Killer Kitteh Khristmas Read online

  Contents

  Killer Kitteh Khristmas

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Also by the Author

  Chapter 1 - Kitteh

  Chapter 2 - Snuggles

  Chapter 3 - Dinner

  Chapter 4 - Winter

  Chapter 5 - Christmas

  Chapter 6 - A New Home

  Also by the Author

  About the Author

  Leave a Review

  Killer Kitteh Khristmas

  By

  Sian B. Claven

  COPYRIGHT 2018 Sian B. Claven

  All characters; events and establishments in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author.

  Cover Design by Southern Stiles

  Dedication

  For Lara & Bob

  Thanks for being my inspiration

  To Jackie,

  Sorry.

  To Toni,

  I’m REALLY sorry.

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to thank Bob & Lara for inspiring me to write this. Without you Killer Kitteh Khristmas would not be.

  As always I thank the people in my life that make this completely possible.

  Jackie; Toni; Darren; my Beta’s and my friends.

  Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the idea of Killer Kitteh.

  Onwards, nightmares, onwards.

  Other Books by this Author

  Horror Titles

  The Kiara Books

  Ensnared

  Liberation

  The Butcher Books

  Tatum

  Kallista

  Sylvana

  The Asylum Series

  Asylum I

  Asylum II

  The Watcher Series

  Watcher

  The Watched - Coming Soon

  To Watch - Coming Soon

  The Demon Cat Khristmas Specials

  Killer Kitteh Khristmas

  Merry Meow - Coming soon

  Jingle Fur - Coming soon

  Stand Alones

  The Culling

  #RIPJohn - Coming Soon

  Belladonna - Coming Soon

  Buried - Coming Soon

  Hex - Coming Soon

  Shh… - Coming Soon

  The Priestess - Coming Soon

  The Reaper- Coming Soon

  The Witch in the Woods - Coming Soon

  Fantasy Titles

  A Spacehiker Adventure

  Unlikely Hero

  Hidden in Plain Sigh - Coming Soon

  Homeward Bound - Coming Soon

  Balancer Books

  Neutral Ground - Coming Soon

  Holy Demons - Coming Soon

  Murder Mystery Titles

  Bullseye - Coming Soon

  Stones - Coming Soon

  General Fiction Titles

  Balancer Books

  Neutral Ground - Coming Soon

  Holy Demons - Coming Soon

  Chapter One

  Toni had loved animals her entire life. Nothing could prevent her from rescuing as many animals as she could afford, and every time one would cross the rainbow bridge, there she would be; ready to give another a chance even though it broke her heart.

  When Sharpie left her, she thought it the end of the world. She always did. There was no love as unconditional as that of a pet, and her preference was cats. She had four at any given time. At the moment, three, with Sharpie gone. Sharpie being gone was evident in how cold the house felt without her.

  Mitty, Lizzie and Winter tried their best to comfort her. It never ceased to amaze her how in tune animals were with their owners. Her babies knew she was in pain and wanted nothing more than to make her feel better. They rested on her chest, on her belly and her legs as she lounged on her sofa staring at the table where a photo of her and Sharpie sat.

  Never one to mope, Toni made her decision then. The best way to honour Sharpie’s memory would be to welcome a new stray into their little family. She would go to the pound in the morning and find one suitable for their family and bring him or her home.

  They knew her so well there, a home check wouldn’t even be necessary.

  ~~~~

  It was a cold day, winter was clearly coming, and Toni made sure to wrap up from head to toe. She was a naturally cold person and the weather crept between the folds of her clothes, found the minute spaces that would expose her and seeped into her, bone deep. She couldn’t help the shivers that racked her body as she trudged along the sidewalk towards her car, parked just outside her house.

  Once inside her vehicle, she turned the temperature up high. She swung around to the back seat to make sure she remembered to put everything needed in the car before she left. Cat carrier, treats, and blanket. She was set.

  She put her safety belt on and started the car.

  It gave a smokers lung whine before spluttering into life.

  “It’s just cold, old girl,” she said, patting the dashboard fondly.

  She checked carefully for traffic before pulling out into the road and gradually making her way in the direction of the pound.

  The pound was both her favourite and most hated place. While she loved to play with all the animals she met, she couldn’t stand watching them shut away in their tiny cages, condemned to a prison-like existence against their will.

  Today, however, she wouldn’t be leaving at least one cat behind. She already knew the name she had in mind. Snuggles. Now she just had to find the cat that fit that name.

  Miley met with her at the front desk and they chatted idly about the animals’ welfare as they walked towards the cattery so that Toni could see who would be the lucky fish, or rather kitty, that would be coming home with her today.

  She pet each cat and spent a little time with each, checking out their temperament and listening to Miley explain where they come from.

  The fifth cat caught her attention. She was a Maine Coon, and as fluffy as anything. She lay in the corner of the cattery, alone and sulking, and none of the other cats approached her at all.

  “Who is that cat?”

  “She didn’t come in with a name,” Miley explained. “Her family were brutally murdered, everyone, even the other animals, but she must have been out of the house when it happened, because she was unharmed.”

  Toni’s heart broke as she listened to Snuggles story. Yes! This was a Snuggles. Toni lowered down to her haunches and held her hand out.

  “Here, Snuggles,” she murmured, and to her, and Miley’s, surprise, the cat got up and slinked towards Toni, rubbing her face into Toni’s open hand as though she had an itch.

  Gently, Toni wrapped a hand around Snuggles and lifted her up and into her arms.

  Content with the purring cat, she smiled. “This is the one I want,” she said.

  Miley smiled too. “You are always going for the real underdogs, Toni. Come on, we’ll put her in your cat carrier, sign off the paperwork and you can take her home.”

  “Come on, Snuggles,” Toni said, despite the fact that the cat had no option, now trapped in Toni’s warm embrace.

  She just meowed softly.

  ~~~~

  Toni pulled up into her driveway and turned around in her seat. “You’ll have to stay in my bedroom, away from the others, while we get you used to this house. I don’t want you running off before I can get you a decent collar.” She cooed
through the mesh at Snuggles’ face.

  Snuggles did not seem either disturbed or distressed by what she was saying, so she got out of the car and picked up the cat carrier, strolling through her front door and calling, “Mommy’s home. Here, kitties.”

  When they didn’t come, Toni simply assumed they sensed the new cat in the house and were in hiding, or they had found nice warm spots to nap. Either way, it would make no difference to her. She carried Snuggles to her room and after checking Mitty, Lizzie and Winter were definitely not there, she shut the door and released Snuggles to explore the room.

  She watched her go from one part of the room to another. Sniffing, jumping, climbing, dropping. She crawled under the bed and Toni couldn’t help but lay on her belly to watch her new kitty play. Unfortunately, though, Snuggles turned around and got a fright when she saw Toni’s face suddenly appear at the bottom of the bed. She swiped out and managed to scratch open Toni’s face.

  Toni bit her lip, not wanting to scare Snuggles any more than she had. She got up quickly and left the room, making sure to close the door behind her. She went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror to see blood slowly rolling down her cheek like a crimson tear. She cleaned it up and put a plaster on it, scolded herself for being so silly, and went to fix the cats their breakfast so she could get to work on her new book.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Two

  Toni struggled to get Snuggles used to the house. She was a very playful cat, a kitten at heart, and liked to nibble on Toni’s toes and fingers and loved to play rough. Toni eventually thought there was nothing for it and released her into the rest of the house, so she could meet the other cats.

  The first one she encountered was Lizzie, the boss of the house, and Toni expected them to promptly have a fight. Lizzie, however, had other plans and shrieked loudly, streaking away as Snuggles followed slowly, as though hunting prey.

  Toni laughed. “Finally have someone give you what for, hey, Liz,” she teased, going to rescue Lizzie from Snuggles.

  When she picked her tabby cat up, she held her to her chest and rocked her slightly, willing her to calm down. Lizzie eyed Snuggles out and then Toni felt the sharp pain of claws digging into her leg. Tears sprung to her eyes as Snuggles clawed her way up Toni to be face to face with Lizzie. They eyed each other out warily and Lizzie let out a mournful meow as though surrendering her title to Snuggles.

  Seemingly satisfied, Snuggles thankfully dropped from Toni’s leg and continued to explore the house. Toni set Lizzie down, who ran away, and dusted her hands off before wiping her eyes.

  “Teach me to get involved,” she muttered as she went to cook herself dinner.

  ~~~~

  It happened every time she prepared a meal. The cats slowly crept out of their various hiding places to meow at her that it was time for something tasty for them first. She didn’t know if they liked the way the kitchen smelled when she started to prepare dinner, or if it was her presence in that room at that time of day that triggered them, but they all made their way there.

  Snuggles was last to come in and the other cats hissed and backed away from her, letting her sit in the middle of the space.

  Toni giggled. “You don’t have to be scared of her, girls. She’s new and you’ll get used to her.”

  She leaned down to pat Snuggles head, but the cat had other ideas and promptly swiped at Toni’s hand, catching it in her two paws so she could nibble her fingers.

  “Okay, Snuggles, that’s enough,” she said, pulling her hand away, wincing as Snuggles claws cut her skin yet again. “Let’s get dinner out the way, shall we?” she asked, picking up each of the cat’s bowls. “I think tonight we’ll have Tuna Flavoured gravy on your pellets,” she commented, opening the cupboard to make sure she could make good on her promise.

  She pulled out four sachets of the gravy food she got at the pet store and dumped one in each bowl. Mixing it so it wasn’t all one giant lump, she set each bowl down in four separate corners, so they could eat in peace while she cooked.

  The pasta was ready when she noticed that the other cats had stopped eating and had left, leaving Snuggles their food to finish up. Toni was torn between saving their food for the morning and just letting Snuggles finish it because she was the new girl.

  Snuggles looked at her as though reading her mind, gave a soft hiss and continued to eat. Not one to argue, Toni left her to finish the food as she dished her own and sat at the table to eat. She found her other three cats all at the kitchen door, staring at Snuggles like she had the plague.

  Toni quickly got her phone out and snapped a few pictures, giggling at how human-like her cats were behaving, being jealous of the new cat in the house. She posted it to her social media quickly before sitting down and eating.

  ~~~~

  Hissing woke her up; that and the shrieks of what sounded like an animal being torn in two. It was happening just outside her house and it had woken her up. She looked around. Snuggles and Lizzie were missing. She got up quickly and put her gown on, calling out softly, half asleep, for her missing cats.

  Going to the front door, she quickly opened it and poked her head out. The light above her, meant to light her small porch, didn’t do much for letting her see her front garden, but she could make out a lump of something that shouldn’t be there. Judging by the size, it looked like Lizzie was sleeping outside again.

  She jumped suddenly as something snaked around her legs and, as she looked down, Snuggles gave her the cutest little meow before going back inside to the warmth of the house.

  Toni called Lizzie a few times and when her cat made it evident she refused to come in, Toni walked out to get her. It was dark and she could barely see, but soon enough she reached her little fluff ball and scooped her up. Lizzie was warm and Toni could feel that warm soaking into her clothes as she carried her now oldest cat back inside, kicking the door closed behind her.

  Something seemed off though. Toni couldn’t quite place her finger on it. Normally Lizzie would purr when she was in her mother’s arms, but it seemed she wasn’t in the mood. In fact, it almost felt like she wasn’t breathing at all. The warmth Toni had felt was ebbing away and she paused in the passage, in the dark, and looked down at the shadowy shape of her Lizzie’s head. She shook her head, and leaned down to kiss Lizzie’s crown when her head simply detached and fell to the floor, rolling a few inches away.

  Toni’s whole body shook and she could taste the bile rising up from her stomach. She dropped her cat’s lifeless body, realizing the warmth she had felt was the blood pouring from her neck as her head had apparently barely been hanging on. That thought sent Toni into a right state and she stumbled towards the bathroom, flicking on the light to find herself indeed covered in blood and, with that, she puked on the mirror, the basin and all over the bathroom.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Three

  Toni was absolutely heartbroken that some psycho had decided to murder her cat. She cleaned up her bathroom, and herself, before calling the police and explaining what had happened.

  The sun had already risen by the time the patrol car left, the police trying their absolute best to console her over her loss, though she could see it in their eyes that they didn’t understand how much she loved animals, and how much it killed her to lose two so quickly together.

  The police mentioned it could have been some sort of cruel initiation by local kids, they had seen it before, but this was beyond that. Whoever did this, in Toni’s eyes, was an absolute monster and, if they weren’t already, they would probably turn out to be serial killers.

  She had a funeral for Lizzie, opting to bury her amongst the rose bushes in the backyard rather than take her to be cremated. It just felt right. She spoke to her other cats about it, making sure they were okay. Then she set about letting some of her friends know what was going on.

  They all felt absolutely terrible for her, knowing what she was like, and offered to come over to cheer her up. She thought it might be nice; she could
then introduce Snuggles as well.

  ~~~~

  Her friend Bob arrived first. The minute he walked in he found Mitty and Winter waiting for him near the door. He scooped them each up in turn to play with them before looking at Toni. He then rushed to her and took her in his arms.

  “I am so sorry, Toni. There are such sick people in this world.”

  Toni rested her head against his chest, fighting back the tears that threatened yet again to spill. “The police probably won’t find who did it,” she finally mumbled, “but I am keeping the three cats inside for now, just to be safe.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Bob said, leading her to the kitchen where Snuggles lay on the counter top, flicking her tale this way and that.

  “Aw, you must be Snuggles,” Bob cooed, reaching out to pet her.

  She hissed at him, swiping at his hand and scratching his palm open before streaking away.

  “Are you okay?” Toni asked quickly, rushing to get a paper towel, wetting it and pressing it to Bob’s palm.

  It was his turn to hiss, with pain, and he bit his lip. “Yeah, I just startled her.”

  “She’s like that.” Toni nodded as she spoke. “She doesn’t like sudden movement or being startled. She got my face the other day.”

  “So, let’s talk while we wait for Lara,” he said, sitting down at the counter and watching her pour them each a glass of red wine.

  “What do you want to talk about?” Toni asked, smiling as she handed his glass over.

  “Anything happening in your love life?” Bob asked, sipping his glass carefully.

  ~~~~

  By the time Lara arrived they had discussed everything from Toni’s lack of a love life, to work, to dreams, to what she was going to do for Christmas, including who Bob was seeing now.