AN/ Hi. so sorry for the wait again... I can only say that it takes some time to make this chapters and I hope that they are good enough to make it up for the wait...

Thank you so much for all of you reviews:) They really inspire me:) I'm also super happy that most of you seemed to like that weird twist of Kim turning into a bird...

So now on with the story...

DISCLAMIER: I do not own Kickin' it.

Chapter 8

Inside the Brewer's Residence

I was suddenly jerked away from the window and carried towards the old oak tree. I looked up at the one holding me. It was Claire just like I had expected and she didn't look too happy. She held me close to her body making sure that I wouldn't be seen from the house. As we got to the tree Claire walked behind it, letting its big trunk hide us from any viewers.

"What are you doing here?! Didn't I tell you to stay away?!" she whisper-yelled as soon as we were out of sight, opening her hand so that I could sit in her palm. I looked up at her and after some hesitation I nodded. She had told me and I had been aware that I was disobeying her by returning.

When seeing my slightly ashamed expression she sighed, her eyes softening. "Do you realize how dangerous it is for you to come back here?" she said. "And not only for you, but for me as well. If she starts to suspect something I'm no longer safe here either..." I tried to say something but remembered that I wasn't able to. Claire watched me for a moment as I hung my head.

"Kimberly, why are you here? Couldn't you find the house?" I nodded, showing her that I indeed had found it. "Then what is it?" Not having any other way to communicate than using charades I started gesturing with my wings, trying to make it look like karate moves to get her to think of Jack. That didn't work at all though…

"Was someone chasing you?" She asked and I shook my head, trying to be even more clear in my gestures, walking around on her opened hand and pretending to be limping the way Jack had done.

"Are you hurt?" Again I shook my head, beginning to feel a bit frustrated. I don't know how I would've gotten my message through if it hadn't been for her asking a question that would clear it all up and I wouldn't even need to bring Jack up.

"Wasn't Mr Brewer home?"

Mr Brewer…? Why hadn't I thought of him? Of course Mr Brewer was the one. How could I ever have been so stupid to believe that it was Jack? I mean with all the questions Mr Brewer had been asking me and the way he'd been insisting on me talking to Mr Kingsley… It was so obvious that he had known about the entire witch thing and how it would involve me.

I scolded myself for not really having listened to him and called Gregory Kingsley when I had the chance to. Then maybe I could've prevented this from happening. Or I wished that Mr Brewer at least had gotten the chance to explain more before Jack had to get in and interrupt. Stupid Jack…

Just thinking about him made me so mad I almost shook…

"Kimberly, you have to go back." Claire said. "Please trust me. It's the only way." I sighed, realizing that I didn't have much of a choice than to put away my pride and fly back to the Brewer's residence. At least it was Mr Brewer that would help me, which felt better. I liked him and he seemed to know a thing or two about this mess I was trapped in…

"Kimberly, go." Claire urged. "You're wasting your time. We only have until the full moon on Friday. If you haven't gotten him to help you by then…" She got silent. I looked at her, finally seeming to get how serious the situation is. "You have to succeed." She whispered. I nodded, which made her smile. "Good, now go."

~~~Wings of Love~~~

As I got back to the Brewers I landed in the same tree I'd been sitting in earlier that afternoon. There was still no car on the driveway, making me guess that Jack was still the only one around.

At first I decided that I should wait until Mr Brewer got home, but after twenty minutes or so I started to get impatient. I was already so sick of being a bird and the fact that the day seemed to come to an end made me feel a little stressed. I did not want to wake up looking like this in the morning.

Deciding that I might as well could take a look around; I jumped off the branch and started to make my way around the house. The garden was very well kept and the entire place looked beautiful. I felt a sting of jealousy. It hurt my ego a little to know that Jack actually had a reason to brag… I shook my head trying to get rid of the brunette who kept popping up in my mind. I needed to focus on Mr Brewer and my mission, not dwelling on how much I disliked his son.

Having gotten to the backside of the house I noticed a window having been left opened just enough for my small body to slip through it.

I swiftly made it inside. Immediately feeling like a burglar I hid behind a flower pot and scanned the room. It was pretty big. A huge table was placed in the middle of it with as much as fourteen chairs around it. I frowned. It seemed kind of odd for a family of only three to have a table like that… but maybe they had many relatives or just liked to invite people over…I don't know.

The furniture were dark and had kind of a gothic style to them, the backs of the chairs being really tall and narrow, covered with details. The walls were burgundy in colour and decorated with beautiful paintings with golden frames. On the table stood two golden candelabras and from the ceiling hung a gigantic chandelier. I briefly wondered how much money the Brewers had. Everything just looked so expensive.

There were double glass doors which had been left wide opened on the opposite wall to the window, leading out to what seemed to be the living room. Feeling relatively sure that no one was around, I flew across the room, heading for them. But halfway there I spotted another smaller door. I hadn't seen it from the window since a huge cupboard was placed next to it, hiding it. I didn't know why, but there was something about the door that drew me towards it. Maybe it was the secret location of it or the fact that it was only opened a couple of inches, making it seem as it was supposed to be closed but the last visitor had failed to do so while leaving it in a hurry… Either way I turned in the air and snuck through the extremely small gap between the door and the door frame.

At first I'd been a bit annoyed by the fact that Claire had sent me into a sparrow out of all animals. But now I could definitely see the perks of begin this small, not to mention the perks of being able to fly…

The room was fairly small, long and narrow in shape. There were no windows which made it pretty dark although a lamp standing on the desk in one end of the room gave a warm glow to the place. It looked to be an office combined with a small library, shelves with books covering three of the four walls. Also in here the furniture were dark and the entire room had an old English style to it. The desk was placed in the middle of it in a way so that the one sitting by it would face the door, having a clear view of all who enter. In the corner, next to the door was a dark green armchair and above it on the wall hung the crest of 'The Brotherhood of the Fireguard'.

I was relieved to see it actually, as it confirmed that I indeed was in the right place. This must be Mr Brewer's office and it would be the most likely place he'd keep all his work in, including the ones that involved fighting witchcraft…

I flew over to the desk, where stacks of books and papers lay in an 'organized mess' as if someone had left being in the middle of something. I landed and started to go through as much as I could. Unfortunately the books were all too heavy for me to move, but the paper sheets I could manage. Using my claws I could pick them up and fly them to a different place on the desk and it didn't take long until I found something interesting.

Someone had drawn moons on a piece of paper with calculations like the ones I'd seen in Claire's notebook written under them. I took it as a proof that Mr Brewer had known about all of this, just as much as Claire. He must have.

I felt hopeful at that. He would certainly know how to help me.

Wanting to see if there were more documents that were holding information about the whole witch thing I eagerly grabbed the next sheet of paper with my beak, pulling it away by backing off. I was a bit excited, believing that I might get some new answers and I moved it away too rushed.

Going backwards I accidentally bumped into a penholder with a few pens and pencils in it. It fell, spilling out its contents and making an awful lot of noise in the otherwise completely silent building. Almost giving myself an heart attack I froze, holding my breath while listening carefully. I could hear a tic-tac sound from a clock not too far away. It seemed to grow louder with each 'tic' as I waited for something to appear, either a movement or a sound of someone coming. Keeping my eyes on the almost shut door, the seconds passed. Nothing...

I felt myself relax a little. No one seemed to have heard me, although I was starting to feel stressed again and I hurried through the papers, resulting in some of them ending up on the floor. I didn't care though, having found a document that had caught my attention. It looked as old as the ones Claire kept in her notebook and the hand writing seemed familiar. Curiously I started to read what seemed to be a letter.

To Sir Joseph Harrison

I received your letter and was immediately alerted about the seriousness your research points to. It is as I feared…
As you know Evelyn spoke the doom of Gabriella and the resurrection of herself before she died by my flame. I heard her utter the words that have set the fate for the families of Seaford… Of course I did my best to destroy her, setting the cottage along with her and all her devilish belongings on fire.
She should be dead and gone. But…
You already know what I saw that night... It has led me to believe that she's still out there somewhere, just waiting for the right moment to return. I have been feeling it for a while and now you just confirmed it.
It is crucial that the people of Seaford never find out about it though. If it came out, panic would erupt and our job would be much more complicated. I therefore ask you to please don't mention anything to anyone about your discoveries. It is of the gravest importance that you keep silent until I get there.
For years I've been trying to understand the pieces of Evelyn's curse and finally it seems as we're getting somewhere.

Sincerely yours

R. Kingsley 18th July 1794

R. Kingsley it said, which stood for Robert Kingsley. It was the same man who fought and defeated Evelyn who'd written it. But I didn't know who this Joseph Harrison was. One thing was clear though. They had known that Evelyn wasn't really dead…

Reading it again I noticed the name Gabriella. I'd seen it before in the poem, or curse actually. 'Evelyn's Curse' was apparently what they called it... I shuddered, knowing how right they'd been.

Being so focused on the letter lying beneath me, I didn't notice that I wasn't alone in the room anymore.

Not until it was too late.

"What the…? SHOO!" A hand suddenly came into view, waving in front of me. I jumped away startled, beginning to flap my wings. The hand quickly got closer again, opening up as if it was trying to grab me and I did the only thing that I could -I flew.

There was really no need for me to look to see who the hand belonged to, still I looked over my shoulder as I took off towards one of the higher shelves near the ceiling. The teenager boy was as I'd feared right behind me. He'd climbed up on the desk about to take a leap for me.

"Get away from there!" He exclaimed as he jumped, extending his arm towards me. I just barely made it in between two books on the shelf as I heard the sound of books falling to the floor. Jack must've knocked some down when he jumped.

Suddenly the book to my right was pulled away and sent with a thud to the floor. Finding myself totally exposed to the pair of brown eyes that were fixed on me I let out a squeak, my small bird heart beating ridiculously fast. Jack had managed to land on the shelves, his left hand holding on to one of the higher ones and his feet had found support on the lower ones. As he reached out for me again, I jumped over his hand and flew across the room and as expected he was after me in no time.

"Stupid bird." He muttered. Flying near a small stack of paper sheets that were lying on top of some books, I accidentally brought them to the floor, as my flapping created enough wind to move them.

"Stop that!" He exclaimed as if he cared that the papers scattered all around.

Again I tried to hide but to no use. Jack was fast and his senses were sharp. I never really seemed to get the chance to confuse him long enough for me to hide properly and the chase went on. At one point he tried to throw a book at me, missing me by an inch.

The door had been closed in all the chaos, making an escape impossible and for a moment I considered to let him catch me, but as I took another look into the dark eyes of his I decided against it.

As the time passed Jack seemed to get frustrated and his movements became wider, not caring anymore if things that were in his way got destroyed.

"Come here!" Jack said, knocking over the chair by the desk. I took another flight across the room, as Jack reached out for me, accidentally shoving his hand into the lamp that was standing on the desk, sending it to the floor. I don't know how but it didn't break from the impact, still filling the room with light.

I started to get tired and I prayed that he would give up soon, not knowing how much longer I would be able to keep this up.

Suddenly the door opened. I was too busy trying to find a place to hide that I didn't really noticed though. Jack didn't seem to notice either and he leaped for me again, reaching out. He was so close I could see his hand in the corner of my eye as it hovered above me. I felt my heart almost stop, knowing that in the next moment his hand would wrap itself around my tiny body. He had been quicker than me this time…

But to my surprise his palm never made it to my back, his fingers never embraced my body. In fact his hand was withdrawn with the same speed it had lashed out for me, the tip of his fingers brushing against my tail feathers at the same moment a man growled;

"JACKSON!"

I snuck in between a couple of books just as a loud thud was heard from behind me as something heavy was thrown into the shelves. I was shaking, taking deep breaths to try to calm myself down. Having recognized the voice, I felt relief. Mr Brewer was finally here. Thank God, he was here.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He yelled. I'd never heard him sound so angry before, not that I blamed him. The room was a complete mess and all because of Jack… A low moan was heard from Jack, before he started to speak with a weak voice.

"Dad, please…"

"You know you're not allowed in here!" Mr Brewer yelled. "Why do you always have to ruin stuff?!"

"I didn't…I…"

Feeling a bit curious I dared to stick my head out just enough to take a peek at them. Mr Brewer was standing with his back towards me looking down at Jack who was sitting on the floor, leaning his back up against the shelves. He looked scared, cowering under his dad. I frowned. It seemed as if Jack was the 'thing' that I'd heard crashing into the shelves a second ago.

"Please…" Jack said again, a pleading expression on his face. Mr Brewer shook his head and turned his gaze to a fairly big book lying opened on the floor. Jack eyed him warily as he bent down and picked it up.

"Did you read this?" Mr Brewer said, his voice calm and steady again. Jack still didn't seem to relax though, looking fearfully at the man. "Did you?" Mr Brewer asked again, slamming the book close which caused the boy on the floor to flinch.

"N-n-no…" Jack stuttered as Mr Brewer once again focused on him, stepping closer. "Please"

Holding the book in both hands, the man pulled it back before swinging it through the air. His movements were so quick I barely saw what he did before the book hit Jack full force straight across the face. Jack's head was forced sideways by the impact as his whole body collapsed to the floor. I heard a small whimper escape his lips as he quickly curled up into a fetal position, protecting his face with his arms.

My eyes widen in disbelief. That did not just happen...

As much as I disliked Jack, I actually felt worried for him. That was quite a serious blow to take to ones head and disturbingly enough; his dad didn't seem to care.

"You like snooping around in things that are none of your business, huh?" Mr Brewer was leaning over Jack now, watching him. The man scared me actually and I found myself backing off further into the shadows. "Why do you always have to destroy?" Mr Brewer said, shaking his head in thoughts. Jack didn't move nor did he answer the question, although a faint 'please' was heard from him. Mr Brewer clenched his jaw and I could see how the anger was building up in him again.

"Why do you…!" He threw a kick at Jack's stomach at the word 'you'. Jack let out a deep groan from the hit, bending over even more. "…have to destroy?!" finishing the sentence Mr Brewer sent a second kick to his stomach. This one seemed harder, leaving Jack in a tight ball, his knees pulled up to his chest and his face hidden in his arms. The boy moaned but didn't say anything. Breathing heavily, obviously trying to deal with the pain that must be terrible he laid as still as he possibly could.

"WHY?!" Mr Brewer exclaimed making both me and Jack jump. He didn't receive any answer though and complete silence filled the room. The man started to take deep breaths, calming himself down from his violent outburst. "When will you ever learn?" he mumbled, clutching the book he'd used to beat Jack with. There was a bitterness to his voice and his anger almost seemed to turn into sadness as he stood there, watching his son. He let out a sigh of frustration and suddenly threw the book with unnecessary force at the teenager, aiming for his head. The book hit the target who seemed to have lost ability to react.

Mr Brewer looked around the room and I instinctively took a few steps back, making sure that I was well hidden among the books. After a moment or so I could hear him moving towards the door. But just before he was about to leave he stopped.

"You're cleaning this up son." He said. "I'll go over and visit Ms Turner and when I get back I want this room to be exactly the way I left it earlier today. Not a single note out of order. Understood?"

I didn't hear Jack reply, but Mr Brewer didn't seem to care about it. Instead he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Silence filled the room as I sat there seeing the pieces come together. It felt unreal though. The boy I'd come close to hate for being a bully had been abused in front of my eyes, by his own father. A father that I'd liked for being so calm and collected, always seeming to know what to do… How could I've been so wrong?

Hadn't I seen the way Jack always cowered in his father's presence? Hadn't I heard the way he always started to speak with uncertainty, sometimes even stutter not knowing what to say when he was around? Hadn't I noticed the way he always tried to cover up for new injuries that occurred every now and then?

Why hadn't I understood?

This obviously wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Everything pointed towards that this was something that had occurred more than once. Jack had known what was coming for him when he'd been sitting on the floor. He'd been trying to plead for mercy, but to no avail…

I slowly made it out to the edge of the shelf again, throwing a glance at the brunette. He hadn't moved nor did he make any noises. Seeing his figure lying in the middle of all the books and documents confirmed that what I'd seen had actually happened. I felt sick, having just witnessed probably the worst thing in my young life so far.

Even though Jack had the ability to drive anyone mad, Mr Brewer had gone way too far. You never beat another person like that, no matter what. Never.

The worst part was that I hadn't done anything to stop it, being useless in the stupid bird body I was trapped in… which reminded me, I still needed to get back to my own…

Mr Brewer being the only one to help me didn't feel reassuring any longer and I wasn't sure that I ever wanted to make any contact with him. Not after this…

This of course left me with the inevitable question; what should I do now?

That's all for now guys.

Next chapter will be up on the 9th of December, unless you guys want it faster... If I get 10 reviews or more, I will sit down and write, and the next chapter will be up within 3 days.

See you around:)

/MJ