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.
Vicky beckons me and I run to her. “Is she rewinding time?” I whisper.
“Looks like it.” She points to the bathroom door. “Listen. We have to put the boogeyman in there and place him in front of the mirror. When Maël stops rewinding, you create a bolt of lightning.” She smirks. “He’ll be gone before he knows what hit him.”
I glance at the mirror. “Great plan, but what if he unfreezes before we get him there?”
She shrugs. “Then we’re screwed.”
She turns and makes her way toward the boogeyman.
With a sigh I follow her. “D’Maeo, Jeep, Taylar, can you help?”
We gather around the creepy creature fighting in slow motion.
“Don’t get hit by his claws,” I warn the others.
We lift him off his feet and make our way into the bathroom step by tiny step.
Charlie jumps to our aid and together we put him down, facing the mirror.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t close his eyes,” I mumble, then louder, “Okay guys, I’ll need some protection in case something goes wrong.”
With a flip of his wrist, Charlie calls a large ball of gel and aims it at the boogeyman. D’Maeo blocks the doorway, while Taylar and Vicky move back until their bodies are merged with the wall. Jeep calls a small army of mice and lines them up behind the boogeyman’s feet.
I survey the room quickly. “That should do it.”
“Conjure your bolt,” Vicky instructs. “As soon as he unfreezes, throw it in the air. It will reflect in the mirror and vaporize the boogeyman.”
I do as she says. The lightning sizzles in my hand impatiently.
“We’re ready, Maël!” Vicky yells.
The whole world seems to spin out of control when the boogeyman starts moving at normal speed again. He looks around, dazed for a second. The minute his eyes fall on the mirror, I release the bolt. It illuminates the room and the creature screams. The mice jump him and at the same time, Charlie hits him with his gel. The knees buckle under the ragged clothes. The creature tries to steady itself on the floor, but it’s too late. With a howl, it goes up in a million dark pieces. The smell of burning cloth spreads through the room.
Vicky jumps out of the wall and gives me a high five. “Well done!”
We walk into the hallway, where Maël puts away her staff. Myah tumbles out of her bedroom and Jeep rushes to her side to help her up.
“Are you okay?” I ask Maël.
She readjusts her golden cape. “I’m fine, thank you.”
“I can’t believe you rewound them. That was awesome.”
While I’m grinning like a madman, she stays cool as always. A true queen.
D’Maeo puts a hand on her shoulder. “Do you need to rest?”
She shakes her head. “No, I feel fine.”
“You’ve never been able to do that, have you?” I ask.
“It must be the ent blood,” she says. “Both the tree from the Shadow World and the one from the Black Forest left some energy inside me.”
Hasty footsteps come closer and we all turn with our hands raised.
Charlie comes to a halt, panting. “Paul is gone. I’ve looked everywhere. That coward just took off.”
We lower our hands.
“Don’t worry about him,” I say. “I’m sure we’ll see him again.”
Myah clears her throat. “Thank you all for your help.”
My eyes lock onto hers. “Did you …?”
She nods. “I undid the magic I put on the emails. And I sent a new message, telling everyone I was hacked. Do you think that’s enough?”
“That should be fine.”
She fumbles with her hands. “I can’t believe I was willing to rob people. It just all felt so… hopeless.”
Vicky draws in her breath. Her eyes widen. “Can I take a look at your kitchen?”
Myah mimics her expression. “Sure.”
We follow her d
ownstairs and Vicky rummages through the cupboards. After her inspection, she scans the floor with hawk eyes. “There.” She points at a floorboard under the kitchen table.
In a flash she’s bending over it, her butt sticking out through the table.
“Stop grinning, Dante,” she says, which only makes my grin grow wider.
She lifts the board and pulls out a small satchel.
Myah’s hands fly to her face, covering her mouth. “Oh my god! I was hexed?”
“Looks like it.” Vicky lays the satchel on the table and unwraps it.
A foul smell rises from it.
“Is this where you normally eat your dinner?”
Myah just stands there with wide eyes. “Yes, but why-?”
D’Maeo steps forward and quickly ties the satchel up again. “They will do anything to push you in the right direction.”
“More like the wrong direction,” Charlie mumbles.
Myah looks lost. “They wanted me to commit fraud? Why?”
I sigh. “If only we knew.”
D’Maeo holds up the small package. “Do you know how to get rid of this?”
She takes it from him, and holds it as far away from her body as possible. “Sure, no problem.”
“We should go,” Maël says. “Mrs. Delaney will want her powers back.”
“Oh right, I almost forgot.” I race back up the stairs and grab the jar. I’m a bit surprised there’s no trace of any of the demons we defeated. The bathroom is covered in black dust though. Looks like a boogeyman is a pain in the ass, even after death.
I collect the spy cams we installed and go back to the kitchen to say goodbye. “Sorry about your computer and bathroom.”
She smiles. “That’s okay. Thanks for saving my life and that of my parents.”
“You’re welcome.”
CHAPTER 38
“Can you wipe that smirk off your face, please?” Vicky asks as we drive out of Silverton.
“What? Can’t I be proud of what we did today? We kicked some serious ass.”
“Proud is not the vibe I’m getting here,” Jeep answers.
Cards of Death Box Set Page 42
