The Problem With Black Magic Read online

  ***

  By eleven p.m. that night, she was in the middle of her third pulpy mystery novel, frustrated that she probably wasn’t going to guess who the murderer was yet again. Cassie wasn’t sure if the fact that she could never guess the bad guy before the reveal was due to some deficiency on her part, or if mystery novels just worked on their own twisted logic.

  She looked at her laptop, tempting in its deep purple case, then quickly looked back to her book. No, she would not invite insanity by searching the internet for demons again, and it was pointless to try to go online if she wasn’t going to allow herself to do that.

  At least I have some self-control, she thought as she ate her eighth toaster pastry; yeah, she’d kind of messed up on the nutrition angle today. Somehow, she couldn’t be mad at herself for it.

  Hunter had periodically come upstairs and asked her to play his racing game with him, and she kept saying no; sometimes, she agreed to play his games with him if she had nothing better to do, but right now, she felt like she was better off keeping her distance from her brother. Whether she was legitimately concerned about his safety, or just making excuses so she could hide in her room with trashy novels and junk food, she wasn’t sure.

  She sat up and rubbed her back. The buzzing in her shoulder blades was getting stronger, and she wasn’t sure why. Maybe the magic strengthened later in the day, or maybe she was just imagining things now that her book was boring her.

  When she settled back to read again, Cassie heard a rustling on the grass outside; for a moment, she wondered if her parents were coming home from a movie, only to remember that Jon and Annette were both curled up in front of the television in the living room the last time she went downstairs for snacks. No, whoever was out there wasn’t a member of her family.

  She stood to go to the window, the first icy tendrils of fear unfurling in her gut. When she was almost to the window, she fell to her knees as a sudden burst of pressure erupted next to her spine. A sensation like a fingernails scraping across her brain ripped a scream from her throat, and she collapsed completely on the floor.

  When she came to, Jon was cradling her in his arms, while Annette was screaming into the phone. Hunter was standing in the doorway of her room, looking white as a sheet.

  “Mom, Dad,” she gurgled. “Get him out of here,” she said, gesturing weakly to Hunter.

  “Cassie!” Annette screamed, taking the phone from her ear. “Oh my God, honey, what happened! You just screamed out of nowhere!”

  “Just breathe, Cassie,” said her father gently. “Everything’s alright now.”

  “No,” Cassie said catching her breath. “No, it’s not. You have to call the police. Someone outside is dead.”