The Vampire's Apprentice

Kitty checked the note again. It was surprisingly more difficult to find the place than she had initially thought, but this seemed to be where she was meant to go. Never in all her years had she once been to a dry cleaner's, and how she figured she never would was beyond her at the moment.
What was just as surprising was how easy the whole ordeal ended up being, save the awkwardness of trying to avoid explaining a few bloodstains. Ironic, since the reason she had come was to get them removed for her master-

Kitty had to pause and reflect on that thought as she thanked the person behind the counter and exited. Had she actually referred to him as master in her own mind? She never called him that; usually she referred to him as Mr. McCleary, so where had such a strange thought even come from?

The girl hardly noticed her feet had let her back to the library until she looked up from the pavement and saw the brick structure ahead on her left. Somehow, she always found her way to the familiar building no matter what she was doing. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to find another book to read....
 
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Somewhere in the gutter in the shadows, something whined pitifully. It was a hungry, bullish-type dog, clearly a mutt. Not exactly prince charming to look at, but far from wining any ugly dog contests. He stared up Kitty with big, soulful, fearful eyes. He lay on his side, his paw licked raw around a nasty splinter still stuck in the pad.
 
She stopped. There was a long moment of silence as Kitty judged whether the dog was dangerous or not. Books were forgotten; she had another focus.
The dog didn't seem dangerous. Slowly, Kitty stepped forward, stretching out her hand for him to sniff. She knew better than to touch a stray dog. That hadn't ended well the last time.
 
The dog growled as it moved away, but it made no move to bite. It eyed Kitty fearfully, its paw held awkwardly. The growling slowly stopped when she didn't try to stop it. Small specks of blood on its coat showed where others had thrown rocks at it.
 
She inched a little closer, still holding out her hand. There wasn't much she would be able to do if this dog didn't trust her, but it was pretty obvious why this mutt wouldn't have reason to. He looked pretty badly beat up. If only she'd had some food or something with her; that would have helped.
 
The dog eyed her uncertainly but held perfectly still. It seemed to be watching to see what this human would do. Would she suddenly lash out or keep going slow? He cautiously sniffed at her hands.
 
She very cautiously reached forward, brushing her palm against his whiskers so her wrist was by his cold, wet nose.
 
The dog flinched at first then tentatively liked her hand and leaned into it. Was she a nice person going to help him?
 
Kitty scratched him gently behind the ear, kneeling further. With her other hand, she gently reached for his paw; figuring it was sore, she was prepared for him to bite her.
 
The whining increased as he watched her, but the ear sctaches felt good. He fidgetted nervously but still didn't try to bite.
 
She moved to examine his paw, finding the splinter and pulling it out as quick as she could. There was no point in waisting time and drawing out the process.
 
The dog let out a yelp and snapped at her, not trying to connect, before scrabbling out of reach. He huddled against the wall, trembling. Then he leaned down to lick at his paw and cocked his ears. It still hurt, but much less! He looked at Kitty suspiciously but no longer quite as fearful.
 
Kitty sat back on her haunches, giving a light smile. There wasn't much more for the dog she felt she could do without him deciding to follow her, so she stood and turned to leave.
 
The dog did not instantly follow her, watching her for a while. Once she was several feet away, he slowly started following her, limping along cautiously as he watched her.

Two men stood off to the side, their backs to Kitty as they apparently looked at their phones while trying to figure out where they needed to go. They muttered to each other, pointing down the road vaguely.
 
She made her way back towards the library, paying little heed to the men. Kitty glanced back to see if the dog followed and sighed when she saw him, pausing in her tracks.
 
The dog stopped, ducking his head and shoving his stubby nose into a pile of leaves as if that had been his intent all along.

"Hey, lady, you know where Chaney Lane is?" one of the men called.
 
Kitty snickered at the dog's action. Looking up, she turned to face the person speaking. She pointed. "Follow that road, then take a left. Should be the next intersection."
 
"Excellent, thanks. Now we know where to take you." A meaty hand shot out and grabbed her upper arm hard enough to bruise. The other guy stepped up to her other side, grabbing that arm.
"Ain't nobody makes a fool of us!" snarled the second thug. The brace knuckles were still stuck to his hand where Clancy had clamped them tight.
 
It dawned on her a second too late who exactly she was speaking to. She cried out in shock and pain. Two thoughts of survival came to mind: The first, never hold still; the second, shins and feet make wonderful targets if you can grind your shoe into them.
 
The men cursed at Kitty's kicking and stomping, but they were wearing thick shoes and a heavy grudge. They shook her roughly and started dragging her along. "Come on, you're making it worse for yourself. We just have a few questions," snarled one.
 
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