~ The Silver Cage ~

"Now, that's no way to treat a pet," said the mysterious hooded figure who had appeared in the path of Carmilla's small travelling party.

Elegant, long-fingered hands reached for Hector's collar. If not for the fact that the mystery being's talons were a deep purple rather than red, he would have assumed that his mysterious benefactor was a vampire.

At one touch from the stranger's hand, the collar fell away from Hector's neck as if it hadn't even been locked.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," the figure said, sweeping the Forgemaster behind him protectively.

"Who are you?" Carmilla snarled, although something unsettling about the stranger kept her from outright attacking him.

With a serene smile, he gave the most incredibly baffling reply: "I run a pet shop."

After the moment it took her to process that, she said, "And you think to steal my pet from me for your shop?"

The stranger's smile took on a sinister edge.

"I won't stand for anyone mistreating a pet."

"Welcome to Count D's pet shop. How may I help you today?"

"Are you Count D?"

"Ah, no. I'm not the count. I am managing the shop for him while the count is traveling to acquire more pets. My name is Hector."

"I was hoping to speak with the count," the customer said, his expression crumpling into one of nearly-comic disappointment.

He turned to leave.

Somewhere in the shop, a cat meowed loudly.

The sound drew the customer's attention to a silver cage, in which a pure white Himalayan cat resided. The cat let out another plaintive meow, looking up at the human with sparkling blue eyes.

"Why is this cat in a cage?" he asked.

Which was a reasonable question, considering that myriad other cats could be seen lounging in various places around the shop, none of whom were caged or tethered in any way.

"So she doesn't escape," the shopkeeper replied calmly, not so much as glancing in the cage's direction, almost as if he were bored.

"How much do you want for her?" the customer asked, leaning over the cage to get a closer look at the cat, visibly fascinated by the creature.

The shopkeeper's voice took on a frosty edge as he informed the man, "She's not for sale." Then he forced the insincere customer-service smile back onto his face as he said, "But you're free to choose from any of the other cats in the shop. As you can see, we have many different breeds from all across the globe."

Frowning, the customer straightened up and - after giving only a cursory glance around the shop - edged toward the door, saying, "I really only came to speak with Count D about a certain matter... but since he's not here..."

As the customer turned and fled the shop, the cat meowed loudly, and the man's footsteps faltered momentarily at the sound.

"Be quiet, Carmilla!" Hector snapped.

A discordant metallic rattle, indicative of the shopkeeper striking the cage, chased the customer from the shop's doorway into the street.

~end~