Abracadabra pspsps

      Neil staring into his soul in the morning isn’t something Andrew expected to wake up to. How did he even get here? The door’s still locked, as Andrew’s magic tells him, so what is Neil’s secret? He could change forms to open the door, but then Andrew’s wards would wake him, which didn’t happen.       At least Neil has the decency to sit on the floor and wait, thank the Fates. Andrew would hate to blast him into oblivion just because the idiot decided to jump on the bed.       “I’ll figure it out,” says Andrew, which gets him only a smug look from Neil. Damn cat.       Unfortunately, today is the day Andrew comes back to work, so he needs to get up. But truth to be told, he’s been going crazy for the last weeks from sitting at home, so a break from that will be nice. And he kind of misses the thrill his assignments bring.       Today’s special is a burnt down house which is supposedly haunted. The current owners want to build something different there, but every worker has been scared off so far ‘by a freaking ghost.’ Levitating objects and suspicious noises, even screams? Sounds fun.       The downside is that the job is outside of their town, so Andrew has to leave Neil for a whole day. It’s a lot of time for something to go wrong, especially when it comes to the familiar. Neil has a special talent for finding trouble, from what Andrew has seen so far. That’s why he needs a babysitter (cat sitter? Neil sitter?), and Renee seems like a perfect candidate for the job. The added bonus is Jean, who is more than capable of handling Neil, given the stories Kevin told him about.       Andrew breaches the topic during breakfast, “You’re staying with Renee today.” No question here because it’s not up for discussion.       Neil doesn’t seem to get the memo, though, “I don’t wanna.” He crosses his arms and glares at Andrew.       Sometimes, he really prefers it when Neil is in the cat form because then his traitorous mind doesn’t grace him with unwanted thoughts. Like kissing Neil’s pouting lips.       “It wasn’t a question.” Andrew looks through the window at the trees swaying in the wind, so that his mind can focus on something else. It’s not easy though, when the man sitting before him is unable to shut up.       “I can take care of myself, you know.” Neil’s cat ears are flat against his skull and the tail is swishing behind him, showing his displeasure.       Andrew pointedly looks at one of Neil’s bruises and raises his eyebrows, which puts a flush to the man’s cheeks. He mutters something under his breath, but even when Andrew strains his hearing, he can’t decipher the words.       Earlier today, Neil hit his head on the cupboard because he hadn’t noticed it was open. Now a bruise stands against his brow, but it’s already turning green, thanks to the familiar’s natural healing.       As soon as they finish breakfast, Neil turns into his cat form and goes who-knows-where. Andrew isn’t worried that he won’t find the familiar — it takes just a bit of effort to sense Neil’s magic. Ironically, it feels like a small flame licking your skin, on the verge of burning you. Isn’t that funny? ‘The Fates really have a good sense of humor,’ Andrew thinks as he washes the dishes.       Later, he threatens Neil with a cat carriage if the familiar doesn’t show himself in the next ten seconds. Neil’s unimpressed face is priceless.       On the way to Renee, Neil is sulking, giving Andrew the silent treatment. Which is fine — silence is his oldest friend, after all.       The familiar perks up when he sees Jean waiting for them on Renee’s porch, with one elbow on his knee, reading a book. The sweatpants and blue hoodie make him look like a regular guy, which is quite an amusing picture if you ask Andrew.       When Andrew parks his car, Jean doesn’t look up, but Andrew sees that he’s alert. When he sees Neil getting out of the car though, he relaxes a bit, but still has his guard up.       Andrew can’t blame the guy for not trusting him.       The familiars don’t exchange any greetings this time. Neil sits down next to Jean, close enough that their shoulders nearly touch, and looks at the book.       “Since when are you reading poetry?” Neil asks, disbelief in his voice.       “Not everyone’s as ignorant as you,” Jean says. Andrew was prepared to hear him hiss, but apparently it isn’t his lucky day.       The familiars continue their bickering as Andrew goes to see Renee. The inside of her house is filled with the aroma of drying herbs, just the same as her shop. The couch’s space is taken by pillows, and Andrew always wonders what’s the point of keeping so many of them.       He gives her a small piece of paper with an address — it’s better if someone knows where he’s going.       “He’s your problem for a day,” Andrew says. ‘Call me if something happens’ is the unspoken message between them.       “We’ll be fine.” The confidence in her voice is reassuring, and Andrew lets out some of the tension.       Now, being rid of the orange menace, Andrew is free to enjoy the peaceful ride. The road stretches on before him, only a few vehicles passing by occasionally. He’s truly alone for the first time in a while.       But it feels alien now, the silence not so comfortable as it used to be. It’s the first time he’s had only himself for company in weeks, since he decided to be a babysitter for Neil. And he’s kind of grown used to having someone in close vicinity, so now it feels weird to get back to how it was before.       Andrew turns on the radio to cut through the stifling silence only to find out that it doesn’t help much. At least his mind can focus on the shitty music, ignoring the uncomfortable emotions trying to take over.       Lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t notice the pass of time, but his GPS’ voice brings him back to reality. He stops his car and looks around, trying to orient himself.       On Andrew’s right stands the house he’s meant to investigate or at least what’s left of it. The roof is gone, same goes for windows and doors, giving a glimpse into the interior. The white walls are charred in some places, completing the haunting look. From what Andrew gathered from his clients, it was a big fire that killed a young woman that lived there alone — a classic if you ask him. People who die suddenly often linger in the living world — sometimes they don’t even realize that they’re dead. In other cases, the ghosts stay because there’s something still tying them to this world, be it their family, fortune — anything the person finds important. Most of the lingering ghosts don’t bring trouble, minding the business and quietly observing the world around them that they don’t belong to anymore. Unfortunately, in some cases they are or become malicious, as it often happens when someone dies a violent death. And that’s when Andrew comes in.       The neighborhood seems quiet — deserted even. It’s Saturday, so there should be someone mingling around, mowing the grass or whatever it is normal people do in their free time. But the few houses that stand here feel lifeless, the dark windows and empty driveways a sign that the residents probably left. Not that it’s surprising after a tragedy like their neighbor dying in a fire in her own home.       Andrew takes a deep breath, and maybe it’s his imagination playing tricks on him, but he can still smell the fire. Cautiously, he steps into the house, the debris crunching under his heavy shoes. The inferior is a mess — part of the roof collapsed during the fire, so Andrew needs to tread carefully. Some things survived the ordeal, like the heavy oak table in what probably was a dining room before. The house is filled with memories, and there’s nobody left to share them — this kind of thing is frequent in Andrew’s line of work, but it’s still as depressing as the first time.       The woman supposedly died crushed under the roof, as the news articles said. It’s speculated that the fire wasn’t an accident, but it’s where the official police reports end. The case was closed when they hadn’t found any new clues. Figures that the officers were so incompetent that they couldn’t catch the perpetrator.       What’s interesting is that the woman had plenty of time to escape the fire, as the firefighters said, though for some reason she didn’t manage to walk out in time. The mystery from a year ago remains, and now it’s on Andrew to solve it. He needs to figure out what’s keeping the ghost here — if it’s even real and not some joke played by the local kids.       So far though, he hasn’t seen any levitating objects or heard any screams. Bummer. The only thing that raises his suspicions is an occasional sound of fire crackling when there are no visible flames. Sometimes, the ghosts unintentionally project the moment in their life they’re stuck in, so if you’re the unfortunate victim of that, you might think you’re going crazy, when in reality it’s the ghost going crazy. Neat trick, if you ask Andrew.       When he’s about to go into the bedroom, the hairs on his neck stand up. He goes still and focuses on his surroundings, reaching out with his magic to grasp any unusual energy.       “Agnus!” a woman’s voice shouts. It seems to be coming from the other side of the house. “Where are you?” the woman asks, sounding panicked.       The sound of fire crackling is louder now, and the smell has grown stronger, too. Andrew tries not to cough when his brain is being tricked that there’s smoke around him.       “Agnus!” The woman is hysterical.       Andrew looks around for the ghost, ignoring his primal instinct to run away from the fire. ‘It’s not there, silly,’ he tells his brain as he goes towards the kitchen. Just as he takes a step through the threshold, the ghost passes through him, fast as lightning. A breath leaves Andrew forcefully like someone punched him in the guts, and he shivers. That was not pleasant.       The ghost is in the corridor now, looking agitated. It passes towards the bedroom. “Agnus, come out!”       The woman is clearly looking for someone, but whom? Was another person here during the fire that nobody knew about? Maybe some lover? ‘It doesn’t seem like it, though,’       Andrew thinks as he observes the ghost. Neighbors in small towns are nosy, so they would know all about it and likely share it with whoever asked.       “Hey,” he tries to get her attention, “Jane.” The woman — Jane — completely ignores him. That’s quite odd. Ghosts usually notice his presence or even feel compelled to, as one of them told him a while ago, especially when he says their name. The woman just passing through him earlier and now disregarding him is weird.       The job is more complicated than he thought. Splendid.       Andrew tries to get the woman’s attention a few more times, but the result is all the same. He huffs when the ghost disappears for now, the air instantly clearing from the suffocating scent of smoke. The silence now seems deafening, and Andrew comes to the conclusion that he’s done for today.       He has a mysterious Agnus to investigate.