Chapter 14

Bartimaeus

The kitten took the form of a crow and flew out the window. It was quite dark outside. All of the figures merged into one.(1)

I was feeling much better. There was no more pounding in my head; I could act, react, and think as fast as usual. I was no longer tied down. I was feeling better to the point where I almost forgot about the summoning pain.

I was happier, too. Kitty had eaten the food I had supplied her.(2) Her aura was looking better, too.

But one thing was still eating at me. What was she planning? She was up to something, but I couldn't figure out what. It seemed she was somehow mentally and physically blocking me from figuring it out. Yes, I had seen all of her memories, but she had somehow knew that I was intruding on her; she had subconciously disabled her plots from being viewed.

She was planning something big.

And another thing: why did she want to know so much about Ptolemy? She had me stumped.(3)

Oh well.

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As the crow finally located the estate that Kitty had described as Mr. Button's place, it landed on the roof and checked out its surroundings. This area of town was…crowded, to say the least. Houses were cramped together in an uncomfortable fashion. There was just enough space between them to hang up a line of clothes. One house was differnet, though. It seemed to belong to someone far wealthier; and that was the house of Mr. Button.

All of the cramped houses fit into a circle which circled the complex of Mr. Button's place.

Well, on the upside, he had a nice view from the roof.

I hesitated. Something strong was pulsating through the house.(4) Going inside could risk my life. And I didn't have to go in if I didn't want to. Kitty hadn't given me an exact charge. She just summoned me. So, in theroy, I could do whatever I wanted.(5)

Relunctantly, the crow broke into the house and flew inside.

I took the form of Ptolemy and looked around. Whatever had been pulsating had either fled or dissapeared.(6) Interesting. So, any magical creature was out of the question. And an object couldn't move. Someone—or something—moved it when I broke in.(7)

The house was fairly empty; save for the thousands and thousands of books laying strewn around the place like garbage. This place was like the Britan Library, but messier. The books covered everything.(8)

Ptolemy stepped over one mess of books, only to fall over another.(9) The one book I sent flying flew back to me and almost hit me square in the face. I grabbed it inches before it could.

I sat upright and studied the book. Another interesting point. This was a book of djinniology.(10) And it was of value. A book like this should've been in the government's hands.(11) Hmm, so many odities. So the question was: Who was planning to do what?

A loud thud from another room ajacent to this.

I sprang to my feet.

Another loud noise.

Whatever was there seemed potent. I took the book, made the nessecary change to a bird, and flew off back to Kitty. She'd probably find this more interesting then I would.

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(1) For humans. For me, everything was clear as day. Thanks to the second and third planes.

(2) Relunctantly, though. I could tell by her body and voice that she didn't want to. She ate everything when she tried it, though. Which upped her aura a little. But it wouldn't be back to its normal status for a while. First thing she had to do was learn how to sleep and rest again.

(3) And that didn't occur often. Seeing as I'm over five thousand years and I think on several conscious planes.

(4) Something magical. Now, should I call this place a house or a mansion?

(5) There's that fake freedom shining through. There were many ways I was still trapped here, but there were also many ways I wasn't. In all technicality, I was still confinded within a penticle.

(6) And this is highly unlikely. Most thing that pulsate so strongly would be something like Gladstone's staff. It couldn't have been a djinni of any kind, either. We stand our ground and fight…With the usual execption of myself.

(7) And now you see why I don't like break-ins.

(8) Literally. Someone had been rushing through the books in quite a rush. Again, interesting.

(9) No, I don't do that very often. Not unless I'm not focused on what I'm doing. That's clumsiness for you. You people should now that better then I do; you experience it more often.

(10) Although I think Mr. Button was a magician. But I'm not quite sure about that yet; I don't know enough to make the verdict.

(11) Not that I liked the idea. No, I'm not picking sides. Maybe this book had at one time belonged to the government. Maybe Kitty stole it at one point. If she did, good find Kitty.

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So, was that okay? I hope it was alright. I made some major changes to this one; my notebook has at least three more pages on this chapter. But I decided that what was in my notebook was pretty stupid, so I edited it out.

Oh, and one more thing, I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing(This is everyone): E.C. Florek, Drop Your Oboe, HPLB, BlackRosePoison-Orchid, black rosey(anonymous), HappeeGoLuckee, Musica Diabolos, silver silver, Anonymous, gnome leader, Coruscate Corruption, Sanishal. Thanks to all for having faith in me! You all get…um…another chapter by me! Yeah, that's it!