The Djinn and The Vartija: In the Kitchen

Emrri

After walking around the block a few times, I decided that enough time had passed since my mother's call. As I approached my house, I scanned the neighborhood for any changes. This was a habit of mine, picked up after critter's became attracted to me. I worried about being followed home and placing my mother in danger.
After a few uneventful moments, I released a sigh. Putting on a smile, I walked up the drive to the front door.
"I'm home!" I announced as I entered the house. Walking through a living room decorated with turtles, I headed for the kitchen.
The kitchen was painted a light purple, and was where my mother was most often found when she was home. She was a waitress at the local diner, but didn't have a set shift. This week she worked the lunch shift, which gave me little hunting time after school. It hadn't been easy to keep my hunting a secret for the past four years, but it was necessary.
My father had been the Vartija of the family, while my mother was human. I was working under the assumption that he hadn't revealed that fact to my mother before his death.
"How was school?" My mother asked from the computer desk, looking up from the monitor.
"Eh," I shrugged as I sat on of the bar stools at the counter, "nothing special. Nathan was going to come over later so we can study for Friday's math test."
She smiled as she spun the chair around to face me. "We could order pizza for dinner. Do you know what toppings he likes?"
"Any type of meat will do." I answered, opening my bag. As I set my books on the counter my mother spoke.
"What happened to your wrist?"
I looked at the bandage wrapped around my left wrist. "Nothing serious. Alicia let me borrow a bracelet, and it got caught on a locker." I explained, taking a large metal bracelet out of my bag. I had borrowed the bracelet from my friend, but only to appease her. Alicia pushed a piece of jewelery on me every day: she had made it her goal to infect me with her love of fashion. It wasn't that I disliked accessories and stylish clothes, but they just weren't suitable for the type of encounters I experienced.
When I looked back at her, my mother shook her head and  sighed. "Oh Emrri, you must be more careful. You're starting to get clumsy again."
I laughed. For the first two years after my Vartija abilities activated, I was plagued by a mischievous Kitsune. Everywhere I went, he played some sort of trick that left me fumbling about. I was relieved when I finally figured out how my binding abilities worked.
"I'll try and be more careful." I promised after my laughter subsided.
My mother smiled, then turned back to the computer. I stood, leaving the kitchen to prepare for the study session with Nathan.