Veronica thought she was imagining things when she heard it again. She practically jumped several feet into the air as she stared wide-eyed at the wall closest to her.


    Who was knocking? Which wall was it coming from? Most importantly, did she really want to find out?


    When several minutes passed without another knock, she tentatively approached the wall. She placed her palm against the flat surface. Then she dared to lean forward and pressed her ear against the wall. The only sound she could hear was her rapidly beating heart, no matter how long she waited. Veronica pulled her head away from the wall and studied the black surface. After taking a deep breath, she hesitantly knocked back.


    "Oh good, I thought that I might have messed up."


    She jumped at the sound of a voice coming up from behind her and whirled around to see a man in a top hat. A very long top hat. In fact, the top hat was so long that it was literally taller than the man and brushed against the ceiling. The peculiar sight completely stunned her as she was left speechless.


    "What a fascinating specimen I caught. I''m so glad that I listened to their information," the man said as he rubbed his hands together gleefully.


    Veronica shifted uncomfortably as she asked, "What are you talking about?"


    "Oh, I haven''t introduced myself. The name''s Gerard Highmore. It''s a pleasure to meet you. May I know your name?" Veronica remained silent, gripping her broomstick close to her chest, and he sighed. "You know it would be nice if you witches introduced yourselves. Having a name to put to your face would be helpful."


    She sucked in a breath.


    How did she know she was a witch?


    Even if her outfit looked like the stereotypical clothes of a witch, she could have been cosplaying as one. He had no reason to think she was a witch just by looking at her.


    "You know it''s quite rude to ignore someone when they''re talking to you," Gerard said with a frown.


    Veronica kept her mouth shut as she prepared to defend herself with her broomstick.


    There could only be one reason why he seemed certain she was a witch. He was another of those monsters that had broken into the mansion and was pretending to look human. She didn''t know what monsters were capable of looking like humans, but they had to be strong and scary.


    In a blink of an eye, he stood in front of her like he hadn''t been several feet away. It took her a couple moments to process what she was seeing before she scrambled back to get away from him. Unfortunately, she had already been close to the wall, and her back collided with the hard surface, leaving her nowhere to run. Before she could even attempt to throw herself to the side, he got into her space and towered over her.


    She hadn''t realized how tall he was until he was right in front of her.


    "I suggest you don''t run, though it''s not like you can get away even if you do. You''re trapped in this place unless I say you can leave, so you''ll only waste your energy." His expression suddenly turned thoughtful as he added, "Actually, go ahead and try. There are some things I want to try on a witch. You can be my test subject."


    Everything about the man made her skin crawl.


    It reminded her of one of her parents'' lectures about encountering strange people and getting into disturbing situations. However, she didn''t think that any of the advice they gave her on how to avoid them or how to get out of them would help her now. She had no clue what the man was capable of. If only Deville or the other girls were with her, then she wouldn''t have to worry about facing him alone.


    "Well, aren''t you going to do anything, or are you just going to stand there looking stupid?" he snapped.


    Veronica recoiled at the hostility and closed her eyes.


    She fully expected him to hurt her—if she was lucky, it wouldn''t hurt too much—or drag her away to do whatever he wanted to do—she would prefer if he just hit her as she didn''t like the sound of what he seemed to have in mind—but it never came.


    Instead, she felt the whole room shake before some kind of explosion rocked the place, or at least what she thought was an explosion. She couldn''t be sure with her eyes screwed shut and had to rely on her ears to figure out what was going on. The man was cursing up a storm. Despite wanting to know what was going on, she didn''t dare to open her eyes even when she lost her balance and fell to the floor. Veronica laid on the floor as she waited for the earthquake to pass.


    "Ugh. I have to give up on this one and leave," the man said. "If I ever found out who''s responsible for this mess, they''ll pay."


    As soon as she heard that he was abandoning her, she wanted to shout at him to not leave her behind.


    Didn''t he say that I couldn''t leave unless he allowed it? What''s going to happen to me if he leaves without me?


    Even if she found him disturbing, she found the idea of being left behind in this place while an earthquake was happening scarier. She didn''t want to stay trapped in that place forever.


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    The whole place shook violently again. A sudden shout caused her to flinch.


    What was that? It sounded like that man. Did something happen to him? I really don''t know what''s going on.


    After some time passed, she realized that the shaking had stopped and that she couldn''t hear the man talking. Hesitantly opening her eyes, she was shocked to see a black cat standing over the man''s prone form. Unable to believe her eyes, she blinked several times and even rubbed them to get rid of the hallucinations, but none of it worked.


    As she pushed herself into a sitting position, she muttered to herself, "Did a cat really just beat that man?"


    One of the cat''s ears twitched before it turned around and stared at her with bright red eyes.


    <hr>


    I''ve never seen a black cat with red eyes before. Is it really a cat?


    When the cat started strolling towards Veronica, she frantically shot secretive glances at her surroundings.


    There was no way she was willing to let the cat get close to her. If she really wasn''t mistaken and that the cat really did take out the creepy man by itself, she didn''t want to see what it could do to her. The moment the cat was within a few feet of her, Veronica stiffened, afraid of making a single move and provoking the cat. She clutched her broomstick so hard that her knuckles turned white.


    "Hey," the cat suddenly said.


    A shrill scream escaped Veronica as she jumped back, her head slamming into the wall. The sudden impact stunned her, sending her sprawling to the ground. She groaned into the floor. The throbbing pain on the back of her head was enough to make her mind blank out.


    "That hurt," she said, her voice muffled by the ground.


    "That happens when you hit your head," a voice dryly said.


    As she pushed herself up, Veronica said, "I didn''t do it on purpose."


    Veronica unexpectedly came face to face with the cat. For a moment, the two stared unblinkingly into each other''s eyes. Then she jerked back, almost hitting her head again, and instantly forgot about the pain.


    "Careful. You don''t want to give yourself a concussion," the cat said as it sat down and licked its paw with its tail slowly wagging.


    She was utterly speechless.


    Was the cat...was the cat grooming itself?


    Well, a cat grooming itself wasn''t exactly weird. Veronica had seen plenty of cats do it all the time, but it seemed out of place given what she had just seen and heard.


    It rubbed its head with one paw as it asked, "Cat got your tongue?" When Veronica continued to stare like a goldfish, the cat deadpanned, its tail freezing. "Why are you acting like that? Aren''t you supposed to be a witch? Have you never seen a talking cat before?"


    That snapped Veronica out of her daze. "Wh-You''re a familiar?"


    "No, but you can think of me as one if that makes you feel better."


    What is that supposed to mean?


    "Anyway," the cat said as it placed its paw back onto the ground. "Sorry to trouble you, but I''m looking for someone."


    Still befuddled by the whole situation, Veronica asked, "Uh, who?"


    "I''m looking for my sibling. Have you perhaps seen them or bumped into them?"


    "I haven''t seen any cats that weren''t familiars. Is your sibling a familiar?"


    "No, and they''re not a cat."


    That just left Veronica even more perplexed. "Oh, uh, then what are they?"


    The cat shrugged its shoulders as it said, "Don''t know."


    What do you mean you don''t know? Aren''t you siblings?


    Her bewilderment must have shown on her face as the cat said, "It''s a bit complicated." Veronica could only give a slow nod. "Well, have you seen anyone you don''t recognize?" Her response was to look behind the cat at the creepy man who was still unconscious on the floor, and the cat followed her gaze. "Ah. No, that''s not my sibling."


    Veronica thought it was pretty obvious since the cat had attacked the man.


    "In that case, I will leave you be. Thank you for your time," the cat said as it stood up and turned its back on her.


    "W-wait. Take me with you," she said as she scrambled to your feet.


    "Huh? Why do you want to come with me? Shouldn''t you go back to your friends or family?"


    "I got separated from them and don''t know where they are." Veronica pointed at the creepy man as she said, "He trapped me here."


    The cat grimaced. Then it prowled over to the creepy man until it was standing in front of his head. Veronica watched as it raised a claw and abruptly scratched at the creepy man''s face. She flinched. The creepy man didn''t even flinch as the cat continued to claw at his face at a frantic pace that almost seemed like an uncontrollable frenzy.


    Since the cat was big enough to cover the man''s face, Veronica couldn''t see how badly it was scratching the man''s face, but she was sure he would be horrifically scarred.


    When the cat finally stopped, it turned around with a satisfied look on its face. "Okay, come with me. I''ll take you out of this place."


    She didn''t dare to argue and hurried after the cat. As she passed the creepy man''s body, she hesitated, unsure if she wanted to take a look at what the cat did. After a few moments of hesitation, she moved on without giving the creepy man a glance. The duo approached the rubble that Veronica finally noticed was there. The sudden appearance of the cat had completely caught her off guard, making the rubble disappear into the background.


    Well, a cat capable of taking out a man is more eye-catching than a pile of rocks.


    They climbed up the rubble out of that place into a hallway. Veronica glanced around, recognizing the surroundings as part of the mansion, but she didn''t know where exactly in the mansion they were.


    Considering that they had climbed up to get out, she assumed they had gone up a floor.


    "By the way, what happened to your wand?" the cat asked. "I can''t promise to protect you from everything that might cross our paths."


    Oh, it must think I can''t protect myself since I haven''t cast any magic in front of it.


    Veronica hadn''t even tried to ride her broomstick out of the place, even though she had it right in her hands, so it probably had a poor opinion of her.


    She tightened her grip on her broomstick and said, "I-I''ll be fine. You don''t have to worry about me."


    The cat didn''t look convinced, but instead of arguing with her, it simply said, "Then let''s go. When we find one of your friends or family members, we''ll part ways."