The Vampire's Apprentice

There was nothing there of interest. No notes, no weird little boxes, nothing out of place anywhere in the vicinity of 937.
 
Kitty sank into one of the comfy reading chairs and thought. And she thought. And she thought some more. Slipping the emerald ring back onto her finger, she stood and went to ask one of the librarians about a "Hamilton."
 
"Hamilton?" the libarian frowned. "Hamilton. There are quite a few Hamilton's. Fiction or non? Adult, teen, or childrens?"
 
"I'm not sure," Kitty admitted. "I was only given the name. I checked Alexander Hamilton near 973 and Hamilton: The Revolution in 792, but there wasn't...." She paused. "Actually, hold that thought. I have one other place to look, first."
 
The librarian held up a finger then sorted through some things under the counter. After a moment, she came up with a small paper sack. "Here you are. This was foundjust outside the library this morning, so we put it here for safe keeping."

Inside the paper sack was a small, delicate necklace in the same gold and green themes that the rings and her dress followed. Her name was attacked with a tiny pice of paper.
 
She smiled brightly. "Thank you," Kitty told her. She clipped the necklace under her chin, fingering it while she dove back into the realm of pages and book covers. How could she have missed the numbers? The fortunately unfortunate part about the Dewy Decimal system was that it was arranged by last-name-first, so if it was not a last name Hamilton she was looking for along the span of 183-187, Kitty would have to try a little harder when it came to examining titles.
 
184 HAMILTON, The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Including the letters

Among the contents of this massive book were the works of Theaetetus. And sitting right next to it was Plato's Theaeteus, itself. Strangely, though, that smaller book had no call number, no library identification, nothing at all to indicate it belonged to the library at all. The only identification it had was a piece of paper sticking out from among the pages.
 
"Hmmm...." Kitty mumbled to herself, finally finding what she was looking for. "I remember this." The girl pulled out both the larger book and the smaller one, seeking a chair before she opened either. What was this strange paper?
 
Plato's Theaetetus. Do you remember our conversation about logic and learning? Now you have your own book to study it at your leisure. Take your, time for it is not an easy subject.
Speaking of subjects that are not easy, I will soon be asking you to do something that you may believe will ruin your day, but if you trust me and hold faith that I fully intend for your day to be fun, then you will have great delight.
But that shall be for another time! For now... do you know where you pup is? Memories are such wonderful things, and it is enjoyable to visit places where events first happened and where friends were first met.
 
Kitty read that last line again, then went over all of it carefully. Something she might think to ruin her day? What could that be?
The girl brushed it away. She could trust him. But as for that last bit... did he mean where she had found Sam?
"Hmmm...." She tucked the note back into the pages of the book, then stuck her nose beside the paper, inhaling deeply. It smelled new. She could fix that.

Theaetetus tucked under her arm, Kitty went outside to where Sam awaited her (as pets were not permitted within the library) and began towards where she recalled meeting the hound.
 
Sam waited paitently, his eyes on the library door. A couple of younger teen boys were teasing him by pretending to bark at him and lunging playfully, but the big dog stoically ignored them. Unless they got too close or threw something, he didn't need to waste time on them. The boys were confident the dog wasn't going to do anything... meaning when Sam spotted Kitty and let out a bark of greeting as he surged to his feet, they both nearly fell on their butts and hastily backed away. When they saw Kitty coming, they pretended they hadn't been doing anything at all as they hurried away as casually as possible. Sam still ignored them.
 
"Heya, Sam." Kitty was happy to see him, too, and rubbed his head and scratched behind his ears. "You having fun today? We've got a new place to go. Betchu'll remember it when we get there."
 
Sam danced under her touch eagerly then turned to follow her wherever she went. When they drew close to the gutter where she'd found him, however, he hesitated before following her uncertainly. He remembered this place. He remembered the cold, and the stones, and the kicks. He leaned against Kitty's leg, taking comfort in and savoring the warmth and the love that had found him.

More or less where Sam had been found but tucked in a shadow so the average passerby would not notice it, sat a small kennel. It was one of those toy things for a pet dog, not a real one, and maybe big enough to hold a small cat. Perhaps a squirrel. Something sat inside.
 
She rubbed at his head again, sensing the unease. What was there to find back here? It took a moment before she located what she was there to find.

Was it alive? That was the first question and concern on her mind as Kitty knelt down to peer inside the carrier. What was it?
 
A tiny stuffed dog stared back at her, its little black eyes glinting. It was a fairly cheap toy, but there were other things in the carrier, as well. Most of them looked papery, but there was a glint of something metalic in a corner. It would be hard to tell what was what until the carrier was opened.
 
She picked up the small kennel and opened it, retrieving the small stuffed dog and examining it amusedly before setting it in the pocket made by her dress as it was held taut between her knees.
 
Also inside now revealed with the dog gone were a new collar and leash, a flashy, nice style that was the equivalent of a dog's "Sunday best" wear. Underneath that was a small folder of papers. One was receite for a doggy grooming place showing an appointment already bought and paid for and saved for one "Sam." It was basically a doggy spa. The appointment was in half an hour. The other papers were Sam's paper's of shots and everything else the groomers would need to admit him into the saloon. And last, but not least was a new note.

Our friends need pampering as much as we do, sometimes, so please take your smelly beast to his appointment, and while he is enjoying himself, continue on your journey.
We all have places we do not wish to go and people we do not wish to see, but sometimes if we grit our teeth and force ourselves to face them for ten minutes or less, we find ourselves rewarded greatly.
 
She knew exactly where this was going. It made her sigh, but Kitty stood anyways and called Sam. "You, my friend, have a date with destiny. And a bath...."
 
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