Monday went as well as I expected. I dropped Ani off at Ember’s early in the morning and started my work day as usual, and found myself buried under constant anxiety, wondering when Ani would show up.

This feeling dulled by lunchtime, and I started to get overconfident, thinking this was the longest Ani had gone without showing up. The thought cursed me, and I heard the dreaded tell-tale jingle of the bells on his collar from under my desk. Rolling my chair back, I confirmed that, yes, Ani had escaped.

I rolled my chair forward and went back to work. If I ignored him long enough, he’d leave.

Ani, in typical fashion, wasn’t too enthused by this and was determined to get my attention in any way possible. When clawing at my pant leg didn’t work, he resorted to jumping onto my desk and lying on top of the keyboard. By this point, it was significantly more difficult to ignore him.

But I was determined. I abandoned the keyboard altogether and used the mouse to pull up the onscreen keyboard. It was a lot slower typing this way, but it didn’t require giving him attention.

His eyes tracked my hand as I moved the mouse, tail flicking back and forth. Tiny pinpricks of pain flashed from my hand as Ani darted his paw out, catching my hand. I yanked my hand away, cradling it against my chest.

“You little jerk.”

He stared at me, pleased he’d finally been successful. I stared back, cursing myself for falling for his trick.

It was this scene that my boss walked in on.

He flung the door open, startling both Ani and me. “Hayden, I need you to–”

We looked at him, surprised. He looked at us, also surprised. His temples bulged, and his hand crept back up to pinch his nose again, a sure sign of his irritation.

“Didn’t I tell you to leave the cat at home?”

“I did. He followed me.”

My boss let loose a deep sigh that dripped with irritation. “I told you not to let me catch it in here again, didn’t I.”

It wasn’t a question. “Yes, sir.”

“So, then, why is it lying on your desk?”

I swallowed. I’ve always been considered intelligent, but no one had ever accused me of being a good talker. “My sister was supposed to–”

He cut me off. “I’m not asking about your sister. I’m asking why your cat is on your desk.”

Because he’s a little jerk, that’s why. “I don’t know.”

“I can tell you’re lying, Hayden. You’re not very good at it.”

My lies in Heirs had worked well. Still, he wouldn’t stop pressuring me until he got an answer. So, I gave him the unbeliveable truth. “He can teleport.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

He gave me a disappointed look. “Teleport? Really? I thought you were better than that.”

Lies. He’d been looking for an excuse to fire me from the moment he’d seen how much better at this job I was than anyone else here. He’d ensured everyone else on the team was dumber than him, so he could conveniently blame their incompetence over his own. But he’d been out when I was hired, and the company had been sinking under their skills and desperate for more help. Nothing I said would help here.

He sighed again. “I have to write you up for this. The team’s productivity has been dropping–you can’t just keep bringing your cat in.”

Resentment burned in my chest, but I clenched my jaw, keeping the protests in. My coworkers had made no mention of Ani; their productivity drop was related to something else. Probably my boss, now looking for a convenient scapegoat. Stating any of this, however, was useless. It was clear he’d already made up his mind. My thoughts must have crossed my face as my boss scoffed, then sneezed.

Congested, he said, “Right. Because he magically ‘teleported.’Sign the write-up, then put leave in for the day and take the damn thing home. I don’t care what you have to do; I don’t want to see it in this office again. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

“Put in leave, take him home, and figure it out. Don't come in if you haven’t figured it out by tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

My boss left, slamming the door roughly behind him, coughing all the way. I glared at Ani, pouring every inch of resentment into it. He licked his paw, cleaning himself.

“Look at what you did! You gave him an easy target! I need this job to make money. Without it, neither of us has a house or food. Do you understand?”

His ears flicked towards me, signaling he heard me, at least.

“Uggghhh.” I shoved myself from my desk, letting my head fall back to look at the ceiling as I collected myself.

With a sigh, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a picture, sending it to my sister with the following caption:

Someone got me a write-up

Her response was fast.

No way

I saw him like 5min ago

How???

That’s what I want to know

Weren’t you supposed to be watching him?

Sorry

I turned off the phone screen and tossed the phone onto my desk, slouching in my chair. It was unfair to take this out on here when she didn’t even know he could teleport. That knowledge didn’t make the bitterness fade.

I shoved Ani off the keyboard, sending him stumbling, and pulled up my leave dashboard, submitting the next few hours. Pleased with himself, he rubbed up against my hand. I yanked my hand away as if his fur were fire.

My boss returned shortly with the write-up, placing it on my desk without a word. Similarly, I signed and handed it back to him. He snatched it up and walked out the door with a final, still congested “Remember. Don’t let me see that cat in here again.”

Irritated, I picked up my things, plus Ani, and left. The shocked eyes of my coworkers followed me out the door. Their reaction said enough. They hadn’t known about Ani; it was just an excuse.

On my way home, I thought my options through, hoping to find some solution. Nothing stuck out. With my eyes glued to the ground, he would have plowed right into me if it hadn’t been for a tug of warning in my chest. Stopping sharply, I yanked my head up to see the back of a young man in jeans and a dark blue jacket barrel past me, the people around us parting like the red sea around him.

Not in the mood for this, I shouted, “Careful!”

The young man stopped on a dime and turned around. As his blue eyes met mine, I was struck with familiarity. Was it possible?

“I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you,” he said, voice calm and kind and his face earnest. Doubt crossed my mind. Could this really be the same guy?”

He turned back, starting to walk away. Before I realized it, I chased him, grabbing his shoulder. “Wait!”

His footsteps paused again as he let me spin him around without resistance. Now that I’d regained his attention, I fumbled for what to say. When I didn’t say anything for a few seconds, he moved to leave again.

I stopped him. “Just wait.” Nervously, I asked, “Do you remember me?”

He stepped back to scrutinize me, then said, “No, should I? Did we go to school together or something?”

“I think we met a few days ago?” I cringed at my question. When no spark of recognition shone in his eyes, I elaborated. “In the courtyard.”

He blinked and tilted his head, confused.

“Does Heirs ring a bell?”

His jaw dropped, and he scanned me again. I could see when he remembered where we’d met, his expression slipping like a switch .“You were the one who–” Remembering where we were, he cut himself off.

“Yeah,” I answered anyway.

He roughly grabbed my Ani-free arm, hard enough to bruise my fair skin. “Follow me.” He ordered, yanking me around.

“I’ll follow; just let me go!” My shout drew the attention of the surrounding passerby, who quickly cleared space around us, clearly expecting some kind of fight.

The young man did as asked with a mindless apology, his hand falling away from my arm and back to his side. His march was unrelenting as I followed behind, rubbing at my arm. The people’s attention quickly faded, and they returned to focus on their destination. He led me through the familiar streets before stopping at a door. Slipping a key out of his pocket, he unlocked the door, pushing it open to reveal a darkened hallway.

Briefly, it occurred to me that I might have just run into an interdimensional serial killer.