The HABIT's House

Vinny stared for a moment, before he spoke. "Let me see Evan. Let him go for a moment, I need to talk to him, please" Vinny whispered. "WHY? All he does when I let him out is try to kill himself, that's why I can't anymore. The first thing he does is grab something sharp or unsheathe his claws and--" he makes a cutting motion across his throat. Vinny's throat tightened. "I just want to see my friend--" "Don't you get it? Evan is gone! He may be here, but there isn't anything going on in his head anymore! He doesn't do anything when I kill anymore" HABIT growled, stalking forward. "We need to talk. I need you to be a guardian of sorts, because I need someone alive. No offense, Rabbit" he said and added the last statement to Vaermina

Vaermina just shrugged and rolled around a bit on the bed in boredom. She was interested in the conversation of course, but sitting still was never her forte.

"Asher!" HABIT called. His son skidded in through the door, Jess at some point of this conversation had escaped. He sprinted over and stood before his father, tail swishing and eyes bright. HABIT smiled, "Good kit" he grinned before nudging him towards Vinny. "This, is my son, and if you value your life Vinny, you'll take care of him over your life. Would you rather die by the paws of me or something else?" He said with a hard look. Vinny gulped. That wasn't a hard decision! "Something el--" "So, we're agreed? Great! Glad to see you so open minded, Vin!" HABIT grinned, cutting him off and picking Asher up to place him in front of Vin. "So...this kit is..is related to Evan?" Vinny asked softly, crouching before the kit to study his bushy ivory pelt. One of his hind paws had a black sock, black circles over his eyes, and black ear-tips where fur had grown to look like bushy black tufts right at the tips of his ears. Vinny couldn't help but smile. HABIT nodded. "Yep, he's got Evan's genes, but my blood. Either way, Evan was a knife freak and you know it. Maybe he picked up the hab--" HABIT stopped himself for a moment to chuckle, then continued. "The habit from me". Vinny shook his head. "Then, I'll care for..." "Asher" "..right, I'll care for Asher, because of Evan. Not you." Vinny said sharply. "Whatever Mister Mom" HABIT shrugged. "You still tired, Rabbit?" HABIT looked to Vaermina.

Vaermina stopped rolling around when Asher was called into the room, she lay on her back with her head hanging off the bed and watched them talk upside down in silence. She smiled sweetly at Asher as he was set down in front of Vinny, but it soon returned to an emotionless stare as she watched the conversation. She let out a quiet scoff and rolled her eyes as Vinny said that he would take care of the kit for Evan and muttered, "You're doing it to save you're tail." then let out an even quieter giggle at the mister mom joke.  "You still tired, Rabbit?", she turned her head to face HABIT and smiled, "I can stay awake for you, what do you need?" she asked, cocking her head.

"Well, someone needs to take shifts with someone, watching Dread throughout the night. She lost a lot of blood, and she's in the very very early stages of..." He looked at Vinny. "....What I am" he said very carefully "And she IS, in fact, able to die once more. Especially since she's in her own body. I am extremely advanced, and Evan's body was specifically created for me which is why the damage of my vessel can be healed and doesn't matter, so she's very much vulnerable." He could see Vinny seething at him. "What? It's true! You think it's just some fucked up selection, and it just so happened that I've been in his body his whole damn life? No, kid. Not how this works. His family was bred, generation from generation, like mules in order to get the perfect body for my taking. Sorry, cupcake" HABIT said matter-of-factly with a quick look of disgust to him. Vinny stepped back, picking Asher up and running by HABIT fast, but not fast enough. HABIT flashed a paw and clipped Vinny's haunches as he went by with a little cackle. Vinny hissed and went into an adjacent room down the hall, closing the door behind him quickly.

Vaermina watched as HABIT tried to escape. What from, she had no idea. Could be the conversation or just the horrible truth. She stayed out of the way, but her ear twitched nervously as he entered the room alone with Asher, even though she knew that he wouldn't hurt the kit, it still scared her that a stranger was watching over it. Especially one the seemed so unstable. She shook it off and hopped down from the bed. "Whatever you say, where's she at?" she asked as she sat down in front of him.

"Just down stairs, she's unconscious" he nodded. But before she could leave, he stopped her. "Don't worry about Asher, Vinny isn't the only one watching over him, remember all the thousands of candleverse monsters that dwell in every dark space in this house? They're watching too" he reassured

Vaermina smiled and stood, she licked HABIT's cheek and buried her face in the fur of his neck. Just standing still like that for a while before rubbing her head on his shoulder and heading out the door to go watch Dread. She reached the bottom of the stairs and padded over to the injured she-cat, sitting down beside her in silence.

HABIT purred softly, touching his nose to her's as she padded out.

Vinny sat the kit down in the middle of the room, suddenly grabbing lamps and candles, and lighting up every corner and shadowy area, until the whole room was bathed in light. The candleverse monsters in the room fled in a flurry, leaving Vinny and the kit alone. Vinny wasn't stupid. "Hey, kit? Do you know who I am?" Vinny asked, knowing now that they were alone, and HABIT nor Vaermina had any idea. "You're...um..you're gonna take care of me" Was all Asher said. "My name is Vinny, and yours is Asher, correct?" Vinny said and began searching around the rooms for cameras or anything that could record sound or sight. "Yep!" Asher said cheerily. "What do you feel when I say the word 'blood'?" Vinny asked, continuing his search, but wanting to check the kit's mental state. Asher, was quiet, for a while though, he finally spoke up. ".....I...Well....I feel scared" he finally said. "Good! Good! That's very good, Asher, and you keep being scared. Blood is bad, ok? Harm to others, is bad!" Vinny said urgently, saying this in a very meaningful tone to the kit and looking at him with eyes that spoke one thousand words, but you could read none of them. "....w..why..?" Asher asked. Vinny stopped what he was doing. He turned to face the kit once more. "How would you feel, if I attacked you? Hurt you? Clawed you up real good, told you things to make you sad?" Vinny said, making an advancement as if he was going to do something(he wasn't though). Asher's eyes widened. "I would be really sad, and I wouldn't feel very good" he said innocently. Vinny nodded. "Why would you do that to another cat? You wouldn't like me to do that to you, so why would you do it to me?" Vinny said honestly. "I....I wouldn't, of course" Asher squeaked. "Perfect, that's great, Asher!" Vinny smiled in relief and put his paws on the kit's shoulders. "Look at me, and tell me, you will do everything you can not to hurt someone" Vinny said softly. ".....I....." Asher stammered, but then it was clear. "I will never, ever hurt someone! Because that's bad!"

Vaermina glanced back towards the staircase and saw light pouring out from under the door that Vinny had led Asher into. She almost went to check, but looked down at Dread and changed her mind. Besides, a room was never completely devoid of darkness, right? And surly the room that they had ran into had furnishings, or at least the shadows from the two cats. Could they dwell in shadows of cats? She thought for a moment. No, there was probably too much movement for them to stay in sync. The black and white cat's tail twitched nervously.

HABIT slid through the crawl space to find Jessalynn in the corner of her room, facing it and crouching down. Tears slipped down the blonde she-cat's cheeks and muzzle as she cried. Memories of the times she spent with Jeff reeled through her thoughts once more. She had almost forgotten...and now...she was forced into this perpetual sorrow and pain. The begging and screaming that came her dearest love echoed throughout her thoughts in that moment. She had cowered in her room and tried to block it all out, but he was too loud to force out of her mind. It would be easier if her mind didn't seek him out...she just loved him so much. He cared for her so much, also..to the point where he almost killed himself twice at her dissapearence by overdosing during their times spent as humans. Wasn't like it mattered now, tortured to death by her Master. It all hurt, and now, the tears she had forced back for so long came in floods. Floods that broke the dam in her mind keeping back those memories. HABIT could see her struggling in her mind. "It had to be done.." He began, "I'm not one to say sorry, so I'm not, because I didn't have a connection to Jeffy-boy. But, you did, and sometimes you shouldn't forget things" HABIT said in a monotone like voice. That just made her feel worse. She didn't even understand what he meant!! WHY COULDNT HE TELL HER THE TRUTH FOR ONCE! She can't deal with these riddles and mind-play!!She turned on him, fur fluffing up. She didn't care anymore. "STOP FUCKING WITH MY FUCKING EMOTIONS! YOU SARDONIC, MALICIOUS PIECE OF SHIT STUCK ON THE BACK OF MY MOTHERFUCKING PAW!" She yowled, claws sliding out of their sheaths. Would she win this fight? Of course not..But did she care?
.....Of course not.
(Btw, Jess might be dead, but she CAN die again)

Vinny instantly heard the commotion, and slipped through the door. "Stay in there" he ordered the kit and clicked the door behind him. He creeped forward to Jessalynn's door and peeked in, seeing Jess advancing on HABIT, who had taking a leaping crouch. Her claws where unsheathed, his were not though. Vinny, despite everything, wanted to help Jess so badly..

Vaermina was now finding it hard to do what she was told, she kept pacing back and forth from the staircase then back to Dread. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see what was going on or not. She eventually just shook herself out and sat beside Dread, "Im going to do what I was told and sit here, unless told otherwise." she whispered to herself.

"Jessalynn...stand down....right now...." HABIT said slowly, his voice dripping with angered venom. But, Jessalynn couldn't, and she snarled at that. "WHY? OR YOU'LL CUT MY EARS OFF? I DONT CARE!" she hissed. "Yes you will, they always do" HABIT scoffed. "Oh, really? Wasn't that what you told Jeff? Huh? Was it?" She snapped. "I did, and in the end, well...He did, didn't he?" HABIT snickered. Jessalynn let out a yowl and lunged, twisting and going to slash down his side. HABIT completely knew it was coming, and put out a paw to his side, smacking her across the muzzle and forcing her to thump on her back. She went to scramble up, but he was already on top of her, his claws meeting her muzzle sharply. Her blood sprayed to the floor, after his claws sliced through her white muzzle. She grunted, but refused to cry out, feeling her blood trickle into her eyes and blur her vision. She kicked at his belly with all she had, but he didn't even seem phased by any of it. She went to claw at him, but his huge paws slammed down on hers and forced her put. "I don't understand" he began, snickering, his eyes cold. "I spared you, and in turn, you would shut the fuck up and follow simple orders" he snarled, his voice more gravely then normal. "And what do you do? Huh? Try and attack me!" He began laughing "Why? Why did you--? PffAHAHAHA! YOU WONT WIN!" He laughed. "And then, you make these outrageous remarks! I know more about torture if both physical and nonphysical methods, and you can not protect yourself from what's going to come" his claws had begun to dig themselves into where he held her paws. "You...You don't deserve it..." Jessalynn hissed, out of breath. "Don't deserve what?" HABIT laughed. "To be anywhere near Evan's body...Never....Especially not controlling him...Evan was the most courteous, honest person I could've met....And you ruined him" Jess growled.
"LET HER GO!"
A sudden voice spoke up from the door, interrupting HABIT going straight for Jessalynn's throat in his anger. He stopped, just as his teeth grazed her fur. She had held her breath, and now let it go in relief when HABIT turned to see Vinny standing at the door. "You know she's gonna attack you, right?" HABIT laughed "She went against you! And you protect her?" He snickered.
"Great! Just great! Lucky for you, Vinny, I respect the courage it took to even say that, or attempt to order me around, not to mention yelling it at me!" HABIT grinned and stood, letting Jess scramble to the corner of the room and hold a paw over her bleeding muzzle.

Vaermina sighed as she listened to the noises upstairs, this was almost unbearable. She looked at Dread to make sure that she was still breathing then ran to grab a paper towel. Once she had made it back toDread she laid down the paper towel. The blood on the floor looked dry, but in reality there was just a thin layer of crust over the top. She broke the layer and began drawing on the section of towel, she was drawing Dread as she lay there. She was almost completely still so it wasn't too difficult.

HABIT suddenly had an idea. "For you both being idiots, you have to fight each other! Yep! The last person to make it out alive wins!" HABIT grinned, and with that he was behind Vinny, and shoved him in, staying in the room and locking it behind him.
Or he thought he did.
HABIT jumped onto the bed and laid down, watching the two cats stare at each other in horror. "W-What?" Vinny stammered, his mouth now dry in disbelief. "W-WHAT?" HABIT mocked "You heard me!" He pressed. Jess took a step back. "I-...I'm sorry Vin" she murmured, before with a motion Vinny wasn't expecting...
....She lunged.

A cold heat was suddenly behind Vaermina, Firebrand had appeared behind her.

Vaermina was almost done with the drawing before something unexpected materialized behind her. She jumped about two feet in the air and was a giant fluff ball as she landed, now facing Firebrand. She relaxed slightly, but it didn't help her fur which was now puffed out to the max. "You scared the hell out of me, Firebrand. What are you doing here?"

Firebrand looked unaffected, simply saying "Well... I only belong here, so...where would I go? I can't go home.." He shrugged solemnly. "HABIT seems busy, and you interest me" he admitted "What are you doing here, more importantly? You don't look like you dislike it here..and you seem normal in a sense"

"GAAH!" Vinny felt th slice of her claws across his shoulder, sending him leaping sideways to get away. But, she pursued him, leaping and lashing out her thorn sharp claws. "Jess! Please, stop!" Vinny breathed, stepping back, eyes wide. Jessalynn's eyes sparked with tears, but she slid forward, under Vinny in order to claw his belly with a nasty wound. But, Vinny let his weight slam onto her trapping her under him. She struggled, and he used all his had but she kicked him off, sending him across the room. He thumped to the ground, in a daze now, struggling, and bleeding. He tried to stand, but Jess leaped again.
"NO!!"
A squeak, and a flash of white shot out and intercepted Jess. "AHHHHG!!!" Jess cried out, followed by a thud, and a spray of blood. Whatever had attacked, was under Jess, who had fell and rolled onto the floor with a sharp gash deep across her throat. HABIT was stunned, along with Vinny. "Mrrr..umph!" A little squeak was heard, and...
....Asher....?!
Little white paws squirmed out from under Jess, followed by Asher, whose eyes were wide and distraught. "Ash..Asher!" Vinny got to his paws, and limped quickly over to the kit. Asher's paws were soaked, along with his muzzle and chest, in blood. He only stood there, shaking, as HABIT ran over to the kit. "Sh--sh--she--" the kit couldn't even speak. "Shh, you didn't have to do that, you didn't have to do that, I really wasn't going to let that happen" HABIT admitted, consoling the kit and licking his fur quickly, still in disbelief but he didn't show it. Vinny carefully began clearing the blood from his fur, but it was hard to get out with just licking. The warm blood dripped from Asher's raised paw, his claws still unsheathed from his shock. "Shhh, calm down, it's ok, it's over.." HABIT murmured. Vinny flashed him a confused look, never seeing HABIT even flash concern.
Jess lay on the ground, ragged breath coming from her opened jaws, blood pooling out. Vinny went to go to her, but HABIT snapped "Nothing can help her, your concern is the kit, not her!"

"Good point, that was a bit of a stupid question." She smiled, "Of course I don't dislike it here! I'd be dead if it wasn't for HABIT. Plus the people in here don't really seem too bad, I mean, they get kind of creepy sometimes, but other than that they seem okay."

Firebrand's unmoveable smile seemed to mean something for once, and he swished his tail. "I'm glad someone likes it here, I'm tired of seeing sad cats, it feels good to be around someone who is happy for once" Firebrand said, truly meaning it. He was about to say something else, before a scream broke into the air. "Jess!" Firebrand gasped, turning to the stairs in surprise. "What's happening?" He turned and asked Vaermina.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..!!" Asher had begun to cry pitifully, not knowing what to do. She was going to kill Vinny! He had to do something! "I didn't...I..." He whimpered, shaking like a leaf. "It's fine, it's fine," HABIT pressed. "Those were great reflexes, I am very impressed, you didn't do anything wrong" he said and picked the kit up quickly, putting him in front of Jess. "There will be more like her growing up, Asher, and you have to learn not to care, not to feel like you are right now" he said, the kit staring with wide eyes. Jess still clung on, her blood pooling heavily from her throat and open jaws that struggled to suck in air. "B..But..." Asher began, still struggling. "But what?" "Killing is..killing is bad..! I don't want to be bad...I...I don't like being bad..!" He had begun to cry again, seeing Jess's eyes stare up at him, the life beginning to fade from them. Before she completely slipped, a smile formed slowly between the pooling blood after hearing what the kit said. "Why...Why are you smiling...?!" Asher asked, his voice a squeak. "Just.......Like......E..Evan.....You're......Just like........him......." She managed to say, "I...Get to say......Sorry...to.....Jeff..now......" And that was that. Her breath stopped, and she slipped away, her eyes still open but glazed over with the blankness of death, a smile still on her muzzle. "No..! No! Come..--come back!! Jessalynn!? Jessalynn!!" Asher pulled on her ear, and nudged her in panic. "I'm sorry!! You were gonna hurt Vinny!! And he's supposed to take care of me, you were gonna hurt him! Please!! Please wake up!" the kit pleaded, tears streaming down his muzzle. "Asher! She's gone now, you can't help her" HABIT said softly. "Vinny..? What do I do?" The kit turned to the Tom, who looked numb from what the shecat said before she died. "Listen to HABIT..." He said quietly, "That's what we all have to do..."

Vaermina herself was about ready to run upstairs after the scream, "I-I don't know what was going on. It sounded like a fight."
(Mid chore post, sorry for suckiness)

"Stay here!" He said and ran upstairs, seeing the door closed and opening it quickly, concerned, to see the scene that happened. Asher, ransacked with blood, crying, and Jess on the floor. He knew she was dead, he could see her spirit standing in the middle of the room. He watched only, as she turned to look at him and smile. There was a glow, and a black, curly-furred Tom appeared across the room. Jess and the Tom ran to each other, and tumbled over each other in an embrace that was nothing but pure affection. There was a glow again, and they were gone, both Jeff and Jessalynn. Firebrand didn't know what happened...But Jess is dead.... Vinny looked up to see Firebrand, and gasped. "Noah? Is that you? What happened to you!? I thought you were ok, what are you doing here!? What happened to your face?" The Tom asked in confusion.
Shit.
Out of worry, Firebrand instantly went invisible with a swirl of smoke. HABIT rolled his eyes when Vinny looked at him for answers. "What did you--" "I didn't do anything to the delicate flower" HABIT snapped and interrupted Vinny. "He's been dead for a long time, and no, it's not Noah. Well, sort of, but...Its confusing" HABIT chuckled, knowing Firebrand was still there. "What happened?" Firebrand telepathically asked HABIT. "We'll discuss it later, take the kit, now" HABIT said aloud. There was a flash of smoke, and Firebrand and Asher were downstairs next to Vaermina.

Vaermina did as she was told and sat down, waiting for someone to eventually come back down the stairs and tell her what was going on. All thought of finding out what happened vanished the second she saw Asher, he was covered in blood and looked absolutely mortified. She immediately began licking him, trying to get the blood off of his pelt. She didn't mind the metallic taste, but she didn't exactly love it either. She cooed at him, trying to soothe 'her' kit.

Firebrand wanted to help, but his pitch black tongue, mouth, even black saliva, and jagged, pure white teeth might have freaked the kit out. He made an uncomfortable shuffle of his paws and sat, looking down. Asher was whimpering uncontrollably, shaking terribly hard and just standing there. His heart thumped in his chest, and Firebrand could hear it, beginning to feel a wave of concern. Firebrand instantly put his paws gently on the kit's shoulders, making the kit look directly into his eyes. His paws warmed up, and his eyes seemed to put Asher into a trance. Firebrand stared deeper, and Asher felt the sound of white noise(static) fill his ears, louder, and louder by each moment. He couldn't move. Asher didn't know what was happening, but it all didn't matter after Asher's eyes rolled back and he collapsed, unconscious. Firebrand stood straight, looking down at the kit.

Vaermina continued to try and soothe Asher until he collapsed. At that moment, she didn't know what to feel, all of her emotions just swirling up. Confusion, anger, relief. All at once. She shook, trying to fling the fighting emotion away, then took a deep breath, poking Asher. "What'd you do?" Her curiosity seemed to have won, as her tone sounded more intrigued than angry.

"I knocked him out using Sigma radiation, it's something I inherited when I turned, Slendercat can do the same thing" he said simply.

HABIT moved to Jessalynn's body, grabbing her by the scruff. He sighed, muttering "This blood is gonna take forever to get out of the wood floors" he muttered "Probably won't" he said through the she cat's scruff, and vanished to bury her somewhere.

"HABIT is gone, come down Vinny!" Firebrand called up