Bile stung my throat. “Would someone please tell me who Ruddy is? What on Ransara was that noise?"

Did I really want to know? I was stuck in a necromancer's house, so it could be anything. A ghost. A zombie. A giant, reanimated spider!

The barfing howl came again, louder this time. I gripped the chair arms and stared in terror at the basement door, still partly open. Wasn't anybody going to answer my question?

Rufus sprinted down the basement stairs, followed by Roanna and Yvette. I sat paralyzed by my own indecision as to whether I should stay put in the creepy kitchen or face whatever noisy terror the basement laboratory held.

Curiosity won. I clutched the banister and crept down the stairs. My stomach was full of creeping willies and my feet felt like they were made of lead, but I kept going.

The terrible howls, slams, and chain-rattling grew louder. I reached the bottom of the stairs. Rufus, Roanna, and Yvette were huddled on the far side of the laboratory behind the boiler. Ruddy kept wailing to be let out full tilt and banging on what I saw to be a trapdoor held shut by a chain and ring in the floor.

"Shut up," Rufus was saying. "You're lucky I've put up with you for this long."

Yvette scrambled onto my shoulder as a moldy-looking arm flopped about from beneath the trapdoor.

"Let me out, you sniveling bastards!" screamed Ruddy. “I’ll break more than just your phone this time.”

Disgust pooled in my belly like a cold slime. A sour mustiness tinged with formaldehyde lingered near the trapdoor.

"Ruddy's a ghoulmon," Yvette explained. "Half ghoul, half demon."

Rufus gave Yvette a look that could've knocked her senseless. "That isn't even a real word."

"It's real to me," she said, preening her whiskers.

A ghoulmon? I had no idea such a thing existed, but at Rufus's, anything was within the realm of possibility, including an undead demonic hybrid. And I'd been down in the basement twice so far with it!

Ruddy scratched at the floor. "Nothing's ever good enough for Rufus, so why should a made-up word? Anyway I’m much closer to a lich than anything."

"You can talk?" I said.

"I can, and I'm an amazing conversationalist," Ruddy said. "You'd be impressed."

"You should hear the story of how Ruddy got here," Yvette said to me. "Rufus did this weird ritual involving graveyard dirt and coffin nails and the body, whom he got from the morgue— he was this guy who got drunk one night and drowned in the public fountain downtown. His face was all bloated and blue and gross."

"I'm right here, you know," Ruddy said. "You idiots don't have to keep talking about me right in front of me. You won't even help a fellow out by opening the trapdoor."

"Enough, rat," Rufus snapped. "You talk too much."

"I was stolen by this son of a--" Ruddy said.

Yvette ignored them. “He was supposed to cremate him but he obviously never did."

"Oh, my," I said, because I didn't know what else to say.

Ruddy moaned as if to make a point.

Yvette plunged on. "Rufus used a handheld battery-and wire reanimating device to shock him back to life with. There also were some sort of chemicals he used with it. It smelled awful, like burned skin and hair and metal. And there was a low-ranking demon hanging around waiting to possess him and--"

"Scorched my poor head with that crazy device," Ruddy said.

"ENOUGH!" bellowed Rufus, leaping upon the trapdoor like a great cat pouncing on its prey. The door clunked Ruddy on the arm, causing a new round of screeches.

"Phew, he stinks worse than ever," sniffed Roanna.

"He smells fine," Rufus said.

"Rufus tends to be fastidious about the odors down here," Yvette said. "He has an entire system with air fresheners, incense, and candles. Ruddy is well-preserved for a demonic corpse."

"Well-preserved?" said Ruddy. "I'm fresh as a daisy."

"Don't flatter yourself. It's only because Rufus force feeds you a preservative cocktail every day," Yvette said. "Otherwise you'd just be rotting away."

Ruddy pressed his sunken, gray-green cheek against the edge of the trapdoor. His eye socket looked like a small, pitch-dark cave except for a tiny red flame in it. "Come closer and say that to my face, rat. I'll have you for an appetizer."

"No thanks, Moldy Mouth. You wouldn't like the way I taste anyway."

"Then I'll pull off all your limbs one by one, and then I'll bite off your tail piece by piece and spit them into the toilet," said the ghoulmon. "Then I'd nip off your nose and your ears. I'd save your eyes for last. And then I'd flush it all down."

"I'd like to see you try," Yvette said. "How many teeth do you have left?"

"Would you two shut up?" Roanna said. "Rufus, I thought you were supposed to get rid of him. Fling him onto a burning pyre or decapitate him or whatever your plan was."

"You're as rude as ever," Ruddy said. "A regular old harpy."

That was the second time I’d heard her referred to as a harpy. It was probably an insult to real harpies.

"I'll blast you to oblivion," Roanna said.

"I've been busy," Rufus said, kicking at Ruddy's arm. The ghoulmon was trying to grab his bare ankles.

She rolled her eyes. "You’ve been saying that for at least two years."

Rufus stalked to a wooden cabinet and pulled out a glass jar filled with what looked like oversized pickled tadpoles. He tossed one of them toward the trapdoor. It landed with a wet plop and slid through the narrow opening.

Ruddy shrieked with delight and disappeared below. Rufus dragged a bookcase on top of the trapdoor.

"Hey, you bastard!" howled Ruddy, pounding on the door. "That's a dirty trick. That’s the thanks I get. You wouldn’t even know about that ugly pendant if I hadn’t told you about it."

"If you ask me, it's high time you exterminate him," Roanna said with a look of fury. "I'll help."

"He disgusts you, so that seems reason enough to keep him around," Rufus said.

"I'm not disgusting," said Ruddy, his voice somewhat muffled. "And I think those tadpoles are past date."

"Excuse me, but why do you have him in the first place?" I asked.

Rufus didn't look up. "Excuse you, but that's none of your business."

"He was looking for an undead servant, but the demon got in the way," Yvette piped up.

"Shut up, rat," Roanna and Rufus both said.

Ruddy chuckled.

"He wasn't much use anyway," Yvette said. "He stumbled around the house getting drunk on whatever he could get his rotting hands on. The last straw was when he smashed open the liquor cabinet and downed a bottle of champagne left over from Rufus's wedding."

At this remark, Rufus's face went whiter than plaster. I could see it, even in the low light of the basement. His eyes glowed. My stomach clenched in horror.

"And it wasn't even that good," Ruddy said, before Rufus could respond. "Was a bit off, if I remember correctly."

"Everything is off when you've got the taste of rubbing alcohol in your mouth," Roanna said. "I know that's one of your favorites."

"No, no," Ruddy said. "I know my wines. You were ripped off."

Rufus gaped at them.

"Oh, boy," Yvette said. "I think we've got a bigger problem than that right now." She pointed at the opposite corner of the basement.

We all turned to look. I couldn't see anything at first until there was a ripple of movement. Then, a shadowy shape leaped out and rushed at us. It took me less than two seconds to realize it was a giant black kitten.

The kitten skidded to a halt in front of us in that sideways, skipping way that kittens have. It peered down at us with eyes like glowing red coals. It was at least as big as an elephant.

Yvette screeched and broke our shocked silence. The noise startled the kitten, who fluffed up its black-as-pitch fur and hissed. A jet of blue flame roared out of its mouth as it did so.

Quick as a whip, Rufus yelled something I couldn't understand and pointed at the kitten. A sphere of crimson light surrounded the feline. It looked like a red-tinted soap bubble.

The kitten clawed and pounced around inside the bubble but could not escape its magical confinement.

"Is this another one of your mascots?" asked Roanna, her voice full of scorn.

"Your comments are not helpful, as usual," Rufus said. "You can make yourself useful by casting a banishing spell with me."

A sly smile creased her face. "Looks like you need me, after all."

"Don't flatter yourself," he said. "It's only because the other peons can't help." He turned to me and Yvette with menace. "The both of you, stand back. If you are stupid enough to get in our way, that's on you. Understand?"

We both agreed to stay on the other side of the boiler and Ruddy's trap door.

The kitten kept bouncing around inside the weird red bubble.

"What are we going to do with it?" Roanna asked. "It can't stay in there forever."

"No kidding," Rufus said. "I don't want it in my laboratory any longer than necessary, either. Let's just boot it back to wherever it came from."

"Do you even know which netherworld dimension that demon kitten did come from?" she asked.

Rufus grimaced. "No, but..."

She tsk-tsked and said, "That's just like you."

"What is?"

"You know, opening random portals and not knowing how to close them," she said, waving her hand.

"What are you talking about? I’ve successfully banished anything and everything I have ever conjured."

"Except for those times at the mage school," she said. "You're slipping."

"I was still learning," he said. "Give me a break. I am not slipping."

Roanna shrugged. "Magic users can mysteriously lose their powers. It happens to the best of us sometimes."

"I am not losing my powers!" he exploded.

She grinned evilly. I bet she had that look on her face a lot when she was married to him.

"Are you two going to actually get rid of that freak or are you going to bicker all night?" Yvette said. "Regular sized cats are bad enough. Forget about giant demonic ones."

"Shut up, rodent," they said in unison.

"I should have expected that," Yvette said.

"What you need to do is get some catnip and throw it into the hole that monster crawled out of," said Ruddy. "Demonic catnip for a demonic cat."

Rufus glared at him. "I don't need any comments from you."

"He's got a point," Yvette said. "Who would know how to banish a demon better than a half-demon?"

"It's about time you recognized my brilliance," Ruddy said.

"Let's just finish this," Roanna said with an annoyed sigh. "Why don't you lead, darling."

"You know that old teleportation spell, the Banesiir Kaesutt? We'll try that first," Rufus said.

She nodded. "I'm sure it will be no big deal if you happen to forget the words. I'll keep speaking it for the both of us."

Rufus's mouth twisted. "What makes you think I'll be the one forgetting the words?"

"Relax, darling," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm sure you won't bungle it as long as I'm assisting."

Rufus opened his mouth to say something, then snapped his mouth shut. After a moment he said, "I won't take that bait. Be ready when I say." He turned to me and Yvette. "Remember what I said to you little jerks about shutting up and staying put."

They faced the demonic kitten. At some unspoken signal, they began speaking the magical language in a strange, lilting manner. Slowly, the bubble rose into the air. The kitten lost its balance and toppled over, sliding noiselessly down the bubble's smooth wall.

Rufus and Roanna chanted louder. Their spell was rhythmic and musical and threatening all at the same time. It reminded me of a thunderstorm that's still far away but getting closer and soon will be right over your house.

The bubble floated toward the furthest corner where I had seen the thread coming out of the wall. It was now glowing. The kitten hissed and swatted but still couldn't escape.

Suddenly, a dark, shimmering shape loomed behind it. A second demon kitten leaped from the corner and landed on top of the bubble. Yvette and I screamed.

The second kitten's paws scrabbled for a foothold on the bubble but started to slide off. The kitten trapped inside mewed ferociously and bounced around.

Rufus, barely missing a beat, cast another red-tinted bubble around the new intruder. They clung together. Roanna suddenly rounded on Rufus like an angry panther. Rufus's voice sounded hollow for a moment before he stopped chanting.

"We can't do this without the pendant, you fool!" she shouted. "I don't know why I allowed you to start the magic."

"Who is the fool then?" he said. "I knew you just wanted the pendant back. You can't use it anymore anyways."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I had the ownership transferred to me," he said with a malevolent grin. "By Addison."

Not bad for an over educated nerd, I thought.

Her eyes widened, then narrowed. "Impossible. I created it. There's no way it would go willingly to you."

"Maybe that's why it's been zapping Rufus," Yvette said.

"Oh, I thought it was because Rufus wasn't as great at magic as he thinks he is," Ruddy cackled.

"Yeah, but he created you. So, what does that say?" Yvette said.

Ruddy mumbled something under his breath about magic users who couldn't control their jewelry maybe didn't deserve their powers, especially when they couldn't keep any decent liquor around.

Roanna ignored them. "There is simply no way my pendant would allow itself to have its ownership challenged. It would never acknowledge you."

Rufus smiled triumphantly. "And yet it did. Didn't you sense something different about it when you found it had been with Addison?"

I smirked, a bit proud of him for having the upper hand over her for once.

"No, but—"

"Because it was ignoring you," he said. "It won't obey anyone who isn't its owner, with certain exceptions. Like Addison."

The demon kittens floated serenely like around the basement laboratory like twin soap suds the entire time they were talking. Yvette and I kept close watch with severe mistrust.

What if the bubbles popped? Why wasn't anybody doing anything?

Behind Rufus and Roanna, I caught the movement of another dark shape. My stomach lurched. A third demon kitten materialized and leaped upon the twin bubbles.

"Look out!" shrieked Yvette.

Rufus trapped it inside another bubble, which conjoined the others.

"This is getting ridiculous," Roanna said. "We need to do something, quickly! Have you got any other tricks besides your bubbles? Where is the pendant?"

"I'm trying," growled Rufus.

But the kittens were already doing something.

They had all positioned themselves so that they faced each other, their noses almost touching. It was hard to tell at first whether they were having a standoff or had ended up that way by accident. Kittens never stop moving for long, even demonic ones. But they were just standing there, staring.

One of them stretched its mouth open, as if it was yawning. I saw its glittering, sharp teeth in there, though one was missing. Then that awful mouth kept stretching, until I thought it would rip the kitten's face in half.

Before I could scream, the other two kittens leaped inside the yawning one's mouth and disappeared, swallowed whole. As horrifying as that was, more horror piled up on top of that.

The kitten crouched down and began hurking, like it was puking up a hairball. Its body began to swell until it was at least three times large as it had been. On either side of its head, the shoulders began to bulge, balloon-like. Two more kitten heads burst from the bulging shoulders. Now it had three.

The three-headed kitten reared up. The air seemed to ripple around it. Their mouths opened in unison. There was a dreadful silence for a moment where it was like everything slowed down. Each head breathed out a glaring jet of blue flame that made the air shimmer.

The red-tinted bubble cracked and shattered like an antique Yuletide ornament. The broken pieces cascaded onto the floor in a fine red dust. Yvette and I screamed again.

The kitten leaped on top of the stone table, whipping its fluffed-out tail. It mewed and sounded like an old out-of-tune violin, high pitched and wobbly.

Roanna smacked Rufus's arm. "We need that pendant right now!"

He yanked his arm away as if touching something poisonous. "You want me to leave in the middle of everything while that thing is loose?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," she said. "Take some responsibility, for once."

"She's right, you know," Ruddy said. "Why don't you try my demon catnip idea?"

Rufus looked as if he might explode. "How dare you both tell me how to run things in my own laboratory.” He pointed at the kitten and yelled the word that he used to create the other bubbles.

A bubble started to form around the kitten but suddenly melted away as its paw swatted it. Rufus tried twice more but the same thing happened.

What is he doing? I thought with exasperation. That can't be the only trick he knows.

I glanced at Yvette; except she was no longer beside me. My stomach sank. Then I saw her rush up the basement stairs two at a time. Nobody else noticed.

Where on Ransara was she going? I couldn't believe she left me there. For a second, I thought about following her up the stairs but was scared of going past the demon kitten.

"Fantastic job you're doing over there," Roanna said. I silently agreed.

"You do something then," Rufus said. "Go ahead, let's see what you can do on your own."

The basement echoed with the demon kitten's demented meows. Its flaming hisses lit up the dimness like weird blue torches, making Rufus's and Roanna's shadows stand out against the brightness like black paper cutouts.

"Yes, you do something," said Ruddy. "I can't miss this."

He was right. Maybe she could fix this mess if Rufus couldn't. He would probably be extremely pissed if that happened. In that case, it was better if Yvette missed that because she'd never let Rufus live it down.

Roanna stared daggers at each of them. She turned to the demon kitten and raised her hands over her head.

Just as she was about to speak, the kitten launched itself towards her. It pounced on Roanna and devoured her whole. The middle head, to be specific.

I don't know how Roanna fit in there, but she did. Maybe she shrank, or it was bigger inside the kitten's stomach or because it was demonic in nature.

Before I could wonder any more, Rufus screamed.

It was the same sound my mother made when we found my father dead in the rooming house laundry we’d been squatting in. The same nausea I felt then washed over me.

The kitten spat blue flames that blazed right over Rufus's head, yet somehow his hair did not catch fire. It stared him down, its tail sweeping up sparks as swished back and forth.

In an instant, it seemed as though Rufus had shrunk to half his size. I glanced between him and the stairs. Where was Yvette?

"Looks like you are in quite a predicament, necromancer," said a voice that gave me the creeping willies all over again.