The Curiosity of a Cat

This is a pure work of fiction based very loosely on my own experiences. All characters within this story are 18 and over in age. Many thanks to Vixxen and Athena for helping with the editing. You know who you are.

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Tomorrow was Halloween and Eric still had no real plans for the holiday. Normally he would be attending his fraternity's Halloween party, but after one too many close calls with the administration they decided to cancel and lay low for a while. Cancelling one of the year's most popular parties was probably being overly cautious, but when not one but two of the other houses on campus were handed suspensions in the last few months a little caution could go a long way.

With the annual party off the table Eric was suddenly free to raise a bit of hell tomorrow, but as of yet nothing seemed to have materialized. The 20 year old frat boy was pondering his dwindling prospects for the evening on the way back to his dorm after when Eric's phone chirped with an incoming text. He fished his phone out of his pocket and smiled when he saw it was Katie simply saying 'Call Me'. His little sister was always simple and to the point. A few seconds later and her phone was ringing.

"Hey sis, what's up?" he asked as Katie picked up on the other end.

"Ok, this is going to sound a little crazy..." she began and Eric could only roll his eyes. Katie was newly 18 years old, a high school senior and in line for being valedictorian so he seriously doubted the veracity of her claim.

"What did you want to figure out now?" he smirked as he walked down the hill from main campus to the residence halls and his dorm. To say that his little sister had a curious streak was a vast understatement. Eric was not to be disappointed when she immediately started to launch into her plan.

"You know how Mom and Dad used to take us Trick or Treating, then dropped us off with the Millers to sleep over with Jack and Nancy?" she explained and he was nodding along, following so far.

"Yeah, the typical Johnson family Halloween. What of it?" the college student asked, well familiar with the routine up until he left for school two years ago.

"And they never told us where they went, right?" his sister continued, clearly driving at something.

"Right. So?" Eric said, not following along as he was scanning some of the new flyers stapled to the cork board in the dorm room lobby. He tried to will something interesting to appear and failed.

"So?" she mimicked her brother's indifferent tone perfectly. Katie always was a bit of a smart-ass. "Want to follow them?"

That stopped him in his tracks, Eric's mind snapping back to the conversation as he tried envision the endgame of his sister's scheme. "You want to stalk Mom and Dad?" he asked, clearly confused.

"No!" Katie sighed, the frustration in her voice palpable. She was getting a little annoyed with her meathead older brother. She loved the lunk to death, but he clearly didn't have any foresight or planning skills. His talents lay elsewhere. "Just see where they go. They didn't go out last year, but they are this year. You know how we always wondered where they would go on their 'date' weekends or whatever. Don't you want to find out?" Katie argued, before pressing her point. "Plus, Halloween is on a Saturday this year. So you could come down. And we could take your car."

Ah. There it is. "So you don't so much need your loveable older brother as you need his car." Eric laughed into the phone.

"And a date." She giggled. He always did love hearing that adorable giggle. "Which is where you come in, dummy." Katie continued as she laid it all out to me. "If they're at some party, it would be easier to get in if we were together than separately. Blend in and all that we'd just be another couple in Halloween costumes. I even have an outfit for us."

Eric's own curiosity was starting to nibble at his sister's bait. However, before he could mull it over she set the hook. "Besides, if it turns out they just went to some stuffy event at dad's work or something, we can swing by Jennie's party. Her parents are out of town."

Jennie was Katie's best friend, though how they remained friends being such polar opposites was beyond me. Jennie's parents seemed never be at home because they traveled frequently for work which means that Jennie's house was the unofficial party spot of the neighborhood. Tipsy high school girls in slutty costumes was the kind of night that sold itself.

"Fine. You have me, baby girl." he said, smiling at the phone as he pulled it away from his ear to avoid going deaf at his sister's squeal of delight. "I'll see you tomorrow. Love you." Eric told her and hung up.

An interesting evening for Halloween provided by his little sister. Go figure. Besides, indulging Katie was one of Eric's favorite pastimes. He'd never admit it to her, but he absolutely loved being her older brother. Something about his adorable sister always brought a smile to his lips. The bad thing is that she knew it too and used it to her advantage.

"Ah." he chuckled, realizing exactly where she was going to get their costumes. Eric hoped his still fit.

Plus, it would be good to be home for a little while. Good food. Clean Laundry. Maybe get a few extra bucks out of dad. Heading up the stairs to his dorm room Eric packed a day bag and started to wonder just where mom and dad have been sneaking out to all these years.

Katie tossed her phone on the bed and grinned with barely contained glee. Mom and Dad were up to something; she was sure of it. Now, with her brother's help she would finally be able to figure out what their parents were so secretive about. Eric was pretty oblivious about such things, usually content to take things at face value and not try to understand things fully. Katie loved her older brother more than life itself, but damn was he dense.

A football player in high school, Eric was an all-star wide receiver on track for an athletic scholarship at a Division I school. Katie remembered the recruiting trips that various coaches made to their home. He probably would have earned one too if a freak ankle injury didn't sideline his athletic career. Eric was definitely the pride and joy of the Johnson household and Katie absolutely adored him, even going so far as to join the cheerleading squad to support him. This was wildly out of character for the normally bookish schoolgirl, but he loved that Katie joined the squad to share in of one of his passions. She was surprisingly good at it, having made far more friends than she otherwise would have. Cheerleading also had the benefit of putting six years of gymnastics as to good use.

Katie's support of her big brother paid off in spades when he happily returned the favor, allowing her to use him as a living Ken doll and for her cosplaying endeavors. Her parents showed no interest in her hobby, but Eric understood her passion and took her to all the conventions within driving distance. It was so nice having him there; no creepy guys would come hit on Katie with her musclebound 'date' alongside her. Katie was admittedly fairly cute with straightened red hair, a 5'3" cheerleader's build and pale almost creamy skin. She knew how guys leered at her, but it never seemed to affect her with Eric at her side. He even went so far as to let her make outfits for him so they could dress up together. Katie loved him for it and looked forward to the cons every year. It was something special they shared just the two of them and she treasured it. Eric would never admit it to her, but Katie was convinced her big brother actually enjoyed himself at the cons.

Eric was always happy in his own little world either playing football, hanging with his friends or indulging his little sister's wishes. He never was curious like his sister and seemed to be content to wander along happily in life without scratching much beneath the surface. Katie, however, was inquisitive. She noticed there was something odd about the weekend trips her parents took, the parties that they attended and the fact they never told their kids the details about them. Even weirder was that Eric or Katie never met any of their friends. Any single oddity wouldn't be piquing her curiosity, but put them all together and it screamed that her parents were hiding something. Katie always got the run around to inquiries as to what they were doing in her mother's case or flat out told her it was none of her business in her father's.

The fact that she didn't know sat in the back of Katie's head and hammered away at her consciousness. The constant drive to understand was going to earn her valedictorian honors when she graduated high school this year. That drive also caused her to pick away at puzzles such as this. Luckily Katie had her big brother to indulge her during these investigative crusades.

Now that Eric was officially on board it was time to make sure that everything was in place for when he arrived. Her parents always left in costume, so Eric and her would need outfits themselves to blend in. Luckily, Katie already had a more than a few cosplay outfits for the both of them that she knew her parents had never seen. Plus, she was reasonably sure they still fit. Now they needed an alibi.

Katie dialed up her best friend Jennie from the cheerleading squad as she rooted around in the closet for her favorite matching costume: old school Cyclops and Marvel Girl from the X-men. Katie created the outfits for their third convention together and the first costumes since she was truly proud of, so-

"Katie?" Jennie asked as she picked up on the other end, curious as to what warranted a phone call and not a text. Probably something best not written down, Katie was always smart like that.

"You're having a party tomorrow, right?" Katie inquired, laying out the two costumes on her bed to make sure all the parts were still there.

"Yeah..." Jennie replied, a little curious. Jennie was a bit of a wild child and Katie knew this, so she was curious as to why her normally aloof friend showed an interest in the raucous affairs. "Why, do you want to come?" the cheerleader asked, more curious than anything.

"Kinda..." she admitted. This being her Senior year of high school Katie felt a little behind the curve socially. Too much time with her classwork, her cosplaying and her brother had left Katie with a bit of a reputation as being not worth the effort. "But mostly I promised Eric that we might swing by and I wanted to make sure you were actually having a party." She explained.

"What?" her bestie blurted out as Katie could hear her sitting up in bed. "Eric is going to be in town? Did he ask about me?" Jennie asked with all of the subtlety of a bazooka.

Katie stifled a sigh, knowing full well how huge Jennie's crush was on her brother. She'd heard about it for years. In agonizing detail. "Yeah, we have somewhere to be, but if it turns out to be a bust we will stop by." She confirmed.

"Yes! You gotta come to-" Katie set the phone down on the bed and hit the speaker button, letting her friend get out her monthly gushing about Katie's brother. Eric had the prototypical American football player's build: tall, muscular and solidly built. A hair's breadth over 6'5", short cropped brown hair and a mischievous smile that had made Katie's friends ask about him constantly. However, to Katie he was her best friend, her convention buddy, her movie snuggle partner and her biggest supporter. Sure, he was handsome and it felt perfect being in his arms and... ok maybe Katie had a bit of a crush on her older brother. But that's normal, right?

"Katie? You there?" her phone asked for the third time. Fumbling on the bed for the phone, she picked it up and found her face flushed.

"Yeah, I'm here. If we can make it, we'll be there! See ya, Bye!" she hung up and sighed. Her mind having wandered again.

Well, the good news is that everything from their old costumes are all here. Bad news is that they may be a bit... tight. Or in her case, short. The green dress barely came down over her ass now, but she'll have a mask on and nobody would know who she was, so it'd ok. Eric probably wouldn't like it. Or maybe he would?

Katie felt her cheeks flush again and she quickly packed up the costumes before her mom can to check up on her. Her parents never took an interest in her cosplaying, trusting Eric to keep her safe and had never seen most of their outfits. After all, they wouldn't make for very effective cover if her parents realized who they were whenever they arrived to... wherever the hell they would be following them to.

Regardless, tomorrow would make for an interesting day.

Eric arrived home shortly after lunch on Saturday much to the delight of his mother, Marianne. The poor college student occasionally made unannounced trips home due to the relatively close distance between campus and hometown, but he hadn't had the chance to make one this semester.

"So what's the occasion?" his mother asked over lunch as her large son took a huge bite out of the family's previous night's leftovers. Nothing truly does beat home cooking.

"Katie wanted me to come help hand out Halloween candy since she'll be alone this year." Eric said before he took a drink. "The fraternity is playing this holiday a little low key, so I figure this will be a good opportunity to sneak home and see my beautiful mother of course." he grinned, laying it on a little thick. His mother was undeniably beautiful at 5'2" with striking brown hair and green eyes with skin a bit on the tan side. Actually it's about his own shade he mused, resting his arm near hers on the kitchen counter just to check.

"Uh huh." His mother said skeptically, eyes tightening but Marianne couldn't keep the smile off her face at the compliment. Mom's face flushed a bit and she sat up straighter, adjusting her tight tank top which caused her impressive rack to jiggle ever so slightly. Eric's eyes drifted over to them out of habit. They truly were eye magnets and he was fairly certain they were DD's, but never had the gall to ask nor or snoop through her laundry. Still, the college kid had enough experience with the fairer sex to guesstimate by sight. He realized he let his thoughts wander, so Eric made a show of stabbing the leftovers with his fork.

"And the free food?" he added, waving another fork of pulled pork before devouring it, hoping to satisfy her suspicious gaze.

"Ok, now that I believe." Marianne grinned. The rest of lunch was mainly peppered with conversations about how classes were going and what she had been up to while Eric was away, which sounded like not a lot. The garage door activated, indicating that his father, Jonah, and Katie were home from the wholesale store with candy for tonight.

"But whatever it is you two get up to, remember we won't be home tonight." She reminded me, clearing the used dishes from the kitchen island and putting them into the washer.

Eric's eyebrows perked up a bit at that "You two must be going to some party." He wondered out loud, warning bells ringing off too late in his head as he remembered to not tip his hand about tonight's activities. Luckily Marianne was oblivious to what her kids would really be doing tonight.

"Yeah, we are." She giggled softly, cheeks coloring before she retreated back into the house. Did mom actually giggle? The thought was lost when Katie blew in the side door to the garage and launched herself through the air at her big brother, threatening to knock him off the kitchen bar stool.

"Eric! So glad you decided to come home!" She beamed, grinning up at Eric with eyes alight of mischief.

"Of course, I wouldn't let my favorite girl stay home all alone to pass out candy." He smiled with a quick wink, wrapping his strong arms around her petite form to give her a bear hug.

Catching on instantly with a quiet giggle, Katie continued his ploy. "It'll be like when we were younger, scary movies and trick or treaters." She winked back as their father Jonah came in with a hilariously large bag of mixed candy.

"I hope this crap rots the teeth out of their little fucking heads." He grumbled, dropping the bag unceremoniously down on the kitchen counter. Eric couldn't help but laugh at the display, his dad a former navy man with a matching vocabulary. His father grinned when he saw his oldest home for the holiday, arching an eyebrow curiously at him. "What, no virgins to defile tonight? Goats to sacrifice in that hellhole of a fraternity you are a part of?" he inquired.

Eric rolled his eyes at his father's jest and gave him the same explanation that he did to his mother. A living breathing alibi from Katie seemed to satisfy his curiosity. The rest of the day was a typical afternoon at the Johnson household; mostly catching up on the goings on of the last two months since Eric had been away at school summer break. It wasn't until night had fallen that Katie's plan started to take form. Eric was lounging on the couch watching college football when his parents came out of their bedroom ready for the party. The game was afoot.

Their father was a tall man that Eric clearly inherited his build. Standing 6'3" and solid muscle Jonah's costume of choice for the evening was a motorcycle policeman complete with patrol belt, nightstick, helmet covering his fiery hair and large mirrored sunglasses which did a remarkable job of hiding his identity. Jonah was a sheriff officer by trade, a former SP grunt who transitioned to civilian life as well as someone with his gruff demeanor could. Pale skin and a head of red cropped hair flushed out his look along with piecing hazel eyes, though you could never tell behind that helmet and glasses.

However, his mother was clearly stealing the show. Marianne's arm was looped tightly within her husband's grasp as she walked out dressed as a cheerleader. Her brown hair was done up in pigtails with ribbons tied in them, face painted in the colors of Eric's old high school colors. The uniform actually looked li-

"Hey! That's mine!" Katie squeaked as she ran down the stairs. She heard their parents getting ready to leave and came down to do a little recon before they left and ended up getting a hell of a surprise.

"I know. Fits too." Her mother grinned, giving her family a little twirl in color matched sneakers. Eric couldn't argue the point, as the uniform did fit perfectly. Almost too well as the skirt hugged his mother's rear tightly and being a bit bustier than Katie as the top seemed to bounce with her every move.

The running joke in the family had always been that God most have messed around with a copying machine when it came to making the Johnson siblings. Katie was a spitting image of their mother just with a smaller bust but she inherited her father's bright red hair while Eric was gifted with his dad's build and athleticism and his mother's dark chestnut hair. It never became even more apparent now than as their mother gave a little cheer, holding up two pilfered pom-poms and laughed with her usual bubbly exuberance.

Eric glanced over at his sister and saw her face turn a new shade of red that he'd never seen before. He wasn't quite sure if it was from embarrassment or rage. Probably both. He reached over and placed a hand on the small of her back, steadying her and running it around to give her hip a squeeze which seemed to snap Katie out of her violent thoughts.

"Don't worry honey, it won't get dirty. I can promise you that." Mom assured her daughter, to which dad gave a quick barking laugh. Again Eric's radar pinged a bit but before he could ponder the comment and outburst his parents were already out the door and off to their party.

"Ok, I see what you mean now." he told his sister, glancing down at Katie whom responded with a cute little growl. He cocked an eyebrow. Definitely more rage than embarrassment.