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  I could hear her feet pounding the metal steps so I reached into my magic and thought of a spell that would blow her out of her boots.

  But what happened next told me that I wasn’t dealing with someone new to the craft. Instead of appearing through the doorway the doors themselves blew off the hinges in an explosion of magical energy. She’d set up enough of a distraction to allow herself the time she needed to step into the hallway and send her own hex straight at me. I quickly raised a dome of protective energy and the spell bounced off harmlessly into the ceiling.

  I prepped another volley of magic and was about to lower my magical shield when the girl did something completely unexpected. She tossed the bead-covered pouch onto the shining cement floor and it landed about twenty feet in front of her. Instantly I could feel her magical signature diminish and I watched in stunned silence as she reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a package of bubble gum. She unwrapped a bright pink cube and tossed the wad into her mouth which she then promptly began chewing.

  She blew a bubble and it popped with a loud crack that echoed through the corridor. “You know, I was working when you decided to hex my fetish. I totally hate being interrupted when I’m concentrating. It took me a month to master that tracing spell and you just had to go and mess with my chi.”

  I blinked and then spread out my fingers to scan her magical signature for even the tiniest trace of malice.

  Another bubble appeared from her lips. She inflated it so that it was half the size of her face and then it popped, so she scraped the gum off her chin with an index finger and stuffed it inside her mouth.

  “Oh great,” she said. “Now she decides to scan me for malice. I was making progress until you decided to show up.”

  “You’re a witch?” I answered back.

  She rolled her eyes. “Uh no, you’re the witch, a pretty powerful witch, too, since you’re clearly skilled enough to mask your magical aura. Up until a few moments ago, I thought that I was the only person with special powers at Crescent Ridge High School. The name is Twyla Standingready and you are?”

  I narrowed my eyes and lowered my magic. “Julie Richardson and I’ve been going to Crescent Ridge since September. I’m in Grade Ten and I haven’t a clue why we haven’t picked up each other’s magic until now.”

  She snorted. “Because I just transferred in two weeks ago. I moved to the city from Big Bear Lake. I live with my grandfather. He was doing a sweat lodge ceremony on Saturday and said he had a vision. He’s a medicine man for the tribal council. He told me that he saw a boy walking into a blizzard and the boy was killed. He said the kid had been marked with a black hand that was placed on his spirit. I heard about Travis through Facebook so I put one and one together.”

  I eyeballed the girl closely. Clearly she was skilled in an advanced form of native magic. The source of their power is still the individual practitioner’s spirit, but the methods by which they cast spells and the spells themselves are a mystery to non-natives. Shamans are healers; they’re highly spiritual people and they’re an important member of a tribe or band.

  And I was staring down the hall at a shaman who for all I knew was just as powerful as me.

  “Do you yield?” I said trying to sound like I wasn’t even remotely intimidated.

  Twyla’s eyes narrowed and she glanced at her fetish and then back at me. “Do I yield? What kind of stupid question is that? We aren’t in driving school here, white girl. You’re not the one I’m after so there’s not a whole hell of a lot of point in my wasting an ounce of energy fighting with you. Still, it looks like we’re after the same thing.”

  I slipped my amulet out of the recess on my Shadowcull’s band and gripped it tightly. “I don’t even know what I’m after yet,” I said as I strode back up the corridor. I stopped when I arrived at the fetish she’d thrown onto the floor. “All I know is that somebody killed Travis Butler and the day before that someone nearly killed Mike Olsen. A practitioner is enthralling students; they’re infecting them with a spell that I’ve never seen before – Soul Worms.”

  “Ugh,” Twyla said, her voice taking on an edge of disbelief. “Magical worms… What the hell are those?”

  “The technical name for the spell is Carrion Phage, about as dark a mind control spell as you can get.”

  She grunted and I watched closely as she knelt down to pick up her tiny fetish. She loosened the draw string and opened the small pouch so that I could look inside. I saw hundreds upon hundreds of tiny beads, each one no bigger than the head of a pin and each a different color. I self-consciously covered my Shadowcull’s band with the sleeve of my shirt because the magical energy coming from inside that small leather pouch felt very old and very sacred. She quickly pulled the leather drawstring back and closed the tiny pouch.

  “Those are lovely,” I said warmly. “Do they work on black magic? Because that’s what we’re dealing with.”

  A thin smile formed on her face and she nodded. “Every single one of those beads carries a fragment of the living spirit of all my people. The pouch is made from deer hide and each bead is a symbol of my people. My grandfather is the spiritual elder for our band and I’ve been his pupil since I started walking. These beads work on everything.”

  Whoa. Twyla Standingready was an apprentice just like me. She motioned for me to follow and then she headed back down the corridor to the doorway leading to the main floor of the school.

  “I’m an adept,” I said as we reached the stairwell. “I’ve been my mother’s student since I was little, only lately things have changed for me in a big, big way.”

  She cocked and eyebrow and glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “I can see that. You have a thick copper band attached to your wrist and a charm. I take it they work together to help your magic along?”

  The sound of our footsteps echoed through the stairwell as we climbed the stairs. “Something like that,” I replied. “Look… I don’t know you from Adam, but it might be worthwhile to partner up on this… whatever this is.”

  Twyla pushed open the doors to the main floor and I could see hundreds of students pouring out of the gym, so we headed back to the east exit doors and waited until the crowd thinned out.

  “Partners, huh?” she said, leaning her back against the wall. “I guess that two heads are better than one.”

  I raised a finger. “Actually there are three heads. My boyfriend Marcus is helping me find whoever did this.”

  She frowned. “And he’s like us?”

  I shook my head. “No, he’s not like you and me. But he’s wickedly smart and he knows that I’m not exactly the same as other girls at Crescent Ridge.”

  She arched her eyebrows. “He knows the truth of what you are? That’s insanely dangerous for the pair of you. When do I get to meet him?”

  Another dozen or so students filtered out the door and it closed with a loud hiss. I pulled it open and stepped into the gym then I glanced up at the bleachers. Marcus was sitting by himself and Willard Schubert was nowhere to be seen.

  “You can meet him right now,” I said, pointing to the bleachers. “Don’t worry, Twyla. Marcus has my back.”

  “That’s good to know,” she said grimly. “But if he’s got no magical skill and nothing to defend himself, I can’t help but wonder who’s got his.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Marcus waved at me and then grabbed my coat along with my backpack. He climbed down off the bleachers, his own backpack dangling off his right elbow and thumping against his hip.

  “Hiya,” he said. “Willard took off once the assembly ended. That dude has got some serious anger issues. Did you find what you were looking for?”

  “Not exactly. This is Twyla Standingready. She’s looking into this stuff as well and she’s got a secret life, too.”

  Marcus handed me my backpack and coat then he stretched out a bony hand in front of Twyla. She stared at it for a second before taking it.

  “Interesting,” she said as she closed her
eyes. “You’re honest, Marcus. I’m kind of surprised by that because most people who shake hands with me… Well, let’s just say I can immediately feel whether they’re good, bad or somewhere in between.”

  “I aspire to be a good guy,” he answered. “Actually, sometimes I think I’m one half of a superhero team, thanks to Julie. So you’re a w-girl like Julie?”

  “Kind of… I suppose you’d call me a witch, but I hate labels,” she replied. “Let’s just say that I’m supernaturally awesome and we’ll leave it at that.”

  Marcus slipped his arms into his backpack and then raised it onto his shoulders. “You know about what happened to Travis then? You know that it wasn’t an accident and he didn’t kill himself on purpose, right?”

  She nodded and said, “I know that his dying wasn’t at his own hand if that’s what you mean. I also know that if a person is murdered then someone has a reason for killing them. If we can find the reason, it might lead us to the killer.”

  “There was also a cop at Mike’s house last night. Julie thinks the cop is a witch or something,” he said.

  Twyla cocked an eyebrow. “And you know this how?”

  I glanced at my watch. “Malicious energy was leaking through the bottom of the police cruiser’s doors and onto the ground. My bet is that’s the practitioner we’re after.”

  “I don’t like cops,” Twyla said menacingly.

  “I don’t like the fact that one kid is dead and the other has had his brain fried,” I replied. “Look, school has been canceled for the day so maybe when the hallways clear out we can do a little snooping for clues. Any takers?”

  The pair nodded so I motioned for them to follow me and together we headed out into the hallway. There were still dozens of students milling about, so we headed to the stairwell and started up to the second floor of the school.

  “Where are we going?” asked Marcus.

  “Travis Butler’s locker,” I answered back. “We’re going to do a little forced entry so I’m going to need you to act as a lookout in case anyone comes along. Twyla and I will combine our skills and maybe something will turn up.”

  “You don’t think the school has it cleaned out by now?” asked Twyla.

  I shrugged as I grasped the second floor door handle and pulled. “Maybe – we’ll just have to hope they didn’t.”

  I poked my head in through the doorway and looked both ways down the hall. There were still a few dozen students wandering about so I nodded in the direction of the closest corner of the stairwell. “We need to get behind a veil and wait until the coast is clear.”

  “A veil?” asked Twyla. “Is that like an invisibility spell or something?”

  “Kind of,” I said as Marcus and I walked over to the corner and then sat down on the cold tile floor. He locked his fingers around mine and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s not real invisibility. It’s more like a spell where you’re controlling the light particles all around you. You basically command them the hell away from you and poof! You’re veiled.”

  She cocked a wary eyebrow and pulled the bottom of her hoodie down past her waist. She sat down on the floor next to Marcus and then drew her knees up to her chest as I raised my magic and whispered, “Obscondus Occultus.” Magical energy hummed all around us as the veil shrouded our bodies.

  “Don’t worry,” Marcus whispered. “Julie and I are always hiding behind these things. You know, the last time we did the girl’s bathroom looked like someone had detonated a bomb inside after we were through.”

  “Nice,” said Twyla. “Your girlfriend uses her gift like a battering ram.”

  I ignored her comment and glanced at my watch. It was 10.20am and there was nothing I could do to get everyone out of the school that wouldn’t invite the unwanted attention of the staff, so we sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity as the occasional student walked down the stairs, completely oblivious to our presence. After more than forty minutes of waiting, I dropped the veil and poked my head in through the doorway again. The hallway was empty, so I motioned for Twyla and Marcus to follow. As soon as the pair emerged through the doors I threw Marcus a smile.

  “Can you keep an eye and an ear out for anyone that might be coming? Travis Butler’s locker is at the end of the hall so give us a holler, OK?”

  Marcus made a big show of taking a noble-looking bow and he said, “Always the glamorous stuff I wind up doing. Your wish is my command.”

  Then he dropped to one knee and kissed my hand, the sweetie.

  Twyla stuck an index finger in her mouth and made a gagging sound. “You two done yet? We need to get a move on.”

  I placed a hand on Marcus’s cheek and beamed at him. “Be right back, OK?”

  “OK,” he said, grinning.

  Twyla and I strode down the hall and I noticed her looking at the ceiling. She spun around on her heels and walked backwards as she gazed at the ceiling in the other direction.

  “What are you looking at?” I asked.

  She spun around again and said, “How old is this school? There’s no security cameras that I can see.”

  “Old enough,” I replied as we approached Travis Butler’s locker. There was a big pile of flowers on the floor and dozens upon dozens of cards taped onto the locker itself. They’d be delivered to his parents, but all the messages of condolences in the world wouldn’t bring back their son or take away the pain they must have been going through.

  I took hold of the combination padlock and shut my eyes for a moment thinking that maybe his psychic imprint might have been left on it somehow, but I came up short. I wasn’t about to waste any time trying to pick the lock, so I gave it a tiny squeeze and whispered a word of magic. The lock opened with a sharp snap, so I pulled it out of the clasp and grasped the locker’s pull-handle.

  “Julie, don’t!” Twyla shouted, but it was too late. No sooner had I pulled open the door than a billowy black mist of supernatural fury poured out of the locker. It enveloped me before I even had a chance to raise a dome of protective magic and instantly I could feel hundreds and hundreds of icy fingers clawing their way across my chest toward my throat.

  I gasped as I tried to reach for my amulet, but every muscle in my body was frozen and that wasn’t the worst of it. Not even close.

  I felt my feet leave the tiled floor. The magic that was covering my body slowly raised me up and spun me around like I was puppet. I bobbed up and down inches off the floor and stared helplessly at Twyla.

  “Julie!” Marcus shouted in a panicked voice. I could hear the sound of his feet pounding against the floor when Twyla opened her mouth and bellowed a warning.

  “Marcus! Stay right where you are,” she barked.

  There was a loud squeak that echoed down the hall so I knew that Marcus did as he was instructed.

  “What the hell is that thing?” he said in a terrified voice.

  I looked across the corridor to see Twyla begin chanting something that was clearly aboriginal. She held out her fetish and began to shake it as her voice rang out in a clear soprano voice so sweet that it was unlike anything I’d heard in my life.

  The phantasm gripped me tighter, squeezing the air from my lungs as a set of claws wrapped around my neck. They squeezed and I felt my windpipe close. The pressure inside my skull was so intense I thought my eyes were going to pop out.

  “Twyla, help her!” Marcus cried out. “Jesus, it’s covering her entire body!”

  And that’s when my eyes bore witness to something that told me Twyla Standingready wasn’t just an average run of the mill practitioner.

  Her body suddenly became encased in unnatural light and I felt a wave of heat wash across my face. Strands of yellow and golden magical energy radiated out from her chest and onto the floor forming a pool at her feet. She sang louder now, shaking her fetish furiously until the pool of liquid gold suddenly turned into the color of blood. A shape began to push up from the pool, growing larger and larger, until it was taller than Twyla. She stepped back and th
en reached into her fetish, pulling out a single bead, which she threw at the bloody, pulpy mass. In less than a second the mass began to morph into something I’d only seen on National Geographic Television, the zoo, or the safety of my mother’s car the last time we drove into Banff National Park.

  The massive grizzly reared up onto its hind legs and roared in a voice that shook the hallway. Its fleshy lower lip vibrated wildly as it bared its teeth and lunged at me, wrapping its huge, hairy forelegs around my body.

  And then it began to squeeze.

  “Don’t move, Julie!” shouted Twyla. “Don’t even breathe! Marcus, if you’ve got a phone then record this, now!”

  Through the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Marcus as he fumbled through his backpack. He held his phone in front of his face and there was a bright flash.

  The grizzly squeezed me so hard that it forced out the breath I’d been holding in my lungs for the last fifteen seconds. Supernatural energy sizzled across my body in short but intense jabs of heat. I couldn’t breathe in and I shut my eyes tight, determined not to panic as the giant bear hugged me harder and harder. It roared as it struggled against the malicious entity that had seized me and just as I was about to black out, I fell to the floor, landing in a heap.

  I gulped in a mouthful of air and stared in utter horror as the grizzly fought a violent battle with the entity. The mass that had poured out of Travis’s locker was covered with a black, tar-like sheen. It stood on two legs and looked to be human in shape, only it was as big and muscular as the Incredible Hulk.

  It swung wildly at the grizzly, staggering the bear for a moment. I reached into my pocket and grabbed my amulet, slipping it into the recess in my Shadowcull’s band. I stood up and roared at the entity.