Dozens of small, semi-transparent kittens in various shades of black and white tumbled and ran around, playing. Not a single one of them was Pumpkin, he knew that for sure, but as he stared at them, with tears filling his eyes, Red’s words from days ago came back to him:‘Cherish the moments’. And he would, with each and every one of them…even if he was now going toseriouslyinvestigate the area around his woods, since that was the only place he could think of as to where they could have all possibly come from.
Sitting at his kitchen table, Noble slowly flipped through one of the stamp albums Ollie had gotten for him. Every single album was sparse, filled with very few stamps, and he was cursing himself for not trying harder to fill them up. If he had, at least it would have given him more to fucking look at, with more memories attached.
Noble glanced at his phone, where it sat next to the other albums, when it dinged, his eyes widening when he spotted the notification with Ollie’s name. Scrambling to grab it, he almost sent it flying, but caught it thanks to his quick reflexes. Unlocking the device, he swallowed hard as he checked his texts.
NOBLE’S BABY
Come to the library.
Jumping up, Noble grabbed his keys from the hook on the wall and ran to the front hallway without another thought. Shoving his feet into his shoes, he hurried outside and down the steps to his truck. Once he was inside and buckled up, he reversed, taking off so fast down his driveway that his tires shrieked slightly as he did. When he reached the road, Noble struggled not to speed, even as he tried to tamp down the hope that was bubbling up inside him.
Noble didn’t actually care why Ollie wanted him to come to the library. For all he cared, the witch could have decided to kill him, and he’d be fine with it. It would have been well-deserved, either way.
He was lucky the man hadn’t told him to fuck off in text form by now. Wait, no, he was lucky Ollie hadn’t blocked his number, let alone cursed him out for still sending reminders for him to eat. Despite the risk, Noble hadn’t been able to stop himself. He didn’t want the witch to forget, even if…he wasn’t allowed to be there with him.
The drive to the Cross Heritage Private Library passed by in a blur. Reaching the parking lot, Noble did his best to remain calm as he pulled into a spot in the lot, which was empty aside from Ollie’s ladybug and a few labeled library vans.
As he got out and hurried to the door, it opened before he reached it, and Red was there waiting for him. When the cat said nothing, just turned and started walking up the steps, Noble followed, shutting the door behind him.
He stayed quiet as they reached the first floor, trailing behind as the familiar led him back to Ollie’s office. The door was already open, and Noble swallowed hard when he spotted Olliefor the first time in a week. He desperately tried to examine every inch of him, even if it was just so he could remember it later, in case he never saw him again.
Sitting at his desk, looking tired, Ollie’s expression was unreadable. The man’s hair was in a messy bun, as always, and he was wearing black overalls with white kittens embroidered on them, along with a white blouse, and a black scarf tied into a bow around his neck.
Stepping inside, the door closing behind him as Red left them alone, Noble stood there awkwardly for a moment before Ollie waved toward the chair across from his desk.
He sat down…and waited.
His hands clenching tightly together where they rested on the top of his desk, Ollie stared for a minute longer, as his eyes seemed to scan him just as much as he had, before he slowly asked, “How are your injuries?”
Noble cleared his throat. “Healed. Yours?”
“Gone as well,” the witch murmured softly, before taking a deep breath and asking, “Tell me… Tell me why… Help me understand.”
Ollie wasn’t specific, but he didn’t really need to be. Swallowing past the sudden lump in his throat, Noble told him the truth. “Revenge, at first… It all started with Eveline, my wife. I…assume you’ve realized I’m not really forty.”
“I had…a feeling.”
“I was born in 1839,” Noble said, only to blurt out, “Sorry,” when Ollie winced, before continuing. “By ten, I was working in a factory, having already lost my parents, and I worked there for most of my life, up until I turned thirty-five. The reason why I stopped will soon become obvious.
“Um, but before that, around nineteen or twenty, I think, I married my best friend, Eveline. I loved her, even if not in the way she probably wanted. Eveline never knew I was gay, butshe…was someone who brought light into my life, so I did my best to give her everything she could want or ask for. And we were as happy as we could be, despite the hidden lies between us…
“There was, however, one thing that I failed to give her for the longest time. Eveline wanted a child. I’m not going to get into our sex life, but even she knew something was off there… But eventually, it happened. The year I turned thirty-five, she fell pregnant. She got pregnant…and then it happened…the moment that changed everything…”
Noble’s fists clenched in his lap as tears of both anger and heartbreak pricked at the corners of his eyes, the old memories shaking free, as he continued to explain. “I got home late that night…and heard a scream just as I reached the door?—”
“She’s still screaming.Why don’t you go to her?” the voice of the stranger taunted, as Eveline’s screams only grew louder.
Noble tried to speak, but all that came out was a wet gurgling noise, as blood dripped from his mouth. Rage boiled inside him as he glared in hatred at the man who seemed too well hidden in the shadows of his kitchen. He tried with everything in him to command his body to move, to crawl forward, to do anything at all, but it would not listen!
Noble did not understand why this was happening, why this man, or demon, was doing this. Or even why, despite the shrieks and cries from his poor wife, not a single soul had come and knocked on their door.
Why couldn’t he move?! He had been stabbed, but he still felt his limbs. They were all there, they were intact, so WHY wouldn’t they move?!
Then, impossibly, as if he were in his mind, the man mockingly responded, “Yes, yes, why, that is the question.Simple, really—” A chill went down his spine as an impossibly bright white smile flashed in the darkness. “—because I can. Or more accurately, because the beast I’ve created needs to feed, and well, why be overly selective when it’s far more humorous to cause as much pain as possible.” The monster tsked—Noble now knowing with certainty that it was a monster—as Eveline let out one last cry before falling silent. “That didn’t last long at all.”
A tear slid free as he let out a choking sob, but then, everything inside him froze with dread as he began to hear the horrible sounds of flesh tearing and bones popping, while the man started to laugh.
By the time the noises had stopped, and the monster hiding as a man started to stroll towards him, Noble had no tears left to cry. Even when it was out of the shadows, he couldn’t see what the thing looked like, and as he had done the whole time, Noble just laid there helpless as the creature stepped over him and left, leaving him and the devastation he’d wrought behind.
