Page 4 of Poltergeists & Change of Life

"She's escalating," I finished. My throat was tighter than my pre-pregnancy jeans. "We need to stop her. Like, yesterday."

As we stepped closer to the clearing, the temperature dropped sharper than my ex's interest when he found a younger model. My hands flew to my stomach to protect my babies as I shivered violently. This wasn't your run-of-the-mill Maine cold. This was some next-level, supernatural bullshit. My breath came out in white puffs, and I could feel the chill seeping into my bones like it was trying to set up a winter condo there.

"Stay behind me," I said in a voice that shook more than a chihuahua in a snowstorm. "We need to figure out what she wants and why she's here."

Nana's witch fire flared brighter as we edged toward the center of the clearing. The flames danced and flickered, casting shadows that seemed to have a life of their own. Hattie's gaze locked onto me and her mouth opened slightly. For a moment, I thought she might break into a rendition of "Stayin' Alive”, but instead, she just stood there like the world's creepiest mannequin.

"Hattie?" I called out, trying to keep my voice steady. "It's me—Phoebe. You remember me, right? We were friends. You saved my life and loved me enough to give me everything. Ring any bells?"

There was a flicker of recognition in her eyes for a split second. I clung to the spark of the sassy, loyal woman who'd chosen me. But faster than you could say "ectoplasm," it wasgone. It was replaced by a wave of rage that made PMS look like a mild inconvenience.

Hattie's mouth twisted into a snarl, and she raised her hands toward us. The shadows surged forward like a tidal wave of ‘nope’. They crashed into us with enough force to knock me on my well-padded ass.

"Shit on a shingle!" Stella cursed and scrambled to her feet beside me. Her hair looked like she'd stuck her finger in an electrical socket. There was a smudge of dirt on her cheek that made her look like a failed coal miner. "She's not happy to see us! Talk about ungrateful dead!"

"No kidding!" I gasped as Mom helped me up. I was about as graceful as a beached whale trying to do the macarena. The Dark magic surrounding us burned against my skin like acid-laced pop rocks. "I guess she's not in the mood for a friendly reunion and some ghost cookies."

Nana threw up a barrier of witch fire, blocking another surge of shadows. The flames roared like a pissed-off dragon with heartburn. "We can't reason with her," she said, her voice tighter than my bra. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she maintained the shield. "She's too far gone. Whatever Lyra did, it's twisted her more than a pretzel in a taffy puller."

"Then what the hell do we do?" Nina demanded. Her eyes were wider than dinner plates, and she was gripping her dagger so tightly I was worried she might fuse with it. "We can't just leave her like this! There has to be a way to help her!"

I gritted my teeth as my mind raced faster than a caffeinated squirrel. The situation was bad, no doubt about it. But I'd be damned if I was going to let Lyra win this round. "We need to weaken her," I said as my heart pounded like a heavy metal drummer. "Then we need to figure out how Lyra did this and undo it. There's always a way to reverse a spell, no matter howdark. Think of it like cosmic laundry. Everything comes out in the wash eventually."

Mom shook her head. “We need to regroup so you can wrap your mind around this. None of us can throw our strongest at her right now.”

Nodding in agreement, I began to retreat from the clearing with my family following me. Hattie's bone-chilling shriek followed us like the world's worst soundtrack. I reached out mentally to Tarja, my feline familiar. “Hey, Tarja. Are you seeing this? You have any ideas how to help Hattie? Because right now, I'm fresh out. My idea well is drier than a popcorn fart.”

“This isn't good, Phoebe. This isn't like the last time. The energy here... it's all wrong. It's like someone took the laws of magic, put them in a blender, and hit puree.”Tarja's voice echoed in my mind and was tinged with the kind of concern usually reserved for watching a toddler approach a hot stove.

“Any chance we could use that potion we whipped up for the last poltergeist? You know, the one that smelled like wet dog and gym socks had a baby in a dumpster fire?”I asked her.

There was a pause before Tarja responded. I could almost picture her whiskers twitching in thought. “I'm afraid not. Hattie isn't a naturally occurring poltergeist. Her spirit was forced into this state by Dark magic. We need to find another way to deal with her. This is... something else entirely. It's like comparing a water pistol to a fire hose connected to a volcano.”Tarja told me as we regrouped in the safety of our house.

Being inside did little to ease the tension that clung to us like wet clothes after falling into a cesspool. When Nana snorted, I realized Tarja had spoken to all of us and not just me. "Dark magic, you say? Gee, I wonder who could be behind that. It's not like we know any psychotic witches with a penchant for nasty experiments and a grudge against us. Oh, wait..."

Stella smirked, though the humor in her eyes was about as genuine as a three-dollar bill. "Nana, your sarcasm is showing."

"Good," Nana retorted as her eyes flashed like a neon sign. "At least something's working around here. Because our wards sure as hell aren't. They're about as useful as a screen door on a submarine right now."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. A headache was building behind my eyes, feeling like a tiny goblin was trying to excavate my brain with a pickaxe. The familiar surroundings of our living room did little to ease the tension that clung to us like wet clothes after falling into a cesspool of dark magic.

"What do we have?" I asked, looking around at my family. "We know Lyra's behind this. But how? And more importantly, how do we undo it? Because I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on having a homicidal ghost as a new lawn ornament. Our HOA is bitchy enough as it is."

"We can’t be sure it’s Lyra. All I can say for sure is that it was Dark magic,"Tarja retorted. “Powerful, ancient, and definitely not easy to counter. It's like... imagine the darkest, most forbidden spell you can think of. Now multiply that by a thousand and add a dash of pure evil. That's what we're dealing with.”

“Basically, what you're saying is that it's the magical equivalent of goth kids discovering heavy metal for the first time,” I confirmed.

"Well, that narrows it down to about every evil spell in existence," Mom muttered.

I snorted and looked for my familiar as we moved through the house. "Thanks for the specifics, Tarja. That's really helpful. Next time, why don't you just tell us it's 'bad juju' and save us all some time?"

“I could,”Tarja's voice purred in our minds, “but then I'd miss out on the delightful expressions of confusion on yourfaces. It's quite entertaining, you know.”She trotted into the kitchen and jumped onto the island.

Nana's eyes narrowed on the tabby staring at her. "I'll never get used to that. It's like having a furry Yoda in my head, minus the grammar issues."

“I resent that comparison,”Tarja replied. Her mental voice somehow managed to sound both amused and offended. “I'm far more charming than Yoda. And my advice is actually useful.”

"Debatable," Nina quipped with a hint of a smile on her face.

---