UnFamiliar

Chapter 10

"The bond between familiars and witches is sacred," the teacher, Mrs. Branch said from the front of the classroom. She eyed Val, who was the only familiar that needed a chair. The others were sitting next to or on their witch's desk.

"Most familiars will instinctively know what you want and as you grow closer you'll know what your familiars want to communicate to you. I'd like you to take the time now to try offer your familiar a choice in treats, attempt to figure out which one they want."

The class filled with treats for all kinds of animals being passed out. Mrs. Branch stopped at my desk and while she was handing me two different fun size candy bars, she told me, "You two aren't allowed to use words or hand signals. Got that Mr. Ethington?"

Val looked up at her, then whispered to me at a volume it was clear he wanted to be overheard, "I could send her back to hell, you know."

I glared at him, sure he just wanted to get under Mrs. Branch's skin.

"Mr. Ethington?" Mrs. Branch prompted, ignoring Val entirely.

"I'll try, ma'am," I said.

She nodded. Then she said, "Also, you better get your familiar to behave better. There are already plenty of people who don't want him here." She moved on to the next student.

Val frowned after her. "Do you think that idiot from lunch had a point?"

"Who?" I asked, completely confused and distracted.

"Maybe it is you that is the idiot," Val said. "You know the one that kept going on about the adminis—whatever. I believe he implied you somehow cheated by selling your soul to me."

"Oooooh. Ethan. Hmmm," I pretended to think. Ethan's jabs were often accurate, that's what sucked most about him. It wasn't that he made fun of people, but that he made fun of them accurately. If he thought there was a chance the administration was going to get involved because they thought I cheated in my rite, there was a decent possibility that it would happen.

The worst bit was, had I thought of the idea, I might've done it. A soul contract seemed similar enough to the bond of a familiar, from what I knew, to fake it for an awfully long time. Wait. Maybe that was an idea.

"Val, is there a way to break a soul contract?"

Val's frown hadn't left his face. "What does it matter? This isn't a soul contract; I'd remember making one of those."

"But what if—"

"Mr. Ethington, I said no talking," Mrs. Branch snapped from her desk.

I shut my mouth, and spent the rest of the class period fruitlessly trying to read Val's mind. It didn't work, though maybe that was because Val didn't look like he wanted either of the candy bars.

"Mr. Ethington, stay behind a moment," Mrs. Branch called after dismissing the class.

I waited for the class to clear out, and Val looked like he might follow the class instead of wait with me. I grabbed his wrist, stopping him. He rolled his eyes.

Mrs. Branch came up to us. She eyed Val for a moment, then turned to me. "I thought you should be aware that there is speculation that Val isn't really your familiar, but a demon you summoned to act as your familiar."

I nodded. "I've been...told."

"Do you know the best way to stop that speculation?"

I looked at her. She used to tower over me, but now I was an inch taller than she was. Something about that startled me. "How?"

"You must demonstrate skills only a witch and their familiar can have. You, above any of your classmates, must learn and excel at these lessons quickly."

I bit my lip. "What if...what if I can't?"

Her lips twisted. "Sit down," she gestured at my empty desk and Val's vacated chair. She grabbed the chair from the desk in front of mine and sat down across from me. "Be honest Ambrose, is Val really your familiar? Or did you summon him because you believed failing a second time would end your aspirations to become a full witch?"

I let out a laugh. "You saw my magic, do you really think I would've been capable of summoning a demon?"

She glanced at Val. "Demons can be summoned by anyone. The magic that typically brings them into this world is different from the kind we practice here. Regardless, I believe I would've noticed if something went wrong during your rite. I believe Val to be your true familiar."

I glanced at Val and then away from him. I knew he didn't want to get teachers involved in our attempts to break the bond, but Mrs. Branch had known me even before I was actually allowed to take classes here. Maybe I could at least get an idea on where to search.

"Mrs. Branch, do you know anyone else who got a demon as a familiar?"

She sat back in her chair and eyed me. "Is that what you've been looking up in the library so fervently?"

"Well...I mean, it's not like anything I've ever read about. All of the creatures I've ever seen as familiars were...very clearly animals. They can't walk or talk the way Val does. Communicating with them is supposed to be a magical experience where their witch can sort of see inside their head, right? But why even bother with something like that when Val can just tell me what he's thinking?"

Val snorted. "You think I'll just willingly tell you all of my secrets?"

I shrugged. "I'm pretty sure if I asked you to a certain way, you'd have to obey me."

A look crossed Val's face, one I don't think I'd ever seen before. His eyes went wide, his mouth dropped open, and if I had to guess it was some kind of terror.

"The point," Mrs. Branch said, "is that sometimes you don't have the luxury of speaking aloud. Sometimes it's worth it to have a creature around that can do things you can't. Perhaps....I'll look into it."

"Look into it?"

"Yes. I'll see if I can find someone else with a humanoid familiar and put you in contact with them."

"Thank you, Mrs. Branch. I'm sure that will help us understand a bit more how we are supposed to act." I hoped that she found someone. That they had at least tried to break their bound so we would at least know what didn't work.

Mrs. Branch nodded. Then she turned to Val, "You shouldn't make it so hard on Ambrose either. I know this might not be how you planned your life to go, but at the very least, try to cooperate in lessons. People are going to be keeping their eyes on you for a while."