Illusory

"The most useful dark spell," Krekkel began in a languid purr, her head resting on the leather cushion beside me on the couch, "is the maiming spell. Of course, that's just my opinion. You may not even have the stomach for it. For you, I would recommend the mind control spell, especially the one intended for humans and others of the more intellectually gifted species."

"Is it complicated?" I asked, watching in wonder as the flickering flames of her fur coat did nothing to the leather beneath her heavy head. The fire didn't burn the couch, it didn't burn the floor, it hadn't burned the Styrofoam plate when she'd been licking it clean. Would it burn me, I wondered?

"Not at all," she answered, blinking lazily up at me. "It doesn't require much more than any white spell. You simply focus on your intended victim, speak the word, and you'll have control of the person's mind until they break your hold or you do. It's not particularly labor intensive."

"Do I have to be looking at the person? Do I have to be near them?" I asked, my fingers twitching as I kept them from touching her fiery fur. "Or can I do it from anywhere?"

"Highly skilled magicians can do it from anywhere, so long as they know what the victim looks like," she answered, and her eyes finally drifted shut. "I believe that you would likely have to be close enough to see them. You're not used to your power yet, and I doubt that it would stretch very far."

"Does the...the victim," I stammered, the word feeling incredibly wrong on my tongue, "know what you're doing once you're in their head?"

"Only if they're gifted in the ways of magic," was the rumbled answer. "Most normal humans would probably lose consciousness while you were in control of them."

"So I can't test it out on Van?" I said with a sigh, already wracking my brain for another nearby test subject.

"I wouldn't recommend trying anything on that man," she said, her eyes drifting back open to reveal a look of such seriousness that I physically drew away from her. "He's not much stronger than you, but he's much more experienced. He would bury you alive if you tried anything against him."

I nodded. "I figured as much." I wracked my brain for a moment longer, then looked at Krekkel curiously. "Can you alter your form at all?"

"Do you wish for me to become smaller," she began to ask, rising to her feet with another long, slow stretch, "or do you wish for me to change my form entirely?"

"If you could become smaller and a little bit less on fire, it would be greatly appreciated," I said with a quick nod of my head.

"You're lucky I've grown fond of you, tiny human," she murmured, straightening at the end of her stretch. "I would not take such orders from anyone who aggravated me as much as your species tends to."

"I didn't mean it as an order," I said quickly, eyes wide in surprise. She'd grown fond of me? In the hour we'd known each other? I must've been pretty damn awesome. Maybe even as awesome as I'd always thought I was! "I only meant it as a request."

"Mm," she purred, almost as if she didn't believe me. But then, in a blaze of floor-to-ceiling fire, she turned into a small black cat with real fur and no flames. It was still a bit larger than the average domestic cat, but it would work. "Is this all right?" Her voice was the same low, feminine thunder, even in spite of her decrease in size. It sounded even more odd coming from such a tiny animal.

"Perfect," I said, grinning at how cute she looked now. "Now, we need to head down to the park to try out this spell."

"You should have allowed me to remain in my natural form, then," she said, walking to the door as I did the same. "You could have ridden me there."

"You would have let me ride you?" I asked, eyes widening to the size of golf balls.

Her small head rose and fell in another of her slow, dignified nods. "Of course. A human as powerful as you, no matter how physically inferior, deserves such a strong mount."

"Oh, wow," I whispered as I turned the knob and peeked into the hall, a quick scan of the place showing no signs of Van. "This day just keeps getting better and better!" We crept into the hall and, soon, out the door.

-?-

By the time we'd arrived at the park, I was freezing freaking cold. I regretted wearing just my thin red jacket and missed my wool coat terribly. Krekkel, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content with the chill to the air. I wondered if she had some sort of internal heat, like a fire where her heart should be or something else to match the fiery coat she usually had.

"There appears to be no one here," she purred from beside me as I plopped down on a bench. The wood froze my ass through my jeans, and I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to magically gain some more warmth.

"Somebody has to come by eventually," I said, though I doubted my own words even as I spoke them. "People always come through here, even when it's snowing like hell or pouring rain."

"It doesn't snow in Hell," she pointed out coolly, taking a seat next to me on the bench and giving her front right paw a quick lick. "It's much too hot."

"It's just a figure of speech," I said, a shiver rocking my whole body to make the last word come out in a slur. "How are you keeping so warm?" I chattered, my teeth clanking together as I shivered and shivered and shivered some more.

"It's the fur," she said simply, "and probably the fact that my organs are about as hot as the flames of Hell themselves."

"Really?" I asked, mildly surprised by the answer, though I really should have expected it. "Then shouldn't your body be steaming or something?"

"No," she answered, stretching out on her stomach, her front paws dangling over the front edge of the bench. "All of the heat is contained inside. My outer body is that of the average house cat."

"Oh," I said, my bare fingers twitching once again as I resisted the urge to touch her fur. "That's cool."

"There's probably a spell to keep you warm written in one of those books of yours," she pointed out, resting her chin on her arm, her red eyes scanning the area. I hadn't realized that they were still abnormally colored until just then, and I hoped that nobody else noticed. "And it's probably innocent white magic, too."

"Probably," I said, turning my attention to the park. My eyes lingered on the entrance across from us, a tree to either side of the cement walkway, then continued across the grass and the other benches and trees. "But I have no idea where to find it."

"I'm sure that man — Van, as you call him — knows of a book that contains it." Her ears perked up suddenly, and she pushed herself into a standing position on all four of her fluffy black paws. "I think I hear someone coming."

"From all the way over here?" I asked, my eyes darting back to the entrance. Sure enough, a woman bundled up in a thick, marshmallowy white coat, a pair of black gloves, a black hat, a black scarf, and a pair of ugly brown snow boots passed between the trees a moment later, a large golden retriever trotting alongside her. It barked happily, and she hushed it with a loud hiss that I could hear all the way across the park. She seemed very, very irritated, and I vaguely wondered why. It wasn't just the dog's joyful mood, was it?

"Oh, how I hate canines," I heard Krekkel murmur beside me, and I glanced over just in time to watch a shudder ripple through her dark fur.

"Should I try it on her?" I asked, watching out of the corner of my eye as the woman pulled a cell phone from her coat pocket and checked it, unable to do much else with those gloves on.

"As long as you make sure that she keeps a tight hold on that leash while you're at it," she answered, scowling at the happily prancing dog. I nodded once, then focused intensely on the woman as she walked down the path, still staring at her phone.

"Pectust Introrumpo," I whispered, just as Krekkel had instructed me earlier. I felt nothing for a moment, and the woman continued on her way down the path, the dog leaping and hopping all around her. But then, after a moment, I felt a burning sensation in my mind much like what I had felt when I'd summoned Krekkel. I clutched my head and let out a soft whimper, doing my best not to draw attention to myself. The pain quickly subsided, and when I peeked between my fingers, I saw that the woman had stopped dead on the sidewalk, staring straight ahead. Her fingers began to slip from the leash, and I quickly urged her to tighten her hold in my mind. She did so, and the dog continued to jump about, still safely contained.

"Unobservant little twit, isn't he?" Krekkel murmured beside me, but I kept my eyes on the woman, who continued to stand completely still and stare straight ahead with those eerily empty eyes. "Most animals would notice that magic was being used in the area, especially a pet when the magic was being used on its owner."

I made the woman take a step forward, seeing it vividly in my mind's eye, then another step, and another. I made her tuck her phone away in her pocket and turn to pet her dog, who barked happily at the attention.

"Look at that!" Krekkel hissed in disgust. "Looking right into her eyes, and it doesn't notice a thing!"

"Should I let her go now?" I asked, and I could almost feel it as the dog licked lovingly at its master's gloved hand.

"Yes, yes," the cat murmured, regaining her composure and sinking into a lazy lying position on the bench. "If you'd like to, anyway. It seems that the dog is much happier having you as its master."

"Hopefully she'll be better to it in the future. She's probably just in a bad mood," I said, and broke the connection I'd so painfully built between our minds. It stung like a slap in the face, but the pain was nothing compared to what had surged through my mind when I'd created the connection in the first place.

"We can hope," she murmured, though I could tell that she didn't really mean it.

The woman jerked as if something had startled her, straightening from where she'd been bent over the dog to look about her in wonder and confusion. After a moment, she shrugged and continued down the path, hushing the dog again when it barked.

"Did I do all right?" I asked, my eyes drifting carefully away from the woman when she glanced in our direction.

"Yes, you did," she answered. "You did it perfectly, in fact, but for an overflow of power. I can see why that Van person no longer wishes to teach you."

"Overflow of power?" I questioned, turning to frown down at the cat.

"Your mind continues to let power slip out even after you've completed the spell," she explained. "A bit of energy is needed to maintain such a spell, but what I felt was much in excess of that." She seemed to be frowning, her eyes searching my face as if they would find the answers to all of her questions there. "I don't know why. It seemed as if you'd cut off the flow of energy very consciously, yet it kept coming."

"Is that...Is that bad?" I asked hesitantly, figuring that the answer would be the obvious one.

"Not yet, but it could become a very serious problem when you move on to more advanced types of magic." She turned her gaze to the woman and her dog, a sneer lifting her upper lip. "Look at it, just dashing about like it owns the place." I took that as the end of the conversation, so I didn't say another word about it, though I desperately wanted to know more. This had to be really, really bad if it was even worrying Van.

"Let's head back now," I said as I got to my feet, my eyes following the woman for a moment. "We can stop at the store on the way home and get you some more steak."

"Steak!" she cried, leaping eagerly from the bench. "We must hurry to the steak!" She took off at a sprint toward the park's entrance, and I followed with a laugh that echoed conspicuously in the stillness of the park.

-?-

Krekkel followed me into the house at a happy trot, humming some pleasant melody behind me as I carried three plastic-wrapped trays of bloody meat into the house. It had cost me an arm and a leg to buy them all, but I couldn't wipe the silly grin from my face. She was just too cute when there was steak involved. Besides, I couldn't really complain about having to pay for this. She was helping me so much more than Van had been, and she certainly deserved some sort of compensation for it.

"Back to the fire-room?" she asked in a cheery rumble as I shut the creepy front door behind myself. Luckily, Van wasn't in the room, so we hadn't had to sneak through a window or something.

"If you want," I answered. "But you're always welcome to come to my room, if you'd prefer."

"Is there more room in there?" she asked, excitement glinting in her red eyes.

"A little bit," I said, "but not too much."

"Which would you prefer?" she asked, head tilting quizzically to one side.

"My room would probably be a lot more comfortable," I answered, and she nodded, so I led the way up the stairs. I moved on tiptoe, silent as could be, hoping that Van wouldn't hear me. Fortunately, I heard the shower running just before I reached the second floor, so I figured that we were safe to make as much noise as we needed to. Within reason, of course.

"It smells odd in here," Krekkel remarked when we entered my bedroom, her tiny black nose twitching madly.

"Is it bad?" I asked, frowning, as I set the plates of snakes down on my unmade bed. I hoped nothing bled through to the white sheets beneath the Styrofoam.

"No, no," she answered, leaping onto the bed beside the meat, her eyes instantly becoming glued to the animal flesh. "It's no worse than the rest of the house, really. It just smells...different."

"Oh," I said, wondering what exactly she meant, "all right."

"Must I remain in my smaller form here?" she asked, already tearing at the plastic of the topmost container on the pile. "Or would it be acceptable to become my natural size again?"

"As long as you're able to shrink and hide if Van shows any inclination of coming in, you're more than welcome to become your normal size," I answered. "Just...Please, get off of the bed first. I don't know if it could support that much weight."

"Of course," she said, finally tearing her eyes away from the steak as she leaped off of the bed. She landed gracefully on the floor, then, without a second's delay, returned to her normal size in a blaze of fire that neither singed my carpet nor set my bed on fire. Without further ado, she tore into the steaks in the top package, and I went off to my nightstand to look through my phone and pretend that I wasn't here.

I flipped the silvery cell phone open, discovering that I'd received one new text message from my friend Kent and nothing else. Nobody seemed to love me today. I sighed and put my phone back in its place on the small table, my eyes already surveying the room in search of something to do while the Hellcat ate her precious steak.

"Ember?" I heard a call from down the hall. "Is that you?"

I pursed my lips and glared at the door. After what he said to me, he had no right to carry that much worry in his voice. It just wasn't right.

"Yeah, it's me," I said as I stepped out into the hall, unable to shake my scowl. I found Van leaning out the bathroom door, covered only by a white towel wrapped loosely around his waist. I could still hear the water running in the background. "What do you want?" I asked, tugging the door shut behind me to cover the sounds of Krekkel's vicious chomping.

"I wanted to make sure that you were all right," he answered, frowning at my glare. "Where did you go earlier?"

"Out," I answered flatly. "Do you need anything else?" I asked, and reached for the doorknob.

"Look, Ember," he sighed. "I didn't mean to hurt you with what I said earlier. I just...I had to say it. I have no choice in the matter, really. I just can't teach you anymore."

"Yeah, I know," I said shortly. "I got it the first time." I started to turn the knob, and he lurched out of the bathroom doorway.

"Ember, wait," he said, taking a couple of steps closer. I stopped twisting the door handle and turned to him, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. "Are you ever going to stop being angry with me?" he asked, and I could hear a hint of desperation to his tone. "I don't want this to hurt our relationship. You know I wouldn't have said something so cruel if I didn't have to."

"I don't really know anything about you, Van," I said, my words clipped. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there are some things I need to do." I started to push the door open, but he stopped me again with a cry of my name.

"Ember, wait!" he shouted, taking another couple of steps toward me. "Would you...Do you think you could meet me downstairs in about an hour? I have something I want to show you."

"Okay," I said, "but it had better be good." I disappeared into my room. He said nothing to stop me this time.