to appear natural before sniffing the small girls hand. After that the small girl picked her up gently, holding Carmilla to her chest. Carmilla felt the small girl still somewhat shaky and nervous so she just let her head rest against the small girl, relaxing in her grasp. Laura's father gave a sigh of relief, getting the yellow collar from the young girl, picking out a harness and leash of the same color, heading to the register to pay, coming back, handing it to her, the small heart hanging from the collar. Laura sat down, setting Carmilla down, looking at the kitten warily, relaxing when she saw Carmilla sit there patiently. She undid the clip with her tiny hands and placed the collar along the kitten's neck, clipping it on. The first instinct of Carmilla was to try and take it off, which she did, being annoyed that the only thing she would hear as she would try would be the jingling of a small bell that was attached to the nametag. The quiet giggling she heard next where what made her stop struggling. The giggle turning into a laugh, she looked up at the small girl sitting across from her, also noticing her father's reaction. He looked genuinely surprised to hear her laughter, which then turned into tears in his eyes. Carmilla was confused but shrugged internally and sat there, hitting her tail on the floor, waiting for the young girl to stop her laughing. When Laura did, she looked like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulder, like her leg and hand didn't hurt anymore, she held her stomach, keeping her toothy grin in came the harness, one strap around her shoulders, the other strap around her torso area. It made walking awkward, causing Carmilla to fall over several times until Laura eventually picked her up and nestled her up on her chest again. Carmilla just swayed her tail, occasionally hitting it against the small girl as her father was putting stuff in a cart. By the time they were leaving, the blue shopping cart was filled with food, a bed, two bowl, cat toys, a travel case, a litter box, litter, a comb, shampoo, flea medicine, and outfits which Laura INSISTED were necessary. But there was no way in hell that she was going to put on any of them. They paid and started heading home to Laura's house. Out of the confinement of the box and on the warm human's lap, she began to doze off, only aware of her body involuntarily rumbling as she felt a small hand stroking her, but was unable to stop it before she fell asleep completely.