Chapter 5: Pestilence

When Callie was thirteen, she met the infamous Baba Yaga, a great demon known for feeding on the souls and flesh of children. Baba Yaga told her that fear brought out the best flavors in a child before consuming them. The nightmare demon, Batibat, shared the same view and tortured her victims by making them live out their worst fears in their sleep before killing them. Both were generous enough to teach her how to know a person’s greatest fear.

It would be easiest to get into a person’s mind in their sleep as it was when they had the least defenses. Getting into Trish’s room would be easy. It was her familiar that would be the problem. It would sense her before she could even get near the bed.

Finn didn’t seem to have any reservations about killing another familiar. He offered to kill and eat the rat but Callie was too scared of him getting caught. The punishment for a rogue familiar was death and she didn’t want to lose him. She would have to kill the rodent herself. Trish kept her familiar in her room when she wasn’t using it like a furry broach. Breaking into the room was the easiest part. Neither she nor Finn expected the fight that a small white rat would give. It seemed to have an idea of what they were there for and let out a loud shriek baring its tiny teeth.

It began to change shape back to its goblin form. She threw the net she spent the previous night working on it and it was forced to stop shifting. Half-way between its goblin and rat it looked like those big, grey rats found in sewers. It tried to bite through the net but it wasn’t going to work.

Baba Yaga taught her how to make an unbreakable net with some twine and chicken’s blood.

She stood over Glenda and said, "I don’t actually want to do this but I have to."

The rat let out high-pitched shrieks. It was angry and she didn’t blame it. She picked up the end of the net and kept it at arm’s length from her. Glenda glared at her with its red eyes.

"I have plans and you’re in the way," she explained. "It’s nothing personal."

Glenda bared her teeth and let out more shrieks. Callie turned to Finn who moved closer to her and looked up at the rat in the net.

"Look on the bright side, Glenda," Finn cooed. "You’ll be able to move on to the Other Side. No more servitude."

Glenda let out another shriek.

"That’s rude."

The rat started trying to bite through the net again.

The walk to the lake was somber. Callie felt guilty for having to kill an innocent animal but she wasn’t going to let one tiny soul get in her way. She needed to do this quickly before classes ended and there would be possible witnesses to her crime. She looked at Glenda one more time. Its red eyes were gleaming with hatred and fear.

Callie threw the net into the lake. Glenda let out a panicked shriek as it trashed against the water and the net. A quick sleeping spell quieted the screams and Glenda slowly sank into the dark water. Baba Yaga’s net would dissolve in an hour or two in the water and there would be no evidence.

"Should we say any final words?" she asked.

"Good luck in the afterlife," Finn said. "I still don’t understand why you chose to be a rat."

She gave him a chiding look. "A little more polite, Finnegan."

The fox snickered before he sobered up and added, "You were a good familiar. I hope they judge you more kindly this time."

Familiars were forbidden from talking about the afterlife. Most of them barely remembered their past lives and seemed to adapt to their new lives and forms easily. Finn was of the few that remembered a significant amount of his past life. It made Callie wonder how much of the afterlife he remembered too.

"We should get back to your room," the fox suggested. "Aubrey will be back soon."

Callie stared at the watery grave of Glenda once more before turning away and walking back to the dormitories. She could’ve prayed for Glenda but it wasn’t something she ever did. It wasn’t like God listened to creatures like her. It would probably be a strike against Glenda if she even tried.

Trish was visibly distraught when she learned that her familiar was missing. Several people helped her look around campus for her rat. Aubrey volunteered to help and Callie had to decline helping as she had to maintain the illusion that she was sick for the whole day and had to miss classes. It was dinnertime by the time they fished Glenda’s body out of the lake. Nicholas’s dog, Bishop, tracked the rat’s scent and they found the carcass floating in the water.

Trish was inconsolable at the death of her familiar and retreated to her room. Her friends and Nicholas comforted her like a massive cocoon. They missed dinner and the familiar’s death was all people could talk about at the Dining Hall. The main consensus was that Glenda got out of Trish’s room and was chased to the lake by another animal where she fell in by accident.

"It’s so sad, isn’t it?" Aubrey said. "Poor Trish. She had no idea what was happening to Glenda."

Nadia remarked, "Drowning is a bad way to die too. Poor thing."

Realizing she should probably say something, Callie mumbled, "Poor Trish. Poor rat. So sad."

There were no accusations of foul play. No decent witch or warlock would kill another’s familiar. It was unspeakable. She didn’t think it would be so easy to get away with this but she wasn’t complaining.

Finn was waiting outside the Dining Hall and he got into step with Callie as they made their way back to the dorms. She fed him his dinner as Aubrey took a shower. The upside of their school being a former hotel, each dorm room had their own bathroom. Aubrey liked to take showers at night so they didn't have to fight each other in the mornings.

"What’s next now that the rat is out of the way?" Finn asked.

"I’ll need to get into Trish’s head," Callie answered. "Find out what makes her tick."

"And destroy her from the inside out? How far are you willing to take this, little witch?"

"Just until she and Nicholas break up."

"For a moment there I was afraid you were willing to murder her too."

She paused. Finn stopped eating and looked up at her. She knew Finn didn’t judge her. He was supportive to an almost disturbing degree as nothing she said or did fazed him.

"Do you think I’m that ruthless?" she asked.

"It’s not a bad thing. It kept you alive. I understand."

"Is that what you were like? When you were human?"

"It cost me in the end but that is my burden to bear."

She never really thought long term about the repercussions of her plans. For so long her only objective was getting out of Hell. After she finally got out, the next goal was revenge. She couldn’t imagine what would happen after that or what she would do.

It all felt like a big blank in her head.

She grew fascinated with the bare wall across from her.

"Do you think I’ll regret anything I did?" she questioned. "Everything I’m about to do?"

Finn didn’t answer immediately. She waited. Finally, he said, "Perhaps. You won’t know till you are there."

And that was still a long way from where she was.