Something felt familiar. But of course it felt familiar. This wasn’t the first time he’d asked her to sit on his lap.

She went to him. His fingers tickled her back.

“You alright, kid?”

That was a new voice.

“Huh?” Amy stirred. Where was she?

She was lying against something hard and cushiony, like a seat in a car, only extra uncomfy.

“Katrina?”

“What.” She opened her eyes. She was in a car. A nice looking car. Her head spun. “Where am I?”

“You’re in my car.”

She recognised the voice now. Her aunt Cat. Memories came flooding back, and not all her own. It took her a few seconds to remember who she was.

“I’m not Amy.” She reached up and touched her own face and for a moment she panicked when she didn’t recognise it. But then she remembered the shapeshifting spell. It must still be active. She felt for the necklace and pulled it off. She relaxed as she felt the magic shift her back. Then she pulled off all her other charms as well.

“No shit. You alright?” Cat was as straight and to the point as ever.

Katrina wanted to ask what happened but at that moment the dizziness caught up to her and she leaned forward and vomited between her feet.

She heard a groan and a swear from her aunt.

“Sorry,” Katrina mumbled as a dollop of spit and vomit fell unattractively from her lips to the floor.

“Yeah.”

She wiped her mouth and then she sat up. The world felt more stable now, mostly. At least she didn’t think she was going to be sick again. She glanced over at her aunt.

Cat was staring out the window, pointedly not looking in her direction.

“I’ll clean it up,” Katrina said, thinking Cat must be mad.

Cat waved a hand. “It’s fine, I’m just trying not to add to it. Pregnancy has a tendency to make you extra sensitive to these things.”

“Oh. What happened?”

“You were taking too long. That and I thought I heard you calling for help, in my head. So I went in. I found you passed out on their bathroom floor. ”

Katrina looked up, surprised. “You heard me calling for help?”

“Yeah.” Her aunt was no longer looking out the window.

“I thought I was too far away.”

“It was pretty faint. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it. Didn’t want to take any chances though, not if he killed his daughter.” She glanced back out the window, eying their surroundings.

It was at that point that Katrina realised the car had moved. They were no longer outside Perri’s house. Instead they were parked along some long stretch of road, boarded both sides by pine forest. It didn’t look like they’d gone very far, just enough to get out of suburbia.

“He did,” she confirmed.

Cat’s head swung sharply back around to look at her.

“You saw?”

Katrina nodded.

She watched her aunt’s eyebrows knot together.

“Are you alright?”

Katrina nodded. “I think so. Just tired. I think I burned through a lot of magic. I nearly got stuck. How did you wake me?”

“I was trying to dreamwalk you but it wasn’t working, so I tried using that... the mindwalking charm.” Cat waved a hand. “But I couldn’t get that to work either. I think it just ran out of energy. I could feel something in it and then nothing.”

Katrina fumbled for it and poked it with her magic hesitantly. No, there was still something there. Maybe her aunt had just felt it as it had worn off for whatever reason.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“What happened to their stepfather? When you went in to get me, what happened?”

Cat shook her head. She didn’t meet Katrina’s eyes. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Katrina leaned back against the chair. She felt exhausted, like she’d just run a marathon. Had she overused her magic? What would have happened if Cat hadn’t got her out when she did? Chances were, it was probably the distance that cut the magic off. She’d managed to mindwalk further than she had before though. And she’d found out what had happened to Briana. She couldn’t get Iris’s cries out of her head. The noise she’d made was like nothing she’d ever heard before or wanted to hear again.

“What do we do now?” Katrina asked.

“I, am going to get you home. Nolan won’t be bothering anyone for the time being. I’ll deal with him properly another day.”

Katrina wanted to tell her aunt about the other things he’d done but she couldn’t find the words. Instead she just nodded. She was so tired and her aunt’s tone left no room for debate.

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Cat dropped Katrina off with a studied look and another ‘are you okay?’ It was more ‘are you okay’s’ than Katrina had ever heard Cat ask in her entire life, which meant she must look pretty terrible. She appreciated it though. It made her feel safe and loved, which she needed after that last mindwalk. Cat didn’t even seem that mad about the vomit in her car. Katrina had offered again to help clean it but Cat had waved her off once more and for that she was very glad.

She slipped through her front door quietly and then ran quickly and lightly up the stairs. She had to pause at the top as the world started spinning again. She really must have overdone it. As the feeling passed she went into her room, but it returned almost the moment she sat on the bed. A lightheadedness that made her feel not quite there. It scared her and she pulled herself to her feet, afraid if she stayed there alone, she might start to disappear.

Gemma’s door was open but there was no sign of her or Kate. Bobby’s was closed but she could hear movement inside so she pushed it open without a thought. He was on the bed with his girlfriend. Katrina was so dazed that it took her a moment to fully realise what she’d walked in on. Long enough for Bobby to grab a pillow and throw it at her.

“Oi! Get out.”

Katrina gave a small startled yelp and backed out, forgetting to shut the door. She fled back to her room and climbed onto her own bed where she pulled her knees up close and hugged them. Memories of Perri’s parents and what she’d almost seen them do, flashed through her mind. She heard Bobby’s door slam shut.

But a few minutes later he appeared in her doorway, fully dressed now.

“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” he started, but his expression shifted from annoyance to confusion the moment he laid eyes on her. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

He sighed. “It’s fine.” He didn’t immediately leave. He studied her for a few seconds more, concern mixing in with the confusion. “Why are you crying?” he asked more gently.

She sniffed and wiped her cheek. “I’m not.”

He sighed again, pulled her chair out from her desk and took a seat beside the bed. “Katrina?”

This time it was her turn to sigh. She still felt kind of light-headed but the feeling was fading. The fear had gone but the memories of what she’d seen today had gotten stronger. “I just over-used my magic a little, that’s all.”

“Doing what?”

She bit her lip. “Mindwalking.”

“Mindwalking who?”

“Perri’s dad.”

“Perri’s... who?”

“Lily’s friend. He killed his daughter.”

“What?”

“He tripped Perri’s sister up so she fell into a glass table and died. I saw it in his head.”

“Have you told anyone else this?”

“I told Aunt Cat.”

She could see Bobby relax a little at that statement.

He hesitated a moment then he asked, “Are you sure that it was a real memory? Sometimes memories lie? People can remember things incorrectly.”

“Pretty sure.” She could see he wasn’t sure what to do with that information so she added, “Anyway, it’s fine. I told Aunt Cat so she’ll do something about it, and I’m fine now. I just almost burnt myself up I think but I feel better now.” It was partially true. She did feel physically better, and a little mentally better too for having talked to Bobby, even if for some weird reason what she’d told him hadn’t been the worst part for her. She’d seen a murder, but all she could think about was those fingers stroking her back.

“Hmm.”

She straightened herself up and shook her head as if to clear it. “Anyway, I’m going to go take a shower, scrub my mind free of everything I just saw.” She changed her tone so it was more perky and sophisticated sounding and then made a face at him. She uncurled her legs and slipped down off the bed.

Bobby sighed again but he looked less worried. He nodded, got up, pushed the chair back in and headed for the door. He paused there and said, “Just make sure you knock next time.”

Katrina shivered and made a face. “Like I could forget now. Maybe you should try locking your door.”

Bobby walked backwards into the hall with his hands splayed. “What if there’s a house fire and I fall asleep? Everybody else knocks.”

“Whatever,” Katrina quipped and headed the other direction toward the bathroom.

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Katrina breathed a sigh of relief as she got under the hot water. This would clear her mind and remind her of all the good things that were in the world, like hot water delivered right to your door, and shampoo, glorious, wonderful shampoo. She cleaned herself from head to bottom and then all over again until she felt well and truly like herself.

It wasn’t until she turned the water off that she noticed something stuck in the edge of the shower drain. Something large and fleshy looking. With a frown she bent down to see what it was. She poked it. It was sort of jelly like. She picked it up between two nails. It smelt kind of funny. As she peered closer she realised what it was. It was skin. A big long strip of someone’s skin that had fallen off.

“Ugh!” She yelped and threw it into the trash. Then she washed her hands in the sink, over and over. She grabbed towel and huddled on the floor in it until the steam had completely cleared and Bobby was outside reminding her to stop hogging the bathroom.

She ignored him, as she always did, but it did prompt her back to her feet. She finished drying and moisterizing. She did her hair, and then she carefully lined her eyes with a dark pencil. It really really wasn’t her day today but as long as she knew she looked good she could face anything.