UnFamiliar

Chapter 5

I stood just outside the door of my new room, staring at the singular bed. I'd paused on the threshold the second I'd seen it. Val pushed past me and went over to the desk. Fiddling with the drawers as if to make sure it was in good shape.

The girl who showed us to the room cleared her throat. I snapped my attention to her, only to see that she was blushing at least as deeply as I was. "I'll send up a cot."

I nodded, trying not to show my relief. Of course they wouldn't expect us to share a bed. It was just that familiars came in a myriad of shapes and sizes, so they must wait to get them beds until after they manifested.

The girl, who'd graduated a year prior and stuck around as a dorm assistant, pushed up her glasses. Before turning and walking away down the hall, she said, "Let me know if you need anything else."

I stepped into the room. It was quite spacious for a single person so having Val here wouldn't feel all that intrusive. The bed looked made to hold two people, though we wouldn't need to worry about that once the cot got here. There was also an actual walk-in closet and a bathroom all to ourselves.

"So, are you going to summon your stuff or what?" Val asked.

"Oh, right...how do I do that?" I asked.

Val shrugged which wasn't helpful.

"I called your name and you came out of the pocket dimension...does that mean I need to name everything if I want it back?" I asked.

"That sounds tedious," Val sprawled out on the bed, "maybe you can ask it to give all your stuff back to you at once?"

I nodded. "All of my belongings come out?" It sounded like a question, but the effect was immediate. I don't know what I was expecting but everything I owned appeared in a heap on the ground. Books and shoes and pencils and literally everything. I was fairly certain my band posters were ruined.

"Now can we go to the library?" asked Val.

"I need to at least somewhat organize my stuff," I said.

Val groaned. "It doesn't look any different to me than when it was in your other room. Can't we just leave it?"

I dug through the heap for a second until I located my backpack. Once I did, I pulled out the book that held the rite of the familiar. It was the same one I'd used to summon him. "Here, you can look through this while I put things away."

Val snatched the book out of my hands and immediately started flipping through it. It hadn't occurred to me until I watched him trying to find a way to break our bond, but what would happen if we succeeded?

Most of year four's curriculum revolved around one's familiar. If mine was gone, would I still be allowed to be in year four? Probably not, and I'd probably be kicked out of the school for good. But I couldn't keep Val here when he clearly didn't want to be, right?

With my head spinning I began throwing clothes into the closet and books onto the desk without ceremony. A knock sounded at the door and I met Val's eyes before I heard Nina call, "It's me."

I swung open the door and Nina waltzed into the room, her panther following behind her. She took in the heap, and said, "You're surprisingly quick at making messes."

"Did you need something?" I kicked at the heap; my frenzied sorting had only spread the mess around.

"Yes, actually. Val's going to need more clothes. I thought we'd stop by Lifebridge and then maybe hit up Dairy Witch." She made herself comfortable and sat on the edge of the bed. Her panther on the other hand paced around the heap of my belongings.

I considered. It was true Val would need more clothes, and Lifebridge was a thrift shop in town so I could probably afford a few sets for him from there. On the other hand, there was every chance Val would complain that we were wasting more time.

"I have clothes," Val gestured to the clothes he was wearing before turning a page in the textbook he was reading.

"Yes, and eventually they're going to get gross if you wear only them," Nina said.

"I don't intend on staying here long, human. I see no need to procure more clothing."

Nina pursed her lips, looking from Val to me and back again. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"Home."

Nina bit her lip and looked to me. I shrugged. It's not like I could or would make him stay if he didn't want to. Finally, she grabbed the book from Val's grasp and snapped it shut. Val looked at her with his glowing red eyes, clearly confused.

"Let me get this straight, you're trying to break a bond created by one of our most sacred rites and you think that will take you so little time you won't need more clothes?"

Val considered. "You're saying this will be hard? I'm a demon."

"I've never heard of a single case where the bond has been broken. You might pull it off, but it might take you months. Do you really want to be stuck in that outfit for months?" Nina glared at Val.

Val for his part relented. "Fine. Let's go to this Life Bridge where you apparently get clothes." He stood and went for the door.

"Not so fast there, Mr. Demon. Salem may be full of odd touristy witchy things, but I think a realistic demon will draw unwanted attention. Let me make a cloaking spell for you and Sherril."

"Why can't Ambrose make mine?" Val asked as he watched Nina wind herbs together to make a necklace charm that wouldn't look too suspicious.

"Well..." Nina said putting the charm onto a string. The one for her panther was already made and connected to a dog collar. "These only last for so long, and the stronger the witch creating them is, the longer it will last. Ambrose has only ever gotten it to work for five minutes max, so that wouldn't be much use to us."

I didn't try to defend myself. It was a pathetic record, but I'd been pleased that it'd worked for even that long. Instead, I continued shoveling the heap of stuff into my closet as quickly as I could. I'd given up trying sort it, deciding I could deal with that later so long as it was out of sight.

"And how long do yours last?" Val asked.

"Longest was six hours." Nina drew on my floor in chalk, writing out the correct runes, then she said the spell as I threw my last bit of clutter into the closet. The runes glowed slightly blue before fading from the floor completely.

Nina handed Val his charm, and put the collar on Sherril.

Val put his necklace over his head and his image shimmered a bit, but that was all. Val asked, "Well, how do I look?"

"We told you that we can't see it because we know you're using magic. Only those unaware will perceive you differently," I said a little exasperated. This was the fifth time we were explaining this to him.

"Fine, let's go ask someone else how I look," Val suggested.

"They'll think you're flirting with them." Nina got to her feet, dusting leftover chalk from her hands.

Val winked at her. "Maybe I am."

I huffed out a breath. "Can we go now?"

"As long as you've got your wallet," Nina replied.

I held up my wallet that next to nothing in it. "Not that it'll do us much good."