I wake up the next morning in my own bed, the curtains drawn back to let in the sun. I can guess that my mother may have come in to check on me early this morning and had opened the curtains as a subtle way to wake me.

I tiptoe around my room as I get dressed before I sit on the edge of my bed and try to decide what my next move is. I call on Bastet, the panther shimmering to life as she lies down and props her head in my lap as I stroke her fur.

The idle motion keeps me preoccupied as I wonder what I'll have to face when I go downstairs.

You are not crazy, Astrid, Tessa, and Indigo believe in you, we all know that something is wrong, we all know that the Unfamiliars are being killed again.

Bastet grumbles then, the sound low and deep in her chest as she lifts her head, her golden eyes boring into the closed door. The temperature in my room drops then and I shiver in surprise.

The hairs on the back of my neck and arms begin to prickle, as does Bastet's scruff as the panther continues to growl. A cuckoo clock on the wall begins to tick then, even though I had long since removed the batteries because the incessant ticking had driven me crazy at night.

I don't dare breathe as I watch the hands on the clock spin, the eyes of an animatronics cat carved into the clock darting back and forth in time with the ticking as its wooden tail swishes back and forth. Bastet has gone quiet in my lap, her breathing fast and light as it matches my own.

I see a face then, as it almost seems like it's obscured by a mist that is now hanging around my closed door. Eyes meet mine from across the room and I gasp in a sharp breath as I recognize Finn's.

Kara, you have to leave Boston.

I can hear his voice plain as day in my head as I watch the mist roil and gather.

There's a knock at the door and I flinch, the cuckoo clock falling silent as the mist dissipates, like it had never been there in the first place. Bastet is still stiff, her teeth bared in a snarl as she musters a half-hearted growl that helps me come to my senses.

She lifts her head and I get up and head for the door, the doorknob no colder than I would expect it to be as I open the door.

Indigo stands waiting for me on the other side, her hand raised to knock again as she lowers it and offers me a hesitant smile.

"Hey, I figured I'd wake you up before mom did," she says in a timid voice. "Do you maybe want to go to the café down the street?"

I let her step past me into my room and as she does so, she pauses. I glance over to see that Bastet is glaring at her, the fur on her shoulders once again prickling as the large cat bares her teeth in a snarl.

To most anyone else, it'd be a sight that would send them screaming down the hallway. But Indigo merely regards her warily as she side-eyes me.

"What's going on with her?" Indigo asks as I shut the door.

"Finn was here," I admit softly as her eyes widen.

"Did he say anything?"

"That I have to leave Boston," I murmur as I reach up to smooth the hair that had risen on the back of my neck.

"That's it?"

I nod.

She gnaws on the edge of her lip then, "But nothing about Salem? So is the academy still 'safe'?"

"I don't know, I didn't get to ask specifics," I mutter as I give her a sad smile. "I'm just glad he's still around."

"Yeah...I'll try to convince mom to let you go back to the academy tomorrow then, since you technically won't be in Boston if that's what he wants," Indigo says, "I don't think she'll let you go back tonight."

I nod, "Yeah, what were you saying about going to a café though?"

Indigo grins at this and rolls her eyes, "Look, if we're going out, we're probably going to have to sneak out, they're both still downstairs, do you want to talk to them yet?"

I shake my head. What I want most of all right now is to have a breath of freedom before I have to explain myself to them. I let Bastet dissipate, her outline lingering for just a moment before it disappears.

"Let's go then," Indigo says as she pulls out her wand.

Cold air shivers across my skin and I breathe it in as relief rushes through me to be invisible. I keep my steps light as we tiptoe down the stairs. Indigo makes a few, silent gestures to me as we skirt the edge of the kitchen and start toward the basement door. I know then what she's thinking, that there's a window just big enough for us to sneak through since both of our parents are sat at the bar as I eye them carefully.

Our mother doesn't move as the cold air suddenly changes, the heat of the house surrounding me as I pull up short and nearly bump into the back of Indigo.

"Where are you going?" our mother asks as she doesn't even turn around.

The both of us remain silent at this as our father turns around on his barstool, a cup of coffee held in his hand as he takes a sip.

"We...we were going to go the café down the street for breakfast," Indigo admits at last.

"Why don't you stay and talk instead?" Our mother suggests and I can hear the faint click of the lock on the basement door locking.