Summoned Again?

I smiled at Nat and Crystal disappearing into the apartment and stepped to the side of the door to pick up Nat's suitcases.

Jenny stepped out of the apartment to whisper. “Damon, what are you doing?”

“I'm making sure Crystal is taken care of.” I whispered back.

“By some unknown woman.” Jenny whispered, almost angrily.

“Unknown by you, yes.” I responded.

Jenny squinted her eyes. “You're pushing me aside.”

“No, I'm going to stop annoying you with last minute demands.” I said and she looked surprised. “I felt really bad that I had to drag you over here to look after her, when you clearly don't want to be here.”

“That's not how I feel at all.” Jenny almost spat.

“You're angry, confrontational, and you didn't even say hello to her.” I whispered. “I don't want you acting like that around Crystal. She gets enough of that kind of hostility from her parents.”

I put down the bags and took out the leather pouch and counted out ten thousand dollars. “Thanks a lot for coming over.” I said and handed her the money. “If I need you again, or if Crystal wants to see you, I'll give you a call.”

Jenny put the money into her pocket and sighed. “Damon, don't shut me out.”

“You're my sister, Jenny. I'll never shut you out.” I said and stored the money pouch. “I'm doing my best to fix everything. The contract lawyer working on the situation at the bank will have the modified contracts ready in the morning. We're getting everything restored, since it was the bank's fault, and my new corporation is taking over ownership of the building, parking garage, and the condo.”

Jenny took in a sharp breath. “Excuse me?”

I chucked and put a hand on her shoulder. “No, your role doesn't change. I'm just removing the burden from your shoulders. You still have the same job and get the same perks and everything; but, if anything happens like the last time, none of it will affect you. You'll still get paid, you'll still have a job, and you still have tenants and buildings to take care of. The only difference is that you won't have to worry about anything going wrong ever again.”

Jenny took a deep breath and let it out. “How are you doing that?”

“Cutthroat lawyers and lots of loopholes that I didn't take advantage of before.” I said. “You really would be amazed at how much larger business get away with, all completely legally.” I chuckled. “It's pretty entertaining, really. I mean, I didn't know that you don't really need someone to be solely in charge of everything. You can have a committee, board members, or even privately voted participants, and they take care of everything.”

“Damon, I... I don't understand.” Jenny said.

“A lot of the mechanics go over my head, too. All I know is that I could disappear again tomorrow and everything will keep going to fix itself. It's all thanks to the bunch of people that I have working on it. When they are done, it's going to be completely stable.”

“Wh-what?” Jenny asked, surprised. “You could disappear AGAIN?!?”

I took her arm and pulled her out into the hallway. “I told you before that it was possible! How can you still be surprised by that?”

Jenny opened her mouth and then closed it without saying anything.

“I've apologized a bunch of times for what happened, and it's just not getting through to you.” I said and she scowled. “Jenny, I know you had it hard...”

“You have no idea what it was like for me.” Jenny said. “Do you know how embarrassing it is to ask people for money that they know you can't pay back? To see the sad and pitiful looks in their eyes when they say they can only spare so much? Do you know what it's like to eat plain pasta for weeks, because you can't afford to buy a can of sauce? Or live on a diet of only macaroni and cheese for a month?”

“Jenny, I...”

“Look at me.” Jenny said and lifted up her top just enough to show off her belly. “Look what six months of not eating properly did to me.”

I looked down to see bony hips, a bit of loose skin, and a slightly distended belly. “Jenny.” I whispered and reached out to touch it.

“Don't touch me.” Jenny said and put her top back into place. “You said that you can't forgive me for turning you in, even though I told you why I did it.”

“You were the only one I thought I could depend on.” I said. “I was technically dead and you still believed I was alive. You always kept hoping and you kept me alive in your heart. When I came back, only you believed me. Only you wanted me back in your life. I admired you so much for that.”

Jenny gave me a sad look and I made my hands into fists.

“I thought that after ten years of waiting for me, if I disappeared again, it would always be that way.” I said and she didn't respond. I opened my hands and sighed. “You don't know how sorry I am that I was wrong about that.”

“You being sorry didn't stop me from starving.” Jenny whispered. “I have a hard time eating normal food now.”

I gave her a sorrow filled look. “The medical and dental insurance is valid again. You should make an appointment and...”

“You do know that all they'll do is tell me that I have an eating disorder.” Jenny said and I slowly nodded. “I don't need them to ridicule me, too.”

“I'm not ridiculing you.”

“Scolding, then?” Jenny asked with a huff. “You're trying to get me to feel bad about hurting your feelings by turning in someone that I had been convinced was a criminal. Well, boo hoo for you. I'm soooo sorry that you had to suffer so much!” She said and started to walk by me, then she stopped. “I need to get my bag first and then I'll storm out.”

I stood there and waited for her to come back. She appeared again and carried her bag.

“I thought about stealing a few pictures or something, just to see if you would notice, and it's weird that there's nothing there for me to take.” Jenny walked by me. “That's funny, right? It sure put an end to my backwards plan to try and get your attention.”

I sighed and walked with her to the elevator. “There's a reason I don't have anything around.”

The elevator door opened and Jenny stepped in. “Oh, yeah? This should be good.” She said and put the bag down and put a hand on the door to stop it from closing. “Go on, then. Tell me why your apartment doesn't have anything personal in it?”

“I carry it all with me.” I said and reached behind my back to pull out one of the large 8x10 photos of us at Lisa's wedding reception. “I have every picture, every memento, everything I've ever shared with you and our friends.” I pretended to shuffle the photo and pulled another out from under it, and another and another.

Jenny's eyes widened as I produced dozens of pictures of us all over the place, one of the folded napkin hats, and even one of Crystal's drawings.

“I keep everything close to my heart, so I'll never lose it.” I said and hugged the pile of pictures and stored them. “I never want to forget all the great times we had, so I bring it with me wherever I go.”

“Damon.” Jenny said with a sigh.

I looked through the pictures and took out one with our parents and us in the living room of the old house. The four of us looked really happy, so I held it out to her and she took it with the hand that was holding the door open.

“The first settlement payment from the bank should be deposited into your account tomorrow.” I said. “The rents from the apartments and businesses have been building up in the building's account for the last six months and you'll have access to that tomorrow, too.”

Jenny reached out to catch the elevator door before it closed. “Damon, you...”

“I'm giving Diane's old apartment to Natalie after it's cleaned.” I said. “Can you call a crew and handle that, please?”

Jenny let the door go and nodded. “I'll have it all moved tomorrow to the storage lockers in the basement.”

“Thanks.” I said and the elevator door closed. I walked over to my apartment door, picked up Nat's bags, and brought them inside and into the bedroom. When I came back out, both Nat and Crystal were there.

“Is it true?” Nat asked, her voice full of worry.

I knew what she was asking, so I gave her a reassuring smile and put my hands on her shoulders. I cast the Identify spell on her and all that came up was her name and species. There were no classes or jobs listed.

“You can relax, my friend. It only applies to me.”

Nat closed her eyes for a moment and then she let out a sigh. “I don't know how you can just accept being taken like that.”

“I don't have any choice about being taken, except to be prepared.” I said and started to rub her shoulders. “I'm working on fixing that, too.”

“You... oh, that's good.” Nat said and the tension in her shoulders almost disappeared. “Where did you learn... to do that?”

I smiled and leaned in close to whisper. “A brothel.”

Nat took in a sharp breath. “Really?”

“You should have seen the beauties they had.” I whispered and then let her shoulders go. “It was such a great time that I bought the whole place out for a few days.”

Nat stared at me with her mouth open as I picked Crystal up.

“Despite what Jenny and I talked about, I don't want you to be scared that I'm going to just suddenly disappear again.” I said to Crystal and her face was very sad. “I actually visited your mom the night before I left and she was supposed to tell my favorite little girl that I was going away on a magical journey.”

“Really?” Crystal asked and I nodded.

“I even gave her the Magic Kiss Boo Boo ring to give to you.”

Nat burst out laughing and Crystal giggled.

“I'm sorry that she didn't tell you or give you the ring.” I said. “I can't blame her for trying to protect you, though. I could have been gone a lot longer than I was, so I think she thought that it was better if you tried to forget about me.”

“I'll never forget you, Uncle Damon.” Crystal said and wrapped her arms around my neck and held on tightly. “I love you.”

“I feel the same way about you, sweetie. I love you, too.” I said and kissed her cheek. “Say, do you want to help Nat unpack before you have to go to bed?”

“Yes.” Crystal said.

“I'm pretty sure I can handle it.” Nat said with a smile.

“Nonsense. Crystal's an expert.” I said and put her down. “Let's show Nat what you can do.”

“Okay!” Crystal said and grabbed my hand and Nat's, then dragged us both down the hallway to what used to be my bedroom. It was going to be Nat's now and as Crystal showed off what she knew about clothes and where to put them, I transferred my remaining clothes into the hallway closet.

“You know we can share, right?” Nat asked and I chuckled.

“Remember what you can do to me if I'm not careful.” I joked and she laughed.

“Good point.” Nat said and looked at Crystal. “Thank you so much for helping me. You did a great job.”

Crystal beamed a smile up at her.

“I think it's time for bed.” I said.

Crystal came with me into the bathroom to take care of a few things, like brushing her teeth and washing her hands. I left to let her use the bathroom as I grabbed her a glass of water from the kitchen and brought Teddy with me. Crystal took a sip of water and I tucked both her and Teddy into bed.

“Goodnight, sweetie.” I said and kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight, Uncle Damon.”

I walked around the bed and bent down to do the same thing to Teddy, and I used my hand that she couldn't see to lift Teddy's head up into the air and pretended that he kissed my cheek instead.

“Teddy!” I fake gasped. “Behave yourself!”

Crystal giggled and I winked at her as I turned on the nightlight. I crossed the room and closed the door as I left.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!