Gift - Can We Keep Him?

                “Aww, can we keep him?”

                Ben looked up from his book, aghast at Troy, who was carrying a small orange kitten curled up in a ball.

                “W—where did you get that Troy?”

                “Oh you know… Places.”

                “I’m serious Troy.”

                “When are you not?” Troy whispered.

                “What was that?” Ben asked, somewhat infuriated.

                “Oh nothing. Anyways, I just found him while making my rounds.”

                “What?” Ben glared at Troy. “You know you’re not supposed to be prowling around—“

                “Sheesh, I was helping Daisy with milking the cows,” Troy laughed, “You’re too uptight. Loosen up!”

                Ben and Troy were fighters of the supernatural, sent from God to combat the forces of evil in the small town of Newcrest. A family of farmers had sheltered them after a brief run in with an enemy, and their youngest child took a sisterly attachment to Troy.

                “If you want, I can make you some cheese from the milk, it’d go great with your whining.”

                “Haha, stop. But seriously, you can’t have this cat in here! What if someone’s allergic?”

                Ben was a bit nervous about the cat. Something about it didn’t feel right.

                “No worries dude, I checked around and nobody’s lost a cat, so I’m guessing it’s a stray,” Troy said, playing with the cat in his arms.

                “Hmm… Fine,” Ben rolled his eyes and glanced at his gloves, “But if anyone calls, you’re going to have to answer them!”

                Troy nodded and hurriedly poured some milk in a saucer to give to his new feline friend.

                “I think I’m going to name you… Ben Jr.!” Troy laughed as Ben scowled at Troy.

                “Do you really need to name it that?”

                “Yeah! It looks like you when it’s pooping.”

                “Wait, what?!?” Ben started to turn red in anger.

                “Calm down, I’m joking!” Troy chuckled, petting Ben Jr.’s fur. “But he reminds me of you for some reason.”

                Ben continued to fume as Ben Jr. purred in delight.

                “Aww, he’s adorable!” Troy laughed.

                As Ben looked at the cat, Troy gasped as he started to run off.

                “Where are you going?” Ben asked.

                “Shoot! I forgot Daisy needs to go to school today!” Troy frowned as he bolted off to the farmhouse.

                Ben chuckled as he saw Troy flail his arms. He looked at the cat as it licked its paws. Ben took off his gloves and put them in his pocket.

                “So you’re me I guess,” He bent down to pet the cat, but it meowed in anger and ran away, scratching him.

                “Ugh! You little--” Ben rubbed his arm. He could see the swelled red marks on his hand. Ugh, I’m not going to hear the end of it if that cat goes missing, Ben thought.

                He decided to chase the cat around for a little as he looked for Troy. He called out Ben Jr.’s name to no avail, and after a few minutes, decided to head back to the farmhouse. As he went back, he saw Daisy and Troy walking out of the house.

                “Hi big brother!” Daisy waved to Ben. She took a liking to the two and thought of them as family.

                “Oh, hi Daisy!” Ben hid his scar from Daisy; he didn’t want her to get worried.

                “Where’d you go?” Troy asked nervously as he noticed that Ben’s gloves were missing. “And uh, you know, where’s that thing you needed to get?”

                “What thing big brother?” Daisy eyed Troy.

                ‘O-oh nothing Daisy!”” Troy shook his head, trying to rush out of the farmhouse. “L-look at the time! Your mom’s going to kill me now…”

                “She’s going to anyways after you broke her plant…” Daisy looked down.

                “You’d better find that cat…”  Troy growled at Ben.

                “And how is this my fault?” Ben looked concerned as Daisy and Troy left the farmhouse. Ben frantically searched the house to see if the cat had snuck into any corners.

                “Oh man…” Ben stepped on some rancid milk as he plugged his nose. He decided to head outside and search in the field near the farmhouse.

                “Ben Jr.!” He called out, hoping to hear a soft purr. Instead, he heard a barking noise from across the field. “Ben Jr.!”

                He followed the barking to the end of the field near the stream. As he caught his breath, he could see the cat trapped in a corner with a larger figure hissing at it.

                “Is that…” Ben squinted his eyes, “A chimera?”

                The chimera hissed as a goatlike figure raised its head and turned around. After seeing Ben, it bellowed and started to cough up a fireball.

                “No!” Ben dodged as the fireball missed him. He struggled to find the gloves in his pocket as the chimera turned its attention to him. Fumbling through his pockets, he found his gloves but couldn’t put them on.

                “Come on! Just a second!” Ben muttered as he dodged a steady stream of fireballs. He was nearing the stream as he yelled; he got burned by a stray fireball as he jumped into the water. As he yelped, he could see the figure moving closer towards him. I’ve only got one shot, he thought to himself as he found his gloves. Ben could feel the spiritual powers of the gloves awakening as he brushed off the flames that were extinguished in the water.

                “Alright, now we’re talking!” He shouted as he created a barrier to deflect the incoming fireballs. Frustrated, the chimera rushed towards Ben, the goat-head trying to ram into Ben’s barrier. Ben struggled as he tried to defend himself. He lost footing and splashed back into the water as the chimera readied itself for another attack.

                I need to get that cat back! Ben thought, drenched and trying to create another barrier. Before he could construct one, he gasped in horror as the cat followed him to the water.

                “S—stay back!” Ben flailed his hands, dispelling the power of the gloves. “You can’t come here! No!”

                Ben was mortified as the chimera focused its attention to the feline. The cat purred as he licked his paws.

                “No no no no…” Ben muttered silently to himself. As much as the cat annoyed him, he had developed an attachment.

                The chimera growled as the cat continued to ignore it. The opening gave Ben enough time to switch up his strategy.

                “Let’s see if you don’t mind me zapping you,” Ben shouted, shocking the chimera with lightning. The chimera screamed as it leaped up and focused on Ben.

                “Heh, on the defensive now, aren’t we?” Ben continued to zap the chimera as it fled throughout the stream. I should be careful about hitting the water, Ben thought¸ I don’t want to electrify the cat.

                Ben could see the look of defeat in the chimera’s eyes as he readied a killing blow. “Any last words?” He chuckled and then frowned; he was becoming more like his brother. The chimera desperately lunged at Ben as he used his hands to shoot one more bolt of lightning to destroy the creature. The chimera disappeared in a cloud of smoke as Ben looked at his gloves.

                “Alright, that’s another creature defeated,” He chuckled, “A couple hundred more to go.”

                As he looked around for any other hostile signs, he saw the cat, terrified at the event.

                “Aww, don’t worry,” Ben consoled the cat, “It’ll be fine. Who knows, you could grow up to be like me someday.”

                The cat looked at Ben longingly as he put the gloves away.

                “Let’s see if Troy’s back home,” Ben said, “It’s been a long day.”