Taming the Familiar

Chapter 46- The End

Alexa couldn't wait to climb into her bed. This had been the longest day of her life. She barged into her room and crashed on the bed. Neither of her familiars were in sight but she knew they were close by. 

Her parents had met them at the hospital. Patrick was awake now but hadn't said a single word. The doctors told them it was probably shock and as long as he ate something he should be fine. She stretched and yawned. Their had been so many questions, and with Patrick silent she had to answer every one. Maybe that was for the better but right now she was done explaining away things.

"Pitch, Kaleth." she said quietly. Pitch immediately appeared sitting on the end of her bed and Kaleth's smoke cloud appeared near the daybed not long after. Pitch lay down beside her but said nothing.

"Everything taken care of for now?" Kaleth asked. Alexa nodded. She needed to talk to Patrick but she was so exhausted. And Patrick wasn't really talking. She glanced at Pitch.

"Can you watch Patrick while I have a sleep?" she asked. Pitch nodded and vanished again. Kaleth stood up and slowly approached her bed. He sat on the floor beside it instead of on it. Alexa rolled closer to see him, his head was down, as if he couldn't look her in the eye. Alexa stared at him curiously. He seemed at a loss for words. She was a little wary. The Kaleth she had seen in Jacob's memories had been kinder than the Kaleth Alistar had commanded to forget her. Was he only civil so she would allow him to stay with her. Then she remembered how much emotion was in his voice when he'd hugged her. She looked down at him again and she could see the shame set on his shoulders. She grinned and stuck her hand out to mess up his hair.

"That was a close one." she said as Kaleth's eyes shot up to hers. What more could she say. Everything about it was horrible.He'd been forced to betray her. He'd almost assisted Alistar in gaining complete control of her, and he'd almost vanished forever. None of that would make either of them feel better so it was just easier to be silent. She shifted her weight so there was room for him to lay down beside her and beckoned him up. He moved slowly and cautiously, as if expecting her to change her mind at any moment. Once he was comfortable he stretched and Alexa yawned.

"Stay close while I sleep." she said, closing her eyes. Kaleth's eyes widened but he nodded and shut his eyes too. It wasn't long before Alexa was dead to the world and snoring away.

Pitch crept into the brother's room in his cat form. Patrick liked his cat form and hopefully wouldn't be too alarmed by him showing up. The poor kid had been through a lot. Her wasn't much worse for wear after being in Alistar's hands but Pitch knew himself the scars Alistar left weren't all physical. He padded up to the bed where Patrick was sitting. Patrick looked up at him and shivered or shuddered. Pitch wasn't sure which. He laid his head near Patrick's leg. As usual Patrick reached out to pet him and Pitch smiled on the inside a little. He was still the same kid. Pitch slowly climbed onto the bed with him and and laid down purring. Patrick's hand was freezing. After several minute Patrick glanced down at him.

"Ramona is gone isn't she?" he asked. Pitch looked up at him sadly. Patrick and the girl had had a strange relationship. Pitch laid his head on the boy's knee as he scratched the best spot behind his ear. Patrick sighed and flopped back onto the bed. 

"I don't even know what happened. Alexa does and I know it's not what she told the police." he said. Pitch yawned and stretched next to him. Alexa would want to talk to her brother on her own. Once she had a chance to decompress. 

It was a long night. He felt a little strange not being close to Alexa. He knew she was just down the hall but he hoped the dragon was keeping her safe. When he finally saw the sun peeking over the horizon he was glad. That meant Patrick would be waking up soon and he could return to Alexa's side. It wasn't long later he could hear the family waking up. Alexa's parents were on the other side of the mansion so it was most likely Kaleth and Alexa he was hearing. That was confirmed when there was a gentle knock at the door. Patrick groaned and slowly climbed out of bed still half asleep. He opened the door for Alexa who stepped in and sat on the bed by Pitch.

"We need to talk." she said. Patrick eyed her with annoyance. Of course he'd be annoyed where she had woken him up at an ungodly hour. He plopped onto his bean bag chair without saying a word. Alexa cleared her throat awkwardly.

"What do you remember about yesterday?" she asked. Patrick scowled.

"I remember the fire, but we were never in the house. We were outside doing something." he said. Alexa nodded.

"Do you remember Alistar?" she asked. Patrick shook his head his eyes wide and confused.

"He wasn't dead..." Alexa said slowly. Patrick frowned.

"How come we took his house then?" he asked. Alexa sighed.

"It was a trap. He was a bad person." she said, thinking that was surely an understatement. Patrick frowned as if vaguely remembering something.

"He was at Nanna's." he said quietly. Alexa nodded.

"For the last couple months. When you went to visit her you saw him. Do you remember?" she asked. Patrick shook his head in surprise. Alexa frowned.

"He killed Nanna but no one knows he was still alive. Pitch killed him yesterday so it was just as easy to pretend Nanna died in the fire." she said. Patrick frowned, as if it didn't quite agree with what he remembered. Alexa wondered how deep Alistar had planted things while Patrick was hypnotized.

"What about Ramona?" he asked. Alexa frowned at this. That was the hardest topic.

"Do you remember summoning her?" she asked. Patrick shook his head no.

"Well you summoned her as a familiar kind of like Pitch. But you told her to follow Alistar's orders." she said quietly. Patrick frowned.

"You can makes ghosts into familiars?" he asked and Alexa nodded. Patrick stared at Pitch.

"You were a ghost?" he asked. Pitch bumped his head against Patrick's leg. Alexa didn't want to get into this.

"Alistar ordered her to kill Pitch." Patrick stared at Pitch unhappily. Alexa didn't look at her brother as she said the last bit. 

"It was either he kill her or be killed." she said. Patrick didn't look at her either, obviously not pleased with what he was being told.

"What about the dragon?" he asked. Alexa glanced towards the door. She had left Kaleth in the hallway.

"He's okay too." she said. Patrick glared a her. 

"So you still get two familiars and I don't even get to keep mine." he said angrily. Alexa jumped as the light bulb overhead exploded. Patrick blinked at it in surprise. Alexa frowned.

"Nanna said your magic would be out of balance. I'm here and will help teach you everything I've learned but it's not a lot." she said. Patrick nodded. 

"Can I summon a familiar?" he asked. Alexa shrugged.

"Both Kaleth and Pitch were Alistar's and I somehow inherited them. But I promise I will help you get strong at magic so if something like this happens again you can fight too." she said. Patrick nodded. They were quiet for a few minutes.

"Why don't mom and dad know?" Patrick asked. Alexa frowned.

"Alistar took all Nanna's magic away and mom never had magic." she said. Patrick nodded. Finally he turned his tv on. It was on one of the cartoon channels. It had been a long time since they had sat down together to do much. Alexa thought they needed to do this more often. She couldn't let Patrick drift away so that he could get hurt again. She would have Kaleth start training him tomorrow.