Title: Animals From Hell 1:- The Becoming Of Madame Curie. Aka. Puppy Therapy.

Author: Chocoholic

Email: lollypop@bubble-gum.co.uk

Rating: PG - 13….yup it's fine.

Disclaimer: Not mine! Characters + concepts are Lisa's. Non - L. J. Smith concepts are not mine, they are the property of Elvis who projected them through the medium of my hamster, Leroy Harvey Oswald….

Summary: Thea and Eric are enjoying the peaceful life when problems arise with Madame Curie. Takes place halfway through soulmate, before Huntress.

Notes: Feedback adored. This one goes out to Red who put up with my major spacing mistakes in the last story I sent. ^_^

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***

"Madam Curie is so ill!" Rosamund shouted angrily, armed with a carrot stick. "She won't eat, and she smells funny!" Eric sighed and put his lip lock with Thea on hold.

"Ros…look, she smells funny cause that’s what hamsters tend to do." Rosamund threw the orange vegetable at Eric's head. It missed him but hit Blaise as she strutted through the surgery door. Blaise hissed and swore.

"Little brat! C'mon Thea, we have to go." She turned to Eric and glared. "Witch stuff." Eric smiled back.

"Hi Blaise, yeah…uh I'll be there in a minute." Eric replied. Blaise rolled her eyes angrily and muttered under her breath.

"Moron." Thea caught this and quickly covered it up.

"Uh…Eric? I think Blaise meant just us witches…ya know?" Eric looked heartbroken as Blaise dragged Thea out the door. Rosamund continued.

"…She's not a hamster, she's a guinea pig! Eric are you listening to me?" Eric glanced at her.

"What?…oh…yeah, right…pig." His sister scowled and pouted.

"Anyway she isn't eating either. The last thing she ate was a lettuce leaf…two nights ago." Eric looked confused.

"Well…maybe she's on a diet?" Eric then realised the stupidity in that. Rosamund now took Blaises method of dealing with Eric. She rolled her eyes and whispered moron under her breath before continuing.

"Yes Eric. You're a genius. Why didn't I think of that? She's on a diet to fit into her little hamster prom dress." Rosamund then added. "That was sarcasm in case you didn't notice!"

"It's a guinea pig not a hamster Ros" He murmured absently. "Go listen to your Spice girl CD's" Rosamunds eyes flashed.

"Hey….they happen to stand for girl power! I don't even like their music." Rosamund lied through her teeth. Eric sighed and told Ros to go.

"Okay, okay…I'll give Madame Curie a look over. Now get lost!" Rosamund went off to listen to her Spice Girl CDs slamming the door behind her. Eric praised the lord.

"Now.." He spoke under his breath. "Let's see what the matter is then?"

***

Eric decided to keep Madame Curie in surgery for the night. He listened for music as he waited ten minutes or so for Thea to arrive. A knock came from the front door and Eric rushed to let his soulmate in. Thea stood, soaking wet and bloody furious. She spoke in annoyance.

"What the fuck kept you so long??? I've been knocking for half an bloody hour. All I could hear was some 'frickin idiot singing along with wannabe." Eric blushed and stuttered.

"We…well Ros was here, she just left out the back door. She likes girl power I guess!" Thea wasn't convinced but she let it slide.

"So, what are we going to do on our date tonight?" Eric recovered and storred blushing.

"Well, I thought that we could perhaps repeat and finish our first ever date?" Thea stood unimpressed.

"You want to go to a dance with a homicidal psychopath wielding a razorblade?" Eric frowned, puzzled.

"No…I mean puppy therapy. Bud is still there." Thea was no longer there, but rushing to open Bud's cage. Eric felt sometimes that Thea would prefer him if he was a canine.

"So…nice night?" Thea was oblivious.

"Whose a good doggy then...aw whoosh gonna have a belly rub…aw. You are, yes you is, yes you is." Eric changed the topic.

"So…what was you meeting about?" Thea stopped.

"Eric, I'm so sorry. You, me are going to have to move to the daybreak mansion." Thea tried her best to explain. "The millennium is coming…"

***

An hour later Eric was still trying to comprehend what Thea was telling him. Wild powers? It couldn't be! Thea sat, Bud resting wearily on her lap.

"I think I'd better put Bud away. I think he thinks Madame Curie is lunch!" Eric forgot he had left the hamster, sorry, guinea pig out. He reached for the cage and put Madame Curie away. Thea kissed him. The soulmate link was there.

This is how it's meant to be between people. No walls, no barriers. He sighed is utter bliss. No secrets. He could hear Thea thinking. I'd better put Bud away now, she thought to him. Then suddenly the link was cut short.

"OH MY GOD! Eric??? That was you singing?" She ran outside, closely followed by Eric, chasing her. He locked the surgery door. Bud was loose and forgotten.

***

That night Bud was restless. He smelt food, hamster…maybe guinea pig. A hint of mouse possibly...but it seemed doubtful. He was hoping for racoon but that opportunity only comes as often as when you catch your own tail. It's a dogs life.

Bud decided he needed a drink before the hunt. He passed a good, nutritious puddle, but on a day such as this…he decided to go for the big humans so called beer. It was in the cold bow along with the lettuce, one of the bottom shelves luckily for him. He had seen the human creature go mad several times after drinking it. Bud had decided it was dangerous, but life was full of risks. It must be very good stuff if he persisted in drinking it.

It took him half an hour to open the fridge. Boy how Bud wished he had thumbs. A bright light came on as he opened it. This alarmed but and he knocked over a high table with a cage on it. The cage doors popped open. The food smell got stronger. He would deal with that in a minute. On the bottom of the shelf sat a note. Luckily he was fluent in human due to a VERY loooooong year in obedience school. He read it, slowly because of his cataracts.

"Bud - Bottom shelf"

Aww, bless. He'd never realised how kind humans could be, leaving something for him. He opened checked the bottom shelf and sure enough there were about seven glass bottles. As bud reached for them - once again cursed by the lack of thumbs - they all crashed to the ground and broke. An unearthly squeek was heard from the corner.

Bud was now pissed. He turned to see a guinea pig. Bud was now even more pissed as it wasn't a racoon. Still…better than mouse. He growled at it and backed it into the corner. Bud was hungry. Madame Curie was trapped. There was nowhere to run.

***

Eric, Thea and Rosamund returned the following morning so that they could collect any belongings before the move to Daybreak headquarters. As they unlocked the surgery door, Eric started speaking.

"So, we leave at two." The door unlocked and they made their way to puppy therapy.

"Yes, Ros, you and your mum will be put up in Vegas and protected. Me and Eric are going to be in the mansion with the rest of the inner circle." Eric took a breath to add something but three screams, one his own, cut him short.

"My Budweiser!" Eric cried.

"Bud!" Thea anguished.

"Madame Curie!" Ros shrieked.

And there on the floor, between Eric's broken Budweiser bottles, Madame Curie lay, red eyes glowing. She was chewing on the grisly remains of Bud's right front leg.

***

Ohmygodohmygodohmygoddess! Thea was in shock, Ros was glad of the Guinea Pigs safety…and Eric was….SOBER!!!

Thea had called the mansion and they were sending some people to investigate. Blaise had said she'd adopt Madame Curie….it was her type of pet. A knock on the door clarified that the investigators were here.

***

"Well it seems you have a renegade werewolf here. You can tell as it ate the heart and liver. Also it's wearing a collar with a black fxglove on it." The investigator from Daybreak stated.

"MY HAMSTER IS A WEREWOLF???" Ros couldn't believe it.

"No. Your GUINEA PIG is a werewolf. Don't let it bite you." Ros smiled at this.

"Cool!" Ros squealed. "None of my friends have one of those!" Eric looked as if he was going to have a heart attack.

"You are not keeping it! Mum would flip." Ros looked stubbon.

"Yes I am. I'll take it to court if I have to!" Eric groaned as Ros ran out the door. Thea ran after her, calling behind her shoulder.

"I'll calm her down!" The investigator shrugged and held out his hand. Eric paid the man and he left.

Five minutes later Eric started to clear up the surgery. He slowly walked towards the cage and lifted Madame Curie out. He shrieked in pain. It had bitten him.

"Right you…" Eric went into the bathroom. "Say bye, bye!" Eric flushed.

***

The End.

***

*Note…

I do luv animals really. Remember when Ash says 'barely human?', or was that Quinn? (Hee, hee).