Page 227 of The Demon's Spell

This time, I noticed something I hadn’t before. Complete terror entered Cynthia’s eyes, but it was darker than death—like her demise would bring about something far more sinister. Cynthia knew something we didn’t. I could feel it in my bones.

I whirled toward Talia. “Tal, do you still have that music box?”

She trembled. “It’s in my stash. I can’t get to it.”

“Let me help.” I walked over to her and took her hands in mine. I didn’t know if my idea would work, but I had to try. I poured my own magic into Talia’s hands, and the music box appeared between our palms.

Talia’s eyebrows knit together. “What are you doing?”

“Getting answers,” I said.

I opened the music box, and ghostly figures wailed as they broke out of the box. Professor Warbright gasped and backed against the wall. The ghosts swirled around the room, until a woman floated down in front of me. She gave a kind nod, like she knew I meant well.

It was Cynthia—her real spirit. The one in the haunting was merely an imprint of her memory.

“Priestess Cynthia,” I said. “I’m Nadine, a high priestess of the Miriamic Coven. The demon you summoned over forty years ago is back, and he’s killing our people. You banished him once, but you made a mistake, didn’t you?”

She nodded, then turned to gesture around the room, like she wanted to show me something. The door burst open once more, and the room transformed around us as the haunting played out. This time it was different; everything was solid. Cynthia’s memories must’ve made the vision clearer. She threw open the window, and Leroy tossed her onto the bed. He lifted the knife above his head.

This was where the vision usually ended, but this time it continued. Leroy plunged the knife straight downward, piercing her heart. Cynthia gasped as blood pooled over her chest.

“The coven shall suffer the demon’s spell,” she rasped as she clutched her chest. She took a few more ragged breaths, before her entire body went limp.

Leroy yanked the knife from her chest, then backed away. He stumbled into the dresser, and a music box clattered to the floor. I realized it was Talia’s music box—the very one I held in my hands. The top popped open, and we all watched as the vision showed Cynthia’s ghost rising out of her body and spiraling into the music box. The ghostly screams became deafening, and we all covered our ears. Spirits from all over the house swept through the walls, being sucked into the music box that existed only in the vision. It was how it happened that night—how they’d become trapped.

The music box snapped shut. Leroy lifted the knife in both hands… then plunged it downward into his own stomach.

The scene fast-forwarded through time, showing people who had come and gone to move their bodies and salvage the antiques. It was only after they disturbed the bodies that we saw people screaming as they were chased out of the house by the hauntings. They must’ve left the other victims behind because they feared disturbing more spirits.

The visions washed away, and we were left again in the decrepit mansion with the thunderstorm raging outside. The ghosts swirling out of the music box settled, and dozens of spirits surrounded us. They weren’t vengeful, and they didn’t look confused anymore. They looked like they were exactly where they needed to be.

“Your death banished the demon without breaking the contract,” I realized. “But you knew if he was in the Abyss, there was no way to kill him. That’s what you meant by the coven shall suffer the demon’s spell.”

The ghost nodded. “There was a clause in the contract. If the demon caused a priestess’s death, he would be banished from the coven. It was meant to protect us. When I died by his spell, he was cast to the Abyss. But banishment and contract dissolution are not one in the same. Our contract stated only one way out, and it required one of the priestesses to sacrifice herself for the coven. I feared death more than anything, and I was unable to make the decision to save us all. Leroy kept our memories alive, to scare people away from the contract he was tricked into.”

“The cursed wand?” I asked. “That’s what kept him here all this time?”

“It’s why my husband couldn’t move on,” Cynthia told us. “But he couldn’t control his memories. Adrik faced the same issue in his wand shop.”

A man stepped forward—Adrik Harvey, the man who had been hung in his wand shop many years ago. “It’s become clear to me now. My spirit couldn’t let go, because I was trying to keep people from suffering my same fate.”

“You’re free from the music box now,” Lucas said. “You can all move on.”

Cynthia shook her head. “Not until that demon is gone and his contracts destroyed. I had a hand in creating this mess, and I won’t leave until the coven is free from him.”

“My contract stated nothing about a priestess sacrifice,” Charlotte said. “All demon contracts can be broken by conscious choice.”

“It is not enough,” Cynthia said. “Demons can manipulate contracts to require specific decisions to be made, as he did with mine. Even if you broke yours, he’d still have control over the coven through the original contract. By holding two contracts with different priestesses, he’s secured his reign.”

“That must be why the spell didn’t work in the cafeteria,” Chloe said. “Charlotte withdrew her consent, but Leto’s still protected by Cynthia’s contract.”

Charlotte’s features paled. “Lilian is the only one who was part of them both. We’d need her help, and she’d sooner die.”

“There is another way,” Cynthia said. “If he dies, his power dies with him, and all contracts will be void.”

“That’s impossible,” I told her. “Demons are immortal.”

“You must find a way to kill him!” Cynthia insisted. “Demon contracts give them power, and if they are broken, he will be weakened.”

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