LAMIAE

CHAPTER THREE: CASPER AND TIE

His gaze went to a fat teenager with pigtails like a five-year-old child. The cat looked like it wished it could roll its eyes right now. It tottered forward to finally stand next to Dagmara.

The boy scratched his head. He had imagined the girl differently. Finally, Genevieve showed him a photo of her granddaughter, and even though it was a photo from thirteen years ago, he found it hard to accept that his imagination turned out to be wrong.

"Hey," he began, approaching the girl with his hand outstretched in greeting. "I'm Casper, auntie asked me to pick you up."

Dagmara looked at the stranger first, then at the black animal fawning at his feet and narrowed her eyes mistrustfully. The cat made another round around Casper's legs.

"Meow," it said in its own way, cajoling this time to the girl. Now it was her legs that became the object of its adoration.

"Yeah, I'd forgotten," the boy added hastily. "This furball here is Tie."

The girl looked down again. She had never seen such a cat before. It was black except for the two front paws which were white. It looked peculiar, as if the cat was wearing gloves. But it wasn't just that. There was also a white spot under its head that looked like a tie. And as if that wasn't enough, its mustache was also completely white, which against the dark fur looked bizarre.

A gentleman cat, Dagmara thought to herself.

"Why isn't grandma here?" she asked after a moment, struggling to look away from the cat and trying not to sound too harsh at the same time. The animal wagged its tail proudly.

"She had to go to school, take care of your transfer."

Everything he said stuck together, she had no reason to believe he was lying.

"Can you give me a minute to call her?" she asked politely, but it didn't help enough because Casper frowned.

"As you wish," he shrugged. "But I warn you that she won't answer anyway. It's very hard to reach auntie on the phone."

The girl wondered if she had a cousin named Casper, but no one came to her mind. Therefore, he had to be her cousin whom she had never heard of (otherwise he wouldn't have called her grandma aunt twice), or he was just a scammer. The boy must have been thinking the same thing, because he was quick to explain.

"Everyone calls her auntie."

She had no idea who everyone were or if he was telling the truth, but since she had always been gullible, she would eventually go with him anyway. It was only a matter of time.

"Well, where's your car?"

Casper smiled in thanks for the little trust she had given him.

"Come on, we'll show you," he said, and she thought the boy was quite peculiar. He spoke as if the cat was also a person, as if it understood. In fact, Tie itself joined him - it was marching right next to Casper, its head cocked high. It walked so upright that she honestly doubted she had ever seen an animal so stiff - unless it was dead. The cat knew exactly which way to go to the car, not leaving Casper an inch.

As Dagmara stepped outside, a black Ferrari caught her attention. A beautiful, luxury car that few people could afford. All the windows in the car were tinted, even the ones on the front, so she considered whether it was even legal.

"What are you doing?" Casper's impatient voice came to her, so she ran up to him.

She helped him with the suitcase, stuffing it into the trunk. The car itself was better than she expected. He didn't pick her up in an old car, but rather a new Mercedes. She didn't ask what he was doing, bitingly imagining he was a dealer since he could afford an expensive car. After all, dealers aren't asked what kind of drug they're dealing.

Tie swung into the backseat, then curled up and purred loudly. Dagmara took the front seat.

"Tell me, how do you know my grandma?" she asked after a while, when the boy got ready to drive and turned the key in the ignition, starting the vehicle.

Instinctively, she looked in the right mirror looking for the Ferrari, but instead of it, she was a hundred times more interested in the figure leaning against the car. She turned to look back through the rear window of the car. There was a boy with blond hair who was wearing black suit pants and a white shirt with his tie loosened. The young boy completely distracted her, it was the first time in her life that someone had made such a big impression on her. Although she had yet to see him, she already felt a regret in her heart that she would soon leave and never see the young man again.

"Don't you know?" Casper seemed surprised. "I thought she told you. We live together."