First was the natural demise brought on by cruel and growing age.Second the blow that stemmed from trick or treater's wrongful strike of rage.Third gave him scars to bear from Jaxon's minions of shadow.Fourth the result of toxic goo much to Ian's sorrow.Fifth was a wrong turn in the Crypts that led him to a nasty fall.Sixth was the search for rotten treats and the collapse of a high wall.Seventh was one who slayed the beast, believing it a noble deed.Eighth was a great Luminaire rush, a stampede brought by shopper's greed.Ninth and final was for the lust of zombie wearing human skin,Nine won the day with unsheathed claws, the unliving his new-made kin.

Nine was once a perfectly ordinary feli who adored fresh filets of beef and long naps in the sun. Eve was devastated when illness left him listless and miserable. He turned his nose up at everything, even a dish of caviar pilfered from Saggi's own loft. He had simply lost the will to live.

Eve buried her beloved friend in the Pet Cemetery on Shadowglen's edge, weeping and laying a gorgeous boquet of white lilies on his grave. It was as she turned to walk away that an ominous crack froze her in place. She could hear the crinkly paper of the bouquet rolling down the small mound of fresh earth. She turned slowly, knees beginning to tremble as her eyes locked on the surface of the small grave.

A feli sat there, but this was not her beloved pet with creamy orange fur and sweet green eyes. This green monstrosity's fur was dirty and matted in clumps. Its luminous eyes glowed like two little moons descended from the sky. It meowed in a scratchy voice, trotting forward to wind around her legs just as Nine had done the day she'd picked him from his litter.

Other changes in Nine quickly became apparent. He gave up his favorite perch in the sun in favor of more adventurous pursuits, wandering the Crypts and prowling the Pumpkin Patch as Jaxon toiled to prepare for upcoming Morostide. There were many days Nine came home covered in pumpkin slime and purring in delight.

Even more noticeable was Nine's change of appetite. He would once turn his nose up at anything not heated to precisely room temperature. Now he would seek out the repulsive and rotten, eating from the kills of tigreans left in the sun for days and nibbling rotted pumpkin rinds for a change in flavor. On his nightly prowls he would seek out the most disgusting dead creatures he could fit in his mouth, bringing them back to Eve as tokens of his affection. It did not take her neighbors long to comment on how her little garden patch was the only one in Shadowglen still putting forth flowers a week before Morostide. She put it down to a lucky green thumb and tips she'd picked up from Esther's personal memoirs. She would brush aside the occasional comment that something in her garden didn't quite smell right. This was Shadowglen, after all.

Eve was there to witness his second death, crying over his limp body as a boy witha trick-or-treating pail babbled apologies. Nine had learned to be wary of trick-or-treaters for good reason. There were a few kind ones who would complement his perfect Morostide look and offer him a seasonal candy to munch, but most were repulsed by his appearance and a few would even aim kicks at his small body. This boy had spotted him beside a particularly large pumpkin, munching on some rotted innards created by a careless foot. The boy was convinced he'd seen a rare item in the very spot where Nine had pounced on his well-rotted dinner. A spade used for turning over pumpkins proved a most effective weapon against a small feli, even one as unusual as Nine.

Nine woke after a few minutes, giving his head a groggy shake and meowing his gravely welcome to a very relieved Eve.

Eight times he died before the great Love Epidemic of 2009 changed his life forever.

Eve put down her book with a small frown as Nine raised his head with a questioning meow. She certainly wasn't expecting a visitor at this hour. She'd heard rumors of the illness going around but there were always whispers of dark happenings between the delights of Luminaire and the beauty of Vesnali.

The gentleman at the door was doused in cologne and there was something not quite right about his face. It was almost as if he was wearing a mask. A human mask.

"A pleasant evening to you, Miss. And now I grant you with a kiss."

He kissed her right on the lips, earning an exclamation of disgust from Eve. Nine sprang into action, growling and sinking needle-sharp claws into the stranger's leg. The man grabbed Nine by the scruff, throwing him hard against the stone fireplace.

Nine crumpled to the floor and did not rise. The gentleman smirked at the still figure before turning on his heel. There were plenty more unwitting humans left to infect.

Eve cradled Nine's body, stumbling to the couch as weakness swamped her. She had never before felt so terrible. The only thing that could reach her in that moment was Nine's gentle purr.

As she slept, Nine began to change. The virus that made Eve so ill was like a medicine to the feli that was not quite dead yet not quite alive. His nine lives were gone, but he would never die again.

She woke many hours later with a groan, gasping as she looked at herself in the hall mirror. Her smooth skin was rotting away, giving way to disgusting gray patches streaked with red. The other members of the family huddled in the far corner, watching Eve with wide eyes. When she held out a hand to comfort them, they fled the house as if fearing a curse. Only Nine stayed to comfort her as Eve struggled to accept what she had become.

She could not leave her precious pets to wander Subeta no matter what she looked like. She must go out and convince them to come home.

Nine trotted at her side as she took to the streets. Eve approached a lady in a pink bubble sweater, meaning to ask if she had seen a ruffie or perhaps a field torrent passing by. A terrible instinct took over, turning Eve into a snarling beast that bit without thinking. Nine looked on curiously as Eve broke off her attack with an exclamation of horror. What had come over her?

She could not apologize to the girl who had run away screaming. She dared not enter the nearby village and risk another such episode. She wanted to return home in shame, but when she tried to turn back, Nine smacked his head against her legs. He was persistent, leading her deeper into the dark forest surrounding Shadowglen.

They approached her warily, many having suffered the effects of their illnesses for weeks. Eve realized she had no desire to bite these fellow unliving. They soon introduced her to the delightful flavors of bleer and brain bran muffins.

Eve would come to sip the cure for her illness in time, but to this day she maintains friendships with those wonderful members of the unliving who accepted her in her time of need. As for Nine, he was thrilled when the tastes of Half Baked and The Lost Skeleton were made available to the wider population of Subeta. You can bet that on days Bubbles and Elsie offer new releases, he is there to sample those culinary delights and give his paw print of approval.

Story by Pureflower