Once he was out of eyesight, Angie parked at the curb and the three of us quietly exited. I marched straight for the front door, then looked back to see I was on my own.
“Guys,” I hissed, powerwalking back to them at the edge of the yard. “What are you doing? We need to see what’s inside!”
“We can’t enter. It’s warded against magic,” Parker explained as if this was a normal everyday occurrence. Perhaps for him, it was.
“But I’m not magic, and I can’t cross, either,” Angie argued, trying to push through the invisible wall and failing.
“You can talk to animals. How is that not magic?” Parker pointed out, lowering himself to the ground.
Her face fell.“Oh.”
“Looks like you’re on your own for this one,” Parker told me, offering a half-hearted thumbs up from his seat on the pavement. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I have to be,” I said, trying to summon my courage. “I’m our last hope.”
“You can do it,” Angie said with a little whoop. “You’ve come all the way from Georgia. You can’t lose now.”
I nodded, then returned to the door, which I was surprised to find unlocked. The main floor had been completely cleared of furniture and stripped of all its appliances. Nothing looked unusual to my eye, but the wards outside were proof enough that I’d find something as long as I kept looking.
After exploring the living room, kitchen, and a powder room, I found a pair of staircases, one going up and one going down. I chose to visit the second floor before braving the basement. Slowly I crept up the steps, praying my approach would go unnoticed.
When I finished my ascent, a short hall greeted me with two doors on each side. The first led to a bathroom. Unlike the lower floor, the upper level still appeared fully livable. The shower even had a curtain, complete with a bright yellow smiley face print.
The next door revealed a small home library. After that I found an empty bedroom. The last door also opened up to a bedroom, but this one was not empty. There in this small room with pink walls and a princess bed set, a girl with black hair and heavy makeup slept fitfully. Recognizing her the exact moment I spotted her, I rushed to the girl’s side and tried to shake her awake.
“Melony! Melony!” I whisper-yelled.
She rubbed at her eyes sleepily, then noticing me at last, shot up in bed as if afraid.“What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” I countered, pulling at the covers and trying to force her out of the bed.
“I’m being held as a ransom, duh.”
“So you didn’t kidnap the cats?” Even though Fluffikins had assured me she didn’t, I still hadn’t fully believed her innocence until this very moment.
She scoffed, appearing truly offended.“Why would I?”
“You said you’re being held ransom. Why?”
“My grandpa. When we failed to take the board, his boss got super angry. He took me to make sure Grandpa didn’t fail this time.”
“Fail at what?” I asked as fresh fear coiled at the base of my spine.
“He wants Fluffikins for some kind of ritual. He took the other cats to lure him here. Apparently capturing me as well was just some kind of lucky break and not part of the original plan.”
I didn’t know how Melony had all these answers, but I was glad she did. “Why does he want Fluffikins so bad?”
She stared at me as if the answer to my question should have been obvious.“He’s one of the most powerful Diplomats in the world.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked at last.
She shrugged.“You know how bad guys love to reveal their dastardly plans before trying to kill everyone? I’m guessing it’s that.”
I pulled at the covers again, but Melony yanked them away from me.“We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“I can’t leave this floor. It’s warded,” she informed me in a bored monotone. Had she really given up so soon after being captured?
“Okay, so how do I break the ward?”
Melony groaned in irritation.“You don’t. You have no magic, remember?”
“Yeah, that’s why I could get in and the others couldn’t.”
“Interesting. Well, if you feel like going on a suicide mission, Fluffikins is being held in the basement until the preparations for the ritual are complete.”
“What ritual? Actually, wait. I don’t want to know. Just tell me, where are the other cats?” I could stand here talking to her all day, or I could take action. I’d already wasted enough time traveling from one end of Blueberry Bay to the other.
“Most of them were placed in local shelters once they weren’t needed anymore. Some idiot henchman accidentally gave Fluffikins to a shelter, too, not realizing who he was. Far as I know that guy’s now been vaporized.” She chuckled bitterly.
“What about Percy? We just saw him outside,” I said.
Her expression grew cold and jagged.“He was the inside man. Betrayed us all.”
“Us? Does that mean you’re one of the good guys now?”
Melony smiled devilishly.“Yeah, I guess I am. I still don’t like you, though. Even if we are on the same side now.”
“I don’t like you, either,” I told her with a grin.
“Aww, so many warm fuzzies.” Melony rolled her eyes. “Now stop wasting my time and head to the basement. You’ll either save everyone or get yourself killed. My money’s on the latter. Good luck, though!”
29
Here’s what I knew…
Melony was trapped inside, and supposedly so was Fluffikins; meanwhile, Parker and Angie were trapped outside. Only I could enter and exit the house, and I had my normie status to thank. Ha, I’d like to see them condescend to me after this!
With growing confidence, I crept down the stairs to the basement, which was dingy, unfinished, and filled to bursting with boxes. I didn’t see anyone, and I couldn’t see much by the light of the tiny glass block windows.
“Hello?” I chanced calling into the darkness.
An agonized meow rose up to greet me. I rushed toward the sound and found a tiny black crate surrounded by boxes stacked above and to both sides.
I blinked hard to make sure I was really seeing what—or rather who—sat before me. “Mr. Fluffikins!” I cried, forgetting for a brief moment to be quiet.
He let out another pitiful meow just as a lanky tortoise shell cat leapt toward me.Percy!
He hissed and sunk his claws into my side.
“Meow! Meow!” cried Fluffikins in a panic.
Percy reared up and took another swipe at me. Sharp pain cut through my torso. What was I supposed to do? Could I really fight a cat? I mean, clearly he was an evil cat, but he was still a much smaller creature, and—
OUCH!
As I was puzzling over the ethical considerations of battling him, Percy had landed yet another blow—and he was rearing up to go at me again. He’d claw me to death if I didn’t do something and fast.
“Meow! Meow!” Fluffikins called, and when I looked over at him, he moved his glowing golden eyes upward toward the boxes atop his crate.
Yes! Okay!
I grabbed one and shook out the contents. This time when Percy came at me, I pushed down the box and trapped him between it and the cold concrete floor.
He hissed and spat and struggled against the cardboard prison, but still he failed to break free. Careful to keep consistent pressure on Percy’s box, I slid him next to a tall stack of packages and began to pile them on top of him. Hopefully the big bad would be by to free him before he ran out of oxygen under there… but also not before I managed to free both of my captured team members. Who’d have ever thought that I’d be working to save Melony’s life a mere four days after she’d tried to end mine?
I swear, sometimes life really was stranger than fiction—especially when it included magic.
After watching for a moment to make sure Percy was secure within his trap, I returned to Mr. Fluffikins and unlocked his cage.“C’mon. We have to hurry.”