Winter came and left very fast. Before Garofița knew it, three months of the new year had already been consumed.

It was cold and a sprinkle of snow would fall from time to time, melting immediately on the ground, but only in January did a proper snowfall happen. She and her pets woke up to freezing-cold air, and the forest outside was covered in a thick blanket of pristine snow, worthy of a fairytale, smooth and glittering in the blueish sunlight. Her nose was red and she couldn't stop shivering in just her hoodie, but she also couldn't stop marvelling at how beautiful it all looked, pure white weighing heavy on the dark branches of trees. She kicked the trunks like a colt to watch it fall in powdery curtains, running away giggling before it doused her, while Buddy and Bezea hopped around like bunnies.

Without asking her about it, Vitalis and Mr Marius arranged for her to stay at the homeless shelter on the other side of town. It was bound to be packed when the weather got cold, but if she arrived quickly before nightfall she could secure a bed. She wondered what they had said because the staff was weirdly nice to her. Or maybe they were nice in general to the younger residents.

The shelter looked like the kind of dormitory she imagined in books about boarding schools: small plain rooms packed with as many beds as they could fit. For the most part it was first-come first-serve, but there was also a communal understanding that X slept by the door, Y slept by the window, and so on. The communal showers looked like Silent Hill, so she greatly preferred to ask Bea for help to wash her hair, even if they had to speed-run it at the encampment so as to not freeze.

As welcomed as it was to sleep in a warm place, Garofița really hated being at the shelter. She wasn't mistreated - far from it, the ladies seemed to love her - but they were so. Damn. Loud.

Every evening there would be a cacophony of people talking among themselves, talking on phones, laughing, arguing, shouting from the other side of the hallway rather than walking a few steps closer to hear better, burping, sneezing, coughing and farting, and then even when the lights were off a snore like a chainsaw or a walrus would erupt from somewhere. After living in solitude for so long, just her and her mute animals, Garofița couldn't rest for shit.

A lot of the homeless people she was familiar with remained in the encampment, but some did stay at the shelter as well. Two of them were Melinda, the lady who abandoned her child and who bore a striking resemblance to Garo, and Carmen, nicknamed "Barbie", whose boyfriend "Ken" was on the men's side of the shelter. They were an unlikely pair to be friends, but opposites do attract. Garofița's bed was more often than not next to Melinda's, close to the wall.

"Oh my freaking God, can it get warm already?!" Barbie would rant at least once a day, tugging a blanket over her broad shoulders.

"It's false spring." Melinda would say. It was hard to tell when she was joking or not, her face making her look like she was always upset.

"I saw a cherry tree blossom near a house and I almost cried, for real." Barbie sighed. "I see why people worshipped the Sun."

"The forest is full of green buds too." Garofița smiled, then flinched when somebody dropped their metallic water bottle for the fourth time that evening.

"Shove it up your ass!" Melinda told the poor owner of the bottle.

"Girl, hush, the bitch is here!" Barbie warned, talking about one of the staff members, whose nickname evolved from "watchdog" to "watchbitch" to just "bitch".

The shelter staff were strict, perhaps for good reasons, perhaps because there was not that much difference between them and the choleric ladies who happened to not have a home. Garo witnessed some truly mortifying cat fights between staff and residents, between staff and staff too. “Don't tell me to turn down the volume on my TV so you can talk to your damn sister". Grown adults were worse than schoolgirls, not knowing whose head was bigger and not fitting at the same time through the same door. Garo was glad in her decision to only stay there at night, but it was also the equivalent of rush hour.

One time a woman accused another of stealing her limited edition sativa lavender soap she got on sale, claiming to smell it on her, and it just went on and on for almost 3 hours while everybody was shouting at them to shut up and sleep already, and Garofița pressed the pillow to her ears.

Another time a woman tried to do drugs in the bathroom and was dragged out kicking and cursing. Melinda called that woman an idiot and some other mean names, because now they were going to search everybody's bags and Melinda didn't want her own drugs to be discovered. Barbie suggested they go use them up in the privacy of Ken's shitbox car.

"Do you do drugs, Garo?" Barbie asked her one evening around Valentine's Day. The three of them were sharing jelly candy dipped in chocolate.

"No..." She said, fighting off a side-eye. If she ever had any curiosity about drugs, living next to various addicts scared her straight.

"Good. Never start." Melinda said.

"...What drugs do you guys do?" Garofița asked, a little curiosity still there.

"Meth." Melinda said without hesitation. "And heroin once by accident."

"H-How do you do heroin by accident?"

"When your dealer doesn't disclose the shit he cuts his product with."

"For me it's xanax and weed." Barbie casually said. "But mostly I just drink a lot."

Not as much as Vitalis, the thought crossed Garofița's and she quickly shoo'ed it away.

"I used to be a pretty functional pothead." She continued reminiscing. "I went to school high as a kite and still got good grades, I became an art teacher at the same school... People who used to send me to detention became my co-workers, heheh."

"...then what happened?" Garofița asked, something she found herself doing pretty often.

"My mom died." Barbie sighed, her head propped up by her hand, pressing into her soft cheek. "Weed wasn't cutting an inch through that pain, so I sought out stronger stuff. Next thing I knew, I lost my job and couldn't afford my apartment. Womp womp."

"How do you make money now?"

"I'm a girl!" She presented her lounging chubby figure with the other hand.

"Got it." Garofița nodded, her mouth a straight line.

"I'm figuratively sitting on money."

"Say no more."

"Ken does it too."

"Garo, just stay away from everything." Melinda interrupted.

"I will." She said. "Why did you start taking meth, Miss?"

"None of your business."

"Come ooon, tell her!" Barbie said. "This is a teaching moment!"

"There's nothing to tell." Melinda said, tone harsher. "I discovered crystal meth and my life has been shit since. I lost my son, so I came here."

"I'm sorry..." Garofița said.

"I'm glad I never had kids." Barbie callously interjected. "I like kids - I mean, I worked with them - but I never really wanted children of my own, you know?"

Garo gave her a side-eye.

"At least it's easier to be homeless here than in Lăutari." Melinda continued.

"Is it?"

"Yeah. People are nicer here."

Melinda taught Garofița how to eat tinned fish. It was good, but disturbingly salty. Melinda corrected her and said it's "briney". Garofița yearned to eat plain salmon nigiri again one day. She learned that at the only japanese place in Ferești you can buy 2 (two) pieces of salmon nigiri for 30 lei. She almost collapsed in the street. She could buy so much bread with that money, or instant soup, or at least two packs of pads.

When they ate a tin together, it was usually with toast or plain bread. Garo liked the fish in olive oil more than the ones in tomato sauce. They would set up a chair between their beds in place of a table and munch. She felt that Melinda liked her, but she never outwardly showed it and Garo didn't push it either.

During the day, she spent her time with her pets and around town with Vitalis. Garofița was quite proud of how she set up her little house.

She made a nest of blankets and old raggedy pillows for Buddy, Walker and Bezea to stay warm. Buddy got used to the doggy sweater and she found him little dog booties too. She found a trench-coat-style coat for Walker and he liked to hide inside it like a turtle. Bezea would pop out of his collar, climbing inside to sleep by his chest.

It was remarkably easy to get things from the thrift store or from garbage bins when holes and tears and small stains didn't matter. She found a lace curtain that she hung by the living room's doorframe to make it pretty, only a little unravelled at the ends, and pieces of tarpaulin she nailed around the windows. They billowed when the wind blew and looked ugly as hell, but the icy air didn't get through! Cardboard boxes, pieces of cardboard, shoe boxes and plastic bags were abundant. She felt very smart for noticing the bins near people who loved ordering stuff from vinted, throwing out the DIY packages once they got their goods.

For herself, Garofița got a winter coat as well. Vitalis insisted it be long enough to cover her butt while sitting down, as the last thing she needed was to "catch a cold in her bladder" and pee constantly. Vitalis also gifted her a wool scarf for Christmas, which Garo wore every day. It hid her face like a mask! Roxi got her clothes too, and Silvia sent through her an eyeliner tube!! She still wore the fuzzy shirt more often than not. Her pets turned up their noses when she wore freshly washed clothes and cuddled up to her to put the stank back in, despite her protests.

Garofița lied down in the soft and scuffed pile as she pet Buddy and gazed out the window. The bare branches of trees looked like long spindly fingers on a background of grey clouds. Green grass and snowdrops and even daffodils were peeking out from the dark earth, in between islands of dirty snow, as hard as stone and stubbornly refusing to melt.

Her spider didn't sit on the dirty window, but it appeared when she thought of it in the shelter, and now crawling out of her sleeve. The crow, that one she hadn't seen in quite some time. Did it leave for good? Garofița was surprised that she missed it.

"Can it get warm already?" She said to nobody in particular as she looked outside and held Buddy like a baby. He got used to the fact she slept in a different place, but still demanded hugs when she arrived back.

She was so sick of the shelter, of people being so loud and walking around her bed, towering above her and always moving about, waking her up and agitating her, arguing and throwing hands and then begrudgingly making up, scaring her for no reason.

"I don't think I can live with anybody." Garofița sighed as she pet Bezea as well. She almost looked like a small adult cat!

After checking on her friends and reassuring Buddy first-thing in the morning, she would then head for the encampment. Vitalis was usually there, still asleep, so she would chat with other people until she woke up. She would emerge from her blue tent with sunken cheeks and dark eyebags, curved nose tilting up as her eyes squinted at the annoyingly bright-sky. First things first, a cigarette. Garofița would trot up to her side and watch together the smoke curl up, beautiful even with the awful smell.

"Morning, kid!" Vitalis would say, looking down at her side as if surprised to see her there despite seeing her coming.

Other times she woke her up herself, letting herself in her tent and tidying it up a little as Vitalis sounded like a zombie trying to muster the motivation to open her eyes. The books she gifted her from the fair sat with her stamp album, and on top of them, like a paper weight, was a doll Garofița found at the thrift store and gifted to Vitalis for Christmas. The internet said it was the character Zoe Trahanache from "O scrisoare pierdută".

"It's not haunted, is it?"

"I-I don't know."

Garofița saw all of Ferești over the winter, every back alley where you could walk undisturbed, backyards where flowers were taking a break, the "nicer" side where the werewolf family and the shelter resided.

"Over here there used to be a guy who sold sifon." Vitalis explained as they leisurely walked, passing by a house that had a small blue window facing the street, now boarded up. "You'd come with your own bottle and he'd fill it for you. He died a while ago."

"Did he die of something bad?" Garofița bluntly asked.

"Nah, just old age." She replied unperturbed.

Garofița was continuously proven that anything was possible, and she tried to anticipate it. Spin around with a nonchalant knife and get it before it got her.

"I heard there was a break-in in Văleni last night." Garo continued.

"Who said it?"

"Mircea."

Vitalis smacked her lips. "Don't believe everything that clown says. He's worse than a woman when it comes to gossip."

"How did he know, though?"

"He's got a buddy everywhere. Could have worked for the secret services, honestly, if he weren't such a loser in every other sense."

Garofița smiled, her mind automatically going to her Buddy, then she quickly hid it so Vitalis wouldn't ask what was the reason for the smile. She wasn't keeping Buddy and Walker a secret from Vitalis on purpose, she wanted to tell her, she really did. It's just that more pressing things kept coming up and the confession kept being postponed! She will do it!

"Watch your step, kid." Vitalis said as they came to a small dip in the road.

"Ah." Garofița made a small deer-like leap to avoid tripping.

"Nobody fixes the fucking roads here anymore." She grumbled.

"It's been winter..."

"As if anybody ever works, regardless of weather."

She will tell her another time.

They arrived at Amante, its walls streaked with water from melted ice. They found Roxi and Mihai inside as expected. What was not expected was how distraught Roxi was, pacing back and forth behind the bar while Mihai tried to calm her down.

"What's up?" Vitalis asked first.

"Gabi is in fucking jail!!"

The clock on the wall ticked two times as they all stared at each-other.

"What?" Garofița and Vitalis asked at the same time.

"He's in jail!" Roxi continued gesturing broadly with her hands over the counter. "They took him to Lăutari last night!"

"W-What happened?!" Garo asked.

"What did he do?!" Vitalis said.

"He broke into the police station." Mihai replied.

"Huh??"

"Oh my Goood!" Roxi threw her hands down, eyes closed and face turned to the ceiling. Garo never heard her not say 'gosh'.

"Hey, hey, calm down." Vitalis said.

"Mircea was right..." Garofița whispered.

"Forget him! Roxi, you stay calm. They'll figure something out. Gabi is the one in trouble right now, not you." She paused as she saw her suddenly freeze. "... right?"

Roxi looked like a guilty child about to cry.

"Roxi."

"He had my phone while doing it..."

"Shit." Vitalis closed her eyes and slouched her shoulders.

"I don't want to go to jail again!!" Roxi resumed panicking.

"Again?!" Garofița balked.

"Mihai, give me a fucking drink." Vitalis sat down.

"R-Right away." He said.

"What happened, though?" Garo sat down as well. "W-Why did he do it?"

"He broke into the police station to steal the papers and evidence crap about Aurora's case, remember? About the guy she trapped." Roxi said.

"Did y'all know he would do it?" Vitalis asked as he grabbed the bottle Mihai handed her.

"... ... yes."

"Shit." She made wide eyes and shook her head slightly before taking a sip.

"D-Did you leave, like, a paper trail?" Garo asked. "Like messages, or...?"

"You're right!" Roxi gasped. "He didn't text us about it, right?"

"I don't remember..." Mihai quickly unlocked his own phone.

Gabi's last message to their groupchat, from Roxi's number, was 'I just got off the bus. See y'all tomorrow, smooches'.

The conversation before that was 'Which bus goes to Valeni again? 30?'

"God fucking damn it." Vitalis rubbed a hand over her eyes.

"We're so screwed!!" Roxi cried out.

"It's circumstantial!" Mihai said, his turn for animated hand gestures. "He could have told us he went there for a whole different reason! We couldn't have known!"

"A-Are we screwed too for listening to this?" Garofița asked.

"Nah, we'll pretend we never came here." Vitalis calmly said. "Nobody keeps track of tramps."

Several hours of driving away, in a town short of just a couple hundred people to be considered a city, Robert and Marius were escorting Mirabela inside the Lăutari courthouse. She wore a hat with a thick black veil that hung from a wide brim, surrounding her all around and protecting her from the sun. The curves of her body were visible as wind curled the fabric against her.

Inside the waiting room, Marius pulled the blinds closed and glanced with annoyance at the uncomfortable plastic chairs. Mirabela pulled the veil up and rested it halfway over the hat, framing her on either side. Underneath she wore a tracksuit zipped under her chin, long socks and gloves.

"God forbid we met after sundown." She huffed and crossed her legs.

"And leave Gabi here for even longer?" Marius said.

"I'm just saying..." She yawned.

"I gotta say, damn." Robert swayed from one heel to another, hands in his pockets. "This town hasn't changed one bit."

"How long has it been again?"

"Shoot, uhhh, definitely before the pandemic. But I swear everything is the same, even the cracks in the walls. Might as well have entered a time machine."

The door opened and Mirabela pulled the veil from the sides to shield from the sliver of light. Bălașa arrived as well, in much the same protective gear for vampires. She was flanked on either side by her own attendants, Ciprian Pop who looked like a bear, and Traian Vica who looked like a boar. Hound Marius and pitbull Robert greeted them pretty amicably. The women were colder.

"Bălașa." Mirabela said with a small nod.

"Mira." Bălașa said, sitting on a chair by a different wall. Under her own veil she wore an austere dress, blazer and leather gloves.

Sounds from the street outside and workers in the vast building could be heard. Mirabela and Bălașa regarded each-other for a long moment, daggers in their golden eyes, neither wanting to be the first to speak up, thus losing the pride of being the one approached rather than the one approaching. The men rather awkwardly sat on the sidelines, as whispering would have perturbed the duel of wills. Robert couldn't hold in a sneeze though, and everybody saying "bless you" broke the spell.

"Do you have everything prepared?" Bălașa asked.

"Yes, mom." Mirabela replied. Marius tapped a secret pocket on the inside of his coat.

"Good. Since it's one of yours that has gotten themselves in trouble, I expected you'd be careful."

"You're right!" Mirabela smiled. "I look after my people."

"As you ought." Bălașa dryly said. "Although, preventing things like this from happening in the first place would spare both of us from much stress."

"Ehh, you can't control everybody." She shrugged. "I'm not about to put my boys on leashes."

"Sure..." She pouted slightly.

"And Gabi is a good kid. He did what he felt was right."

"Can you blame him, really?" Robert said. "With all the pedophile bullshit going on in the world, not just around our towns? People are gonna crack eventually!"

"I understand that." Bălașa said. "But in our town we have our own ways of settling matters, as you have yours. There is no need to break into a police station and deck an officer in the jaw."

"Gabi did that?" Robert asked.

"Yeah, man." Traian said.

"Hell yeah!"

Mirabela sighed deeper than necessary. "If we followed your way, winter would have come around again by the time you did anything."

"Not everybody has an utter lack of patience, like you and yours."

"And not everybody is cool with a pedophile-hiding mayor."

"I assure you I am not either. Like I said, I am working on it."

"It's always 'working' and never 'worked'!"

"This is your problem, Mira." Bălașa chuckled quietly, raising one side of her thin upper lip. "You need instant gratification for everything. You throw shit at the wall, then figure out later how to clean out the stain. You send your Gabriel to break into the police station for the evidence files, possibly getting him in jail for months, and now you scramble and disrupt everybody's day to fix it."

"Woah! Slow down!" Mirabela furrowed her brows. "I didn't send Gabi to do this. He did it on his own accord. I found out about it this morning."

"And you think I believe that?"

"It's the truth. Believe what you want, for all I care!-"

"Hey, now." Marius mumbled.

"-You better not pull some last minute bullshit and not take back the report!"

Bălașa laughed curtly. "It would be funny. But don't worry, I won't. I also want this matter to be resolved as quickly as possible."

"Good..." Mirabela continued frowning, looking at her up and down.

A young woman with thick glasses came into the waiting room, surprised for a second by how dark it was. "His honour Judge Flavius Stoica can see you now."

They entered a simple and tasteful office in shades of white and brown, with two doors. Marius walked forward before the women and pulled the curtains shut. Judge Stoica, an older man with a very square face, watched him do it with a scornful expression and sunken eyes.

"Good afternoon, your honour." Bălașa sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Dear Cătălina probably told you why we are here!" Mirabela said as she took the other one. "It's about Gabriel Eghedi, the young man who was brought in last night."

"I would like to take back the report on the break-in of the police station in Văleni." Bălașa said, taking a folder with papers and several hundred banknotes from Traian.

"And I would like to bail out Mr Eghedi." Mirabela took another folder, from Marius.

"We are going to resolve this matter between ourselves." Bălașa continued. "Here are the documents attesting my coven in Văleni and its jurisdiction."

"And here are mine for Ferești." Mirabela said, tapping it lightly with her nails. "Would this be enough, your honour?"

"You want to know what I think?" Judge Stoica said.

"Uh, yes, that's why I asked-"

"I think I've had quite enough of you two!"

"Sir-" Bălașa blinked.

"No! I've had it! You two think you can just waltz into my office and tell me what to do based on some ancestral texts that only matter to you! Like you're above the law! You make me ignore the entire justice system and get my own name in the mud, just so you can have it easier! 'Oh, did you hear, that Judge Stoica does whatever the vampiresses want! He's their sucker!' No!! Enough!"

"Flavi, come on-" Mirabela said.

"Don't you 'Flavi' me!! For 30 years I let you walk all over me! I can't take it anymore!"

"Judge Stoica, please-"

"This Gabriel Eghedi is staying in jail! Get out of my office!"

He stormed out through the other door, slamming it shut. Bălașa stared with her mouth agape, and Mirabela had a shocked hand over her own.

"Damn, what now?" Robert whispered. Marius smacked him in the side.

"If we delete the groupchat, would that look even more suspicious?" Roxi anxiously asked.

"I mean, yeah." Vitalis said. "It's evidence."

"Can we please go?" Garofița tugged on her arm, not wanting to become an accessory too.

"Hold on, girl, hold on." The old woman pouted, then turned back to Roxi. "If they confiscated the phone, they probably already know everything."

"Waaaaaaah!!" Roxi wailed.

"Why didn't y'all talk Gabi out of this?" She scolded. "Does he think he's Batman all of a sudden?"

"Simona told us the police station in Văleni is like a soggy cardboard box, that the, uh, the backdoor doesn't even close properly." Roxi hiccuped, while Mihai looked around for a tissue and found none.

"That was years ago! They've probably fixed their stuff since then, no? And of course Simo would talk shit about Văleni."

"We didn't think he'd actually go through with it!" Mihai said. "You know Gabi!"

"Yeah, I know that once he gets fixated on something, there's no stopping him. Yeah, no, sorry, y'all fucked up."

"Vitalis...!" Garo frowned.

"What? What else am I supposed to say?" She said, a hand on her heart. "Good job, gang!"

"I don't wanna go to jaaail..." Roxi moaned, head against the counter.

"You won't!" Vitalis groaned. "Mirabela is probably bailing Gabi out as we speak."

As if on queue, Mihai's phone started ringing. He was so quick to pull it out that he almost dropped it on the ground, earning curses from everybody. He answered and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hey, kid!" Mr Robert said. "You alone?"

"Uh..." He glanced at Vitalis and Garofița, the former making the gesture of zipping her lips shut. "Yeah. It's just me and Roxi."

"Where's Eduard?" Mr Marius asked, their phone also being on speaker.

"He hasn't arrived yet, Sir." Roxi replied.

"Have you been cryin'?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Is Gabi out, Sir?" Mihai asked with a hopeful tone."

"Not yet..." Robert cringed. "We're having a bit of trouble."

"What happened?" Roxi demanded, pushing herself against Mihai, closer to the phone.

"30 years of consequences happened." Marius replied.

"Huh??"

"What does that even mean?" Vitalis asked.

"It means the vamps fucked up!" He said.

"Stop iiit!" Mirabela whined from somewhere in the background.

"Wait, Vitalis is there?" Robert asked.

"I just arrived." She lied.

"Anyway, looks like it's gonna take longer than expected to get Gabriel out." Robert continued. "Y'all stay put over there, okay? Mr Eduard is in charge for now, we're calling him too in a second."

"S-Sir!" Roxi said with much precipitation. "Did they mention anything about a phone?"

"A phone?"

"Yes, m-my phone! The one Gabi was using! Did they take it away from him or...?"

"Hold on."

There was a pause as he talked to somebody else further away.

"No, he didn't have anything on him when he was arrested, just the evidence file."

"What?" She said, making huge eyes. "W-Where is it, then?"

"No idea."

"Looks like you both need new phones now." Vitalis huffed.

"Listen, we're at the jail right now, we're going to see Gabi. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay, Sir."

"Take care, kids!"

"You too!"

"See? Told you you'd be fine!" Vitalis took another sip.

"I need a drink too..." Roxi exhaled deeply.

"Why did you go to jail the first time?" Garofița couldn't help herself from asking.

"I broke into a house and threw pieces of fish everywhere..."

"W-Why, though?"

"I was really mad at this guy... It was way before I transitioned or started working for Mirabela."

"With Gabi today, that makes it two out of three for committing breaking and entering." Vitalis laughed, pointing between her and Mihai.

"Yeah, about that..." He mumbled.

The holding area of the Lăutari jail was a dimly lit room with a cold, tiled floor, and with dark-tinted walls of metal bars, segmented into six cells. Yellow light came in through a square window the size of an adult man's palm. At the moment, the only person in there was Gabriel, sitting on the rectangular bench that doubled as a bed, the coat he wore a few hours ago underneath him like a pillow. He jumped to his feet when the heavy door unlocked and he saw Marius, Robert and Mirabela walk inside, escorted by a large guard.

"Sir! Boss!" He said, rushing to the front of the bars and holding onto them despite himself. "I-I'm sorry, I-"

"Look, Gabi..." Robert said with an awkward grimace.

"What?"

"You... You will have to stay here for a while longer." Mirabela said from behind the black veil.

"What?"

"Not long! But a few more days until Stoica calms down." She said.

"What?"

"We caught him in a bad mood..." She dodged the subject.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, kid." Mr Marius said, rubbing his shoulder through the bars. "This is goin' to be more complicated than we expected. The judge is pissed at Mirabela and he's keepin' you here as punishment, so to speak."

"WHAT?!" Gabi cried out. "Sir, what do I do??"

"You will be fine." Marius nodded once, brows furrowed. "We won't leave you here."

"Yeah, you better not!!"

"We wooon't!" Mirabela said. "We'll figure it out. We always do."

Garofița ate noodle soup heated up by Roxi and brought her pets another hot bowl. She found a porcelain bowl with pink roses at the thrift store. It chipped badly along one side of the rim, but if they avoided it then nobody got their mouths hurt. It warmed her hands as she took it down the street, not caring about what it looked like anymore. Vitalis was right, nobody kept track of tramps. She could be dancing and singing and screaming, and people would purposefully look away. The perfect disguise, in a way.

"Wait a second, you fatty!" She told Buddy as she took a knife and cut up the noodles, so none of them could take all of it in one big clump.

Buddy ate first because he was always first to greet her. He truly ate anything. She kissed Buddy's cold forehead as he burped like a pig. If she were to chose, he was the favourite child.

Walker ate the next portion, fishing the noodles out with his claws, after which she would wipe them with a tissue. The skin was white like canvas and frayed, standing stretched around his mouth and eyes like a peel-off mask when you move too much. It revealed the grey-purple real skin underneath, like the little patch of skin above a dog's dark nose. She could peek at it and "accidentally" tear it further as much as she wanted. Walker was a most well-behaved young man now and only rarely hissed at her. He also ate whatever was brought home, but was especially glad to eat meat.

Bezea didn't need many noodles to be full. She remained a fully black cat, except for the white spot on her chin. Her eyes were green, but there was still a tint of baby blue in them! The angle of her paws when she play-fought, or swatted like a grumpy teenager, was reminiscent of Walker.

Out of habit, Garofița looked towards the window, where her spider's old web stuck to the glass and gave new angular designs to the frost. Garo's serene smile fell when she noticed footprints in the mud outside. They stopped at the old wire fence around the house, but they still came too close for comfort.

"Buddy, Walker. Come." She called them, perfectly calm. Buddy was at once at her heel and Walker followed without protest. He got accustomed to only using one leg to push himself up.

She hid the knife inside her coat's sleeve and went on a walk with her two pets, looking ahead and simply happening to follow the same direction as the footprints.

"Gabi is in fucking jail!!"

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