Chapter 4

Carina's POV

"Bloody hell" Who exactly was this woman?

"Are you coming inside or would you rather stand there gawking?" she pokes fun at me smiling coyly from the door of the house acting as if I was the odd one in this situation, anyone in their right mind would react the same way I was, standing slack-jawed in front of a mansion that seemed to appear out of thin air!!

Her Queen Anne Victorian-style mansion looked so out of place in this humble little lane, its reddish-brown colors drowned out amidst the sea of brightly colored little houses, I recognized the style immediately because my mother was madly in love with anything architecture especially the ones dating back to the Victorian era, you couldn't get her to shut up about it if you tried

Was this normal?!

I turned my head from side to side hoping to see anyone who felt even a fraction of the awe I was feeling but I found nothing, there was no one in that street which was another shock to me, I lost track of how many turns it took for us to get here but I knew for a fact we didn't walk long enough to get far from the bustling crowd that threatened to swallow me whole

The building was beautiful, it had a steep roof with cross gables which gave the roof a distinct texture, an asymmetrical front façade, the roof extended to a princess tower in the center, and two large triangular windows of different sizes on the side, an expansive porch with decorative intricately carved wood trims, the princess tower had a polygonal front corner tower with a conical roof, on top of that roof was a silver rod with a Golden gem

Mesmerized by the Gem I caught sight of a bird flying over the house, the moment it hovered over the fence the bird disappeared and then reappeared on the other side of the house, my mouth flew open in disbelief bringing my hands to my face rubbing my eyes furiously, maybe being dead was messing with my eyesight

"..The building isn't going anywhere, plus it looks better in daylight.." Felicia stated urging me to stop wasting her time, annoyed or not her taunts piqued my interest, the house was illuminated in warm orange light liken to that of a candle's glow, who uses candles in this day and age? the orange tone gave the house a feeling of whimsy and foreboding, her saying the house was more marvelous during the day was enough to make my toes curl in anticipation

I take my first step towards the building, the entrance was guarded by a low metal gate which was already open thanks to Felicia, the entrance at the gate had a plaque on it with the words 'LEBLANC' carved in gold, I stepped into the yard and the soft smell of cinnamon mixed with peppermint and jasmine tickles my nose, an odd combination but a good one, working at the Diner I've had my fair share of experimentation with spices but I never tried this blend, I wish I did because now I would never get the chance

Seeing me walk towards her Felicia pushed open her doors heading inside the house and leaving them open for me, inside the house the smell of cinnamon was much stronger and the sight was just as astonishing

The walls at the entrance were covered in a velvet red wallpaper, the floors were dark hardwood with a dark green rug stretching from the door into the foyer, Past the entrance on the right was a flight of stairs leading to the floor above, to the left, was a row of shelves, on each shelf were transparent mason jars which held herbs, liquids, and things that looked like they crawled out of my nightmares, one glass, in particular, was filled with eyeballs and that was the least creepy thing on that row

"Over here!!" I hear her voice call to me from a separate room bringing it to my knowledge that I was alone in a room filled with dangerous objects

I followed her voice which led me to a wide parlor, the couches were a vintage green with lace cushions, and the tables were dark wood with glass fittings, Felicia was sprawled out on the couch her heels discarded beside her, her hat on the opposite chair and her hand clutching a glass of red wine

"Wine?" she asked me as soon as I passed the wooden archway separating the parlor from the hall, her question innocent, hospitable even, making her a good host if only she wasn't offering it to a dead woman

I raise an eyebrow at her, cocking my head to the side at her childish antics, which she chose to ignore, moving further inside the room my stride was halted by a large....what the hell even is that thing?!

My question hung in my throat as it jumped at me swiping its claw and missing my chest by mere inches, It stumble back falling to the ground and gripped my chest, my eyes trembling as I zero-zero in on the beast stalking toward melts' body large, it's frame resembled a Tiger, it's fur was a whitish blue with blue stripes, the hairs on its body flowed in a room with no open windows yet they swayed like flames, its eyes were molten gold, it's clawing an icy blue, a low grow resonated in its chest as it inched closer and closer

In desperation I seek out Felicia begging her with my eyes to save me, my body frozen in fear unable to move a limb, it's gaze deep and penetrating, Felicia ignored my plea and instead swirled the wine glass in her hand before taking a small sip

Is this it?

Was I going to die?

Again?!!

Something in my body told me this creature was a threat to me, maybe it was the way its body swirled like mist like it would disappear from this plain of existence at any minute, or maybe it was its sharp fangs that glistened under the glow of the orange light blub, either way, this was the end for me

I closed my eyes in hopes it would at least make my second passing quickly, feeling it's hot breath fan across my face I braced myself for the sharp pain of being impaled once again but instead, a rough wet sticky sandpaper towel ran across my cheek from my chin to the top of my forehead

Gross!

My eyes fly open, and instead of the vicious predator I surrendered my life to I came face to face with a giant Kitty cat, the large beast was down on its stomach, its head in the air cocked to the side, its pupils big and round as it stared at me playfully

I am so confused

I glance over to Felicia who is trying her hardest to swallow the fit of laughter caught in her throat

"What is going on?" I ask her hoping the anger in my voice was pushing forward

"What's going on is that you, my friend, are a lot more eager to die than I thought, I've known you for less than 24 hours and I've already seen you lower your neck to a blade TWICE!!, you should be more cautious" she finishes taking a sip of her wine leaving me to trip over myself by the sheer weight of her audacity, as if she wasn't the one that brought me here!!

"Enough riddles..." I demanded, I could only take so much from her

"Excuse me...I'm the only one answering questions" she tthrewherthrew her protest but her eyes glinted with mischief

"Please..." I begged, I was desperate, and when the realization finally hit me I would be a wreck, I was not sure what force was holding my sanity together neither did I know how long it would hold before it finally snapped, so before that happened I would like to get some answers

Sensing my desperation Felicia drops her wine glass sitting up from her position on the couch and fixing her dress and her composure "This is Nerva, and Nerva is my Familiar, Familiars used to Wandering Souls and Wandering Souls are spirits whose souls are still shackled to this mortal plain by strong connections or emotions....."

Spirits? This giant creature is a spirit? does that mean....?

"....I see you're finally starting to figure things out, that took less time than I thought..." a compliment is s compliment no matter how backhanded it sounds so I'll take it, "....When souls die, the ones at peace pass on into the afterlife while others, Other souls who were unable to pass on peacefully, who were feeling strong emotions at the time of their death, joy, love, sorrow, regret, jealousy anger, those emotions become physical chains that forcefully bind a soul to this world, the souls bound by feelings of love become wandering souls while souls bound by feelings of hate become Dredas, beings of pure darkness, malice, spite, truly nasty things...." as she spoke her words bounced around in my head, the one thing that kept repeating itself was that I wasn't alone, I found comfort in that knowledge

"...Nerva over there is the soul of a White tiger, she was pouched as a cub and sold to a traveling circus, the conditions were terrible, they would starve her, abuse her and force her to cross-breed with whatever cat they found, it took a toll on her, and when she got pregnant those cracks began to show, her body couldn't take anymore forcing her into premature labor, she was forced to breed with an Indian Bengal tiger, her cubs were beautiful, she loved them more than anything so she forced herself to live for them but sadly after a month her children were forcefully taken from her, when she tried to fight for them she was shot, as the life left her body the last thing she saw was her children being kicked around and forced into cages, one would guess her last emotion be anger, outrage, bloodlust but no, her last emotion was regret, regret at her weakness to protect her children so when her heart stopped her soul was born as a Wandering Soul"

How could anyone be so cruel? how she must have suffered, was this pity or a feeling of kinship towards another wronged soul? I didn't know but the urge to comfort her was so strong my hand moved to her placing it on top of her shocking us both

She stared at my frozen hand for a few seconds before nuzzling into my palm moving her body closer to mine dropping her head on my lap a single tear trickled down my cheek

I could FEEL

I could feel her on my lap, her head on my thigh, her nose nuzzling my stomach, her soft fur between my fingertips, I could feel it all, I never once thought there would be a day when I craved the touch of another, I relished this, running my hand all over her body I relished in the feel of another soul against me

Lost in the high I nearly missed something,

"How do you know everything about Nerva?" I ask because I doubt the Tiger told her, did she?

Felicia chuckled at my question before she answered "You see, when I said those emotions become physical chains that bind Wandering Souls I meant it quite literally, all Wandering Souls have thick chains on their body that represent those deep emotions, the position of these chains vary but they all have them none the less, the ones who don't means they no longer have those deep emotions and are at peace so they pass on into the afterlife..." my ears perked up at her words and I began searching all over Nerva's body but found no chains

"There aren't any chains on her", I said

"...No there aren't.." she replied calmly grabbing her wine glass once again and filling her cup

"... does that mean she resolved her regret and is at peace?"

"Yes it does.." she replies taking a small sip

"...Then how is she still here?"

"... You see, chain-less Wandering Souls are beings kept in this plain by other means, for example, a contract with a witch....erva and I am contracted, I found her on one of my trips to Pakistan, never in my life had I seen a Soul with so much malice, I was intrigued so I made her a deal, I promised to help resolve her regrets if she entered into a contract with me, she was skeptical but I worked her over eventually, the contract binds our minds and our souls giving me full access to her memories that's how I knew exactly what she was asking of me, so I destroyed the circus, freed her children and gave her the chance to say goodbye" she knocked back her glass at the end of her sentence "...When Wandering Souls make contracts with Witches they become Familiars, bound by different chains"

So that was how she knew so much in such great detail, Nerva nuzzled further into me, it was clear to see the big cat had a soft spot for me already but sadly not even she could calm the storm brewing at the back of my mind

"Felicia, can humans become Familiars?" I asked the burning question

"Yes they can..." she answered picking up her near-empty bottle of wine

Best to finish it all at once, like ripping off a bandaid

"Am I Familiar?" I asked then held my breath

".....I don't know"