Matias

I'd almost been able to sleep for an hour without moving, but the sunbeam refused to stay in one spot, the pesky thing. So every hour I got up and moved just an inch to the left so I could keep the warmth from it. Now it was just barely covering the lower part of me, so I get up and stretch. 

Something isn't right.

Instead of lying down again - as much as I really want to - I look around the room. There's no sound, and no Eve flittering around making her loud noises. It was strange that I was about to lie down a fourth time with no interruptions to my nap. Even that annoying crow isn't cawing.  My tail whisks back and forth. This isn't right. With a sigh, I get up and move into the kitchen.

When I walk in there is no Eve standing at the stove humming some song, nor is she standing in front of the fridge with one foot off the ground as she tries to decide what she'll eat today. 

Moving on, I explore her bedroom. She wasn't lying in her bed, napping or sleeping, nor was she lying there, her feet above her as she reads a book, humming under her breath.

Her study is much the same. She isn't pacing around the room thinking or even standing in front of the books and deciding which she'll read next. Her desk is empty with only the last books she'd been pouring over left open. Not even a mug or glass sat near the edge for me to knock off.

Even her spell room is empty. She isn't standing above her cauldron with a spell brewing, or over at the book stand reading her spell book. 

There is no Eve doing her usual thing in any of the rooms.

With a long sigh, I go outside to find that crow. Maybe he will have some clue where Eve is. I push open my swinging door - how special am I? And stepped through it, the door just barely misses hitting me. I turn and hiss at it before continuing my mission.

"Crow," I call. 

No response.

The sound of splashing water hits my ears. Jerking my head towards the noise, I turn to the side of the house. Is that bird taking another bath? He seems to do that all the time. With a shake of my head, I make my way around the house until Eve's garden comes into view. 

Her plants are almost wild but just close enough to not be considered a mess of weeds. The smell of her lavenders reaches my nose, and I pause for a minute to soak the smell in. Even if she isn't here right now, I can still have the scent of her. I do hope she's okay.

"Crow," I say as I step into the garden, making my way to the middle of it where a bird bath sits. It has a simple pattern of flower vines climbing up it, while in the middle stands a statue of a tree. 

"Why not put an actual tree in the middle of it?" I asked as Eve installed the bird bath.

"Then the birds wouldn't have much room to take their bath, silly."

"But it'll attract birds."

She smiled one of those smiles that looked happy but was actually hope and sadness. "I know."

And that bird bath brought us this idiot. Now he won't leave. 

The crow pauses in his bathing, his wings half-up as if he is ready to fly away. "Oh. It's you." 

"Yes it's me. Have you seen Eve?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Eve? Why? She's not here."

"Yes, I know she's not here." A swish of my tail. "That's why I'm asking if you've seen her."

He puts his wings down and hops until he's facing me fully. "Haven't."

"Thank you. See how easy it was to answer my question?" He shakes himself, water droplets flying from him. With a hiss, I jump back. Through gritted teeth I ask, "Did Eve say if she was going somewhere?"

"Flying." Then without another word, he takes off.

"That stupid bird!" With a shake of my head, I turn back around. Now what do I do? That bird was of no help, and Eve didn't leave a single note of where she could be going. With a sigh, I hop up onto the fence.

And come face to face with that girl.

She's always hanging around here for some reason and every time Eve comes out-

"There she goes again," Eve says with a sigh.

I stretch my neck and see that girl's eyes widen before she takes off running. With a glance up at Eve, I don't need to sense what's she feeling. It's written on her face. I nuzzle her leg and rub my body against her with a nice loud purr. "Who needs the villagers when you have me?"

She looks down at me and tries her best to smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "Let's go catch some mice for a spell. Yeah?"

"Sounds delightful."

The girl's brown eyes widen. She sneaks a look past me, and when she sees no Eve, her shoulders relax. "Are you out here by yourself, kitty?" She reaches out to pet me but before she can I go to scratch her. She pulls her hand away fast so that I don't even nick her. How disappointing. "You're kind of mean, aren't you?"

"What did you do to her?"

Her eyes widen once more. "You can talk?!"

"Of course I can talk." My tail swishes back and forth as I sit down on the fence.  

"That's... That's not- it's not possible!"

"What did you do with her?"

"With who? Wait... why am I still talking to you?" She shakes her head. "I must still be asleep."

"I can assure you, you aren't. Now what did you do with Eve? You're always hanging out around here and always run away so you must have-"

"The witch?" she asks, glancing behind me at the cottage once again.

"Yes the witch!"

"I didn't do anything." She looks away from me and down the road into town. "I'm sorry," she says as she turns back to me. "But I really have to go." She doesn't let me respond before she's walking away.

"I'm not done talking to you!" I yell after her, no longer sitting. I try to follow her but the fence cuts off right as she starts running.

"Caw!" A black shadow flies over me before landing in front of me and blocking me from jumping off.

"Out of the way crow!"

"Not her."

I bare my teeth at him.

"Not scary."

"Hiss." 

The bird just looks at me, cocking it's head in the way ravens do. "Need her help."

"We don't need her help. She's the one who took Eve."

He shakes his head.

I narrow my eyes. "What do you mean?"

"She did not."

"How do you know that?"

He turns so that one eye stares at me, intently, with no blinking. I sigh. 

"I won't question your powers. This time." I peek around him, the girl no longer in sight. "You just lost my only lead though."

"Follow," he says right as he takes off. 

"Who?" I call after him, watching as he does flip-flops in the sky before disappearing into the trees behind the cottage. "Stupid bird."

Even if that crow is a seer as he claims, I don't follow him. I hop off the fence and follow the path that leads into town. It's travelled well but not by us. Eve refuses to go into town. and I'm perfectly fine with that. There's too many people, too many chances of being stepped on. Not worth the risk. But if anyone could know where Eve went? Or maybe if she just happened to change her mind and went into town, it's worth a shot looking.

Chapter word count: 1,291

Total word count: 1,291