SYNCHRONICITY (Dream Walker) 🖋

Home Sweet Home - 5

Sebastian and James poked their heads in to find Alison standing over a woman who was bound and gagged. They stepped into the room and stared at one and then the other completely gobsmacked. "Well, I see you have this under control," Sebastian said.

Alison shrugged. "Don't know what to do with her though."

Sebastian nodded, knowing that she really didn't have a clue what to do next. "Do you know her?"

Alison shook her head. "Never saw her before now. Not even when I went looking."

"Well, then." He reached down and picked the woman up by her shoulder, turned her around and sat her down. "I am going to remove the tape and...whatever this is...what is this thing anyway?"

"If's one of my dog's bandannas."

He nodded. "Ah. Right. Well." He looked the irate woman in the eye. "Keep in mind Miss, that you've two wands trained on you. Any trouble what so ever and you'll be rendered unconscious and I assure you, things will get very complicated. Do you understand?"

The woman nodded.

Sebastian pulled at the tape and then the fabric and the woman took a deep breath. James turned his wrist, wand in hand, and stared down at her. "No trouble...Do you know who I am?"

"The Lone Wolf," she grunted.

"Yes. So you're aware of what I can do?"

She nodded again.

"I promise you that I will not hesitate to make avail of it."

The woman shook her head and she found herself being levitated off the bed and moved through the air and down the stairwell. James followed and entered the living room then opened the door signaling that they were in the house and that assistance was needed. Two heavily armed wizards approached him and walked inside.

"Mind your boots mates," James said and both men looked to the other and then to James. "Can't imagine my mum would want mud tracked through her house, yeah?"

The men walked back through the door and wiped their feet on the mat situated before the door, that said, Wipe Your Paws. James smiled and nodded as an outdoor cat wandered in through the opened door and meowed at him. James realized it was the same cat that his mother picked up and he too picked him up and held on to him. The cat however, held him at paw's length and stared at him, as if trying to figure out what he was about. James could see the cat's nose sniffing the air around him, his ears and whiskers twitching. Alison walked into the room and she sighed.

She reached toward the cat. "Elf, you know you're not supposed to be inside..." She took the cat from James and once again, poured him onto the floor and he meowed and walked out the door, his tail held high. "I advise not just letting him down, he likes to be poured," she said as she chuckled. "We'll have an talk later, you and me," she said to the cat. Elf chirped and trotted down the steps to the ground then head butted another cat. And another one and then another one...as if passing on a secret message.

"Is he the Alpha," James asked.

Alison shook her head. "No. His dad is. Elf is kind of like the lieutenant."

James nodded and peered around the corner to find that the cat had gone. "Cool cat though."

Alison smiled. "Yeah. He is." She sighed. "I've no idea what's wrong with my sister? She's usually a light sleeper. But she didn't wake up."

"Want me to give it a shot?"

She nodded. "Yeah, please?"

"Okay," he replied. He returned to the stairwell and again, took the stairs two at a time and opened the door to find three cats staring at him as well as a sleek black cat laying next to Beth. He reached down to let the cat sniff at him and she sat up, grabbed at his hand with her paw and bit his finger. "Oww! That wasn't at all nice!" Then he heard that she was purring.  "Oh, I see how you are...flirt..." He reached over the cat and pulled away the blanket from the younger woman curled up on the bed, saw that she was naked and returned the blanket. "Excuse me? Miss Beth?"

"Mmm..."

He watched her eyes flutter open and thought she was very pretty. She looked at the long denim legs standing before her. "Please don't hurt me," she whispered, clearly afraid.

He knelt down and shook his head. "Oh no! Your sister asked that I come up and try to wake you. You see, she tried before and got nowhere fast..."

"Sissy...I mean, Ali...she's home?"

He nodded and smiled. "Yeah."

"I wasn't expecting her for another week. And...who are you?"

"My name is James."

"Oh my god," she whispered as she reached out to touch his face.

His smiled beamed brighter as he nodded. "I'm your nephew."

She reached out and pulled at the fringe from his eyes and smiled. "Little Bastian's baby...You have her eyes, I see?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Got my Dad's everything else, I reckon?"

"So, Bast is here then, huh? Wow...I haven't seen him since I was a little girl...I had the biggest crush on him. I guess everybody else did too." She chuckled.

"How long have you been out of it?"

"Out of it? I dunno? I only laid down a little while ago. What time is it?" James looked at the clock on the bedside table and turned it toward her. "Ooo. I must have slept hard."

"So, what's there to do on a Saturday morning around here? Is there a schedule to be kept or something like that? I assume the dogs have to go out and what not?"

"Well yeah. The dogs go out and then the cats and horses get...wait...did you say, Saturday? It's Wednesday, honey."

James stared at her and shook his head. "Oh no. It's Saturday, I assure you."

"What the fuck..." She looked around at the cats, specifically the one who was laying beside her. "What the hell!" She jumped out of bed only to fall to the floor in a tangled mess blankets.

"Easy there. I don't know much about the effects of sleeping droughts, spells and what not...Probably should have paid more attention to that sort of thing..."

Beth looked at him from over her shoulder and pulled at the blanket to cover herself. "I beg your pardon?"

"Erm...where are your clothes?"

She motioned with a nod of her head toward an opened suitcase that one of the cats had been using as a bed.

"How about a house coat?"

"Sissy's is hanging up on the clothes tree...Over there in the corner..."

James turned on the over head light to find the room decorated with family photographs as well as lots of crystals and candles. He walked around the bed and advanced toward the clothes tree and removed the house coat. He returned to his aunt and laid it over her shoulders and she managed to maneuver herself into it without exposing herself again. He had to help her to stand as she found that her legs were still wobbly and he helped her to sit on the edge of the bed. She sighed hard.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"It was...Monday afternoon...no, Tuesday...I came home from work, got the dogs out and in and fed, it was real quick because it was raining hard. I...ran outside to feed the outside cats and then the horses...then, I fixed me something to eat, watched a little TV and dozed off, woke back up and let the dogs out again for a few minutes and brought them back in...and then I went to bed. And now, this."

"Let me go get your sister. Would you care for some coffee or something?"

She nodded. "Yes please?"

"Okay, I'll be right back."

James left her and took the stairs quickly. Sebastian's men had removed the woman from the premises for questioning and his parents were sitting at the supper table. James heard the coffee machine percolating and he felt the German Shepherd Dog leaning on this leg and nudging at his hand.

"She's awake," he said. "She thinks it's Wednesday."

Alison's and Sebastian's eyes met with worry.