"Maybe I was wrong about you," the young witch shouted over a crack of thunder, almost skipping as she walked beside August. "Maybe you are too dangerous to keep around as an ally. Maybe I should kill you when this is all said and done!"

She laughed at that, like it was the funniest thing she had heard yet today. August could only give a half-hearted chuckle in reply as he kept his vice grip around my mid-section. I could not help but feel he would rather strangle me, if he could.

"Are you absolutely sure we need him back in his human form?" the witch continued. All the hairs in my back raised when I felt her dark eyes hover over me. "I prefer him this way. Weak. Helpless."

Burning burning black. Smoke as thick as water. No where to go but through. Nothing to feel but pain—

"I-I couldn't get all the information out of him before his Master changed him," August quickly affirmed, thinking faster than I had previously thought him capable of. "We can't get the rest until he's human again, so we need his Master."

"Humph, fine. Lucky for us, she's already alone at the hospital—" Maple nearly cut herself off with another cackle of laughter. "Or was that luck at all? Did you send her to the hospital?"

August tried a sad attempt at a smile. "A true witch never reveals his tricks—"

"Did you or didn't you?"

The smile did not last long. "Nuh-No, th-that was Terrebonne. I'm just looking to make the muh-most of it."

"Good," Maple said, her own smile returning as her voice sounded more like her own again. "I don't want a partner with too much ambition. You've done enough, for now. Leave the rest to me."

"She might kill your Master, you know?" August's voice whispered inside my head. "Shit, man, she's probably going to kill us before this is over. You plan for all that?"

"She's unstable," I said back. "Once she starts letting loose with her fire, she loses the last remaining part of her sanity. She can't focus and it runs wild. Once that happens, we just need to keep a clear head and we can easily come out on the winning end. Trust me, I've had to fight her several times before."

"Oh, yeah? If that's the case, why is she still, you know, alive and causing trouble?"

Because that wasn't the objective. Because Kat would keep getting in the way. Because last time, when I had her at my mercy, I couldn't do it. I cut her and bruised her and broke her, but I couldn't kill her. I saw her lying there and all I could think was...

I didn't tell August that. At least, I hoped he didn't hear that part. Instead, all I said was, "Wildwood never ordered us to kill her."

"Well, if it came down to it, could you kill her now?" August asked without missing a beat. "She's crazy—okay, more like bat-shit insane—but I don't know if I could do it, unless she had me against the wall. And by then it'll probably be too late. If you want me sticking out my neck as much as I am, can I at least count on you from keeping it burned off my body?"

"I'll protect you," I said right away. As to his first question, I could not answer quite as fast. And, thankfully, I didn't need to. The big, red neon sign was beginning to show through the sheets of wind and rain and Maple was quickening her stride as they did.

"There it is!" she exclaimed. "Come on, partner, let's not waste anymore time!"

The red flames twirled around the small girl's body as she ran, keeping her forever protected from the storm that surrounded us. August let out a slight groan of discomfort as he hurried after her. "She can run in my storm," he said in my head. "She can run without being anywhere near me."

I had nothing to say to that.

...

We were back in the alley beside the hospital. Back where I had first met Kat after months of being apart. But instead of a tall, lithe, and beautiful girl knocking the brick wall in a calm, purposeful manner, Maple was there in her place pounding the bricks rapidly and calling out: "Garcia, Garcia, open up for me-ah, me-ah!" over and over.

While her flames had retreated to wherever they retreat to thanks to the cover of the conjoined roofs over our heads, August was still giving the witch a very wide berth. He kept the panicked words in my head to a minimum after some urging on my part to appear 'discreet', but I could still feel the tension exuding from him in the tight grip he wouldn't let up on around me and his repeated glances in the direction we came from. If I had anything more encouraging to say to him, I would have. This wasn't a plan I made because it was the best one. It was the only one left for me.

"Garcia, I know you are in there!" Maple declared, giving the brick wall a swift kick with her bare foot. "If you want me to burn this place down to get inside, I will!"

"I'm coming, girl!" Dr. Garcia's familiar, shrill voice seemed to cry out from the wall itself. A moment later, an elaborate gold symbol drew itself out against the bricks, flashed brightly enough to make me shut my eyes, and when I opened them again a simple wooden door had appeared, opened, with the squat Doctor blocking the way in.

"Back so soon?" she asked, her voice cold and low as her green eyes trailed from Maple to August and I. "Too much to hope that you would have just stayed gone, I suppose. Who are they?"

"New friends," Maple said with an unsettling grin. "May we come in?"

"Just what do you think this is? A drug den that you can just come and go from as you please?" Dr. Garcia was already in the process of closing the door when her fierce eyes switched again from the witch to us. "You are no longer welcome here, so you can take your strung out 'friend' and his fox..."

Her words trailed off as her eyes remained on me. They widened in realization right before Maple threw a kick into the door, throwing it open and sending the stout doctor against the ground.

"That's what happens when you keep yourself locked up in this little hovel," Maple said as she stepped inside, August following hesitantly behind her, "you miss out on all the exciting, new developments." The girl continued to walk into the room that was no more than a closet, making to step over Dr. Garcia as if she was just an object in her way. "Now, if you'll excuse us—"

Maple stopped short when the doctor grabbed her bare heel.

"Just what do you think this is?" the stout woman repeated. "You think I'll let you just come in as you please? This is my hovel, and you are not welcome!"

Her grip appeared to tighten and Maple let out a short yelp. Her thin leg shuddered in the doctor's hand as deep red streaks scored up the girl's calf. The once smooth and tan flesh became wrinkled and scarred.

"You think what I did took away what you did?!" Dr. Garcia shrieked with a noise somewhere halfway between a snarl and a laugh. "No, stupid girl. Those scars are still there, just beneath the surfa—"

Maple leaned over and shoved her hand against the doctor's throat, ending the latter's words and replacing them with a gurgling noise. Her fingers clenched and the gurgle was itself replaced by a strangled scream as the stench of burnt flesh filled my nose.

"Hey!" August started, taking a step towards them.

In an instant, Kat leapt from Maple's shoulders, something shiny in her mouth, as her Master screamed out the word "Change!"

And then Kat was there, in the flesh, her burnt face inches from August's, with a tiny shiv extending from her clenched teeth and ending in a point at the base of the weather witch's adam's apple. There was a flash of light and a huge crash of thunder that made it sound like lightning had struck right outside the 'safety' of this closet.

"What did I say, August?" Maple asked, not taking her attention off the doctor she was now sitting on. "You've done enough, let me do the talking."

Whether consciously or unconsciously, August did a little nod that made him flinch as the shiv broke skin and drew blood. I could smell it, almost overpowering the sour smell of the burning flesh, but the witch's arms slacked and I fell from his grip before I could do anything about it.

"Don't worry about me, do something about your new 'ally'," August said as his eyes remained locked with Kat's, the latter not moving an inch from her crouched position. "Do something before that psycho kills her!"

I stepped away from between the legs of the familiar and witch, but I wasn't in a hurry to do much else. What could I do? Get myself killed, that's what. And who was this Dr. Garcia anyway? Just some jerk who treated Kat like crap. Just another witch that would get in my way.

The witch in question's screams were dying out. Her grip had left Maple's scarred leg and it didn't look like she could even put up a fight as the lithe girl remained sitting on her chest and burning her throat with her hand. Maple wasn't saying anything though, despite telling August that she would do the talking. Wasn't there something she wanted from Dr. Garcia? Wouldn't she want the doctor to fix her leg?

I couldn't see Maple's face. Dr. Garcia was looking right up into it, but her own expression was blank, fading. Were they communicating through look alone, like Hornroot had taught me to do?

Curious, I walked around the pair to get a better look.

Maple was smiling.

No, not Maple. The face this thing was making wasn't anything a girl could make. The grin was too big, the eyes too wide—too black. There was nothing in those eyes. Nothing they were trying to communicate. It was a void.

I couldn't look away and, soon, the void found me.

"What are you looking at, fox?" It spoke. It's voice was so big. It filled the room and engulfed me. It was all I could hear. The void's grin did not go away. "Do you like what you see? Do you want to watch her die?"

I didn't look away. The grin faltered, somehow, and the blackness receded. With a low sigh of relief, a girl stood up from Dr. Garcia's body in one smooth motion. "You're sick," Maple, the girl, said, dusting her hands off on each other. "I wouldn't kill someone over something so petty. No. But I will leave her with something to remember me by."

Maple finished stepping over Dr. Garcia. The woman remained on the ground, clearly unconscious, with an imprint of a hand burnt into the flesh of her neck.

"C'mon, Kat," Maple called back without stopping, "stop playing with August. We've got one more friend to recruit."

Without a word, Kat backed off from August, spit the shiv into her hand, and followed after her Master. I couldn't even be sure if she glanced at me as she passed. I couldn't even move, let alone speak. Not until I felt August's heavy presence behind me.

"What the hell was that all about?" he asked.

"I think I've made a mistake," I said.

...

My Master was sitting in a wheelchair, in Maple's old room, facing the door as if she was expecting us. Her calm visage and relaxed way she slumped back seemed to accredit that idea. Not everyone could appear as at ease she did upon witnessing two witches and two familiar's striding into such a small space.

"This is the fox's Master?" Maple asked with crossed arms and a sad shake of her head. "I was expecting someone...less crippled."

"...Foxy?" August's voice echoed in my head, clearly as surprised as his fellow witch.

My Master, Rosetta, regarded the three new faces with a few blinks before focusing her eyes on me. I felt all the hairs rise down my back at just how empty those eyes were. Not unlike the void I had seen just seconds ago.

"Hello, Foxy," she greeted. Her voice was weak, barely a whisper, but I could hear it clearly. "You've been busy."

"And now it's your turn," Maple cut in, stepping in between us. "Turn your fox back into a human, now."

Another blink in the fire witch's direction before Rosetta leaned to one side to look around Maple and back at me. "Is my mother and Hornroot safe? Did you hurt them?"

Her words took on a touch of passion, and it almost hurt. Almost. "I didn't—"

"Questions later," Maple interrupted. She took a few purposeful strides until she stood right in front of my Master. "Change your pet, now. It can't even talk to you like it is, right?"

Shit.

"Mast—Rosetta, Maple doesn't know Masters and familiars can communicate this way. We think it's best she doesn't find out."

Rosetta glanced to the side, catching my look once again. "My mother, Hornroot, did you hurt them?"

Somehow, I managed to keep from baring my teeth. "I didn't."

"Are they safe?"

This time I had to resist looking away from her. "I don't know. We were attacked by Shepherd and his dogs. Hornroot sent me away to find you and keep you safe."

That was true. Not the whole truth, but the less my Master knew, the better.

"Why—"

"Hey." Maple snatched Rosetta's wrist and held it aloft in the air, high enough to make the latter sit up in her wheelchair. "You heard me, right? Change your fox, now."

The smell of burnt flesh returned to the air. August didn't move or speak, his hand going up to his still dripping throat instead.

Surprisingly, his assailant took his place.

"Master—"

"Shut-up and don't move," Maple hissed, and Kat's body locked up, still leaned forwards as she had attempted to approach the crazed girl. Said girl did not move her glaring eyes from my Master's face. "Do it. Change him."

Steam was rising up from between Maple's palm and Rosetta's wrist. But instead of screams, instead of begging, or even resistance, my Master slowly turned her focus away from me and locked eyes with the witch who was burning the flesh off her arm. She was sweating, pale, and her eyes had changed. From nothing, to something very, very cold.

"What do you want with the fox?" my Master asked in a voice that sounded only a little bothered by the smoking of her wrist. "What are you trying to do?"

"...What?" Maple said, her arm slacking.

"What are you trying to do?" Rosetta repeated, slower. "I can't help you if I don't know what it is you want."

"What I...? Do you not feel that?"

Rosetta glanced to the hand still gripping her arm and the blackening flesh that was spreading beneath it. "I've had worse."

Maple released Rosetta's wrist like she had been bit. My Master simply looked on as her arm hit the armrest of her wheelchair and dangled off the side. Almost her entire forearm was charred and cracked. Of course, there was no blood.

The fire witch was now holding her own wrist, opening and closing her hand as if to make sure it was still working. Her face was unreadable.

"What do you want?" my Master repeated.

Maple stared at her hand a moment more before clenching it into a fist. With another settling sigh, she took a step back from the girl in the wheelchair, her arms falling to her sides. "I want to burn Wildwood to the ground."

Rosetta did not have anything to say to that right away. I found myself looking at the straightened back of the girl I had fought against for several years. Those words she had just said did not sound like the monster I had met in the other room. More like something human. Something familiar.

"Why?" Rosetta finally pressed. If she had been similarly fazed by Maple's words, she didn't show it.

"Why?" Maple spat back, a scowl in her voice. "Why should I tell you? What business is it of yours? I want to burn it down and you are going to help me, starting with changing your damned fox!"

"What's so special about him?" My Master's eyes found mine again. "He can't do anything."

Somehow, I managed to keep my expression blank, even when Maple let out a loud chortle.

"Right, you're right," she said, glancing back at me with a wide sneer. "But it isn't about what he can do. It's about what he knows. He knows where Wildwood's lapdog lives. I need him human to get the directions out of him."

Rosetta's stare bored into the top of my head, but I kept my gaze down. I tried my very best to not think anything at all.

"Why not just force him to show you like he is now?"

"Always questions, questions, questions with you!" Maple scratched the back of her head vigorously. "That part comes next. A fox is still a fox. It can't beg, can't lie. I want to hear him try."

My Master's eyes never left my head. Even with my eyes shut, even focusing on the darkness, I couldn't keep from thinking. The void. The fire. The risks and the danger. It was all there, always present, always suffocating. This was my best and last chance. I had to put my faith in someone who hated me.

"M...Master...please..."

At first, I thought it was Kat speaking. But she was still frozen on the spot, locked up both body and mind.

No, that was my voice. That was me begging.

"I pity you, Alex Foxy."

And that wasn't Kat, or August, or Maple. Only one person could speak with such emptiness.

"Change."

...

*Author's Note*

It appears the group has been gathered, but will their combined might be enough to handle Terrebonne and her Terrors? Can Foxy find Mutt and, even if he does, will his old friend even remember him?

The answers to all these questions are coming but I would love to hear your theories on the matter, my dear reader.