Chapter 17

The next morning I was woken up early by the kitten all but jumping on my face. With a bit of reluctance. I woke up and listened as the kitten meowed at me, probably trying to tell me that it was hungry or thirsty. And so I got up and took it downstairs to give it a little bit of food and a small thing of water. Mom came out shortly after, already dressed and ready for the day and watched the kitten. While I went upstairs to get ready, I brushed my hair and brushed my teeth before getting dressed and grabbing my bandanna and going downstairs to meet my mom. We waited about an hour or two before we left the house. And with the kitten to make our way to the vet’s office.

At first glance, the kitten didn’t seem sick or injured, but it was better to be safe than sorry, not to mention if anybody had reported a kitten missing. The vet was probably one that knew about it. Part of me hoped that the kitten was just a stray and didn’t have a home that way. I would be able to keep it. I felt connected to it and didn’t wanna give it up. But if it had a family, then I was going to do right by the kitten and let it go home. And in the end, I would just be happy that it was found safe and unharmed. The vet’s office was all due to the fact that Wichita was a small town and only had one actual vet on staff. We got there a bit early and realized that the vet didn’t open for another 20 minutes. And so we sat in the car petting and playing with the kitten, making sure that it felt safe and wasn’t scared while we waited for them to open the doors

Before long, they opened the doors to the public. And we went inside since we were so early, the vet had plenty of time to see us even without making an appointment. And they understood that this was a sudden situation. And so they weren’t angry. We took the kitten into a back room and explained that we had feted a little bit of tuna and made sure it drank. It seemed to be fine, no apparent injuries, but we wanted to make sure that it was still healthy and asked if they had seen this kitten before. If they knew of a family that was missing one, They told us they’d, hadn’t heard anything about a missing kitten and this kitten wasn’t one of their usual patience. My heart swelled at the thought of being able to add the kitten to the family. They took some blood to run some tests, but the kitten didn’t have any broken bones or ailments that were readily apparent. And so we just had to wait for the tests to come back. It turns out the kitten was a little boy, and that meant that the kitten would be called Merlin. It took a little bit of time for the tests to be run and for them to get the results back.

But, once they did, they informed us that the kitten was in near perfect health and was just a little bit underweight and a bit dehydrated. But other than that, it was healthy and happy, and I could go home, Thanking them. We paid the fine and got back in the car since it didn’t seem to already have a family mom stuck to her word and allowed me to keep it. She also really liked the name Merlin as well. And so we took Merlin to the local store to get him some food, a litter box, and a collar along with some toys and other necessities for cat care.

With everything bought and bagged, we went back home. The vet estimated Merlin to be about 6 weeks old, So we didn’t, so we didn’t have to worry about it being away from its mother. Once we got home I started setting up the litter box and giving him some actual cat food. We went ahead and bought some canned cat food, deciding that he was too young to be eating dry food right now. The collar that we got him was a bright blue with a little black bell on it. He wasn't exactly happy to be wearing it, but I knew that he would get used to it soon. It was just unfamiliar. I could tell mom was already warming up to Merlin already growing attached just like I was. We spent the first part of the day bonding with Merlin and taking hundreds of pictures. Before I knew it mom had to go into the study to work so I was left alone with Merlin in the living room. We were sitting on the couch while I continued my research. Suddenly Amelia appeared in front of me, making me jump out of my skin.

“He’s here!” She exclaimed. I didn’t respond verbally. Instead I just looked at her in confusion while my hand was placed over my heart in an attempt to slow it to its normal rhythm. “He broke through my barriers somehow!”

“you know him better than I do,” I responded. “Surely you know what he wants.”

“The Evan I knew died the day I did. This one is a stranger to me.”

“Okay, what do you need me to do?” I sighed. She said I needed to put up new and stronger wards around the house. So I got up and mixed some water and salt together and grabbed a white candle. Going around to every door and window I used the flame of the candle to “burn " away the previous wards and use the saltwater to put up new ones. Amelia did everything she could to keep Evan at bay but to my dismay I could hear his knocking sooner than I could ward him off. With how loud he was knocking and yelling I was surprised mom hadn’t come out of her study to see what was going on.

" Amelia!” he shouted as he banged on the front door. " I know you are there!”

“Do not let him in, Wynter!” She exclaimed. “Go away Evan! "

Suddenly He Went quiet, “Amelia?”

She looked genuinely worried, scared even It was surprising to see her express any emotion. She silently shook her head as if to tell me not to say she was here. ‘Amelia Please just talk to me.” He Begged. “Please!”

He Sounded heartbroken. His voice cracked like he was holding back tears. I would have felt bad if Amelia wasn’t so scared by him. I’m sure doesn’t want to cause harm, but he might not know how to control his energy. So while he may have good intentions there could end up being Collateral if he let his anger get the best of him.

“ Amelia, please answer me,” he said in a quiet voice. “I Love you…”

Silence washed over us as shock and disbelief washed over Amelia’s face.

Tears springing her eyes as she shook her head over and over again. “He’s lying " , she said mostly to herself. Though even I could tell she wasn’t convincing herself.” don’t give into him Amelia; he isn’t your Evan, not anymore. "

“I know this isn’t exactly my place, but he sounds pretty sincere. "

" Believe me, he can be convincing when he wants to be.” was her only reply.

Deciding not to try to argue, I focused on finishing the wards. I just had to take her word for it. Although part of me started to believe that maybe if she just spoke to him everything would work itself out, but I have to respect her choice as well As her intuition. After all, it my research proved anything I didn’t know the type of person that Evan Mikhale was. The only thing I knew for sure was that he had betrayed Amelia. If nothing else, she lost her trust in him.

Nevertheless even with my wards Evan didn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon. “should I try and banish him?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

“I am not sure if it would work but it is worth a try. “Amelia responded.

Nodding I sat down and closed my eyes, I wasn’t sure how effective this would be, but I had to try.

“house and home sanctuary to me,

I call upon the power of three to release this space of negativity.” I chanted.

. I visualized a powerful white light traveling room to room until eventually the light got to the front door. I could almost see Evan outside on our porch, I pictured the white light encompassing the door making it impossible for him to touch it. Each room glowed with protective energy.

“I’ll be back Amelia,” he shouted. “I’m not done yet!”

And with that he was gone. I could see the relief wash over Amelia, her shoulders seemed to relax before she too disappeared to wherever she went when she wasn’t with me. I could feel my energy leave me as I laid back on the floor. Merlin walked up and laid down with me, giving my cheek some kitten licks. I couldn’t help but smile and give him some pets in return.

“Welcome to the family Merlin.” I joked. “hopefully soon it won’t be nearly as crazy around here.”

He looked up at me with wide eyes simply meowing as if he was responding as if he understood what I was saying. I don’t know how long Merlin and I laid there but when mom finally came out of her study she instantly asked what happened. With a sigh I finally told her about Amelia and Evan.

“Sweetie, why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked.

“I didn’t want to stress you out .” I answered honestly, not wanting to see the disappointment In her eyes. “I was hoping this would be an easy fix.”

“Wynter, I’m your mother. It’s my job to take care of you, not the other way around.” She lectured, placing a hand on my shoulder. “After dinner I’ll go and boost the wards, just to be safe.’’

Nodding, I started to feed Merlin while we waited for mom to finish cooking. She decided to make some simple grilled cheese, not that I was complaining. Mom's grilled cheese was arguably the best grilled cheese in The World. We ate quickly not realizing how hungry we were. After we were done I took Merlin to my room to rest while mom went to boost the wards. Needless to say I was borderline exhausted; I was ready to fall asleep at any moment. Merlin played on the floor while I lay in bed trying to stay awake, I was jolted awake by my phone suddenly ringing startling me.

“Hello?” l answered, not bothering to check caller ID.

" Guess Who got their phone back.” Cameron said on the other line.

" Brad Pitt, " I joked.

" Ha-ha.” he replied sarcastically. “No, My dad finally convinced my mom to give me my phone.”

“So you've received your one phone call during your lock up?” I teased. “I was starting to believe you were being denied your rights.”

“nope, my rights are being respected " he chuckled. “Before you know it I'll have my freedom back too.”

“Really?” I asked, not really believing it.

“Really, really.” I could hear the smile in his voice. " So now have you been in my absence?”

“I got a kitten. “I answered.

He let out a jubilant laugh. “You missed me so much, you replaced me. With a cat?”

“His name is Merlin, and I have many pictures to show you. So you can see how cute he is.”

We continued talking about this and that, unconsciously avoiding any serious topics. If he sensed that anything was wrong he kept it to himself; so I didn’t tell him about today’s events other than going to see the vet. Besides Quizzing him about his family history felt like more of an in-person kind of conversation. Trying to slip in a ‘hey your dead ancestor trying to break in to my house for an unknown reason and it’s low key scary” wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. I'll probably fill him in tomorrow. but right now ‘just wanted to talk to him. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until this moment. We talked for a couple hours before we decided to go to sleep. Promising to talk tomorrow at school we said our goodbyes.

Sleep washed over me soon after and thankfully I had now more visitors for the night. No strange dreams plagued me that night nor any more conversations with earth bound spirits. Waking up the next morning, I felt SUPER rested and refreshed. I got ready quickly and took Merlin downstairs for breakfast. We ate together quietly, simply deciding to move our focus from each other to our much-appreciated food. Honestly, I was half expecting Amelia to appear with more bad news. But much to my delight breakfast passed by with no interruptions from unwanted visitors. Mom came out shortly before I had to leave for school, she greeted me with a tired smile and a small hug before going to make herself some jam and butter toast. Soon after I said goodbye and grabbed my backpack and left for school. I played with the Jewel around my neck absentmindedly until I saw Cameron waiting for me.