After Forever (6 page)

Rania got up off the floor, and coaxed
Biscuit back into his cage. “That sounds great,” she marveled.

Once we had everything cleaned up, we headed
up towards the front desk. Branna was still sitting in the same
spot we had left her mere hours ago. It didn’t look like she had
moved from that spot. She didn’t even glance up at us when we
approached.

“We’re going off for some lunch now. If
you’re not too busy, you’re more than welcome to join us.” I said
to her.

She still didn’t look up at us. “That’s
quite alright,” she said in a monotone. “I’ve got a lot of work to
do. You go on without me.”

“Yeah, I really, really don’t like her,”
Rania commented, once we were outside. “Please don’t make me go
back there again. There’s just something about her. It’s not just
the fact that she was absolutely horrid to me. It’s something else.
I can’t quite put my finger on it. She just gives me the willies,”
she said with a shiver.

I hadn’t felt that way about her, but I had
spent a lot more time with her. Then again, she was always super
nice to me. Not the way she was about Rania. I wondered what that
was about. I told myself I would ask Branna about it the next time
I was there. I had to find out what was really going on.

“I am not going back there again,” Rania
declared after we had finished our lunch.

“I figured as much,” I said with a sigh.
“How would you like to spend the rest of the afternoon then?”

“Duh, the mall, obviously,” she sang. “Cute
boys, cute clothes, it’s obviously what we should be doing. Not
playing with cats and dogs.”

“I’ll have you know, I haven’t touched any
of the cats yet!” I retorted.

“It’s only a matter of time Crimson. You
best be careful. Your parents will freak if they find out. Relax, I
won’t tell them. Just quit neglecting everyone else around you.”
She threw one of her famous Rania looks at me yet again.

“Alright, alright, let’s go to the mall.” I
was in no mood to argue with her.

The next day I headed back to the animal
shelter. I was determined to get some answers. When I walked in,
Branna looked up at me. “Oh, you didn’t bring her with you again?”
she asked, almost grateful.

“No, she wasn’t impressed with your not so
warm welcome yesterday. If I may ask, what was that about?” I
looked down at the floor, hoping that I could handle what she was
going to say.

“It was nothing, I assure you. I was just
having a bad day, so much paperwork, and I haven’t been sleeping
very well. I didn’t mean to take it out on your friend. I hope she
will forgive me for acting so rudely towards her.”

I nodded, but wasn’t sure that I believed
it. I bit my tongue and said nothing about it though. “I’ll tell
her.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving me a genuine
smile.

I spent the morning and afternoon visiting
with the animals, with a short lunch break with Branna.

As I was walking home that afternoon, a
thought flitted through my mind. One of these days, I told myself,
I’d bring a nice picnic lunch for the two of us. I knew that she
would enjoy it. Maybe next weekend? Yes, next weekend would be
good.

I was almost home when I heard a noise
behind me. It sounded like I was being followed. I knew I should
just keep walking. But something inside me told me to turn around.
So I did, and there he was sitting on the sidewalk behind me, not
more than twenty-five feet away.

We eyed each other nervously, neither of us
moving. I knew I shouldn’t approach, but I couldn’t leave him there
either. It would be wrong and I knew it. So I slowly edged forward,
one step at a time, making sure that he wasn’t moving. I didn’t
know what I would do then.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I coaxed, as I
walked towards the tiny, jet black kitten; with glowing green eyes.
“It’s okay little guy. You’re safe now.” I was standing right in
front of him now. I knew I shouldn’t pick him up. I shouldn’t even
be standing here. I need to go. I need to turn around and leave.
Just keep walking, keep walking until I’m home. But I couldn’t just
leave him here either.

Then it hit me, I could take him to the
shelter. Yes, that is what I would do. I gently picked him up,
trying not to scare him. He didn’t seem to mind though. He snuggled
up in my arms right away, and started purring. It felt so right.
Everything inside of me wanted to keep him. But I knew I
couldn’t.

I walked slowly back the way I had come
from, hoping that Branna was still there. It was getting late, and
I knew she would probably be closing up soon. I walked as fast as I
could. When I got there, the building was dark and the door was
locked.

“Dang it,” I muttered. “Now what am I going
to do with you?” I didn’t have very many options. I sat down on the
curb to think. I had to come up with a plan. I couldn’t leave this
little guy alone. I couldn’t bring him home either. I sure as heck
couldn’t ask Rania either. She’d flip out on me for even picking
him up. Those were my only options. I didn’t like any of them very
much.

He looked up at me. He almost looked sad. I
knew a cat couldn’t look sad, but he did. “Don’t you worry little
guy, I’m going to take care of you.” Before I knew it, I was up off
the ground and walking home. I’d just have to hide him until
tomorrow. I could bring him to the shelter before school. I didn’t
know how I was going to hide him from my parents, but what choice
did I have?

When I got home, I checked the garage. The
car wasn’t there. At least that would buy me some time to figure
out a place to hide the cat until morning. It would have been
ridiculously hard to smuggle him inside with my parents at home. I
quickly went inside and up to my room. I set the kitten on my bed
and went in search of something for him to sleep on and food for
him. I would make him as comfortable as I could.

I took a blanket out of the hall closet,
filled a bowl with milk and grabbed some of the leftover chicken
out of the fridge. It was just going to have to do. I couldn’t get
kitten chow. I set everything down in my closet, picked the kitten
up from my bed and set him down in front of the blanket and food.
He devoured the chicken and milk, then curled up on the blanket and
went to sleep. I left the closet door open, so he wouldn’t freak
out, and then started on my homework.

A few hours later, mom called up to me to
say that dinner was ready. I hoped that I could play it cool. I
knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I had to do it. I tried to
stay calm as I slid into my chair at the table.

“What’s that smell?” dad asked as I sat
down.

“I don’t smell anything,” I commented. “I
don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mom walked into the room with a bowl of
mashed potatoes. “Oh my god, I smell it too. I know what that is.
It’s hard to mistake. Crimson, you have a lot of explaining to
do.”

I stared at her, incredulous. I didn’t know
what to say. “What are you talking about mom?” I tried to play it
off as I didn’t know what she was talking about.

“I smell cat! Now start talking,” she
demanded.

“I...umm…I…” I began.

“You what? Out with it already Crimson. Quit
stalling,” mom fumed.

I knew there was no way out now. She would
find out eventually. So everything came pouring out. The animal
shelter visits and the kitten asleep upstairs in my room.

Neither of my parents said anything after I
was finished. “Will one of you please say something? I don’t
understand what’s going on. How could you smell the cat on me? What
is the big deal? I’m going to take him to the animal shelter in the
morning. Just tell me what I’ve done wrong.”

“Oh honey,” mom said, shaking her head. She
turned to dad. “We better tell her the truth now, don’t you
think?”

Dad nodded. “Yes, we better. It may already
be too late though.”

“Too late for what? Tell me what’s going
on!” I exclaimed. This was getting frustrating.

She sat down and looked at dad. “Do you want
to tell her or should I?”

Dad thought for a moment. “You had better.
You know the stories better than I ever will.”

“What stories?” What had I gotten myself
into? What had I done?

“Our family is special, Crimson. Though I
wouldn’t call it special; it is more of a curse than anything. We
are drawn to them. I was once like you honey. I wanted a cat more
than anything. But your grandma wouldn’t let me have one. I didn’t
understand. She wouldn’t tell me why. So one day, I brought one
home from a friend’s house. I kept it a secret from both her and
your grandpa.”

I stared at her, awestruck. “So, you did
kind of the same thing I did then? So you can’t be too mad at me,
can you?”

“Yes and no. I do understand, but it doesn’t
make it right. I’m getting to that. What happened after tore my
world apart.” She was on the verge of tears, but choked them
back.

“What happened mom?” I was starting to get
very worried.

“People started dying.” She said it so
blatantly, that I thought it was a joke. But the look on her face
said otherwise.

“What do you mean people started dying?” I
couldn’t even wrap my head around it. “What does death have to do
with cats?”

“Brace yourself sweetie; this isn’t an easy
pill to swallow. Cats, they aren’t just cats. They are something
more than that, something evil. Not everyone knows the truth, not
everyone can see it.”

“See what? You’re not making any sense.” I
was so frustrated.

“See them for what they really are. They are
witches.”

“Witches? But they don’t exist, they’re just
in fairytales. This can’t be real.” I was shaking. Could it be
real? No, this couldn’t be real. But mom and dad’s faces, they were
somber, serious. They had no reason to lie about this.

“Our ancestors were one of the original
families that were able to see the truth. To see cats for what they
really were. I thought I could shelter you from it all, much like
your grandmother thought she could do for me. It apparently isn’t
as easy as I would have hoped it would have been. But I didn’t have
the guidance that I needed.” She was fighting back tears now.
“Crimson, the witches, they killed your grandma and grandpa.”

I shook my head. No, this couldn’t be true.
It just couldn’t. “I don’t believe you. This is insane. Witches
aren’t real! They aren’t! Why would you tell me this? I want to
know the truth.” I got up from the table and stormed out of the
room, ran up to my bedroom and slammed the door shut behind me.

The kitten woke up when he heard the door
slam. He got up from the blanket he was curled up on, did a stretch
and yawn, then sauntered over where I had collapsed on the bed. He
started meowing at me. I peered over the side of the bed. He was
looking up at me. I couldn’t help but smile.

How could this poor, little, innocent
creature be a witch? It couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. I
picked him up and set him on the bed next to me. He curled up next
to me, and started purring. I lay there, petting him. It was
comforting. I needed that. As I lay there, I decided that my kitten
needed a name. I pondered over it for a while, then it struck me, I
would call him Cinder. I didn’t know how or where I came up with
it, but I just knew that it was right.

When I woke up, it was still dark outside. I
looked at my alarm clock. It was 3 a.m. My stomach was growling. I
hadn’t eaten dinner, so I decided to head to the kitchen to make
myself a snack. What I saw when I got downstairs was unnerving,
terrifying. All the dishes were still sitting on the dining room
table. Nothing had been put away. That wasn’t like my mom at
all.

Something just felt wrong, very wrong. I ran
back upstairs and knocked on my parent’s bedroom door and called
out their names. I got no response, but if they were sleeping, they
more than likely wouldn’t hear me. I hesitated briefly, and then
pushed the door open. The bed was still made. It didn’t look like
anyone had even been in the room recently.

I was so confused. Where could they be? I
hurried from the room and ran out to the garage. Their cars were
still there. My mind was racing. I didn’t know what to do. Call the
police…and tell them what? What would I say? What could I say? I
would never be able to explain what had happened. I shook my
head.

I decided to search the house from top to
bottom. Maybe they had left a note or some sort of clue as to where
they had gone. After hours of searching, I had come up empty
handed. I resigned, forced myself to clean up dinner, made myself
something to eat, and tried to go back to sleep. I hoped that
things would look better in the morning.

I was quite restless though, and only
managed to get a few hours of sleep. I was just too worried. When I
finally climbed out of bed, it was almost ten. I went back
downstairs, but everything was just as I had left it.

I grabbed my cell phone from my purse. I had
several unread text messages, all from Rania. Wondering why I
wasn’t at school. I sat down on the couch, trying to decide what to
tell her. Maybe I should tell her to ditch school and come over. I
didn’t really want to be alone. But it wasn’t like I could tell her
anything either.

I stared at the phone in my hand, trying to
figure out what to do. I didn’t want to get her involved, but I
couldn’t stand to be alone either.

‘Can you come over? Something happened last
night.’ I finally sent her.

‘Sure. I’ll ditch at the next bell. See you
soon.’ She replied.

Thank goodness.

I was falling apart by the time Rania showed
up, apparently. Because she took one look at me and threw her arms
around me. And let me tell you, that isn’t typical Rania.

“What is going on?” she asked, concern
filling her eyes.

“You had better sit down,” I replied. “It’s
a long, complicated story. You probably won’t even believe me, but
I swear it’s all true.”