The Vampire's Apprentice

Sam sniffed at the toy dog curiously then looked up at Kitty and wagled excitedly. He'd go wherever she wanted! Even to destiny! Whoever or whatever that was.
 
The girl chuckled. "C'mon, then." She said, leading him to the address listed on the receipt. After that, she trusted Clancy had a good reason for sending her back to the therapy office.
 
Sam was less than happy to see Kitty leaving him, but the staff at the saloon were used to that, and a few treats and pets later, he was following them, if a bit begrudgingly.

At the therapist's office, the receptionist was busily typing up a report and apparently did not hear Kitty come in.
 
She checked her screen. "Ah, yes, here it is. You are a few minutes early, but I will see if she is ready for you." She stood and disappeared behind the wall. A moment later, she was back. "The doctor will be right with you."
 
Kitty muffled another sigh and settled into a chair, waiting almost dejectedly for her fate to come and get her.
 
Mrs. Turner came fairly quickly and smiled at Kitty. "Kitty! I am so glad you came. Please, come on back." She stepped aside and gestured for Kitty to enter.
 
"Please, take a seat, this will take me just a moment," Mrs. Turner said, indicating the sofa. She stood frowningfor a moment. "Mr. McCleary asked me to give you something. He said he did not trust leaving it anywhere else. If only he knew how bad I am at remembering where I put things." She gave Kitty a smile, not minding the sullen silence, then went to her desk and pulled out a drawer and looked inside for a bit before closing and opening the other.
 
"I know!" she sighed. She paused and put a finger to her lips in thought. "Let's see... he stopped by, we had a lovely chat, we talked about... Ah!" She turned and went to one of the cupboards on the other side of the room. "I put them here for safekeeping." As she opened the door and moved a few books aside, Mrs. Turner said, "He wanted my opinion on whether or not he should attend therapy. Of course, I told him everyone can benefit from visiting a therapist every now and then, but in my professional opinion, he was not in strict need, at least not at this time with his current regime."
 
She nodded silently, listening. Certainly not what she had expected of him to be asking, but who was she to say? It shouldn't have been a surprise.
 
Allison turned away from the cupboard with two neatly wrapped boxes in hand. "He is someone who needs to feel in control, but far more than that, he needs someone or something to focus his energies on. To love, to care for, and to shake things up." She set the presents on the table before Kitty. "Right now, in this moment, you are all the therapy he needs." She touched the smaller of the two boxes, a large flat one. "This one is from me. I hope you do not mind, but it struck me as something you would like and need."
 
"Hmmm." Kitty brushed her fingers over the wrapped outsides, wondering what they could hold. Gingerly, and in attempt not to tear the paper, she opened Ms. Turner's first.
 
Two books. The top book was about trauma and grounding techniques and ways to deal with them. It was a decent-sized book, not too big, not too small, and not too condescending while not appearing to be a textbook. Underneath it, however, was a much larger book. An annotated and illustrated version of The Hobbit, in pristine condition.
"I thought with how much you love to read and seek knowledge, perhaps the first would be of use to you," Mrs. Turnner said softly. "The other belonged to my sister. I never was much of a hobbit fan, and she would have much preferred it was read and loved then sat on a shelf gathering dust."
 
It was hard to miss the smile creeping over her lips. "Thank you," Kitty said. "I'll take good care of them."

Setting them aside for the moment, her attention was redirected to the other box. With the same meticulous care, she opened it.
 
Inside the box and buried under a mound of tissue was what appeared to be a black plastic box. It wasn't much to look at, and it didn't offer many clues as to what it was, itself, but on one side, three boxes of polaroid film waited patiently, and underneath the black box under another layer of tissue was a book on black and white photography.
 
The smile grew wider in very little time at all. Something somewhere said she knew exactly what this was, and exactly what she planned to do with it. Not wanting to make a mess of the place, Kitty gently replaced all items in a neat and orderly way. She could delve further at home, where she had the space.

"Thank you so much," she beamed. "It means a lot to me."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top