Ghoulish Magic (Tabby Kitten Mystery Book 5)

by Constance Barker

  “Maybe that’s for the best...” Thea mumbled, reading through the ritual spells Tiegen sent her. “We don’t know what this person is willing to do. We’re starting to back her up against a wall. Who knows what she’s going to do once we face her directly.”

  Blaine scoffed. “C’mon. I doubt she’d be able to overpower the both of us.” He gestured towards his phone. “I tried calling her number, too. No response, which wasn’t surprising. I don’t have a clue where she could be. Maybe we could try asking Francis again? Or we could stop by Witt’s End Diner and see if they know anything–”

  “Blaine,” Thea interjected, shoving her phone into his face. “Look. Look at what this spell says.”

  Furrowing his eyebrows, he took the phone from her hands and read its instructions quietly to himself.

  “Make sure you’re alone... Have the materials ready... Must take place where the victim was killed.”

  Thea and Blaine shared knowing glances with one another. The realization dawned upon them as if a bucket of ice water had been splashed on their heads. It was so obvious.

  Nodding, he slammed on the gas.

  Chapter 27

  “Be careful, Blaine.”

  “I am! Don’t worry. My driving isn’t that erratic–”

  Just as he said that, he accidentally drove the car into the sidewalk as he abruptly turned into the haunted house’s parking lot.

  “Okay, it’s not always like that.”

  She shook her head. “Whatever. This is an emergency. You and your reckless driving can get a pass for today.” Turning around in the passenger seat, Thea met Sybil’s concerned gaze. “You need to go and tell Granny what’s happening. She’ll know what to do... and if anything goes wrong...”

  Thea glanced at Blaine, silently hoping that things didn’t get to that point.

  “...She’ll help us without a second thought. Go on, Sybil.”

  The familiar nodded swiftly. Once she hopped out of the car, she disappeared into the night. Meanwhile, Thea and Blaine stared at the haunted house. Its silhouette was more ominous, now that they knew the types of things that had been happening within its walls.

  Only a few cars dotted the parking lot. Not a lot of people were there, since it was still early in the evening. After a brief pep talk, the two of them hurried into the building and made their way towards the room where Maisie was killed.

  As they neared closer, Thea’s eyes watered up at the stench perforating the air. Her stomach turned, covering her mouth with a closed fist as she held back her gags.

  “What is that...?” Blaine asked, repulsed by the smell. He squeezed his nostrils shut and continued forward, leading the way as Thea struggled to keep up with him.

  Once they made it to the room, he kicked open the door with his foot. Although they expected to find an empty room, they instead flinched at the sight they saw.

  Annie stood inside the ritual circle, one that was nearly completed thanks to her efforts. Her back was faced towards them, her chin tilted upwards towards the ceiling. There was a bit of chalk on the floor and the ritual circle was lined with rotten egg shells, which explained the odor.

  Swallowing thickly, Thea stepped forward into the room as silently as possible. She was on high alert. With each movement, she kept a close eye on Annie.

  That was until the girl’s booming voice stopped her in her tracks.

  “Don’t step any closer,” she hissed, whipping around to stare at Thea.

  The look in her eyes was crazed. Frightened, Thea felt her knees almost buckle. Luckily, Blaine was by her side and he didn’t intend to leave her anytime soon.

  Annie’s gaze flickered between Thea and Blaine. She then broke out into a maniacal laugh, tilting her head towards the couple.

  “There’s nothing you can do about this now,” she taunted, gesturing towards the ritual circle. “It’s already been done. We can’t change the past, can we?”

  “You killed Maisie. And a year ago, you killed Julie,” Thea said.

  Annie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Thea felt her blood start to boil.

  “Why did you do that to them?” she demanded, shrugging off Blaine’s hand as she neared closer. “They didn’t deserve–”

  “Deserve? Be careful with that,” Annie challenged. “You don’t know what they did or didn’t deserve.”

  Thea shook her head. “They didn’t deserve death.”

  “I disagree,” the girl replied, rolling her eyes. “Do you really think I’m going to feel bad about them when they made my life miserable? They made fun of me. Mocked me for my habits. They always managed to bring up the fact that I didn’t have a boyfriend.” She clicked her tongue, staring down at her attire. “My clothes? To them, I had no style.”

  Although she wanted to interject and argue that those reasons didn’t justify murder, Thea held herself back. The words were heavy on her tongue, but she swallowed them down.

  “They seemed to think they were better than me because they were servers while I was a dishwasher,” she continued, laughing dryly. “I worked twice as hard as they did, but that didn’t matter. I hated them. I wanted to get rid of them, but I didn’t know how to. Until I found this.”

  Annie pulled out a book from within her jacket, which made Thea’s eyes widen. It was similar to the one Tiegen owned.

  “The grimoire. This has a lot of potential, y’know?” she said, waving the book around. “It lets me get revenge on the people who deserve it. And after what I’ve been able to accomplish? I think I’m ready to take it to the big leagues.”

  Blaine growled, drawing his gun as they watched Annie let out another laugh as she spun around in the ritual circle. Thea gasped, holding out a hand.

  “Blaine, stop! Don’t do that!” she exclaimed, glancing at Annie. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She just... stumbled upon some powerful magic and it corrupted her! It’s making her think she’s more powerful than she actually is!”

  “Think? Hah,” Annie replied.

  With a swipe of her hand over the circle, the candles in the room flared up. Annie continued to smile as she chanted words under her breath, making odd movements with her limbs as she did so.

  Thea tugged at Blaine’s sleeve. “Get everyone out of the haunted house. Now.”

  “Wha– and leave you alone with her?! Thea, no way.”

  “Whether or not the ritual works, this isn’t going to be safe and we can’t have innocent people in this house if something erupts,” Thea explained, pushing him towards the door. “Hurry up and go! I can handle myself. I’ll be fine.”

  Blaine frowned deeply as he stared at Annie. However, he knew that Thea was right. There were way too many people in the haunted house who risked getting hurt if the ritual went haywire. Nodding, he placed the gun back in its holster and bolted out of the room to get everyone out.

  Adrenaline was pumping through his veins. He was going to come back for Thea regardless.

  Sweat began to form on Thea’s forehead as the room got hotter. Annie was unfazed by the heat. In fact, it seemed to fuel her. The chants got louder and the candles’ wisps of flames only grew stronger.

  Annie was determined to finish her ritual. However, Thea was just as determined to stop her.

  Chapter 28

  “Annie!” Thea called out to her, taking a few steps closer to her. “Annie, you don’t have to do this! There’s still time to stop everything!”

  The words exiting her mouth didn’t seem to reach Annie, so it seemed. The girl was too enthralled by the magic swirling around her. The power that the ritual gave her was getting to her head. Sweat was pooling on Thea’s face, both from the heat as well as the fear the situation was giving her.

  “You can end the spell, Annie!” she tried again. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears, realizing that her efforts were futile. “Nobody has to get hurt! Magic is tempting, I know, but it can also be dangerous if you don’t know how to control yourself!”

>   Her warnings were falling on deaf ears. Thea let out a frustrated groan. Instead of reasoning with her, Thea resorted to using her binding spell to try and hinder Annie’s movements as well as her ability to speak.

  However, the circle that encapsulated her also served as her protection against outside magic. Annie laughed at her attempts to stop her, which made Thea’s jaw clench.

  “There are other ways to use magic. There are ways that can be used to help people, not hurt them! You shouldn’t use it as a form of revenge!”

  Shaking her head, Annie continued her chant as a sinister grin formed on her face. She was close to finishing the ritual. A burst of energy coursed up her fingertips and through her arms. Annie was soon surrounded by a pale blue glow. Her voice only got louder and the flames only got hotter.

  “Thea!”

  Bursting into the room, Blaine gasped for breath as he surveyed the scene unfolding before them. He grimaced, arms raised at the heat waves emanating off the candles.

  “We have to break the spell before she finishes,” she said, an urgent flare to her words.

  “But how?!”

  “We need to get her to stop talking!”

  Frantically searching for something to help them, Blaine concluded that the only way of breaking into the circle was by using brute strength. He placed one hand on the edge of the circle, gritting his teeth as he was able to push his way in with immense effort.

  “I can get in, I think!” Blaine said to Thea, glancing at her over his shoulder. “But once I’m in... what do I do?”

  “You trust me, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do,” he replied without hesitation.

  The look in Thea’s eyes was clear and Blaine seemed to understand her without the need for further discussion. With a countdown from Thea, he sucked in a deep breath before transforming into his bear form.

  The noise he made before barreling into the circle was enough to jolt Annie into pausing. She stared at him in a bewildered state, wondering how a bear managed to get into the haunted house in the first place. The sight frightened her enough to feel the back of her knees buckle. Annie yelped as Blaine swiped at her with an arm, careful not to hurt her too badly. He dragged her out of the circle with little fuss.

  Just as he did so, Thea noticed the circle pulsate unexpectedly. The heat radiating off the circle became even more intolerable as it grew brighter from the sudden disturbance.

  All of Tiegen’s teachings as well as Granny’s advice coursed through her mind as she stared at the circle. She recognized that she needed to act quickly, and even though there were a few lingering doubts in her mind about her own abilities, all of it went out the window. A newfound confidence overwhelmed her as she focused on creating a dual shield around the circle. Just as Tiegen taught her.

  With the energy input she was supplying, Thea was able to push back the flames. She felt a significant pushback coming from the circle and she grimaced as the force almost knocked her off her feet. However, she remained grounded. With enough concentration, she managed to shove the ritual circle upward within her cylindrical ward.

  A fatigued smile formed on her face as the heat in the room soon subsided, which was like a weight off her shoulders. She could finally breathe a little easier again, but she didn’t let up on the pressure. Thea continued to counteract against the exertion, despite the screaming in her limbs that begged her to stop.

  For a brief moment, she considered glancing at Blaine. She lost track of where he dragged Annie off to and the ringing in her ears made it difficult to hear what was happening around her.

  However, her attention was abruptly drawn to the center of the ritual circle. She was transfixed, eyes narrowing at the image materializing amidst the violent flames. A large hand emerged from the fire, reaching out to her. It was beckoning her, as if daring Thea to get closer.

  “What the–” she gasped, her concentration faltering significantly.

  The hand approached. With her fight or flight response kicking in, Thea did the only thing her reflexes allowed her to do. Using the last remnants of her energy left, she pushed the ward further away from her body. She grappled with the ritual circle, struggling to breathe as the strain on her body was beginning to engulf her.

  With a desperate shout, Thea shoved the ward through the ceiling of the haunted house. The wooden barrier shattered immediately, caving in on itself as the ward barreled through. The energy in the circle fractured significantly as the ward consumed the potency it once had. It didn’t take long for the ritual circle to collapse completely.

  The impact was deafening, shattering a few windows as the hole in the ceiling widened.

  Thea’s legs were the first to give in, shaking slightly before they crumpled beneath her body. She heard her name being called out from somewhere behind her, but the voice was distant and the words barely reached her.

  She was too far gone. As her body crashed into the floor, the last thing she was able to notice was the full moon suspended in the skies above her. The hole in the ceiling facilitated that. At the very least, its presence comforted her as she descended further into the dark.

  Chapter 29

  As her eyes fluttered open, the only thing she could feel was the burn in her throat every time she tried to swallow. That, and a freezing cold rag being pressed along her sweltering forehead. The sound of sirens encapsulated her, becoming more prominent as her consciousness returned to her.

  “Thea?”

  Recognizing that voice, she wrapped her fingers around Blaine’s wrist. He paused, letting out a shaky breath.

  “Y-You’re an idiot, you know that?” he stammered out, pulling her into a tight embrace. “You’re so dumb. And brave. And amazing. I love you.”

  “Wha... Blaine, I don’t even know what’s going on,” she whispered out softly, but still appreciative of his hug. When they pulled away, she sent him a smile. “What happened? All I remember was...”

  She glanced towards the nearly collapsed building, eyes widening at the mere sight. The fact that they were inside of the haunted house only moments prior sent a chill down her spine.

  “I was able to drag you and Annie out of there in time,” Blaine explained. His grip on Thea strengthened as he continued to speak. “Some parts of it are on fire right now. It’ll be a goner by tomorrow morning.”

  “They’re gonna tear it down?”

  Blaine chuckled. “No. It’ll probably fall down on its own.”

  Agitated yells caught their attention. Near the police cars, a pair of officers were talking to a handcuffed Annie. Fear was written across her face as she tried to explain herself, but they weren’t buying any of it. Blaine shook his head.

  “I told them that she was the one responsible for Maisie’s death,” he said. He then ducked his head so that he could whisper in Thea’s ear. “I also told them that she planted a bomb inside of the haunted house. I needed something to explain the sudden explosion.”

  “A bomb?!”

  “Hey, it was the only believable option I had.”

  “...Well, at least it worked, and that ritual circle was like a bomb,” Thea reasoned, watching as the officers escorted Annie to the back of the police car, even as she continued to plead her case. “What matters is that she’s held responsible for everything she did.”

  Blaine nodded. “I agree. It was better than nothing, that’s for sure.” He stared at the house, particularly at the hole left in the ceiling. “The ward you created... it protected the three of us. Until you fainted, of course.”

  “What happened to that book Annie had with her? The one that looked like Tiegen’s?” Thea asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

  “It burned up in the circle. There was no way I was going to be able to save that thing.”

  Heeled footsteps approached them gradually. Gazing upwards, Thea’s breath hitched in her throat. It was Tiegen, who had a glossy look in her eyes as she stared at the haunted house.

  “I knew you were impre
ssive, Thea... but this?” Tiegen said, gesturing towards the building. “This is amazing.”

  Thea had rarely seen this side of her aunt. One that was much softer and vulnerable than the headstrong Tiegen she was used to. When she hugged her, Thea was taken aback. In her stunned state, she almost forgot to reciprocate the gesture.

  “It’s thanks to you and Granny,” Thea admitted, amused by the way her comment made her aunt get sheepish. “Both of your teaching styles helped me out in there.”

  “I... I guess Freya had a point. You’re learning well and succeeding with everything we’re teaching you. Keep it up.”

  The tiniest compliment from Tiegen was enough to light up her entire night. Her cheeks started to hurt, due to how wide her smile was.

  “We should get you home, don’t you think?” Blaine said, taking her hand and helping her stand. “You need to rest up. You’ve had a long day.”

  “I’ll say,” she replied.

  Taking one last look towards the haunted house, Thea could have sworn she saw the silhouette of somebody waving at her from one of the windows. Upon closer inspection, it was Julie. She managed a small wave of her own before Blaine led her into the passenger seat of his car.

  “You’re okay, right?” he pressed, feeling at her forehead and cheek with the back of his hand. “You don’t feel weird, do you? No broken bones?”

  She waved him off gently as he turned on the car. “I’m fine, Blaine. I’m just a little tired and sore, that’s all. I’m not broken anywhere, I promise.”

  “That’s good. I’ll trust you on that.”

  “If you trusted me so much... you’d tell me about what you’ve been doing. The people you’ve been talking to. Right?”

  Blaine stilled.

  Thea’s shoulders slumped, feeling her eyes getting heavier with each second that passed. “It’s the least you can do.”