Petting Them: An Anthology of Claw-ver Tails

by Tate James

  "That's awesome..." I say, smiling as I put the leaflet down. I bet picking up giant rabbit poo isn’t that awesome, but I don’t tell her that.

  "I want to be a familiar when I grow up," she excitedly says. “They have cool powers and pets! Mum won’t even let me get a dog!”

  "Sit down, Clara! Stop talking to strangers!" her mum says, tugging the girl’s arm, and she sits down after flashing me a cheeky grin.

  I fold the leaflet and slide it into my bag before resting back in the seat, watching the city flash by from the window. I couldn’t think of anything worse than being a familiar. You have to leave your family, your whole life, and live in the woods. Being a familiar seems like nothing but a curse.

  2

  Who wears a cloak these days?

  Anastasia

  "Ana!!" my sister practically screeches as I step off the train, and then throws herself at me before I get a second to really look at her. Even though my sister is only a few inches taller than my five foot four self, she nearly knocks me over. I pull her blonde hair away from my face as it tries to suffocate me before she thankfully pulls away. I’m not a hugger, but Bethany always ignores that little fact.

  "I missed you too, Bethany," I mutter, and she grins at me. Bethany was always the beautiful sister, and as we got older, she just got prettier. Seems the year at college has only added to that. Her blonde hair is almost white, falling in perfect waves down her back. Mine is the same, but I dyed the ends a deep purple. Another one of my attempts at sticking out in a crowd when I usually become invisible next to my gorgeous sister. Phoebe is the image of Bethany, and both of them look like photos of our mother. Whereas I look like my dad, mostly, I still have the blonde hair. Bethany grins at me, then slowly runs her eyes over my outfit before letting out a long sigh.

  "You look so pretty, sis," she says, and I roll my eyes. Bethany hates jeans and long sleeved tops, which I happen to be wearing both. I didn’t even look at what I threw on this morning. I shiver as the cold wind blows around me, reminding me that I should have gotten my coat out my suitcase on the train trip. It is October.

  "You're such a bad liar," I reply, arching an eyebrow at her, and she laughs.

  "Well, you are eighteen now, and I've never seen you in a dress. College is going to change all that," she waves a hand, like she has sorted all the problems out.

  "How so? I'm not wearing a dress to classes," I say, frowning at her. “Leggings are much easier to run around in, I think.”

  "Parties, of course," she tuts, laughing like it should be obvious. Bethany grabs hold of my suitcase before walking down the now empty sidewalk to the parking lot at the end.

  "I need to study. There is no way I'm going to ace my nursing classes without a lot of studying," I tell her. Bethany took drama, and I wasn't the least bit surprised when she was offered a job at the end of her course, depending on her grades. Though she was an A-star student throughout high school, so there is no way she could fail.

  "I love that you will have the same job mum did," she eventually tells me, and I glance over at her as she smiles sadly at me before focusing back on where she is walking. I remember my mum and dad, whereas Bethany is two years older than me and remembers a lot more. Phoebe doesn’t remember them at all, she only has our photos and the things we can tell her. It was difficult for Bethany to leave us both to come to college, but grandma and I told her she had to find a future.

  "I doubt I will do it as well as her...but I like to help people. I know this is the right thing for me to do," I reply, and I see her nod in the corner of my eye. I quickly walk forward and hold the metal gate to the car park open for Bethany to walk through before catching up with her as we walk past cars.

  "You've always been the nice one. I remember when you were twelve, and the boy down the road broke up with you because some other girl asked him out. The next day, that boy fell off his bike, cutting all his leg just outside our home. You helped him into the house, put plasters on his leg, and then walked his bike back to his house for him," she remarks. “Most people wouldn’t have done that. I would have just laughed at him before leaving him on the sidewalk.”

  "I also called him a dumbass," I say, laughing at the memory of his shocked face. “So, I wasn’t all that nice.”

  "That's why you are so amazing, sis," she laughs, and I chuckle as we get to Bethany's car. It's a run down, black Ford Fiesta, but I know Bethany adores the old thing. Even if there are scratches and bumps all over the poor car from Bethany’s terrible driving.

  "Get in, I can put the suitcase in the boot," she says, and I pull the passenger door open before sliding inside. I do my seatbelt up before resting back, watching out of the passenger window at the train pulling out of the station. There is a man in a black cloak stood still in the middle of the path, the wind pushing his cloak around his legs, but his hood is up, covering his face. I just stare, feeling stranger and more freaked out by the second as the man lifts his head. I see a flash of yellow under his hood for a brief moment, and I sit forward, trying to see more of the strange man I can’t pull my eyes from. I almost jump out of my skin when Bethany gets in the car, slamming her door shut behind her, and I look over at her.

  "Are you okay? You look pale," she asks, reaching over to put her hand on my head to check my temperature before pulling it away. I look back towards the man, seeing that he and the train are gone. Everything is quiet, still and creepy. Time to go.

  "Yeah, everything is fine. I'm just nervous about my first day," I tell her, which is sort of honest, but I’m missing the little fact about the weird hooded man. I mean, who walks around in cloaks like friggin’ Darth Vader? She frowns at me, seeing through my lies easily, but after I don’t say a word for a while, she drops it.

  "It will be fine. Don't worry!" she says, reaching over to squeeze my hand before starting the car. I keep my eyes on the spot the man was in until I can't see it anymore. I close my eyes and shake my head, knowing it was just a creepy guy, and I need to forget it. This is my first day of my new life, and nothing is going to ruin that.

  3

  One moment can change everything

  Anastasia

  "Anastasia Noble?" I hear someone shout out as I wait in the middle of the crowd of new students. Bethany left me here about half an hour ago, and she is going to find me later once I have my room sorted. First, I have to get through a tour of the university, even though I had a tour here when I visited two months ago. I also spent days studying the map they gave me, so I know where I am going. Putting my hand in the air, I move through the crowd, pulling my suitcase behind me with my arm starting to ache from lugging the giant, purple suitcase everywhere.

  I get to the front of the crowd where an older man waves me over. I quickly make my way to him and the three other students waiting at his side. Two of them are girls, both blonde and whispering between themselves with their pink suitcases. The other is a guy who is too interested in ogling the blondes to notice me coming over. Story of my life right there. I stop right in front of the older man who stinks of too much cologne, and I shake his slightly sweaty hand before stepping back.

  "Welcome to Liverpool University. We are the smallest, but fiercest, university in northern England. Now, I am going to show you around the basic area before taking you to your rooms. You all will share a corridor and living area, so look around at your new friends and maybe say hello!" the man says, clapping his hands together before quickly turning to walk away. We all jog to catch up with him as he walks us across the grass towards one of the buildings on either side of the clearing.

  There is a little river in the middle with planted flowers and trees all surrounding it. It's peaceful, exactly why my sister chose this university, I suspect. She always likes seeing the beauty in life, where I am always looking for a way to fix the world instead. I wish we had other family around that could tell us about what our parents were like, who each of us follow, or if we are just random in the family line of personalities. We don't
even know if our parents had any close friends. There is nothing much in our foster pack given to grandma from social services. Bethany and I talked about going to the village we lived in to ask around, but neither of us ever found the time.

  "Anastasia, right?" a guy asks, slowing down to walk at my side. He has messy brown hair, blue eyes, and a big rucksack on his back.

  "Yep, who are you?" I ask.

  "Don. Nice to meet you," he replies, offering me a hand to shake with a big grin. I shake his hand before looking up at the massive archway we are walking through to get inside of the building. It is two smooth pillars meeting together in the middle. There are old gargoyle statues lining the archway, their creepy eyes staring down at me. Those statues always creep me out. Bethany thinks it’s funny and, every Christmas, gets me gargoyle romance books as a joke. Jokes on her though, some of those books were damn good. I quickly look away, back to where we are walking, as Don starts talking again.

  "I've heard there is a party tonight to welcome freshers. Are you going?" he asks me, his arm annoyingly brushing against mine with how closely he has decided to walk. I glance up at him to see his gaze is firmly focused on my breasts rather than my face.

  "No. I need to unpack," I curtly reply.

  "Can't it wait one night?" he asks, and I look over at him once again. He is gorgeous, but the whiney attitude about a party is a big turn off. “I will make sure you have fun.”

  "No. It can't wait, and I doubt anything you could do would make the party fun for me," I say honestly, and not shockingly, he nods before catching up with the two blonde girls in the group, trying his pick-up techniques on them. Men. Bethany says I’m picky, but actually, it’s just because the general male population at my age are idiots and act like kids most of the time too. I don’t see how anyone could want to date them, though Bethany is on her twelfth boyfriend since she came to college, so I know she doesn’t share my opinion. She swears she will know when the right guy comes along, and it will be the same for me. I doubt it. Anyways, finding the “right” guy is not the most important thing at the moment; passing college and getting my nursing degree is.

  "This is the oldest part of the university and where most the lessons are. In the welcome packs sent to your old homes were the links to an app which is a map. It will help you find your lessons," the tour guide explains before opening a door out of the old corridor and into another one which is more modern. There are lockers lining the walls, white-tiled floors, and spotlights in the ceiling. “Every student gets a locker here which is perfect for storing books and anything you don't need for every class."

  We walk down the corridor, listening to the guide explain the history of the university when suddenly there is a burning feeling in my hand that comes out of nowhere. I scream, dropping to my knees as I grab my hand, trying to stop the incredible pain. I rub at my pale skin as it burns hot, yet there is nothing there to see. The pain gets worse until I can’t see or hear anything for a moment, and I fall back. When I blink my eyes open, I’m lying on the cold floor, hearing the chatter of students near me. No one is helping me, oddly enough, and they sound like they are far away. Every part of my body hurts, aches like I’ve been running a marathon.

  “She’s a familiar. Has anyone called the police?” one person asks as I stare up at the flickering spotlight right above me.

  “We should leave, she could hurt us. Who knows where her creature is!” another man harshly whispers. I lift my hand above my face almost in slow motion. My eyes widen in pure shock at the huge, glowing, purple wolf tattoo covering the back of my hand where it burned. It stops at my wrist, the fur extending half way up my fingers and thumb. The eyes of the wolf tattoo glow the brightest as I realise what this means.

  “I’m a familiar.”

  4

  Time to run, before it is too late

  Anastasia

  As soon as I’ve said it out loud, it feels like I can’t breathe as I sit up and look around at the people staring at me. The group I was with are huddled by the lockers a good distance away from me now, and I turn to see more people have shown up, a few of them on their phones. All of them are scared, worried what I will do as they keep their eyes on me. They are going to call the police and have me taken away because of this. I have to get to Bethany first. I have to at least say goodbye to her before they come for me and take me somewhere I may never see her again.

  I quickly scramble to my feet and run down the corridor, passing everyone who shouts for me to stop, until I get to the door at the end. I push it open, running through the arch and into the empty clearing. Stopping by the river, I look up and quickly try to remember how to get to the dorms. Shit, I don’t even know what room she is in. I pull my handbag off my shoulder to get my phone out just as I hear a low growl from right behind me.

  I slowly drop my bag onto the floor and turn around, seeing a giant wolf inches away from my face. The wolf is taller than I am; its head is leant down so I can see into its stunning blue eyes. They remind me of my own eyes, to be honest, with little swirls of black, light and dark blues, all mixed together. My body and mind seem to relax as I stare at the creature, one which I should be terrified of…but I am not. I feel myself moving my hand up, and then the wolf growls a little, shaking me out of that thought.

  I step back, which only seems to piss her or him off more. Some deep part of me knows I have to touch the wolf now, or I will always regret it. I take a deep breath before stepping closer and quickly placing my hand on the middle of the wolf’s forehead. I didn’t notice it was my hand with the familiar mark on it until this point. Until it glows so brightly purple that I have to turn my head away. When the light dims, I look back to see the black wolf staring at me as I lower my hand.

  “Your name is Shadow,” I say out loud, though I don’t have a clue how I know that, but I know it is true. Shadow bows his head before lying on the ground in front of me. He is my familiar. That’s how I know. That’s why I am not scared of the enormous wolf like I should be. I have a gigantic wolf for my familiar. Holy crap. It takes me a few second to pull my gaze from Shadow and remember what I was going to do. Find my sister, that’s what.

  “We need to find my sister…can you help me? Like smell her, maybe? She smells like me,” I ask Shadow and then realise I have no clue if he can understand me. Shadow looks up, tilting his head to the side before stretching out, knocking his head into my stomach. I step back, sighing. “Never mind.”

  Shadow growls at me, and I give him a questioning look. What is up with the growling? I thought familiar animals were meant to be familiars’ best friends or something. I really get the feeling Shadow isn’t all that impressed with me. He shakes his giant head before walking around me and slowly running off in the direction of the other building.

  “Wait up!” I have to run fast to catch up with him as he gets to the front of the university, people moving fast out of his way and some even screaming. I don’t even blame them. A giant black wolf running towards you is not something you see every day. I run faster, getting to Shadow’s side as we round a corner, and I hear Bethany’s laugh just before I see her sat on a bench with a guy. They both turn with wide, scared eyes to us, and the guy falls back off the bench before running away.

  The sounds of people screaming, shouting and general fear drift into nothing but silence as I meet my sister’s eyes as she stands up. A tear streams down her cheek, saying everything neither one of us can speak. I will be made to leave her, and I have no idea when—if ever—I will get to see her again. Bethany is the first move, running to me and wrapping her arms around my shoulders. She doesn’t even look at Shadow; she doesn’t fear me either, which is a huge relief. I hug her back, trying to commit every part of her to my memory as I try not to cry. I have to be strong. If I break down now, Bethany will never be able to cope. I pull back as I hear sirens in the background and know my time here is coming to an end.

  “I will find a way back to you. I will never stop until I do. Just look af
ter yourself and Phoebe. Promise me?” I ask Bethany, holding my hands on her shoulders as she sobs.

  “I promise. If anyone can work out a way around the rules, it’s you. I love you, sis,” she says, crying her eyes out between each word. I hug her once more before stepping back to Shadow’s side, away from my sister and my old life. “Be safe.”

  “Go. Just go, I don’t want you to see me arrested or how nasty the police are to familiars. The YouTube videos are enough,” I say, but Bethany shakes her head, wiping her cheeks and crossing her arms. I’ve accidently seen enough videos online to know that the police, the government and the general population are not nice to new familiars. That’s why they are taken straight away. I’m not going to fight or try to run like some familiars do. I doubt I would get far with Shadow at my side.

  “I am staying until they take you. You will not be alone,” she says as I hear shouting and the sounds of dozens of feet running towards us. I gasp as I feel a sharp prick in the side of my neck, and Bethany screams. Shadow growls, which turns into a howl as I try to reach for him as he falls to the ground at my side. The world turns to blackness, and the last thing I hear is Bethany’s pleas for someone to leave me alone.

  5

  New life. New world

  Anastasia

  I cough as I wake up, my throat feeling dry and scratchy as I look up at the wood ceiling above me. The smell of fire and smoke fills my nose, making me lift my hand to rub it as I sit up. A red blanket falls to my lap as I look around the cabin I am in. Shadow is lying on the floor near a window, his eyes watching me closely, and the rest of the room is just a row of beds like the one I am in. There is a fireplace on the far wall, where the smell of burning wood is coming from. I look out the window Shadow is lying under, seeing frost covered trees. It wasn’t frosty in Liverpool the last time I checked. Where have they taken me? Surely, I haven’t slept the entire way to the Familiar Empire…but the evidence is looking like that is likely.