My Cat is The Antichrist Page 3

Christmas day, we’d take our coffee can to a steak restaurant open on Christmas day and splurge on real food. I preferred mine still mooing, and Lizzie liked to try to get us kicked out by ruining a perfectly good cow ordering it well done. I was looking at steaks cooked to perfection for how we ordered when we had our Christmas celebration.

  I stopped cutting into my steak and looked at Odelia and Esther. “Okay, fess up. How did you know to tell the chef here steak and how to cook it for both of us? You can’t say it was how my mother took hers because we’ve got no fucking idea who Lizzie’s mother is!”

  Esther was just grinning at me. “You’d make your parents so proud. Nothing gets past you. It’s one of the theories among the families. We call it Intuition. Some think it’s a form of magic. If you grew up here, your parents would have taught you. It’s always helped us. If we need an answer to something, it just pops in our head. I wanted to know how I could make you happy and comfortable, and the answer just came to me,” she shrugged.

  “Are you telling me you’re witches?” I asked.

  Odelia just laughed. “That’s certainly a theory. It’s one of the dumber theories about the Rothledges and the Lambs. The child of a union between the two families was supposed to ignite some sort of magic the original tribes had. It’s a stupid theory — something that’s discussed at parties when people are drunk. It’s a game to throw out theories as to what was in the old documents that got burned in that manor. Witches aren’t real, Tabitha. Whatever superstition there was about your parents getting together was probably some old-world lore that’s long been debunked.”

  Lizzie shoved a huge piece of steak in her mouth and started chewing like some goat. “Do you actually believe the shit coming out your mouth? Tabby’s parents knew something that they hid her for two years. Then, something happened they sent her into a totally shit situation and replaced her with that fucking cat. Tabby and I never got our own bedrooms growing up. Apparently, her father sent someone to take photos of the shitty situation he put her in while the fucking cat got his own room, homemade clothes, and baths. Pretty much none of what we got in the foster system.”

  “Please, you have every right to be upset. Perhaps we need to explain the significance of the cat?” Odelia said. “We thought you and Drake were children they were thinking of adopting when we were going through their things. We found the photos of Tabitha, but we also found out she had a twin brother, Drake. Something happened to Drake. There are all these photos of you as children together, the photos of Tabitha as she grew up, then it was just like Drake ceased to exist. Whatever happened to Drake must have scared your parents into sending you away, but keeping an eye on you. The cat was a replacement for your twin, not you. I can show you all the files your parents kept on you. They were always watching over you.”

  I couldn’t enjoy my bloody steak with all the theories running through my head. “If no one knew about us, then did they send me away because I hurt Drake?”

  “Don’t be fucking stupid, Tabby,” Lizzie snapped. “Someone knew about the two of you. Even if they had a home birth and never went to a doctor, they would have had someone with medical training looking after your mother, especially with twins.”

  “Anyone of the thirteen families specialize in medicine?” I demanded. Lizzie was my soul sister because it was like we could complete each other’s sentences. I would have had that same thought right after she did. Between the two of us, we would figure this out. If we didn’t, I was getting the hell out of here. These people seemed nice, but they could be cannibal aliens for all I knew.

  “No one that could deliver babies. The Beaumer’s do medical equipment, but it’s all cancer research. Danny and Miri don’t even like children. Both their parents would be after them to continue their line, but they both have younger siblings that are married with children. Danny and Miri’s siblings gave birth in a hospital, and both women wanted to be unconscious until it was over,” Odelia said.

  Esther snorted. “They both had the right idea. I insisted everything with Natalia was going to be this perfect, natural birth. I lasted about four hours before I wanted every drug available to me and a joint to ease the pain.”

  “Someone had to have helped them and known about me,” I said, trying to redirect the conversation back to my situation.

  Odelia just shook her head sadly. “All Mattan told us was that he found the heir to your parent's fortunes. We all thought you were a distant relative. Knowing your parents, they did everything themselves. We saw the photos, and we thought you and Drake were children your parents were thinking of adopting.”

  “So, no one knows anything,” I groaned, slumping in my seat.

  Esther came over to pat me on the back. “Your parents have the answers. And our ancestors built these manors with plenty of hiding places. Just because we haven’t found the full answer yet doesn’t mean we won’t. Just enjoy your new home for now. We’ll all help you in this quest.”

  Chapter 5

  Rothledge Manor had to have at least thirty bedrooms, but after Esther and Odelia had gotten us sufficiently shitfaced and tried to show us around to pick a bedroom, Lizzie and I just picked the first bedroom we saw and crashed in bed together. This was probably just some spare bedroom, but the mattress had to be gel, and the sheets were softer than anything I’d slept on before.

  Someone had to be waiting outside the door listening, and that creeped me out. As soon as they heard us moving, they knocked and asked us what we wanted for breakfast. They asked that like it wasn’t noon and time for lunch. Even if it were noon, we both would have woken up and gone straight to the coffee machine and just mainlined black coffee until we were no longer hungry. We didn’t have to do that anymore, but we also had no idea what to do with ourselves. We just burst into giggles and said to cook something special.

  I wasn’t thinking about my past or what happened to me before. I was just cutting up with Lizzie. It all came crashing back on me when that bald fucking cat managed to open the door and come swaggering into our bedroom. I knew he was named after my twin and he had to be ancient if he was still alive. He wouldn’t have any grays since he had no hair, but he didn’t seem to be slowing down in any way.

  The cat seemed to be silently judging me as he walked around the room like we’d chosen the wrong bedroom or something. He was still wearing the same sweater from yesterday, and I knew no one in the house could change it without getting mauled. The cat and I just stared at each other from across the room. The cat looked like evil incarnate, but he was kind of cute with his big, bat ears and wrinkled skin.

  “They said something about his skin getting irritated if he’s not bathed. Do you think his sweater needs to be changed? He might be on some naughty list with veterinarians too,” I said. I don’t know why I was worried about the cat. Maybe because I now knew he wasn’t replacing me, it had something to do with my twin.

  Lizzie just shrugged. “I think that cat is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Do you think I could make us matching clothes?” she squealed. Lizzie had an ancient Singer sewing machine we found at Goodwill and made all her clothes. She was much better at sewing than I was.

  It was like the cat understood and hissed at her. Lizzie just laughed. “Maybe he would prefer a cat-sized leather jacket like his sister?”

  I swear, it was uncanny. As soon as Lizzie mentioned dressing the cat in leather, he started purring and rubbing against her legs. She crouched down and held out her fists, Drake gave her a few sniffs, then started rubbing his face against her hand. At least one of us could change his clothes, but I might have to bribe Lizzie to bathe the cat if I couldn’t. The cat was an old man now. It was my job to take care of him in his twilight years. I wasn’t a monster. That cat meant a lot to my parents, and even if I was still hurt they sent me away, I wasn’t going to let a helpless animal suffer.

  “Oh, Drake is soft! Come pet him, Tabby.”

  When I went to pet him, he bolted, but stopped at the door and was giving us th
is look. “I think he…wants us to follow him?” I said, shooting Lizzie a look. I was pretty sure I was going totally insane thinking the cat was trying to show me something. He was probably going to lead us to his food bowl. I just felt deep down in my bones it was important to follow that cat.

  Drake led us down a long hallway. I knew I wasn't stupid. He’d run ahead, then stop and wait for us. He led us all the way down the hall to two ornate doors. Drake could open a door with those webbed feet if it were cracked just a little, but he couldn’t reach these doorknobs. Lizzie and I just stood there and stared at the gilded doors.

  “What do you think he’s trying to show us?” I whispered.

  Drake had sort of his hoarse, raspy meow and he just started wailing like he wanted us to hurry the hell up. I shrugged. Listening to a wailing, bald cat who wanted me to open a door wasn’t the dumbest thing I’d done. I’d hardly spent any time with it, but I felt this odd kinship with that crazy cat. This cat was the closest thing left I had to my parents. It wasn’t like he could tell me, but this cat knew secrets about my parents Esther and Odelia couldn’t tell me.

  I threw open the gilded doors. The suite was plush and ornate with a four-poster bed on a dais in the center of the room. This had to be my parent’s suite. Did Drake have feelings and miss them too? I realized I didn’t even know what my parents looked like. I talked to several of their friends, but I’d never seen photos. Drake ran to an archway off to the left. I curiously followed.

  There was a sitting room with various games and hobbies my parents enjoyed, but Drake ran to the wall and stood under two portraits that had to be my parents. I was starting to wonder if Peterbald cats were also bred with some sort of evil cat genius and if I didn’t watch Drake, he’d start planning world domination. I didn’t need to be thinking about that. I was being stupid

  The paintings were on the one bare wall in the room. I looked at my parents for the first time. If my hair hadn’t been purple and my eyebrows less carefully tweezed, I’d be an exact replica of my mother. We were both fair-haired with delicate features. She looked like she was tall and small boned like I was. Her eyes were painted the same shade of blue as mine.

  I looked over to my father’s portrait. He was a handsome man, but I didn’t look like I got anything from him. He had chestnut hair that brushed his collar. His eyes were so hazel they were almost amber. Where she was a delicate beauty, he was ruggedly handsome. I wondered what both of them were like and exactly what went on in this house that led up to my brother’s disappearance and me being shipped off to Kentucky.

  I didn’t have time to think about it because Drake was howling again. Lizzie had come up and stood beside me.

  “You think all this talk about witches and magic means Drake is really a familiar? I mean, he’s pretty spritely for a twenty-four-year-old cat, and it seems like he’s trying to communicate. Do you think you’re really a witch, Tabby, and you can somehow talk to Drake?”

  We didn’t have cable, but we did have a shared Netflix account, and we both loved spooky shows. I wasn’t shocked that was the first thing out of Lizzie’s mouth after Drake brought us here, but it seemed like he was still trying to tell me something with all that wailing. I didn’t want to entertain the notion of witches or familiars. I still wasn’t convinced Drake didn’t have some food bowl in here he wanted filling.

  There were tables on either side of the paintings. Drake jumped on one of the tables and started pawing at the paneling on the wall. The idea that he might be some sort of familiar was starting to become more obvious as I remembered the secret room I got drunk in the night before. The door was activated by pressing on the paneling.

  “Quick, Lizzie!” I said, running my fingers all over the wall. “I think there’s another secret room in here.”

  Lizzie and I were both pressing on the walls like we weren’t totally insane and following the instructions of a wailing cat. I felt something click under my finger and a small door opened up.

  “Hah!” I yelled. “I’m not crazy!”

  “No, this probably means you’re a witch, you idiot.”

  “Well, the answers might be in that room.”

  Drake did all that wailing and running to get us to find this room, but he didn’t seem to want us in there now. He blocked the small door and arched his back, hissing at us.

  “Now what?” Lizzie asked. “Can you get rabies or cat cooties from a familiar?”

  “Let’s not test that theory. Remember the groomers? Let’s not find out what happens when Drake is in a mood.”

  “Tabitha? Lizzie?” I heard someone calling our names.

  Jana, the maid that asked us what we wanted for breakfast, stuck her head in. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Breakfast is ready, and you are both so thin. Will you come eat?”

  Was Drake seriously blocking the door to the secret room because he knew breakfast was ready and wanted us to eat something? I looked at that cat suspiciously. He was sitting in the doorway giving himself a bath like a perfectly normal cat. Someone had better start answering questions because I certainly couldn’t ask Drake.

  “Should I bring the food in here or will you come down to eat?”

  “If we come down, will you talk to us?”

  Jana had to be in her sixties, so she must have been around when I was born. If my parents had locked themselves inside and weren’t taking visitors, someone was bringing groceries and necessities to them. Maybe it was Jana or some of the other servants here.

  “Of course. I know what questions you will ask, but I only have limited knowledge of what went on then. Your parents had us all sign so many nondisclosure agreements about talking about the children, but even if there’s something in there about you, child, you deserve to know. Come down, and I’ll answer what I know.”

  “Did you cook enough for you too?” I asked as I followed her downstairs.

  “I ate before work. Come, you said fancy, so we went extra fancy to celebrate your arrival. Kosher Eggs Benedict and Hazelnut Crepes. I haven’t made coffee because I’ll need your input on that.”

  “Just black is fine,” I said, ready to pepper her with questions. I was antsy as she set plates in front of me. I wanted to ask her questions, but I also wasn’t used to being waited on. If I wanted food, I had to get up and make it or inhale it before it was gone.

  Lizzie was still thinking about witches and familiars and asked Jana about that before I could ask anything.

  “Strange things went on in this house, but I don’t think witchcraft is involved. Drake has always been a peculiar cat, but have you ever owned a cat before? I have five at home. They used to be worshipped as Gods in certain points of history, and they certainly haven’t forgotten that. Cats aren’t like dogs who love you unconditionally. With cats, you have to earn it. Your parents had Drake shipped over from Russia for a lot of money. I think there’s a part of Drake that just somehow knows your parents went through a lot of trouble to get him and just expects to be spoiled.”

  “How did no one know about me or my twin? Did my mother not have medical attention?”

  “Ah, but she did. They had ultrasound machines and anything you could possibly find at a doctor’s office shipped here. I have three daughters that chose to give birth at home. I was there helping for all of them. Your mother and father did a lot of research to do this on their own, and I was helping them. Drake came out first, and your father caught him. You came two minutes later, and I was the one you caught you because Drake was quite angry when he made his entrance in the world.”

  “Why were we hidden? What happened to Drake and why was I sent away?”

  “I said I didn’t have all the answers. Your parents went through a lot of trouble with the staff to keep you a secret. A lot of people were let go. Your parents only kept people they thought were trustworthy who wouldn’t ask a lot of questions. We all knew we couldn’t ask why the two of you needed to be kept a secret from everyone. From what I gathered, it was something only yo
ur mother and father knew, and they didn’t want the other families to know.”

  “Did the secret get to be too much for them?”

  “I honestly don’t know what happened. You and Drake never had nannies, and we all had limited contact with you after you were born. After you were born and started getting older, something was happening that had your parents stressed and scared. No one came in the house, and no one knew about you. It was something that was happening behind closed doors, something that had to do with the big secret that had them scared.

  “None of us knew what happened to either of you. It was like one day, the sound of toddlers was a normal thing in the house and the next day, it was gone. We never knew why a cat showed up a few days before the babies disappeared. Your parents were always kind to their servants. They paid us well and gave us plenty of time to be with our family. But this, whatever it was, it was something we knew if we asked, something bad would happen. Something very unlike your parents.”

  “Wait, I thought Drake the cat was bought after Drake my twin disappeared.”

  “A lot of people believe that and I’m probably one of the few people in the house who knows the truth. Drake the cat and Drake the boy were in the house at the same time, but very briefly.”

  “You don’t think my parents hurt my twin, do you?”

  “Not at all. Your parents loved both of you dearly, and I think you were told they threw a party as soon as you left. That wasn’t the case. Levana and Elliot were in a dark place after the baby noise disappeared. It was a few months before they threw a party and I think that party was only to see if it could pull them out of a dark place. I worked all those parties, and I don’t know how their friends never noticed their smiles never reached their eyes.”

  “Did you noticed anything weird going on in this house?”

  Jana gave me a small, gentle smile. “You mean witchcraft? I’m sorry, I could help but overhear you and your friend. My family has worked for the Rothledges for ages. There were always a lot of secrets, but never anything that would send us running.”