I know I've never given any warning for stuff like this before, but this is a high-rated T. This chapter really isn't suitable for the squeamish.

Chapter 44

Kitty

"You shouldn't call her that," Ptolemy protested.

Kitty stood, kept her eye on him. "What do you want me to call her, Grand Poo-Bah?"

Ptolemy couldn't help but smile at Kitty's remark. "No, but you should at least show her a little bit of respect."

The two of them began the journey up the stairs. "Why? Why does she, of all people, deserve my respect? She's just like any other magician around here. They only want one thing; power. And they're reading to sacrifice anyone who gets in their way." When Ptolemy looked at her as though he was offended, she added, "People aren't the way they used to be. Magicians aren't like either of us. They don't…care…about anyone else. As long as they get what they want, nothing else matters."

Ptolemy nodded. "I see." His voice was so small, Kitty wanted to hold him close to her, say something reassuring.

"Ptolemy," she said as she stopped, turned, faced him. He looked over to her. "I'm sorry I was the only person to follow you. I'm sorry the world is so ignorant." Kitty closed her eyes and assed the rest softly, almost to herself. "There's so many things I'm sorry for."

"Don't be." The firmness of Ptolemy's voice made her open her eyes. "Everything in life has a reason. Why you accidentally resurrected me we may not know yet, but we will someday."

Kitty nodded, encouraged by his words. She turned to the door of Farrar's house, rammed the door. "Open up! I—er, we—need to speak with Jane Farrar!"

The door slowly opened a crack to reveal the face of Jane Farrar. From what Kitty could tell, she was a mess. Her entire face was a little distorted. Her hair was matted and tangled. She had a scar below her left eye that extended down to the top of her upper lip. She had deep bags under her eyes that made her skin seem ghostly white. Farrar also had a huge bruise on the right side of her cheek. It was purple around its outer edges, but was a sick yellow color in the inside. In the middle of that bruise was a deep cut. She was a mess, to say the least. "What do you want?" Her voice was hoarse, as though she was just about to loose it.

"We need your help." Was Kitty's weak answer.

"What happened to your helping me?"

"There's no 'I' in team." Kitty smiled. Farrar gave her an uninterested look. Kitty continued. "we've had a slight problem. You're the only magician we know and know we can trust. I need you to help me summon Bartimaeus."

"Your demon?" Kitty and Ptolemy both flinched at the word, as though it was them themselves she was degrading. "Why didn't you say so? Damn commoners never know how to get to the point of things…" Her voice drifted off as she opened the door.

Now that Kitty got a better look at Farrar, she got a better look at what she was wearing. Her outfit was casual; a white T-shirt with jeans. Both of them were torn, ripped, dirty. A patch above the jeans above her left knee was missing. She had more bruises on her arms and legs, too. Her shoes were more like sandals; her toes were exposed. Farrar's upper lip was swollen, too.

"What the hell happened?" Kitty spoke before she thought.

Farrar ignored the comment. "Well, are you two coming in or not? I've got no time for your ludicrousness. I'm a busy person, you know."

Kitty and Ptolemy walked inside. "Heh, not anymore." Ptolemy caught her eye and gave her a cold stare. Kitty blinked and looked away. Bartimaeus was right; Ptolemy did have incredible glances.

Again, Farrar ignored the comment. "Just be prepared for what you might see. Come with me to my room; it's safer there." Farrar walked away.

Kitty and Ptolemy followed after her. Under her breath, Kitty mumbled, "No where with you is safe." Either Farrar hadn't heard, or she again ignored the comment. Kitty didn't care either way.

Kitty's foot got caught on a string being pulled tightly across the floor. When she pulled her foot up, the top of a body swung down and almost crashed into her face. Thousands of flies scattered when the body moved. Kitty stared into the eyes of the corpse for a moment, frozen in fear. The milky look that covered them told Kitty the person had long been dead. Regaining control, she screamed, batted flies around her head, clumsily fell back. The flies were so many that their combined buzzes sounded more like a swarm of locusts.

Farrar and Ptolemy stopped and turned around to face her. Ptolemy covered his mouth in disgust, doubling over slightly, and turned away. Farrar, however, seemed unmoved. Her expression hadn't changed at all; she looked bored, uninterested.

"What the hell?" Kitty shouted when the flies started to return to their body.

"I told you to be prepared." Farrar said simply as she shoved the body back to its original resting place.

"You sick bitch." Farrar again ignored the comment. She moved off once again. Kitty collected Ptolemy and followed after Farrar.

Ptolemy managed to say something. "What's that smell?"

Now that Kitty thought about it, the place did smell; of rotten bleach. She vaguely wondered why it hadn't made her sick. "Yeah, Farrar, what's that smell?"

"The bodies started to smell and flies started to come in. I tried to drown them out with bleach but then that rotted, too."

Kitty bit her tongue. She could've said another rude comment, but she decided it was best not to. After all, Farrar could snap at any moment; Kitty wanted to stay as human as possible. She didn't want to end up a werewolf.

Kitty changed her thoughts and looked over to Ptolemy. Poor thing, he was dreadfully green. He looked as though he was about to throw up. She didn't blame him. After the body and the smell, she feared she'd loose herself if she saw something like that again. She had to fight down the urge to hold Ptolemy and comfort him. He reminded her so much of a little Resistance fighter she once knew. No one ever found the boy. Many guessed her was in the Tower, but for some reason Kitty doubted it. She hadn't lost hope in Jeremy. He'd find his way home one day. Now's not the time for that. She told herself. We need to summon Bartimaeus, not romance.

Although romance with Ptolemy would be nice…A voice in her head said to her.

No, not now.

But you know you want him.

Well, maybe someday.

And with that, the voice fell silent.

Finally, the three of them made it to Farrar's room. Well, the room she slept in and changed in. It was worse then the rest of the house. Blood was spattered everywhere. In some places it was one huge splatter, but in others it was a long line, like a drag line. But in some places it was only a few drops. It looked like there had been a long and painful struggle.

As Kitty got a better look, she found the body. It was a…man? The body was almost mutilated to the point of being in literal pieces. Everything was hanging on the cords of other things. It was like the body was relying on a string to hold it together. The face was ripped off—the bone, too—the extremities were hanging by a simple string of muscle, and the torso was ripped open. All of the organs inside were missing or severely severed. All except the heart. The heart was in perfect condition. Kitty shuddered when a thought hit her. Where was all the blood? There was none around the body. Had Farrar drunk the blood before ripping it open? Kitty shuddered again and looked away.

"Er, Jane, do you have a djinni employed?" Kitty asked her.

Farrar nodded. "Barloa. But as my condition grows worse, he gets more freedom. I can't order him anymore."

Kitty wanted to say something like, 'Serves you right', but she again bit her tongue. Farrar was lethal, and Kitty wanted to live. She remained silent.

"What happened here?" Ptolemy broke the silence. Kitty could tell it was his first time seeing a murder. This ain't nothin'. She thought to herself.

He shouldn't be with you during birth of your child then. The voice spoke to her.

I don't want a child!

By Ptolemaeus, you do.

I don't!

You do.

"Shut up!" Kitty hissed. Ptolemy and Kitty turned to face her. She blushed. "Oh, um…Never mind me." She gave a cheesy smile.

"It's getting worse," Farrar answered Ptolemy. "There's no hope for me now."

Ptolemy opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it. Kitty decided to say something for him. "That's destiny—fate, if you will—for you. But you're right. There's nothing we can do for you now."

"Where there's a will there's a way." Ptolemy said firmly. "You of all people, Kitty, should know that." He turned to Farrar. "We'll do everything we can."

Farrar sighed, collapsed to the ground on her knees. "Thank you. But let's just face it; there's no hope left for me. I'm left with an eternity of damnanation." She took a deep breath. "You might as well kill me now, get it over with."

"We're not going to do that," Ptolemy told her softly as he sat down next to her. "We're going to find a way to cure you."

Kitty got angry pangs when Ptolemy comforted Farrar like that. After all, it was just Jane. Why was she so special? Kitty herself summoned Ptolemy! She should've been the center of attention!

Kitty's sudden bad mood effected what she said next. "It's not as easy as it sounds, Ptolemy." Ptolemy looked up to her and gave her another stare. Again, she backed down. "I'll go summon Bartimaeus." She caved.

"I think there's one surviving pentacle in the other room," Farrar told her as she walked away.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/n

Ooh. Can Farrar be saved? Is Kitty really that jealous about Ptolemy's comforting Jane? What will Bartimaeus think?! Next chapter coming soon!