Chapter 32

Ptolemy

Dark. Everything was dark. Had Ptolemy been unconscious? He couldn't recall what would make him pass out.

The first sense to come back was touch. He could feel her was bonded from the wrists and ankles. There was a cloth stuck in his mouth, one over his eyes, and another over his mouth. He was surprised her could breathe.

Whoever—or whatever—had taken him captive didn't want him to make any noise.

The next sense to come back was hearing. Somewhere off in the distance, water dripped from a pipe down to a puddle on the ground. Other then that, however, all was silent.

Smell came next. And boy, did he not want it! It smelled heavily of ammonia. Yuck. He thought to himself.

Thought came back next. The electrons and neurons in his brain managed to bring their signals to where they were meant to be. His brain was now fully functioning. Now that he could think clearer, where was everyone? And what exactly had happened? His mind was racing with questions, but none of them could be answered.

His emotions came back with neurons, protons, and electrons. The first thing he felt was pain. Emotional pain. But he was supposed to be a spirit, wasn't he supposed to be oblivious to that sort of thing?

The next emotion to come along was panic. Were Kathleen and her parents alright? Where was he? Who had captured them? Why? Everything was a mess in his mind. It was hard for him to grasp the concept and hold it. If he tried thinking about one thing and moving onto another, he'd forget entirely about the former.

Ptolemy's head swam as he tried to force himself to think about more then one thing. His vision started to blur again. Ptolemy gave up.

Kitty flashed in front of Ptolemy's eyes. His heart raced. Where was she? Was she alright? His heart pumped something like adrenaline. His heart raced.

What was that feeling? Wait…feelings. He supposed to have those, was he? He had physical pain, too. How could a spirit have physical pain if it's not an earthly body? Why was he feeling anything? Why now?

A scream was heard from another room adjacent to his. Someone had shouted, "Where is he?" It was Kathleen. Ptolemy felt…felt. "Tell me where Ptolemy is, you bastard!" She cares about me. Ptolemy's heart fluttered again, but even more so.

A mess of sounds from the other room.

Next thing he knew, someone was bursting into the room and running over to him. "Don't worry, Ptolemy," The person said. It was Kathleen. "I'll get you outta here." Kathleen brought that feeling to his heart. He tried to speak, found that he couldn't, savored the feeling Kathleen gave him. He remained still and patiently waited for her to undo the bonds.

Kathleen brought good-feeling shivers down Ptolemy's spine. Briefly and somewhat ghostlike, he smiled. When Kathleen was finished, she bent down in front of him. She was perspiring slightly, and her breath was ragged. She had a deep cut on the right side of her forehead. She spoke. "Are you alright?"

In response, Ptolemy opened his mouth and tried to pull out whatever had been stuffed into it. He pulled it out, coughed, tried to moisten his mouth. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good. Now c'mon, we have to go." Kathleen stood. Ptolemy tried to follow her, stumbled, fell. His body was still weak…another human characteristic. His head began to swim again.

"I can't!" He grunted in spite of himself.

"What? You have to." She took his harm gently, pulled him onto his feet again. She kept a firm hold on him. Her touch sent those exciting chills down his spine. "This place is gonna blow. We have to get out of here now!"

She started tugging him along, when Bartimaeus came to mind. "Where's Rekhyt?"

"He's fighting another djinni at the moment, but c'mon! There might be more. We need to get out of here."

"No!" Ptolemy stopped dead and pulled his arm back. Kathleen turned to face him. "I'm not leaving him."

"I honor your loyalty. But, Ptolemy…Look, I told him to forget about the djinn when he saw or heard us running out. And if you know Bartimaeus as well as I do, you'll know he's more of the run-and-shoot technique. He'll be fine as long as we get out of here A.S.A.P. The sooner the better."

Reluctantly, Ptolemy followed after her.

Once they found the exit, Kathleen placed her hand on the handle, turned back and called out for Bartimaeus. "Bartimaeus!" Then she snapped back around, pulled the door open, ran outside, still dragging Ptolemy along.

Ptolemy again hesitated. He himself turned around, called out; "Rekhyt!" and allowed Kathleen to pull him out of the place entirely.

They kept running until they were at least a hundred feet away. The building spontaneously combusted. "Rekhyt!" Ptolemy called out in anguish.

"No," Kathleen began softly. Ptolemy looked over to her. "He's still alive. I can feel it."

"What about your parents?"

"I told Bartimaeus to make sure they got out. I'm pretty sure they're fine." Kathleen bit her lower lip. Ptolemy knew she wasn't sure of their fate. He didn't press the matter further.

"What do we do now?" Ptolemy changed the subject.

"Wait for Bartimaeus to show up." In answer, a small black bird was thrown into the air when the building exploded for a second time. The bird flew into the sky, then landed a few feet off, and skidded over to their feet. "Bartimaeus!" Kathleen cried as she bent down to him. She held the little bird in her hands, blinked away tears. "Bartimaeus, are you alright?"

Bartimaeus moaned.

In response, Kathleen began the dismissal incantations. Little grey streaks came up from the ground and wrapped around Bartimaeus. Both were gone in an instant.

Wiping away tears, Kathleen stood and faced Ptolemy. "Well, it's just you and me, buddy."

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A/n

If no one gets the thing with Ptolemy soon, I'm gonna freak! Next chapter Kitty. Yay Kitty! Wow…I must really be bored…