Cat and the Cryptid Spring Episode Three

Cat and the Cryptid Summer by Raspberry | Content Warnings

For possibly the first time in her life, Cat jumped out of bed as soon as the sun rose and rushed to the library. Mostly because she, Anne, and Bree set out spells in the library last night to see which Fae had been messing around with the book collection. There was a small part of Cat that was excited for a different reason, but she pretended that reason didn’t exist even as she ran her fingers through her hair before tapping on the library window. 

“You’re early,” Anne said by way of greeting, swinging the door open. “I’ve already checked, and either our prankster is late or a completely different type of Fae than we prepared for.”

“What? No, I read and accounted for all the types of Fae listed,” Cat insisted, reaching for the book in her bag again. 

“Yeah, cause if it doesn’t exist in old literature, it must not exist in real life,” Anne countered with a snort and a tousle of Cat’s hair.

“Well… it’s from Gran’s collection,” Cat mumbled with a flush. 

“It’s probably really accurate,” Anne said quickly. “This isn’t me doubting your knowledge. I’m just saying that no one knows it all, and there could be some sub-species yet undiscovered.”

Her eyes seemed to twinkle as she said that, and Cat couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her.

“Wait, is this wishful thinking?” Cat asked. 

“Look,” Anne said, biting her lower lip and pausing. “This is the first time I’ve been left with any responsibility, and it seemed like such boring work that the other Tennials didn’t even use vacation days at their jobs to help out. It’d be pretty cool if we discovered a new type of Fae… or stopped some sort of conspiracy against vampires… or… or…”

If vampires could blush, Cat was sure that Anne would be bright red. Instead, her skin seemed dewier as she slowly trailed off and cleared her throat.

“I get it,” Cat supplied with a smile. “It’d be awesome if Gran left me alone for a week and came back to me totally proving myself as the next Guardian.”

She was pretty sure this was where the “but let’s be realistic” statement should follow. Instead, her brain seemed to buzz at the thought of Gran’s incredulous face, the way she would pat Cat on the shoulder and admit that Cat had evolved past simple survival tests and was ready for the real deal. 

Actually, the more she thought about it, the more she hoped Anne’s theory of a new, undiscovered Fae was true.

“I couldn’t find anything different from last night,” Anne said, as if reading her mind. “But… maybe I missed something?”

“Maybe the mystery visitor was sneakier this time?” Cat guessed. “We can comb through the library to find out what they did.”

Two hours later, the answer seemed to be: absolutely nothing. After pulling out a ruler and literally measuring the stacking of the books in case there was a hidden code, Anne admitted defeat. Cat, her adrenaline long expired, uncurled herself from the floor she had taken an impromptu nap on and stretched. 

“Maybe they’ll come back tonight?” she guessed. “Maybe I came over too early and they saw me coming and panicked?”

“Yeah, because supernatural beings tend to see teenage girls and go ‘looks too dangerous for me to get close to,’” Anne teased and then sighed. “Maybe we’re just getting ahead of ourselves. Ms. Peregrine has no sense of humor, but maybe Ms. Betty did that before leaving?”

“She does like random and weird tests,” Cat agreed. “Hers are usually a little more dangerous, though.”

Anne pulled her phone out of her pocket right as it buzzed, and Cat found herself wishing for those quick reflexes (totally the only reason she was staring at Anne).

“Hey, Bree, wish I had a more exciting update… wait, slow down. What? I’ll be right there!” Anne hung up and looked at Cat (or caught her staring). “We need to get to the diner now.”

Cat expected something a little more exciting. When Anne got a panicked phone call and almost sprinted to the diner (Cat had to remind her that vampire runs were superhumanly fast and would be very suspicious if anyone saw that), Cat thought she’d walk into a party of Fae gathered in a mob. Or a werewolf. Or at least to have the sign at Agatha’s Bites covered in toilet paper and egg shells. 

Instead, there were five tables filled with bleary-eyed strangers slurping coffee noisily, poking at stacks of pancakes with a spoon, or trying to stack packets of sugar into towers. 

“Is this considered a breakfast rush?” Cat asked, leaning against the hostess stand and trying not to look too disappointed.

“I don’t recognize any of them,” Anne said with a hum. 

She was pretending to study a menu as she stared at the strangers with a puzzled frown. 

“Come on, this isn’t that small of a town,” Cat said. “You can’t know everyone.”

“I know most people because Ms. Peregrine keeps track of everyone,” Anne said under her breath. “And our town has enough enchantments sewn in that mortals usually don’t just stop by or decide to take vacations here.”

“That’d be risky considering most of the residents,” Bree added, floating up to the hostess stand. “Plus, there’s something off about them all.” Her pale hair swished as she tilted her head. “Confusion.”

“Maybe because it’s a Monday morning?” Cat guessed.

“An unnatural confusion,” Bree amended. “One of them asked if the Alamo was within walking distance.”

“They’re off by a few cities,” Anne said, her brow furrowing more.

“Another said his GPS was busted and kept circling him back here,” Bree continued. “And that woman’s car broke down as soon as she got off the freeway. She had to walk here to get a cell signal.”

“That… makes no sense,” Cat said slowly.

“Could be our library visitor,” Anne mused. “A different kind of chaos, but trust a Fae to pull this kind of thing.”

“Anything in your book about this?” Bree asked.

“Well, it was written before the invention of cars, so I doubt I’ll find anything about a faulty GPS or vehicle troubles,” Cat said. “But I can see if there’s any ancient-equivalent to it.” She patted her stomach. “Of course, it’d go faster with some complimentary pancakes and maybe a coffee?”

Bree smiled and rolled her eyes. 

“Grab a seat, scavenger,” she said. “I’ll bring something out for you as soon as I can.”

Cat slid into a booth close enough to watch the confused newcomers but (hopefully) far away enough to not look suspicious. She caught herself wishing for Gran, who could easily play the confused old lady card and walk up to someone for an interrogation. 

“Do you think we should call them?” Anne asked, biting her lower lip. “Playing with library books is one thing… granted a death penalty according to Ms. Peregrine… but playing with mortals?” She hesitated again.

“Gran hasn’t had time off in, like, probably forever,” Cat replied with a shake of her head. “We can figure this out without interrupting their getaway with some cryptid problems.”

“You’re right,” Anne said, looking relieved. “They deserve a week without worrying about work.” She leaned forward. “Let’s see your book and figure this thing out.”