The Second Premonition

by Tamara Geraeds

  “This one is not yours to fight, Myah,” I say.

  The demon’s head turns my way and one of its legs tries to grab me.

  I jump out of the way and pull out my athame. “Is there any way to undo the fraud?”

  She scowls. “Sure, but I don’t want to. I need the money.”

  “There are other ways to get money,” I say, lashing out at the spider leg with my weapon. “Better, legal ways.”

  “Who are you to decide what’s better for me?”

  “I’m trying to save your life, Myah.”

  She huffs. “Don’t bother. Even if I die, I’ll just rise again. I’m a phoenix, remember? I can handle this.”

  I take off part of the demon’s leg and it screams. Black blood oozes over the floor. Its body shudders and Taylar takes the opportunity to free himself. We attack simultaneously, stabbing at the monster until we hit it. It thrashes around when Jeep pins it to the floor with his knife. Taylar stabs it in one of the eyes and after a second, it lies still and goes up in tiny particles of black smoke.

  Grunts from downstairs echo through the house. Maël appears next to us. “There’s an army coming. Get ready.”

  Myah is halfway through her transformation back into a phoenix when I grab her arm.

  “Try to stay away from the fight. Do what you can to stay alive,” I urge her. “These monsters have someone on their side with the power to separate particles.”

  Her mouth falls open.

  I look into her eyes, pleading. “Make sure the money never reaches you. Please.”

  She takes a deep breath and turns back into herself. “Okay. There’s a spell that kills the magic I sent with the emails. I’ll have to look it up though.”

  I wave at her to leave the room. “Hurry. Jeep will stay with you.”

  The tattooed ghost gives me the thumbs up before following her into the hallway.

  The stairs creak under the weight of about two dozen demons.

  “Did you see Paul?” I ask Maël.

  She shakes her head.

  D’Maeo joins us. He hands me a piece of paper, a bunch of candles, a stick of incense, a bowl of water, a glass jar and some herbs and salt. He looks around. “Where’s Myah? Is she still alive?”

  “She went to look for a spell to undo the fraud.” I frown at the things in my hands. “Why are you giving me this stuff?”

  “Prepare the spell to transfer Mrs. Delaney’s powers back. And pick up your phone when Charlie calls. Maël, Taylar, come with me.”

  They’re out of the room before I can ask what the plan is.

  But there’s no time to hesitate. If D’Maeo has a plan, it’s more than I have. And without the power to separate particles, these followers of the Devil won’t be able to kill Myah.

  I put everything on the floor. My eyes scan the words written down in Vicky’s handwriting. I remember as much as I can.

  Since I have to consecrate the jar first, I take out my Book of Spells and flip to the right page.

  Thumps and howls draw near while I carve an X into one of the candles. I form a circle with some of the white salt, light the incense and walk around the room with it. When smoke is all around me I put the stick in the middle of the circle and light the candle. I don’t have any bowls left, so I create two small piles of black salt on each side of the incense and candle and put the bowl of water in front of the incense stick.

  Something hits the door and I pick up my athame, ready to stab whatever comes through. But all that follows is a squeal of pain. I quickly return to the spell.

  The compass app on my phone tells me which way is North. With my face in the right direction, I move the jar over the pile of salt on the right side of the circle.

  “Powers of the North, guardians of the Earth,

  I consecrate this jar

  and charge it with your energies.

  I purify it in this day, and turn it into a sacred tool,

  to fight against my enemies.”

  I turn to every wind direction, passing the jar over the incense stick, the flame of the candle and the bowl of water. After repeating the words for every guardian, I finish the consecration.

  “I charge this jar in the name of the Ancients,

  the Stars and the Sun and the Moon.

  By the powers of the Earth, Air, Fire and Water,

  I make it to evil immune.

  I banish the energies of previous owners,

  and clean it of distress.

  I consecrate this jar,

  and make it mine to possess.”

  I place the jar into the left bowl of dark salt and look at my phone. No word from Charlie yet.

  The fight continues in the hallway. I want to help, but I know this spell is important. I read Vicky’s notes again. The person whose powers you want to extract has to be in sight for this spell to work.

  That’s our biggest problem. It can’t be easy to capture Paul, and even if we do, we don’t know for sure he took Mrs. Delaney’s powers.

  My phone rings. Charlie’s name flashes on the screen. It’s a video call.

  “Hey man,” I say when I pick up. “Everything okay?”

  “Fine. Is the spell ready?”

  “Yes, but how …”

  The camera turns and Vicky comes into view. She’s fighting Paul. Or rather, she’s twirling around him like a ballerina, keeping him on the spot.

  “Cast the spell,” Charlie says. “Do it now!”

  I pull my gaze away from the scene and concentrate on the herbs. I crush the chamomile and valerian and pour the water on it. While I let the mixture slowly flow into the jar, I recite the words, keeping one eye on Paul.

  “Powers stolen from within,

  separate them from the skin.

  Set them free and make them rise,

  send them to me through the skies.”

  Paul suddenly collapses. He grips his stomach with both hands and yells in pain.

  From somewhere close, I hear Myah screaming and I pray we’re not too late.

  A spider’s leg creeps under the door and reaches for the door handle. I jump up, grab my athame and cut the leg in half. Steaming pitch gushes out. I block its way to the circle, to prevent it from being broken, and it burns a hole in my shoe.

  “Keep going,” Charlie urges me.

  With my eyes on Paul, I repeat the incantation.

  “Powers stolen from within,

  separate them from the skin.

  Set them free and make them rise,

  send them to me through the skies.”

  Paul gurgles and throws back his head. A ball of bright light pops out of his throat and shoots out of sight. A second later, it soars through the window and hovers above the glass jar.

  Paul pukes his guts out on the pavement and with a “well done, Dante” Charlie hangs up.

  Another black leg slips under the door, but there’s no time to cut it off. I have to finish this spell, before Mrs. Delaney’s powers are lost. With my eyes focused on the bright light, I say the last words.

  “Powers taken back to me,

  hide here from the enemy.

  Stay in here until you see

  the place where you’re supposed to be.”

  The ball drops into the jar. At the same time, the door flies open. I quickly empty the bowl of black salt and slam it on top of the jar to keep the powers inside.

  A demon glares at me from the doorway, licking its black lips. For a moment, I’m afraid D’Maeo, Maël and Taylar are no longer with us. But then I hear the sound of knives and swords hitting flesh. Tar splatters the wall behind the demon.

  With my hand behind my back, I conjure a bolt of lightning. I hold out my athame in front of me to distract the monster.

  As soon as it leaps, I hit it with the lightning. It splinters into a million pieces before it can even make a sound.

  I blow out the candle and put the jar in the back of the closet that
lines the wall.

  When I dash into the hallway, I bump into Jeep.

  I pause for a second, stepping back to avoid some flying pitch. “Where’s Myah?”

  “She died.”

  I draw in my breath. “When?”

  “About two minutes ago.”

  “But there was no explosion! The card said she’d die in an explosion, right?”

  “I guess we changed that.”

  I look around. “Why did you leave her?”

  “I couldn’t see much through all the flames and smoke, so I came out here to keep the demons from her room.”

  We raise our weapons at the same time when a demon bounces up the stairs and hisses at us. It jumps, throwing sticky threads at our heads.

  “What do you mean, flames and smoke?” I ask between slashes.

  “She’s rising as we speak.”

  Relief washes over me, but the feeling doesn’t last long.

  Three more demons jump onto the landing. Their wide heads bob from left to right while they watch us with their many eyes.

  CHAPTER 36

  The demons bump into each other in their haste to get to us, which gives me time to conjure some lightning. When they charge, I hit them with a streak of bolts that leave blisters on their skin. They sway on their legs, but keep coming.

  “Where are the others?” I shout at Jeep. “Are they okay?”

  “I don’t know,” he grunts. “Strangely enough, I haven’t had time to check.”

  I grab my Morningstar and get ready to fling it.

  Vicky pops up out of thin air, right on top of one of the monsters. She grabs its head in a choke hold and looks it in the eye. Jeep and I keep the other three busy, while she hypnotizes it.

  The second she lets go and manifests herself next to me, the demon turns on its friends. It rips one head off with its sharp teeth before the others realize what’s going on. With a giant web, it traps another. The two remaining jump the attacker.

  “Nice job,” I tell Vicky. “Are the others okay?”

  Her gaze flickers from left to right. “They’re holding on, but Paul and his new friend are approaching. Charlie and I couldn’t defeat them. We’ll need everyone to do that.”

  Fear creeps along my spine. “What new friend?”

  All the lights around us suddenly blink. A humming fills the house. It gets louder and louder, nearly splitting my ear drums in half.

  “I recognize this!” I yell over the noise. “This is the creature that tried to kill me. The one that caused the flood.”

  I grit my teeth against the pain.

  “It’s a boogeyman,” Vicky shouts. “It can suck all the light and sound out of a room. It uses this to move unnoticed and surprise its prey.”

  Her mouth is still moving, but her voice gets sucked into a vacuum. At the same time, darkness falls over us. I reach for the door to my left, to let in some sunlight, but it won’t budge.

  My breathing speeds up when I squint my eyes in an attempt to make out something in the dark.

  The boogeyman could be right in front of us and we wouldn’t have a clue.

  Suddenly, I know for sure we won’t be able to defeat this creature. It’s too strong. I can’t even think straight anymore, let alone fight something I can’t see.

  Then Maël’s voice breaks through the silence in my head. ‘Believe in yourself and look on the bright side, no matter how hard things get.’

  I concentrate on the words and take a deep breath.

  My ears pick up a soft ticking. The vacuum is lifting, we don’t have much time.

  “Everyone get behind me,” I say.

  I bring back my arm and fling my magical Morningstar. A clanging noise tells me it unfolds. It hits something and I pull it back and swing again.

  A loud cackling makes the hairs on my skin stand up. The lights come on for a second and fall on a ragged shape. Yellow eyes light up as the darkness returns.

  “We’re all here,” Vicky whispers.

  I reel in my Morningstar. “How do we defeat it?”

  Before anyone can answer, there’s a cry from the stairs, followed by hasty footsteps.

  As the lights buzz and dimly shine on the scene before us, I see the boogeyman looking over his shoulder.

  Charlie’s voice comes from below. “Don’t run away from me, Paul.”

  In the corner of my eye, Jeep is moving his hands. Maël stands behind him with her staff raised. On my other side, D’Maeo holds up his hands to block possible attacks. Vicky and Taylar are somewhere behind me, undoubtedly with their weapons ready for battle.

  “We need a mirror,” Vicky says softly. “The reflection of light will kill it.”

  “Can’t we just slash it to pieces or burn it with lightning?” I ask.

  “No, that won’t work.”

  The boogeyman turns his attention back to us. His shadow stretches endlessly in the dim light. A long tongue slips out of its gnarled mouth, before he speaks with a deep guttural voice. “You cannot defeat me. I control the lights. I am stronger than all of you.” He stretches out his arm. His torn sleeve slides back to reveal white skin ending in a hand with crooked fingers and long black nails. “Just give me the woman and I will leave you alone.”

  I plant my feet firmer onto the floor. “What woman?”

  The creature hisses. “Don’t play with me, boy. You will regret it.”

  “No, you will,” I respond and I throw my Morningstar at him and hit him with a bolt of lightning at the same time.

  He dodges both of them easily and slams my approaching friends into the wall with a simple movement of his arm. Vicky and Taylar drop to the floor without a sound. The others come to a halt and slowly step back.

  “Give me the woman,” the boogeyman repeats. Slime drips from his teeth.

  Paul’s ruffled dark hair appears at the top of the stairs, followed by the rest of his body. He scowls at me. “You ran over me with your car.”

  “You tried to kill my mother,” I fire back.

  Vicky and Taylar disappear while he approaches.

  Paul gives me his friendliest smile, but his green eyes betray him. “We really need that woman, Dante.”

  I turn my athame around in my hand. “I know. That’s why you’re not getting her.”

  The door to my right opens. “There’s a mirror here,” Vicky whispers.

  The boogeyman opens his mouth in a wide grin. “That mirror won’t help you if you don’t have any light.”

  Darkness envelops us once more. We all dive forward and slash and stab blindly. Taylar opens another door and sunlight streams into the hallway.

  My athame is inches from Charlie’s face. Just in time, I pull back my arm and duck to avoid a ball of gel.

  Paul’s freckled face is red. His eyebrows are scrunched together. He shoots bricks at us, but D’Maeo pops up between us and wards them off.

  “Just give up, Dante!” Paul yells. “You can’t defeat all of us.”

  Vicky apparates behind him. “Sure he can. He’s got us.” She stabs him in the back, but she’s a fraction too slow. Before the knife can hit any organs, Paul turns into his stone form.

  Vicky disappears before he can smash her. The knife falls on the floor with a clang.

  Taylar and Maël are fighting the boogeyman. They are fast, but the creature is too strong. Their blows don’t even scratch his skin.

  Jeep sends an army of skeleton dogs and cats around us, but they’re disoriented. They sway on their paws and the boogeyman swats them away like flies.

  Charlie throws some gel balls at the creature’s head, but tumbles down the stairs when Paul hits him in the chest.

  I push frost towards my former friend until he can’t move anymore and call to Charlie. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine. But there’s one more demon here. Give me a minute.”

  Turning my attention back to Paul, I prepare to smash him into a million pieces, but a cry
of fright makes me turn around.

  Myah is in the doorway of her bedroom, her eyes wide with shock.

  “Stay there!” I yell, but she turns into her bird form and swoops down on the boogeyman. She grabs his long hair and pulls. The creature doesn’t even flinch. He reaches up and closes his hand around her neck.

  “Finally,” he growls. He lowers her in front of his face and grins. “If I eat you, will you still be reborn?” He cocks his head when the phoenix screeches. “Let’s find out.”

  My hand releases the Morningstar in the blink of an eye. It hits the boogeyman in the back and drops onto the ground. He doesn’t even seem to notice.

  I want to jump forward, but a massive weight knocks me down. “I told you, you can’t defeat us. This is meant to be,” Paul says. His stone body presses all the air out of my lungs. There’s nothing I can do to defend myself. My hands are under my body, my weapon has slid out of my reach and my brain slowly shuts down by lack of oxygen. I can only watch as the boogeyman opens his mouth wider than possible and lowers Myah into it.

  CHAPTER 37

  Everything around me gets hazy. I open my mouth to call for help, but no sound comes out. From somewhere in the distance, I see a dark shape surrounded by gold moving. The pressure on my body decreases and I struggle to free my hands. I have no energy left to conjure my powers, so instead I reach for my Morningstar. When I turn around to attack Paul, my arm drops. There’s nothing I can do but watch as he is lifted backward onto his feet by an invisible force. Charlie comes up the stairs behind him, his face covered in black pitch. He freezes at the sight of our former friend backing up in slow motion. Then his eyes lock on something behind me and I whirl around.

  The boogeyman’s hand holding the phoenix slowly moves away from his mouth. The bird’s beak opens in a silent scream before she’s released from the tight grip. She spreads her wings and flies backward. A few steps away from them Maël presses the tip of her wand against the floor. She’s muttering something with her eyes closed.