Pet Rattler part 3 back up Jan 14

   In the darkness of the barn Rachel watches the sleeping Lamia a moment more, its chest rising and falling so slowly. Rachel looks at the closes stall doors, five stalls in all, and slowly takes a step towards one, images flashing in her mind of a pile of horse, chicken, and dog bones. She shakes her head, while her phone could double as a flash light she'd rather not see it; and heads back to the house. Smirking as she climbs back through the window, hearing a *knock* at the guest room door just as she climbs in. Its Rob, who gives her a curious look and looks back at the open window. She holds up her phone showing the sale site.

   "I'll take dad in town tomorrow," she says, "I can load up and crate the Lamia as soon as he confirms the purchase in the mornining; and we can be out of here."

  "I thought you said you couldn't own something like that on Mars?" asks Rob.

  Rachel *scoffs*, "I was planning to move to Atlas anyway, what with the radicals on Mars making my job more dangerous than it should be. Besides, glad you're still up, the rental auto is only a two seater, thanks to that solid currency, in person only option you let him put on there we have to go to a bank anyway. Besides, do him some good to get out of this house for a change."

   Rob just *shrugs*, "honestly Rachel, I wish you'd spoken up while we were setting the sale site up; I mentioned to dad you'd probably buy her if you could. I could see the way you were looking at it...and feeding it, and petting it, and..."

   He looks at the open window, "and fulfilling some weird fantasies, hey, I'm not one to judge. My lips are sealed."

   ******

   -The next day-

    After a brief checking of the site and explination by Rachel that the buyer is herself as her father had started some rant about the people who sold him the Lamia buying it back seeing the company bidder lock out thanks to her using the parent company lock out code on possibly *unique* or *altered* products being put up for resale. Or any resale as she points out in recent years the company has had people going around buying any Monster Mates that have been around for more than twenty years or are labeled as "resale" that they can find for release on designated planets per some sapient development research program she doesn't fully understand; but isn't really part of. Also re-explaining she plans to move to Atlas from Mars. But their father is and always has been a business man first, so as she figured they would have to go immediatly to town to get the money, and he is all too eager for her to get a shipping van and haul the Lamia off his property as soon as possible; her reminding him of the whole loan issue and offering to set him up for a new car's down payment and first few payments to sweaten the deal as he was reluctant to hand over the Lamia to her; and was going back and forth; clearly arguing with himself internally.

   In the car however as they sit beside each other in the only two seats the old man looks rather unhappy.

   "Something wrong dad?" asks Rachel, "your first time out of the house in months right?"

   "I don't know," says her father, "I don't like that we had to leave Rob back there."

   "We didn't have to," says Rachel, "he offered to stay behind because this is only a two seater, and you've been cooped up in that house for months."

   The old man *sighs* and glares out the window.

   "Do you not like the deal?" asks Rachel, "Rob helped you make the offer, but we're family, I'm not exactly poor dad, I could..."

   "Its not that," he says, "you're already doing too much, I can make a little extra digging up that fence junk after its gone and reselling that properly. Its just...I don't know..."

   He looks at his hands and back out the window, "I'm..I'm angry, and happy, and frustrated...this; it feels...too easy. Like...dear; sorry, Rachel; its just I've been stuck in a horror movie for six months. I've been trapped in my house by a monster that I bought myself; what was supposed to my maid turned out to be a beast that I kept me a prisoner in my own home for sic months, six months, half a god damned year. Half a god damned year.... for half a god damned year...I mean damn, god damn; really; I had to watch this thing for half a fucking year eat everything I had left; my two dogs, my flock of chickens, three horses, and two goats. All of them dead; and when I try to make a break for it, it shows me just how strong it is by destroying my car...I just knew it was waiting me out, either I'd make a mistake or the battery in that collar would die...or it would find some way to break it off...I was just waiting for that moment when it would go crazy, forget the little annoying shocks and rip that collar off...I mean to towed my fucking car; around my house and dragged it into the pond. That thing is really fucking strong Rachel."

   He *sighs*, and shakes his head, "but then...then my unpaid loan gets you two giving me a call; I thought, here's my chance; you show up, I jump in the car, and we get the Hell out of there. But when you both came inside; I figured...I don't know. I honestly half expected it would do something to prove me right, to show you how horrible it was; that you'd agree it was some defective monstrosity...but..."

   He taps his hand on the rim of the window wishing he could roll the window down but knowing better in the hellish heat of the desert, "but you show up and its like...its just a big scaley puppy dad; watch me scratch behind its ear, watch me feed it pizza, watch me slow dance with it,"

   "Slow dance?" mouths Rachel, remembering how it held her hips in front of the door while she was feeding it.

  After a pause he says, "I heard you and Rob last night in the hall, I didn't hear everything; obviously; didn't know you were the bidder; but...I won't say anything, I wanted some Nekojin after all, and sort of hoped with this maybe also...but not after this. Hell I'm not even risking a Nekojin; going to tight on my retirement pay anyway after this fiasco..."

   He pauses again, "...thanks Rachel. I mean it, I really do. I think I need therapy after this though."

  The two of them chuckle a bit.

  *****

   However back at the ranch, the Lamia watches from the barn as the car leaves down the road as it *stands* in the doorway of the barn and making a rolling clicking sound as it turns back towards the house and narrows its eyes.