“No! No! No....” Anna screamed. The air around her felt dry all of a sudden, and, “It can’t be! You were supposed to protect him!” she yelled, pointing accusing fingers at Mrs. Crow.

  Jackson tried holding her back, but she broke free, throwing him at one of the bookshelves using only one hand. Jackson, in surprise, chose to stay down.

  She charged at Mrs. Crow who easily tripped her and pinned her to the ground.

  “Calm down,” she calmly said, her right hand pressed hard against Anna’s back.

  “Aaaaaarggh!” Anna screamed, as she tried to break free of the impossibly strong grip Crow had over her.

  “Relax Annabelle,” Mrs. Crow said, pulling Anna’s right arm and nearly breaking it in the process.

  “How could you let him die?!” Annabelle bellowed, ignoring the pain in her arm.

  “It wasn’t my fault; I didn’t know he was going to be targeted!” Crow screamed, letting go of Anna.

  Annabelle, seizing that opportunity threw a couple of jabs at her, putting all her weight behind the punches and aiming for her face.

  Mrs. Crow, understanding Anna’s pain, decided not to dodge, letting her not-so-heavy punches land right on her face. She deliberately fell to the ground, giving Anna the satisfaction of sitting on her chest and pounding her face.

  Anna screamed, seriously punching Mrs. Crow on the face as her friends watched, not wanting to interfere.

  More punches landed on Crow’s face until Anna ran out of breath. She stood up, leaving Crow’s face all bloodied, fell to the ground and broke down in tears.

  “Why did you let him die?” Annabelle asked, cupping her face in her hands as she wept bitterly.

  “I’m sorry Anna,” Crow said, as her face healed up completely, reassuming the state it was before Anna hit her.

  “He’s gone, but….” Crow said, taking a moment to think about the possibility of James being turned into a messenger.

  “But what?” Annabelle said, sniffling as she cleaned her face using the back of her hand and stood to her feet.

  “There’s a possibility he’s not dead,” Crow said, holding her chin as her mind wandered off. She didn’t know much about transforming permanent messengers back to their human forms, but it was something she planned on asking her brother the moment she faced him in battle.

  “What do you mean!” Annabelle screamed, her legs trembling as she hoped for the slightest beacon of hope which was to come from Crow’s answer.

  “There’s a possibility he is a permanent messenger. Which means his human side is gone and if it is gone, then I cannot turn him back,” Crow said, as she remembered the first and last battle she barely survived with a permanent messenger many years back.

  “Learn,” Annabelle said, her facial expression spelling complete desperation.

  “Learn how to.”

  She looked around and noticed her friends gazing at her, terror in their eyes trying to keep their distance. None of them had ever seen Anna so furious yet display that amount of physical violence.

  “What happened to you guys?” she asked, then she remembered throwing Jackson away with one hand.

  Could that have been another manifestation of magic or could it have been pure adrenaline? She thought.

  “Oh I’m so sorry,” she said apologetically as she walked over to Jackson, realizing her mistake. She gave him a long tight hug, and he did the same, lowering the tension in the room.

  Meanwhile, in one of the houses at the far end of Avery Lane, in a white painted living room with brown furniture and white curtains, Pepper Crow’s body lay on a couch lifeless. He had projected his astral form and gone to watch Crow and the others as they discussed how to find James. “They really know nothing,” he said.

  Almost instantaneously, he left their presence and entered into his physical body.

  “Wow,” he said, looking at James who obediently stood beside him like a goon awaiting orders.

  “I can’t let Annabelle know my true identity,” he said, fiddling with one of James’s horns.

  “Looks like I’ll be needing you soon,” he added, and let out an evil laugh.

  Annabelle got home by 6:30 p.m. that day with a smile on her face, for she felt James was still alive.

  “Good evening dad, good evening mom,” she said, as she gently removed her sneakers and took them in her hand.

  “How was your project?” Mr. Peterson asked, sipping a cold glass of water.

  “What project?” Anna mumbled, nearly blowing her cover, just when she remembered lying to her brother about why she wanted to stay back at school.

  “Oh my project? It was stressful but we will continue tomorrow,” Annabelle said. Shad barely climbed a few steps when “What exactly are you working on?” Mr. Peterson asked.

  She hadn’t rehearsed what she was going to say if she was asked that, considering that her father wasn’t the inquisitive type.

  “Um,” she said, at the brink of complete panic.

  “Well, we,” she added as she turned around and started to descend the stairs which creaked each time she took a step.

  “Well?” her mother asked, also taking interest in what she had to say. Annabelle, feeling like a deer in headlights, tried swallowing her saliva but her mouth had gone dry and her tongue slightly numb.

  “I called Joanna a few minutes before you arrived and she told me what you were doing in school,” Mr. Peterson said, putting Anna under more pressure.

  Could she have told him about the magic? No, that wasn’t possible because he wouldn’t have been so calm if he knew magic existed or would he? Annabelle was about to lie, hoping it coincided with what Joanna had said just when Mr. Peterson saved her without even realizing it.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “She told me it was something you both enjoyed,” he said, just as Annabelle gently released her breath. She hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath all that while, and her chest felt more comfortable.

  Long ago, she had an agreement with Joanna that if they were to find themselves in a situation like that, they were to lie saying they were busy with a drawing project. That was the first time Anna had to tell that lie and “We were busy with a project, a drawing project and it’s something we both enjoyed,” she said, trying her best not to smile in front of her parents.

  Mr. Peterson paused for a while, skeptically peering at her as he took another long sip of water. Had he realized she was lying? Did Joanna really tell him about magic? Many thoughts ran through her mind as, “Okay, go to your room and freshen up. You can come down and have dinner after,” he said, as he rested his back comfortably against the couch.

  Annabelle hurried upstairs, a wide grin on her face as she texted Joanna: “Wow, I almost got caught over here, thanks for the hint!”

  “Someone seems happy,” Joshua said, but was ignored by Anna who entered her room and slammed the door in his face.

  She took off her bag, threw it on her pink bed.

  “Aaah,” she lazily threw herself on her reading chair, then she got a text.

  “Probably from Joanna,” she said, and picked up her phone.

  “My parents didn’t suspect a thing,” she read the content out loud, after which she happily threw her smartphone on her bed. That evening, like most other evenings, was quiet and Annabelle watched the fig trees sway all around as the evening breeze blew across them. The sun had completely gone down, bats soaring through the skies in their usual manner after every sunset.

  “I wonder what he is doing,” Annabelle said, as she glared at Jacob’s house which was just a stone’s throw from hers. Most of the lights were switched off, the only exception being the one in Jacob’s room. His parents had a habit of going to bed early, a bit too early as far as Anna was concerned.

  She pushed open her windows, the gentle evening breeze blowing right on her face as she looked out the window.

  She couldn’t help but think about the incident that occurred with Mr. Gruff earlier that day. Was that magic? Could she see the future? She didn’t know what to think, as she stepped away from the window, allowing the cool evening breeze to circulate through her room.

  “Maybe I’ll ask Crow,” she said as she quickly grabbed her phone. She was about to dial Crow’s number just when, “Damn!” she exclaimed, remembering she didn’t have it.

  “Does she even have a phone? Come to think of it, I have not seen her use one before,” Anna in her usual manner said to herself.

  Her family had decided to wait for her till she was done showering so they could all eat together.

  “Eating together as a family is important,” Mr. Peterson would always emphasize.

  During the course of the meal, “How about that missing boy case?” Mr. Peterson asked, causing Annabelle to nearly choke on the piece of chicken in her mouth.

  She held her breath for a while and “Ahem!” she said, trying to clear her throat.

  “They haven’t found him yet,” she said, stuffing her mouth with a spoon of rice so she wouldn’t have to talk much.

  For some reason, she was more bothered about James’s safety than her safety. She had concluded that the person who was after her life didn’t seem too keen on killing her anytime soon which put her at ease. He will just threaten me and leave, she concluded as she chewed the spoon of rice, her cheeks puffing out as she did.

  “A man interrogated her today,” James said, spoiling the mood for her.

  “And what’s your business,” she asked, the rice muffling her words. She clenched her fist, trying to fight back the urge to slap Joshua on his stupid face. When did I get so violent? She thought as she breathed out, her parents peering at her with concern.

  “Yeah, it was a detective,” she said, swallowing the remaining portion of rice in her mouth as she glanced at Josh as if to say ‘you’re dead’.

  “What did he want?” Mrs. Peterson asked, sipping a glass of juice. “He was just asking me how I know James,” she said, trying to stop her sweating as if it was something she could control with her mind.

  “And what did you say?” her father asked, refusing to let her off the hook. The thing that irritated her the most at that moment was the stupid grin on Josh’s face. What was so amusing to him at that moment? Would he just look away and keep eating? She thought.

  “I told them he was just a classmate,” she said, completely losing her appetite.

  “I’m really tired, I think I’ll head upstairs to sleep,” she added as she stood from her chair, bowed her head and went straight to bed with all the worries in the world.

  Meanwhile, in a neighborhood occupied by spray painters and juvenile delinquents, Detective Dinkley was almost at his house, driving his official police car.

  There weren’t many trees in the neighborhood and most of the people who lived there had a bad habit of throwing late night patties. He had apprehended them on various occasions but they somehow got bailed out almost immediately all the time.

  “If you’re rich, take your kids to a neighborhood for the rich,” Dinkley would always say when the kids were being bailed out.

  “Boooo!” they screamed as he cruised past the houses, ignoring them.

  He arrived at his house, parked the car and headed to the front door, the irresponsible kids pointing fingers and laughing at him.

  “So much for being a detective,” he said, as he unlocked his front door and entered his house. After a long day of interrogating numerous people, he was tired and just decided to leave most of his paperwork for the following day.

  He lived in a one-bedroom apartment with a miniature sized sitting room and kitchen. He was thirty-five and unmarried, after a string of failed relationships. He took off his suit jacket, threw it on the floor and headed to the fridge to grab a drink.

  He took the last bottle of beer, leaving the fridge empty as he opened it with his teeth and emptied the content of the bottle.

  He had just finished drinking the beer when he heard a soft CLANG, the sound of something metal falling on the floor. It seemed to be coming from the living room, and his instincts kicking in, he pulled his silenced 9mm pistol out of its holster and headed for the living room, trying as much as possible not to make a sound.

  He entered the living room, carefully looking around, his index finger itching to pull the trigger. He noticed the antique metal cup his mother had given him before her death.

  “Use this to remember me,” she said, just before giving up the ghost.

  “Strange, I never keep that in a place it could easily fall,” he said as he slowly approached the cup, the beam of light from his flashlight pointing right at it. He quickly headed to the wall and flipped the switch, illuminating the small-sized living room.

  He picked up the metal cup and placed it on the miniature table in the middle of the room.

  CRASH! A plate in the kitchen was smashed, startling him a bit. “You better start praying!!” he yelled as he ran to the kitchen.

  He arrived at the kitchen, and before him were two smashed plates. He stooped down, the only source of light being from the moon, just when he felt something behind him. He wasn’t alone, and without thinking twice, he spun around and pulled the trigger of his gun, emptying the entire clip on whatever was behind him.

  The bullets sank right into the creature without causing any damage, and realizing what was before him, he fell to his back as he repeatedly pulled the trigger again, the gun clicking as he did.

  He was out of bullets and wasn’t carrying an extra clip with him.

  He wanted to scream for help, but he was so overwhelmed with terror as the creature hulked towards him, breathing slowly but heavily.

  “What are you?” he asked trembling, his eyes shaking and clouded with tears as it stood over him, gazing at him with red lifeless eyes.

  The creature just stood there looking at him, as if it were waiting for permission to act.

  “Do you like my new toy?” Pepper asked, stepping out of the shadows that had concealed him. He switched on the light in the kitchen and, “You?!” Dinkley exclaimed, recognizing him instantly.

  “What are you doing here?! What is the meaning of this?!” he yelled, masking his fear.

  “Well, I don’t have much to explain, but soon you’ll be looking exactly like him,” Pepper said as the messenger hit Dinkley in the head, knocking him unconscious.

  “Come on,” he said, and they vanished.