Chapter 4: Shelter

"Will you two quit bickering for five seconds?" Ms.Sinclair groaned as she walked through the school's parking lot with both girls trailing behind her.

Kitty glared in Spikes direction, before turning her attention to Ms.Sinclair. 

"We wouldn't be bickering if you'd sent us to a normal detention."

"True, however I believe a direct approach is the best to help you two." She responded as she opened her car door and gestured for the girls to enter.

"I don't even see what it is we need help with." Spikes grumbled as she stepped into the car. Followed by Kitty and Ms.Sinclair.

The rest of the ride was carried out in silence as Ms.Sinclair drove the short distance to her home.

"Ok girls, we're here. Remember if you break anything, you replace it." She reprimanded the girls as she stepped out of her car. 

Kitty shrugged and exited the car, while Spikes remained slumped over within the car.

"Carissa, you will need to get out of there eventually so I suggest you do it sooner rather than later." Ms.Sinclair stated, opening the door for Spikes before she would finally get out of the car.

"Your house is so pretty Ms.Sinclair!" Kitty announced as Spikes exited the car.

It was a small two story house, almost cabin like with several windows letting in the light. Flowers encompassed almost the entirety of the property.

The girls stepped inside, both in awe of their teachers home. Artwork hung from the walls and cluttered the room, it was a messy sort of beautiful that smelled lightly of mint and oil paints.

"You have such a nice house, Ms.Sinclair. How do you afford it on a teacher's salary?" Kitty asked as she continued too look around her teacher's house.

"Oh, it's really not very-"

"I don't know where you're from, but don't you know it's rude to bluntly ask people shit like that?" Spikes growled, interrupting their teacher's response.

"How so? I was only asking a question!" Kitty hissed back at Spikes.

"Because for us normal people who have to struggle to survive, finances can be a touchy subject." Spikes retorted. Spikes stomped to a corner of the room, dropping herself onto the large seat.

Kitty took a moment to breathe instead of shouting back before moving to take the seat opposite of Spikes.

"Ms.Sinclair, I apologize if you considered my question rude. I didn't realize it may be a sensitive subject." Kitty held her head high as she spoke, though she kept her eyes on the ground and fidgeted with her hands.

"We're not at school girls, you can just call me Nadine," Their teacher replied calmly, smiling sweetly at Kitty. "There is no need for you to apologize dear. I do actually get a bit of help from my significant other."

"Oh, are you married, or is it just a boyfriend?" Kitty inquired.

"It's actually a bit more complicated. I uhm-"

"Sugar daddy?" Spikes interrupted Nadine. Kitty turned to glare at the dog but began to laugh at the seriousness in Spikes's eyes.

"And yet you said I was the rude one? I'm sure that accusation is far worse than asking about money." Spikes turned her head to avoid Kitty seeing her blush as the cat continued to laugh.

"It's not that funny." Spikes muttered under her breath.

Nadine rolled her eyes, but smiled as she watched the two girls interact. If it hadn't been for the snide remarks and occasional glares Nadine felt they could almost be mistaken for friends.

Which was something both girls sorely needed.

...

Time passed quickly after the first day of detention the girls served at Nadine's house.

Detention turned into an after-school ritual, and Nadine turned into a maternal figure for both Kitty and Spikes.

She would help them with homework and provided them with a safe place for them to talk and be themselves.

Eventually as both girls talked, laughed a little more and insulted each other a little less each day, they became what could almost be considered friends.

At school they still typically avoided one another.

However what used to be glares turned into small smiles of acknowledgement.

Summer soon turned into late fall and both girl's continued to deny the friendship forming between themselves given the passing kindness they would display for the other.

...

"Guess who got a driver's license!" Kitty cheered as she burst through the front door of Nadine's house.

"I'm assuming the spoiled cat who's going to be the owner of a new shiny bright aqua car this weekend?" Spikes rolled her eyes, hiding her grin in her hair as she set down her cup of coffee.

"Haha Spikes, you're so funny," Kitty stuck her tongue out at the dog before taking a seat on the couch.

"I'm proud of you Katherine. Perhaps now you'll be able to drive yourself and Carissa home." Nadine joked, winking at Kitty.

"I wouldn't mind that at all. It'd be a lot easier on you for me to drive us." Kitty smiled back, happy to be of some assistance. "And I'm actually going to get a simple used car for now. No sense in getting an expensive one until I'm more accustomed to driving."

"That's very mature of you Kath-"

"When the fuck did you grow up Kitty?" Spikes's laughter interrupted Nadine. Kitty rolled her eyes at Spikes, but smiled as the dog continued to laugh.

"Anyways, I don't have anything planned for you two today." Nadine commented as she stood from her seat. "Perhaps you'd like to do some painting today?"

"Ok!" Both girls cheered in unison as they stood from their seats, making their way to where Nadine stored the painting supplies in her house.

Kitty glanced up at the overcast skies as they stepped outside. "I hope it doesn't start raining." She hissed under her breath as she set up her station.

"Seriously? Are you really so much of a cat that you hate water too?" Spikes chuckled as she set up her own station, a gleam of amusement in her eyes.

"Maybe," Kitty muttered quietly, her eyes still on the sky. "It's mostly that it's just so gloomy and depressing. I just don't like it."

"I've always found the rain soothing, but I am a fan of water unlike you." Spikes joked. 

Kitty rolled her eyes before they both fell into a comfortable silence, both working on their own pieces.

Spikes glanced over her shoulder to see Kitty painting what seemed to be a man who bore an uncanny resemblance to the cat. 

"Who's that?" Spikes asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"My late father." Kitty responded simply enough. 

"He died in May just before I transferred here."

Spikes stared at Kitty, finding herself speechless. She had never thought of the cat as someone who'd lost a family member.

"I... I'm sorry Kitty. I never realized that you... well actually suffered." Spikes muttered, ashamed to admit she'd assumed Kitty's life was perfect. "How did he die?"

"He was murdered." Kitty's tone turned menacing and cold. Spikes turned to glance at Kitty before immediately turning back to her own painting and choosing to change the subject.

"What about your mother?"

"She's missing." Kitty's voice was still cold, though it was not as venomous as before. "She vanished, abandoning me within my first week in this town."

Kitty sighed, shaking her head as if to shake the bad memories away. She refused to focus on a past that she could not change.

"So what are you painting? Your paintings are always so beautiful, but they're so dark. Is there a reason?" Kitty quickly asked to avoid Spikes asking anymore personal questions.

"It's cause I'm a dark scary person." Spikes laughed, flicking a bit of water in Kitty's direction.

"Don't mess with me dog." Kitty hissed through her smile as she backed away from Spikes. "Seriously though, why so dark all the time?"

Spikes hesitated for a moment. She wondered if she should open up to the cat, if Kitty was in fact trustworthy, or if she was even ready to talk about it.

She inhaled deeply, setting her paint brush down as she prepared to speak. 

"I know how hard it is to lose a loved one... and the reason everything is so dark around me." Spikes inhaled deeply, focusing on speaking instead of the words.

"After my brother died... I couldn't see the light anymore, so I fell into darkness."

Chapter 3: Never Alone

The quiet shatter of glass echoed throughout Spikes's small studio apartment.

"Who the fuck does she think she is?" Spikes growled, absentmindedly burying tiny shards of glass further into her palm as she clenched her fists around what remained of the broken glass in her hand.

"Stupid cat." Spikes muttered to herself as she made her way across the room and rinsed her hands in the grimy kitchen sink.

She flinched as she struggled to remove the smaller glass fragments from her hand, glancing at her hand cautiously for a moment before carelessly shoving it into her pocket.

Such a small injury would heal quickly enough that it was not worth bandaging. 

"I don't even know why I'm so angry." Her voice was bitter as she threw herself onto her poor excuse for a bed.

She stared up at the ceiling, before rolling over to look back at the floor, tracing circles on the floor with her finger.

"Maybe I should talk to someone about this." She glared at her cheap cell phone Xander had purchased for her.

Not that the phone did her any good since he rarely answered her calls.

Blade had been gone for three months and Xander was as distant as ever, only allowing loneliness to further consume Spikes.

She growled, throwing her pillow across the room. She bolted upright at the sound of something shattering once again.

She ran to the makeshift desk on the other side of her apartment, lifting the two frames that had fallen to the ground.

She stared at the images for a moment before she gave in to her tears.

One was a picture of herself and Blade on her first day of high school, but the other she cradled in her arms as she bit down on her cheek from the failed effort it took to keep herself from crying.

"Takado... what am I doing?" She sobbed as she held the picture of her long dead brother against her chest. "What's happening to me? I'm so angry and bitter... and lonely."

She cried quietly and alone in her apartment before wiping her tears and placing the image back where it belonged.

"She smells like a cat. That means she like us, and if she's like us she can't be trusted, Right?"

"I have to get rid of her." Spikes growled with growing intensity. "I need to destory her before she can try to do the same to me." 

Spikes grabbed her phone from her nightstand and dialed Xander's number, hoping that for once that he would answer his phone.

“Hello?” answered his voice on the receiver.

“Xander, about that cat. I have to take care of it." Her voice was shakey but stern as she spoke.

“Heh, that's my girl, talk to me babe, you know I’ll do whatever you need.”

...

Spikes sat anxiously with Xander, Talon and Fang waiting to see if the cat would actually try to show up again as Spikes thought she might.

"If she has enough balls to come back today remember that she is mine and mine alone." Spikes growled at the boys. "I'll put that pampered priss in her place."

Spikes scanned the area carefully. She typically did not tolerate anyone like herself. Xander was the exception, and even he was barely trustworthy.

She smirked as her eyes met with the cat's sapphire gaze.

"You actually decided to come back? And after how kind I was to let you off last time?" Spikes commented as she approached Kitty. 

"You're even stupider than you smell."

"Like you're one to talk? Every where I go in this school it wreaks of filthy mutt." Kitty hissed through the grin on her face. 

"Besides, I take threats as challenges."

It amused Kitty to watch the dog get frustrated with her. It was her first time truly interacting with someone like herself outside of those she considered family.

She hadn't expected how violent and quick to anger others might be.

"I don't make threats, Cat." Spikes spat at Kitty. "I make promises."

"Whatever, Mutt. You're not even worth letting a hair get out of place." Kitty retorted, flipping her ebony hair over her shoulder.

"Wow you're even more of a spoiled little bitch than the rumors say you are."

"You're even stupider than the rumors say you are. A bitch is a female dog, not cat."

"Oh don't you think you're so fucking special cause you can nit-pick people's sentences? I bet Mommy and Daddy are so fucking proud of you. Wonder what they'd think of you if you came home all bruised up." Spikes snarled.

"At least I have a mom and dad." Kitty lied. Her voice dripped with venom, her pupils slits as she glared at Spikes. 

"I heard Spikes is a little baby orphan. Never had a family and a mentor that abandoned her. Guess there's not a soul alive that wants you is there?"

Spikes flinched for a moment before regaining her stance and snarling like the wild animal she was.

She could feel her fangs grow longer and her left eye twitch in an attempt to expel the contact lens in it.

"You better shut you fucking mouth, Cat."

"Aww why? Did I say something a little too close to home?" Kitty taunted Spikes almost gleefully. 

"Oh! Wait... You don't have a home."

Spikes lunged at Kitty, fueled by the rage and sorrow burning from within her.

However, she hadn't planned on the pampered cat knowing how to fight.

Spikes got more frustrated with each hit she missed, while Kitty remained calm and calculating as they fought.

Xander growled in the background, forcing himself to stand beside his human accomplices instead of stepping forward to assist Spikes in the fight she was loosing.

Kitty threw a decisive punch to Spikes's gut and quickly got behind Spikes as she hunched over and kicked her down to the ground.

Spikes quickly jumped back to her feet, ready to charge at the cat but a female voice caught the attention of both girls.

"What do you two think you're doing?" One of the teacher's yelled, her messy orange hair only coming further undone as she ran towards the two girls.

Spikes grimaced and tried to hide her face in her short hair, hoping the art teacher might not recognize her.

"Carissa, what is going on here?" She demanded, her crimson gaze focused on Spikes.

"Fuck... Hey Ms.Sinclair," Spikes attempted smile, acting as innocently as she could.

"Don't you 'hey' me. What happened?" Ms.Sinclair demanded, eyeing both girls suspiciously.

"Carissa started it." Kitty spoke Spikes's real name mockingly, sticking her tongue out at the dog.

Ms.Sinclair turned and glared at Kitty for a moment, before turning her attention back to Spikes.

"Is that true Carissa?"

"Yes." Spikes muttered under her breath. "It was her fault though! I told her to stay away, and instead she makes it a point to harass me."

"Whatever Mutt." Kitty rolled her eyes, turning to walk away.

"You stay right there Katherine. I am not done with you." Her voice was sharp, startling Kitty. 

"Is what Carissa said true?"

"Technically." Kitty glared down at her feet. 

"She threatened me though, so I decided to take it into my own hands before she went crazy and attacked me in class."

Ms.Sinclair rolled her eyes, studying the two girls carefully as they glared each other.

They were so young and not unlike herself at their age. Angry and different from the world with no one who understood.

A mischievous grin played across her lips as an idea struck her for the two girls.

"Both of you will be meeting me for detention after school today-"

"Both of us?" The two girls groaned in unison before turning to glare at each other again.

"Detention will be held at my house. I expect both of you to meet me in the art room promptly after the final school bell." Ms.Sinclair stated.

"Teachers can do that at public schools?" Kitty asked, shock written across her face.

Both Spikes and Ms.Sinclair turned their gazes at the cat's outburst.

"What? I've never been to a public school before." Kitty responded, defensively glaring at Spikes.

"Damn rich kids." Spikes muttered before sulking away.

Chapter 2: The Middle

Kitty hissed as she cast a glance out the window.

It was raining again.

She’d always hated the rain, typically too gloomy for her tastes.

The consistent sound of the rain against the house though, provided a comforting contrast to mansions usual eery silence.

She scoffed at the thought of how well off other teenagers might think she was.

She had money, a large home, no parents to force rules upon her.

There was nothing she wouldn’t give to have her family back though.

She sighed as she turned away from the window, making her way downstairs to her bedroom.

She jumped at the sound of the thunder outside. 

It had never bothered her until now.

Needless to say a large empty house made things out to be more frightening than they actually were.

She scurried down the stairs, as if being closer to the ground would keep her safe from the thunder.

She wished the house weren’t so empty, that she had friends she could invite over.

She was inconceivably shy though. She always sat away from the other students, always sat alone to read during breaks.

Her lip quivered as she felt the tears form in her eyes.

She just didn’t want to be alone anymore. She wanted friends, real friends that didn’t care about her money more than they did her.

Her eyes briefly passed over the door to the childish room that had been intended for her initially.

She scowled at it, for a moment glad her mother had vanished.

A weak smile made it’s way to her lips as she entered her room, her cat mewling quietly from the couch.

“Hi Jinx,” Kitty softly patted that cat’s head before throwing herself onto her bed.

At least I’m not completely alone.

Kitty thought to herself, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply she tried to to think about the loneliness that ate away at her insides.

She had no one left in the world other than her cat.

She felt her lip begin to quiver once again. She rolled over to face the wall, her eyes held shut in an attempt to stop the tears from falling from her eyes.

She heard the soft padding of Jinx’s paws as she jumped onto the bed. 

Meowing softly as she laid beside Kitty.

“I’m okay, Jinx, really. I’m just lonely.” Kitty spoke softly, not wanting to upset her familiar. 

Jinx growled quietly at Kitty. 

Kitty rolled her eyes, unamused by the tone her cat was taking with her.

“I know I need to make more friends Jinx! It’s just hard… I don’t know how to talk to people, and I don’t seem to be interested in anything that everyone else likes.”

Jinx growled once again, turning away from Kitty.

“I know that I need to try harder! People are just really intimidating though.” Kitty mumbled mostly to herself, not wanting to admit just how anxious people made her. 

She stared up at the ceiling, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat.

“Maybe I should just give up and get a pet dog.” Kitty laughed while Jinx hissed at her, clearly in disagreement with Kitty’s idea.

…

A small sigh escaped Kitty as she sat down on a bench outside of the school.

She had tried to be more sociable than she usually was and yet she still felt as if she’d made no progress at all.

She was lost in her own thoughts, paying the world no mind until she heard what sounded like the snarl of a feral dog.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” She heard a female’s voice through the snarling.

“I’m sitting. What’s your problem?” Kitty retorted, rolling her eyes at the hot headed teen.

“My problem is that you’re in my turf and you need to leave. Now.” The girl growled.

Kitty took a step back, surprised by the aggression displayed by the girl in front of her.

She quickly regained her composure and glared at the girl. She refused to let herself be bullied.

“I’m sorry I don’t believe you own this particular bench. Last I checked it was public property and I can sit here if I want to. So quit being a bitch and find somewhere else.”

“Doesn't fucking matter if it's public property. This here is my turf, so I suggest you get the hell away and make sure I never see you again..”

“I go to school here dimwit. You’d eventually see me even if I did care enough to try to avoid you.” Kitty spat at her.

“And it’s Kitty, not princess.”

“Kitty? What kind of name is that? Your parents into bestiality or some shit?”

“Spikes let’s just go. This isn’t worth it.” The blonde behind her spoke up, only to be silenced by the icy glare he received from her.

“Spikes? What, were your parents just that into bondage?” Kitty laughed in response to Spikes’s previous attempt at insulting her.

“That’s not my actual name Dumb-shit.”

“Then why would you assume Kitty is mine? I knew public schools had lower standards of education, but I never expected the students to be this stupid.”

Spikes’s eyes narrowed at Kitty’s comment. 

She was ready to rip the girl’s smile off of her face, but she wasn’t ready to get suspended again.

“You think you’re so much better than us just because you have money don’t you? Whatever, go back home to your big house and your Mommy and Daddy. I’m sure they’d be upset if their daughter broke a nail.”

Kitty flinched as she thought of her buried father and missing mother. 

“You’re nothing but a spoiled loser without a single friend. You don’t know what life is like in the real world. You have no idea what real pain or suffering are like! I bet you’ve had your entire life handed to you on on a silver platter.”

“It is a white gold platter you uncultured little mutt,” Kitty hissed at Spikes.

She knew what it was like to hurt, to suffer.

She wasn’t going to let this girl know that though.

“I’ve had enough of your shit Cat-”

“It’s Kitty.”

“Shut the fuck up and leave! If I ever see you here again I will kick your fucking ass, Kitty.” Spikes screamed at Kitty.

“I’d like to see you try!” Kitty shouted back.

Spikes went to punch Kitty, but was stopped by the boy with a mo-hawk grabbing her arm.

“We have places to be Spikes. That’s enough.” He spoke sternly before releasing her hand.

“Get the hell out of my sight cat.” Spikes growled, turning her glare to the boy with the mo-hawk. “And don’t you ever fucking touch me like that again, Xander.”

Her glare passed over Kitty once more before turning around and walking away, the boys who had accompanied her following closely behind.

Kitty rolled her eyes before making her way towards the taxi that had finally arrived.

She threw a glance over her shoulder, letting out a sigh before a scowl etched itself onto her face. 

She could only see this ending badly she thought to herself solemnly.