The cat quickly dashed into the room and up onto one of the shelves, almost as if to point out that the book Sonja needed to look for was sitting right there. "Thanks," she told the animal, feeling a bit silly as she looked over the titles.
The main one that caught her eye had a brown spine as if wrapped in untreated leather. The title on the spine read The Ancient Art of Shapeshifting. Sonja practically gasped and the cat nearly rolled its eyes as if to say, duh.
Back when Sonja had faced off against a witch, she'd become aware that a select few people had magical powers--powers that were usually used for evil purposes.
Grabbing the book from the shelf, she sat at the table with the flashlight and eagerly began to consume the book's contents. She started at the beginning, opening to the first chapter, but the cat seemed to have other ideas.
It jumped up and pawed at the pages as if it was important for Sonja to look through and find something specific first. When she didn't obey right away, the animal batted at Sonja's hand, leaving a light scratch on her skin. "Ouch. Okay, okay, we'll do this your way. Just stop me when I get to the right part." Slowly turning to each section, she waited for the cat to give her a sign.
Eventually, its paw came down on a page.
"Animal familiars and shapeshifting?" she asked, looking at the cat. It only stared in return impatiently. Sonja looked down at the pages and carefully read. "A witch can create an animal familiar by enslaving a human pet inside the form of an animal. Witches may also enslave enemies in this same way." Sonja's eyes were wide with horror as she looked at the creature. "You used to be human?"
The cat glared as if to urge her to keep reading on.
That's when Sonja paused on one paragraph that really set her heart to beating. "If you wish your animal familiar to speak, you must read this incantation. Otherwise, the animal will appear and act as nothing more than that--an animal."
Sonja swallowed hard. Did she dare read that incantation out loud? Could it be a trap? Could it be that the animal itself was villainous?
Taking a deep breath, and glancing at the animal's impatient gaze, Sonja decided to go with her gut feeling. Looking down at the page, she tried to form her tongue around the strange words. It took her a minute, but she soon managed to pronounce the phrase clearly and loudly.
A cool chill rushed through the room as if they were outside.
The cat coughed and hacked like it had a hairball. Sonja watched on expectantly, her hands cold, clammy, and shaky.
Once it appeared that the animal had finished clearing its throat, it shook its head and looked up at the human sitting there. "Sheesh, Sonja. About time. I've been trying to get you to read from this book since I got in town."
Sonja, so shocked by the female voice coming out of the cat, nearly fell out of the chair and had to catch herself on the table's edge. When she'd finally found her breath again, she asked the pressing question at hand.
"Belinda? Is that you?"
Chapter 15
"I sure have missed your waffles," Belinda complimented Sonja after swallowing a bite of the tasty breakfast dish that had been set on the table in front of her. A small bowl of milk sat beside it for her to drink along with her meal.
Sonja couldn't help but laugh a little watching a talking cat eat dinner at the table all the while Frank sat across from her with his face propped in his hands and his eyes wide.
"Frank, it's Belinda. Can't you see?"
"I see it, but I don't believe it," he said, examining the black cat. He was so shocked, he hadn't even touched his dinner.
Belinda looked up at him and smiled. "Aw, come on. You loved me so much yesterday."
He swallowed. "That was before I realized you were a human."
"Not anymore, you know," she reminded him.
Frank blinked a few times and shook his head as if to clear the craziness from his head. "Okay, okay. Explain it to me one more time, will you?" he asked Sonja.
"Well, I quickly realized something supernatural was afoot the real Sheba showed up, though I'd had a tingling feeling before that."
Frank nodded. "Pretty hard not to realize there is something creepy going on when the woman whom we'd just found dead turned up alive again."
"Yes. The pictures of the real dead woman clinched it for me. She had to be some sort of witch. I knew that much."
"No kidding," he sighed, picking up his fork and finally taking a bite of his buttery waffle with strawberry jam on top.
"I got the idea that maybe she somehow stole Sheba's identity."
"Shapeshifting and form stealing magic is dangerous stuff," Belinda chimed in. "Not only do you take on the person's persona, you also take on all the physical qualities of the person you've stolen your visage from."
Sonja pointed at Frank. "And that's why she ended up dying. She didn't realize that she was deathly allergic to peanuts. She ate the candy, snuck inside the garage, and then died of the symptoms before she knew what was happening."
Frank ran a hand through his short blonde hair. "Okay, I get that much, but why?"
"That's the part you're not going to like," Belinda went one.
"Oh, don't tell me. She wanted to kill me," he said.
Belinda nodded. "That's spot on. All of this was a plan to kill you. You see, you were the intended victim all along, but she ended up killing herself first on accident."
"And vandalizing the bar was just another small thing she did to strike back at Charles for kicking her out," Sonja added.
Frank set down his fork and propped his elbows on the table. "But you still haven't answered why. Just because I charged her with disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct? Because I threw her in the drunk tank?"
Sonja and Belinda looked at one another. Belinda answered the question. "Actually, remember my sister?"
"The evil twin witch that tried to kill Sonja? Yeah, how could I forget?" he asked.
"She had many friends and accomplices. That's what I've been doing this past year. I've been hunting down the remnants of her circle to try and stop them from doing more damage to others in the world. Most of them are lost without their leader, but a few hold onto some semblance of their powers." She looked down at her own furry body. "Clearly, I met my match with this one. She turned me into a cat."
"It's just a good thing I was able to help you," Sonja said.
"And you're stuck like this forever?" Frank asked.
"Afraid so," Belinda said. "You two didn't know about it, but I've also been collecting the occult books I was hiding in the secret room of the manor. I've just been coming back during the night and putting them down there. It was a blessing that I found the shapeshifting book before all this happened."
"You showed up multiple times and never stopped to say hi?" Sonja scolded her friend.
"I just thought it was too dangerous. I knew the rest of my sister's circle, although split and scattered around the world, would want to kill the two of you if they could."
"If they even knew about us."
"That's true. This witch only knew because she'd been to the town before. When she was here, she was seeking to find her circle's leader."
Frank groaned. "So, you're telling me there are more of them out there?"
"I'm afraid so. I have my work cut out for me."
Sonja stood up. "Oh, no you don't. You're staying right here with us from now on. I don't want you putting yourself in more danger."
"Or you, Sonja. I don't want you getting caught up in more of this," Frank said.
Neither Sonja nor Belinda argued. "You are quite right," the cat noted. "Alone, each of these witches doesn't pose too much of a threat. Most of them don't even know about you two and many have lost the potency once held behind their powers."
"So, a witch's circle gives them their powers?" Frank asked, still sort of the baby when it came to supernatural things.
"Sort of. They all have powers, but they are amplified by the circle." She leaned down and drank from the bowl of milk
before continuing. "However, I think we can expect more ghosts and hauntings around this area in the coming months."
Sonja rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me that."
"Dark magic just draws in ghosts and such. It's the way of things."
"I guess it's no surprise for a place called Haunted Falls," Frank joked.
Belinda laughed, obviously happy to be home and among friends again. "You know, I'm still disappointed that I missed your wedding," she noted, licking her lips to clean them off from the milk.
"That's okay. You're here with us from now on."
"Two supernatural cats in the house?" Frank said, a slight hint of complaint in his voice, looking over his shoulder for Misty--even though he couldn't see the little ghost.
"She's curled up in the living room," Sonja told him. "And remember, this is technically Belinda's estate."
He gave a half-smirk. "Well, at least I can see this cat," he said, scratching Belinda behind the ears.
"This whole getting petted thing is still pretty strange," she noted, although clearly enjoying it.
Frank stood up. "Thankfully, the state police have left, and Sheba simply thinks we're a bunch of incompetents. Charles was able to direct them to a proper identification for the woman, and my arrest records confirm it. With no knowledge of the occult themselves, they had to accept the death as an accident and move on without questioning why we all saw one body the first day and different one the second. I mean, heck, even the pictures changed back to the original body."
"Black magic isn't always reliable," Belinda said. "It can turn on you in a second."
"But like I said, they filed it away as an accident."
"Well, it was an accident," Sonja noted. "An accident that probably saved your life."
"That witch spent months figuring out the best way to get close to you to kill you. Tracking down an ex-girlfriend and stealing her persona must have taken a lot of work."
"I'm just glad she slipped up at the end," Frank admitted.
"Me too," Sonja agreed, standing to kiss her husband.
"So, are we finishing the garage sale this weekend?" he asked.
"I'm sorry this whole ordeal held up the sale," Belinda noted, walking over to stand near them on the table.
"No accounting for what might happen in this town," Frank said, trying to keep things light. He'd gotten much better at dealing with the supernatural as it came up than he used to. It made Sonja happy.
She held up a finger to Frank. "We can do the garage sale as long as you don't sell those minis. I have plans for those."
"What plans?" he asked.
She smirked. "How do you feel about helping me host the weekly game night at the diner?"
A Very Catty Murder Page 7