Chapter 2: Chapter 2

I look to see if I can find anything but there’s just darkness all around me while i’m being pushed in one direction. This has been going on long enough that it seems as though it is going to be endless. I try my best to will myself into remaining calm and not panicking. I’ll have to reach an end at some point. At least i’m not tumbling around and there’s a direction ahead of me that I can focus on. The darkness just continues on. It feels like i’ve been stuck in pitch black forever. There’s really no way for me to concentrate on some sort of aspect of time like this and i’m impatient enough that I just want it to end. I have no idea what this even is. Is there even an end to it at all? Am I dead and trapped inside of some sort of endless void? It goes on like this until I eventually notice a small light ahead. A light that i’m being lead toward. They say not to go toward the light at the end of the tunnel but it’s not like I have a choice. It’s how it would be falling off a cliff, you can’t change your direction. It’s not something i’ve personally experienced but it only makes sense. It’s also not a tunnel from what I can tell but what do I know? I can’t see enough of anything to even really say. Over time the light seems to be getting closer and closer because it’s getting larger until I eventually get close enough where I can see something inside but what is it? I go through.

My movement has now stopped. I look around and i’m now lying with my back to the floor. There’s a black glow around my back and the rest of my body. It gives off a beaming sound and soon goes away altogether. There’s someone here, they’re standing over me. I remain lying still, looking up at them. It’s a girl. She has straight black hair that falls past her shoulders, very pale skin, brown eyes, thin and she’s wearing some sort of black robe. To put it bluntly, she’s some sort of Asian. East Asian? Japanese? Korean? Chinese? I can never really tell the difference. I admit i’ve never really been someone who is very cultured in these sorts of things but whatever.

I lift myself off of the ground and stand up. The girl steps away from me and distances herself. She stands behind a table to have something between us. I approach the table as well and stand on the opposite side. “Where am I?”, “and who are you?”, I ask. “The Mistwoods”, she answers. At least we speak the same language. It would make things difficult otherwise. She doesn’t give an answer to my other question. “And you are?”, she asks. “Cassius”, I answer. She closes her eyes, her head nudges down as she snickers. Her hands are placed on the table in front of her, leaning her body against it while looking straight at me. “Where did you get a name like that”?, she says. “I don’t know. I was born with it”, I respond. She has a smirk on her face. “Shouldn’t your name be something like James, Justin, George, Michael instead”?, she asks condescendingly. “I guess my parents were a bit more creative than that”, I say. “And what’s your name”?, I ask again. Her smile is gone. She stands there starring at me. “So what just happened that got me here”? I question her. “You were summoned, she quickly responds. “Summoned?! By who? And for what reason?, I ask. “By me. You’re my familiar”, she answers. “Familiar?! What’s a familiar?”, I ask. “You should know. You have stories about them in your world”, she says. “So it’s safe to assume they’re the same thing here? I’m a pet to a witch”?, I ask her. “You could put it that way”, she responds.

“How did your parents manage to come up with a name like Cassius”?, she says. “I honestly have no idea”, I tell her. I always hated my name. I was often teased, called Assius. In turn, I hated everyone for it. “Well…” she starts to change the subject. I interrupt and ask, “Do you have any food and water?, I have no idea how long it’s been since i’ve eaten. I normally wouldn’t ask but I’m kind of starving and dying of thirst”. She looks down at the table in front of me. I look down as well and see food and a drink laid out on the table in my place to sit down at.

I pull out the chair and sit down. I pick up the knife and fork. I look up at her. She’s still glaring down at me. “Oh, sorry, thanks”, I tell her. She stops leaning forward on the table and looks away. I start eating the food and guzzling down the drink. I’m just glad to be out of that black hole or whatever it was. I pause for a moment and think to myself. She’s a witch, right? Maybe she’s trying to poison me or fatten me up to eat me. Well, she did say i’m here to be her familiar. Which is something at least similar to a pet if not the same and who would want to poison or eat their pet? So I suppose i’d be safe from something like that. I should just go along with things for now and i’ll eventually find out more about what’s going on. I finished eating my meal. She’s been standing with her back leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, looking off to the side while i’ve been eating. I nudge the plate forward after being done and wipe my mouth with a napkin.

She pulls out her chair at the table and sits down. My plate, silverware, cup, napkin have all vanished. A book appears in front of her on the table. It opens up to the first page on it’s own. A blank sheet of paper is also now set on the table in front of me. The pages I can see of her book are blank. Then I see in a large font size, the name Sara appear on the page of her book along with other writing. “S-”, I start to say. She looks up from her book at me, tensed and is now glaring through me. I hold my tongue. I notice there are now words on my page. “The Survival Guide for Familiars”, it’s titled. There is just one thing now mentioned below the title. It reads, “If you somehow ever find out the name of your witch, you must never say it aloud”. The words disappear after I finish reading them. The title still remains. If what she said about familiars being similar to how they’re depicted in stories from my world then I should assume there are similarities about witches as well so I can only imagine it’s best that I try to never get on her bad side. “So is that your spell book?”, I ask her. “It’s more than just that”, she says. A scroll appears beside me in the air and unravels down. I try skimming through it. “What is this?”, I question her. “Your contract”, she answers while still reading her book. On the bottom of the contract I see a place to sign. I notice there is now new writing on the survival guide. It reads, “Never decline your contract with your witch”. The words disappear after I read them. The title still remains. “I need something to write with”, I say. A quill now appears in the air beside the contract. I reach for the quill and grab it. A sharp edge extends from the quill and stabs into my palm, injecting itself deep inside. I grab my wrist and my hand grips the quill tighter as a reaction from the pain. “Don’t fight it”, “just sign your name” she says plainly while continuing to read through her book. I struggle but I manage to sign my name on the contract. My name shows written in blood at first then turns into what seems to be regular ink. The quill and the contract are now gone. The pain from the quill still remains.

Shackles instantly appear on my wrists, ankles and neck. “What are these for?!” I say. “You read your contract, didn’t you?” she responds. “Not all of it!”, I exclaim. The shackles turn into black glowing rings then they dissolve into my skin. I remain seated in my chair, shocked over all of what has just occurred. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?” she says. I don’t answer. I eventually regain my composure. “Is that everything?”, I ask. “That’s just the start”, she says with a smirk. “Then what’s next?” I ask hesitantly. “Now you get to turn into your familiar form”, she tells me. “Familiar form?!”, I say. She gets up from her seat. “You need to stand”, she says. I get up also and stand behind my chair after pushing it in under the table. She walks over to me. “You’ll need to concentrate on your bindings and think of a house pet from your world”, she explains. “This isn’t going to turn me into a frog or a bug, is it?”, I say worriedly. She laughs. “I prefer cats”, she says. “This is something we have to do together and you only get to do it once”, she tells me. She puts her hands out in front of me with her palms up. I place my hands on top of hers. It seems that’s what she wants me to do. Then she drags me over a bit to make room away from the table. “Close your eyes. Concentrate on your bindings and a house pet”, she tells me. “You mean, a cat”?, I ask. She ignores the question.

I close my eyes and think of a cat. A black cat. It seems fitting. After a few minutes, I feel burning where my shackles were, my wrists, ankles and neck. The burning increases. My hands are kept in place in hers until it seems i’m shrinking into the floor. I open my eyes and i’m at ground level. Why am I so short? I look around and wag my tail. My tail?! Oh shit! Am I really a cat?! I notice my arms and legs are down on all fours. I see Sara looking down at me. She kneels down and places her hand on top of my head and starts to pet me with a smile on her face. I start to purr as she sits knelt down petting on my head and down my back. Why the hell am I purring?! I’m not even into furry shit! Why did I have to get turned into a damn cat?! She picks me up and carries me over to a fancy looking armchair where she sits down and has me sitting on her lap where she continues to pet me and I continue to purr. How the hell did I end up like this?! How do I change back?! Can I even change back?! I can’t even talk now because i’m a cat! So it’s not like I can ask the damn witch for information! Am I going to be stuck as a cat now forever?!

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