CHAPTER 115

"Do it," she demanded, her leg throbbing. She had been out of pills for the pain for nearly a week now and didn't care if some weird folk tale killed her.

With a sigh, he leaned forward and buckled the collar around her neck. She waited for something to happen, to feel different inside, but...nothing.

"I thought this was supposed to change me?" she asked.

"Take time. Magic never an exact science, Kisa." He coughed, his face briefly turning bright red. "We will know in a day or two."

The apartment shattered like glass, and she was now back in the basement once more. Only now, the light was back on and she saw a blonde woman in front of her. She projected an aura of hope and radiance.

"A second chance," said the woman, holding the same collar in her hands. "Now that it's off, how do you feel?"

There were no words. Kisa threw herself at the woman and embraced her, her eyes full of tears.

"You saved my life, thank you!" When she stepped back, she wiped the tears from her eyes. "If I can ever do anything to repay you, just tell me and I'll do it."

The woman's eyes gleamed beneath the hanging bulb of the basement. "As a matter of fact, there is something you can do for me. It won't be easy, but you will be helping me like I helped you."

The room swirled again and she was now in the second-floor studio room, only now it was fully furnished. The harp stood against the wall, the strings vibrating on their own as it played a song by itself.

"Please, Emily, give me a second chance, I know I can do it this time!" Kisa was on her hands and knees. "Please don't make me wear it again."

The blonde woman from before regarded Kisa cooly. There was a cruelty in her face that hadn't been there before, and she crossed her arms across her chest. Dangling from one of her hands was the collar.

"It's just for a little while," Emily explained as she slid it around Kisa's neck. "I just need you to be a little bit...cattier. You owe me, remember."

Kisa cried silently as she stared at her hands. For now, they were human. But for how much longer?

Kisa threw herself back onto the steps, her hands clutching at her throat to tear the phantom collar off. The memories were just fragments, but they had been real enough. Emily had been the previous Caretaker, and she had been partially responsible for her transformation.

Holding her head in her hands, she let out a cry that became the drawn out yowl of a cat in pain. She stumbled up the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Please, Emily, take it off!" She was pulling at the collar on her throat, but Emily was ignoring her.

"Not until you can fit through here." Emily tapped at a cardboard cutout she had on the floor. They were in the study, away from the others. "Once you can fit through there, the collar comes off."

Kisa growled, but crawled toward the opening. She turned her head sideways and found that it was still a tight fit. Determined to make it through, she pressed forward until the cardboard split around her shoulders.

"Damn." Emily shook her head. "Guess we'll try again tomorrow."

"No, please." Kisa grabbed for Emily's hand. "Please, I... I'm having trouble remembering things. I'm forgetting who I was."

For a moment, the Caretaker's features softened, but the moment didn't last.

"We'll try again tomorrow," she declared.

In the kitchen, Kisa moved out to the dining room. Other memories were coming back, memories full of blank spots that made no sense. She could see herself sitting at a table with Emily and Tink, but the other seats were blurry. There was an argument on the stairs about being unable to go into town and shop for new clothes. Another one about helping Emily hunt down some rats.

None of it made sense! She paused as Death emerged from the office, then ducked away to avoid the specter. She peered around the corner to see Mike sitting at the desk with some books in front of him.

He looked up, his eyes immediately meeting hers.

"Oh. Hey, Kisa."

"Hey, Kisa." The old man was lying on the floor of the kitchen, his hand pressed to his chest. His breath was coming in gasps, and he reached up to touch her face. "You... I..."

"Shh. The ambulance is on its way." She cradled his hand against her face.

"Death...answers before...asked..." His eyes slid down her face and onto the collar around her neck. It had only been a few days, but her leg was already out of the cast, the transformation of her body already begun. "I need...to take...that off..."

"No." She put her hand to her throat. "You can take it off later. It's helping, I barely have a limp now."

"No, Kisa, you don't..." He looked past her shoulder at someone she couldn't see. "Oh. Okay then." A sigh escaped his lips and then he was gone.

"No! Please, you can't leave me!" She held his head tightly against her chest and screamed.

Kisa bolted past the study and headed straight for the backdoor, anxious to get outside of the house. Random memories bounced around in her head in no particular order, memories of the house. There was no longer enough air for her to breathe, and it wasn't until she shoved her way into the garden and stood beneath the open sky that she felt like she could finally inhale fully.

The nymph was out there, floating on her back beneath a small swarm of birds. She reminded Kisa of a Disney princess and wondered if Naia ever burst into song.

Naia.

Kisa stormed up to the edge of the fountain and slammed her paws on the rim.

"How come you don't know me?" she demanded. "I have memories of this place. Memories of Emily. Yet none of you seem to know who I am, and that doesn't make sense!"