Flash Fiction #556 -- Neko/1

 

One small light
A room full of words
Where to start...

The cat owned the bookstore. Not many people knew it, though. A few did take note of the wall of pictures, some going back a century, and all with a cat much like Neko. In fact, they were all Neko, hardly changed from one year to the next, although being a Siamese, his fur sometimes turned darker for a few months.

Humans were easy to fool.

 Neko knew that there were worse curses than to be stuck here. Besides, he was a local celebrity, and people brought him treats. Few even tried to take him away these days since he always reappeared at the store within a few hours.

However, there were transitions. Mr. Bigsley had died in his sleep. Though Neko had squatter's rights to the place, someone new would run it. A few simply did not like cats, so Neko always worried about one of those arriving at the door, thinking they were the new owner. They would remain for a few years, making Neko's life miserable. It was part of the curse. He never knew what might come next.

Being humans, they never realized Neko was more than just a rather smart store cat. More intelligent than most of them, in fact. He prided himself on being able to read in five languages.

And down through two centuries, Neko kept believing he would find the way out of Maude's curse in one of the books and be free again.

Someone rattled keys at the door, and he heard voices muted from the other side. Bad timing. He had just found a book from the last shipment that reeked of magic, and Neko had no time to put it in his hiding spot for later perusal.

"I hope you aren't disappointed," Mrs. Smithson said as she opened the door. "Whatever made you decide to buy this place, sight unseen?"

"There were almost a hundred pictures on your realty agency's site," the young man behind her said. All Neko could see was long blond hair. "I was also able to study the Village of Marly and probably know it better than many locals -- oh good, the cat is still here."

They stared at each other.

He was not human. Fae, in fact -- and what a fae wanted with a bookstore on this side of the Veil worried Neko.

Neko had no doubt the fae sensed the magic in him, too. All the time he kept talking to Mrs. Smithson, his attention wandered over to Neko every couple of minutes.

They toured the building. Neko stayed where he was, curled up on the book he had found. He even pretended to sleep, all cat-like.

"No, I'll be perfectly fine," the fae said as they returned downstairs. "I have everything I need in my car. Thank you so much."

And there, finally, a touch of magic that both lightened the woman's mood and made her happy to leave. The fae stood by the door and waved as she drove away, closed and locked it, and turned around.

"What are you?" he asked.

"I'm a cat."

His eyes narrowed.

"I was the familiar to a not entirely smart witch named Maude. This was about two hundred years ago. The locals were pursuing us, and I saw an open door and darted that way. Instead of following, she set a curse on me for abandoning her so that I can't leave the building. They caught her, but I think she got away again. I'm Neko.  What is a fae doing here?"

The fae had been looking at the pictures on the wall, but he turned back.

"I am Colin Emerald McFaeland," he said with a proper bow, holding his hands so Neko could see the rings he wore.    They designated him as a mid-level member of the Emerald Clan, but Neko had the feel of someone higher up the ladder. Some fae were like that, though. Although Neko hadn't seen a fae since his life dwindled to contact with the few people who wandered into the shop, he hadn't forgotten about them.

"You know why I'm here," Neko said with a bow of his own head. "But it seems far stranger that you are here."

"Magic," he said with a wave of his hand. "We began to feel a storehouse of magic somewhere in this area. Humans stockpiling magic is rarely a good thing."

"I can't argue with that. Look where it got me."  Neko shifted and sighed. "But it is not a human. It's me. I've been collecting books with any hint of magic over the last hundred years. I hope to find an answer to my problem."

"Like in the book you are sitting on," he said, coming close enough to sit on the stool by the counter.

Neko stepped off the book and gave it a little nudge. "I wasn't sure of the magic when I saw it on the website. It's hard to judge magic via technology. I can't quite get the scent of it: vanilla, and maybe some lilac ... but others as well. There is some human magic, but I also feel others."

Colin lifted his hand and tested it out. Neko knew Colin had a far better feel for magic, having been born to it. His frown made the cat nervous, though.

"Do we have a problem?" Neko asked.

"I sense something trapped in the book," Colin admitted.

"Trapped," Neko said with a snarl. It was a word he really disliked.

"I am not certain what it might be, so we need to be --careful!"

Neko realized the book was starting to move with a curious lift and drop, like something learning to fly. The cat leaped at it --

And the cover popped open as a half dozen things flew out.