Scarlet doesn’t know why she was thinking about the day she became Scarlet. She has always thought of her life in Red Cloud with nothing but apathy. “No, that was the day Red Cloud died and Scarlet was born,” she says with confidence.
Deep in the bowels of the ranch, Scarlet is holding her alien baby; the faint green skin and double dicks are a giveaway as to who the dad is. As well as the gender. Scarlet sighs; she lies on the delivery table thinking about the professor who named her.
She wondered what he was doing. ‘Probably a student,’ she thought. The professor fucked her hard and rough every day but also forced her to study with him daily for the 2 years it took to get her degree. She feels a warmth at the memory. “I miss you,” she mumbles.
She rubs the baby alien’s forehead, the microfine scales only letting her run her fingers in one direction. In response, the baby makes toothy snapping sounds at her.
Her relationship with the professor lasted right up until he had talked about having kids and how desperate he was to pass down his genetics.
The irony isn’t lost on her. She puts the alien baby to her breast and watches him struggle to figure out what to do with the nipple; lizard people don’t have nipples, but the baby is intelligent and figures out how to latch on in a matter of 30 seconds. “Easy, tooth-a-saurus,” she chides him.
The lizard people representative watches the child drink milk from the human egg carrier with internal disgust. At this point in the child’s life, he should be eating grupbles he catches for himself in the swamps of their homeworlds. This intimacy nonsense is uncomfortable for him. The way she rubs his head is far too familiar for his taste. He enters the delivery room and begins the negotiations.
“So the agreement is to share custody. 6 months on your home world and 6 months here on Earth?” Scarlet asks the representative. She was convinced she would just send the child to the alien homeworld and be satisfied with that, but she felt herself growing attached to the little one.
“Yes, but you have to finish out your contract before you can start your 6-month custody. And you still have 4 months left on the contract. but I have made provisions for you to spend 2 weeks recovering with the child.” The representative says it like he is giving her a glorious gift, but inside he finds the concept revolting.
“At least that’s something.” Scarlet shifts on the bed, happy but with trepidation.
Jack Harrington watched from behind the two-way mirror of the delivery room. “Shit, I have to go break the news.” He walks out of the observation room and rides the elevator up to reception. He rubs his chin. “I can’t believe I lost money on this.”
He walks into the bar. The Cat is behind the bartop with a sheet of brown craft paper behind him with betting odds. The top of the board has the words “Who’s your daddy?” With a long list of names
Group 1.5/1
Mars 2/1
Josh Gas 4/1
Cane 4/1
The Abyssal 6/1
“Life Guards” 15/1
Jack Harrington 25/1
The Chef 30/1
The Cleaner 50/1
The Cat 200/1
Jacob 600/1
Other 5/1
Grup is talking with The Cat. “When will we know something?” he says but stops and turns around, looking at Jack Harrington.
Cane, Mars, Josh Gas, and a representative of the lifeguards all turn around at the bar and look at him as well. Dr. Blob is busy playing with the jukebox but turns an eyestalk around to watch.
Jack approaches the bar with a grim expression on his face. “Well, gentlemen, it’s a lizard person, baby,” he says to the assembled group.
There is a unified groan of disappointment and lost money. Grup speaks first. “It was a worthy challenge!” he roars. “Next time I shall breed her twice as often!”
Dr. Blob cheers loudly, confusing everyone: “I won! I won! I won! I won! I knew Other was the best choice! It’s on the bottom; how can it not be the best?”
The other bettors glare at him until he stops cheering. Mars in particular is turning red. He looks at Jack, then at Grup, his anger still building. “HOW COULD SHE?” He stands up and rips the stool out of the floor and tosses it across the room.
There is a moment of silence, then Cane breaks it with a laugh. “I’m not even sure why I am on the list; she only ever gives me head.” He pats Grup on the back. “Better luck next time, big guy.”
Grup nods and pats the bar lightly, “A round on me for all the valiant competitors.” A silent cheer is raised, and the cat gets busy filling orders.
Jack raises his whiskey above his head: “May they live long and thrive.”
Grup beats his chest in solidarity, then looks at the ceiling and yells, “To a new champion!” then pounds his drink.
The rest look at him concerned and then follow suit.
“When do we get to see the child?” Group? asks.
“Eventually when she is ready, the birth was difficult,” Jack harumphs. And tosses the cat 200 dollars and leaves the room.
“All you smucks pay up, you see, I’m calling in your debt.” The cat says, Wait, as each person throws a wad of cash at him, and he neatly stacks it up and counts out 2000. “Your cash is on the bar, Dr. Blob.”
Dr. Blob wibbles excitedly to the bar and collects his winnings. “Thank you, Cat; gambling is fun.”
The bar calms down, and soon Josh Gas is sitting alone in the bar with the cat. He looks up from his drink directly into the face of the Cat. “Ask your question,” he says.
Josh squeezes his drink, then finishes it. “Cat, what do you know about the door?”
The cat grabs two shot glasses of absinthe and fills them slowly. “I know almost nothing. I know it’s ancient, almost as old as the human concept of a door,” he says, sliding one of the glasses to Josh Gas. “Mr. Gas Our families have known each other for a long, long, long, long time. And I can tell you have grown fond of the door.”
Josh Gla picks the liquid up and looks at it. It seems to glow with its own light. “He likes the same movies as I do,” he says with a shrug.
The Cat picks up the alcohol, and he downs it in one gulp. Eyes flash green for a moment. “This vampire, the finder. He is a vicious dog who will kill anyone and anything to get what he wants. If I were able, I could stop him, but I can’t. You’re going to need to find a solution on your own. Jack Harrington can’t do it; there are rules about what he is allowed to get involved with.”
Josh drinks the liquid, his mind twisting on itself, the world filling with mushrooms and dancing fairies.
At first the cat looks like he usually does. His dark blue suit and black tie, his blue tail and piercing blue eyes, and his shockingly wide smile. With more teeth than a human should have, but if you passed him on the street, you would look and dismiss him as a well-dressed, unfortunate weirdo.
But in this moment, the tie turns into strands of black silk wrapped around every object behind the bar, keeping him trapped.
The next moment the space behind the bar is filled with him, endless blue eyes, endless mouths, endless teeth, and a midnight black chain wrapped around the writhing mass.
The world fades back to normal, and he feels a loss of something. “What was that?” Josh asks, holding onto the bar top.
“The alcohol can make you see things,” the cat smiles.
Josh pulls himself back together. ‘It was just a hallucination.’ He lets go of the bar. “What can I do to help the door?”
The cat frowns as he watches the green fade from the mortal human’s eyes, the chains that bind him feeling tighter than usual. “Help it hide and gather allies.” His tail swishes. “Your father survived worse,” he adds with a grin.
“Yeah, thanks.” Josh gets up from the bar to go pee and think. On his way into the bathroom, the door to the women’s bathroom opens, and a pair of hands with purple fingernails reach out and drag him inside.
“Hello, Josh.” Trish whispers, holding him close. She breathes in his smell, his blood rich in alcohol, innocence, and fae magic. “Seen the finder or the door lately?” she says, trying not to lick her lips.
Josh looks the vampire over, confused. And aroused, “No and no,” he says. He watches her lips as they come close to his. He leans in a little, and their lips touch.
“I can’t do this right now; I need to help at the door,” he says, pushing her away, his tongue getting cut on her fang, a single drop of blood left behind on her lips. She licks it off. She reaches out for him as he leaves, but he slips through her fingers.
