It's a Familiar's Life

CW: Themes of death, witchcraft, demonology, physical violence and gore

Call me Beltane. I’ve had other names through my lives – Grimoire, Sybil, Fluffy (don’t ask, that was a huge mistake), Lilith, and Sabbat – but Beltane is my latest incarnation’s name, and it’s festive. I’m a familiar, the Igor to my current witch Lenora.

House cats lie around getting lazy and fat and occasionally slaughtering the local wildlife. Familiars have a more important job to do. No fancy cushions and expensive cat food for me.

When I was a little kitten, eyes not yet open, the world still silent around me, I suckled at Lenora’s teat. That’s what familiars do. By the time I could see and focus on her, I already loved her. Of course, I am part demon, so I am her link to the spiritual world.

I remember the first time I met Lenora. My umbilical cord fell off and Lenora harvested it for use in magic. That was the day that she took me from my cat mother, leaving a harvest mouse instead, as tribute. My mother pushed me away, knowing I was born for a greater purpose. She birthed several familiars over the years, although she herself was not one. She was a huntress, skilled in administering pain and death.

Immediately, Lenora became my whole world. I suckled from her teat and from hidden warts on her body, learning about her. By the time my eyes were open and I started to hear things, she was already teaching me spells. I was still very young when I first assisted her with a spell. It was a simple spell, preparing a potion to help a young woman who was infertile. My masters below showed me how to help with the incantation. A cat hissing or meowing at the right points give more power to the hex – meowing for good power, hissing for evil power. Young and confused, I did both. The young woman had her baby less than a year later, but it was born with twisted limbs. Lenora laughed at the strength of my powers, and I felt a surge through my body. I knew then that I was a powerful familiar for the most accomplished witch I have worked for. She is the High Priestess of an urban coven in Texas. I am the familiar she needs to empower the coven.

When I first met with the coven, I was more than a month old, my teeth emerging and starting to eat solid wet food. The coven cooed around me, talking about how cute I was, my baby blue eyes contrasting with my black-as-night coat. I was passed around the circle, delivering my verdict on each witch.

Claire was the first, and I could feel her gifts – she would be able to protect the coven, and in that role I would assist her. She kissed my nose and I rubbed my face against her neck, nibbling gently on a mole near her collarbone.

The next was Jennifer. She was much weaker than Claire, and I immediately took a dislike to her. When she leaned in to kiss me, I unsheathed my claws and scratched her face. She cried out in shock, but I was looking at Lenora, who smiled and nodded at me before taking me and placing me in Edward’s hands.

Edward was the only male witch in the coven. There was a coldness to him that I embraced eagerly. He was a hunter, like my mother. He would be a fine partner in evil. He did not attempt to kiss me, but stared into my eyes as if asking a question. I meowed, then climbed up his sleeve to nestle at his shoulder. We had an instant connection.

The last witch during this initial meeting was Daphne. As soon as she touched me, I knew she had the Sight. She knew who I was, she saw my past lives, and I felt that I had known her before – a long time before.

After the greetings, Lenora placed me in a playpen with solid walls and open at the top. The coven clustered around as they dropped live prey in with me. A house mouse, a gecko, a small snake, a frog and a spider. I understood this ritual. What would die first? I pounced on the gecko. Jennifer had no place in my court. I bit off its head and left it in the middle of the playpen, a warning to the others.

The frog was next to go. It hopped around, avoiding me with its erratic movements. I started to read its patterns, then swatted at it as it passed. Injured, it dropped to the floor and gazed at me, frightened now. I crept up to it and made it run from me. It could no longer jump, so now it was my prisoner.

The snake was slithering to the edge of the playpen, intending to climb the wall and escape. I stuck my claws into its tail and pulled it back. It turned on me then, snapping at my neck, but I dodged it easily, then delivered the killing strike to its neck, biting down hard with my tiny teeth. I saw Edward nodding with satisfaction.

Now there were two remaining in the contest: the spider and the mouse. The mouse could easily run away, but it seemed fascinated by me and chose to stay still and watch me. I turned my attention to the spider. Another creature whose movements were unpredictable. I circled it, swatting at it from time to time. It ever appeared hurt when I hit it, but it hunkered down each time before retreating. Finally I decided to end it, biting off its legs and leaving it in the floor, still staring at me but unable to move. Daphne squealed and made a little clapping sound to applaud my decision.

Finally, I faced the mouse. It realized its time was up, and raced to climb the wall, but I was there in time to knock it to the floor. Recovering swiftly, it ran past and started climbing again. I knocked it down again, and the game continued. After many minutes of this, the mouse tired, and faced me one more time in defeat. It seemed to accept its fate as my mouth closed over it. But I was not finished with the game yet. I strode over towards Lenora, with the prize between my jaws. She opened her hand, and I deposited the mouse into it. “Thank you, Beltane,” she said as her fingers closed over it. Then with catlike reflexes, she opened her fingers, shifted her grip, and snapped its neck. She handed it back to me in recognition of my efforts.

So now I was a part of the coven. And of course, Jennifer’s time as one of us was short. She would later become our first human sacrifice. The termination of a life is powerful magic. As she bled out, I connected with my masters below, so the coven received even greater gifts from her passing. As the witches all felt the power they received, Edward picked me up and stroked me gently. He and I share a love of killing. He drank her blood, then I licked his fingers clean from it.

The Bible Belt can be very anti-witch, so our meetings always take place in secret. But we have made great changes in our town over the past few years. We have new witches in the coven now, but still the originals remain. The new witches respect me, but they don’t know about the night when I predicted everyone’s future, when I was still just a tiny kitten.