CHAPTER 175

"That's right, assholes, you fucked up big this time." Beth pushed herself up against the wall and laughed, her fingers pointing to the remnants of a shattered dollhouse. "I might not be able to touch you, but I know someone who can, and you just pissed her off."

The lights flickered on and off for several seconds and then exploded in a fountain of sparks, sending glass onto the floor. Kisa pressed herself into a corner, her tail poofing out completely as a young woman with long black hair manifested in the middle of the room. She wore an antique dress, and her body was stooped as if her bones had been installed incorrectly.

"Fuck 'em up, Jenny," Beth said.

Jenny tilted her head to one side, allowing her hair to fall away from her face to reveal a jack-o-lantern grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"Old Mother Hubbard, went to her cupboard, to fetch her poor dog a bone." Her rasping voice faded in and out like a radio trying to find the correct station, and after speaking, Jenny leapt across the room and snatched a spirit by its throat with long fingers.

"But when she bent over, Rover came over, and..." Jenny's face twisted in delight as the spirit cried out and kicked its legs uselessly. She abruptly folded it backward, causing its spine to snap and burst up through its stomach. "Gave her a bone of his own," she whispered, then grabbed the spine like the handle of a suitcase and gave the spirit a shake, laughing maniacally while she did so.

Horrified, the spirits could only stare as Jenny slammed the ghost into the ground, causing it to explode into a series of flickering lights that shot out the open window as if trying to get away. Her head spun in place, doing a full rotation before settling on a large man holding a shield.

"Play with me," said Jenny in a child's voice.

The spirits scattered in a panic and Jenny flickered and disappeared, her haunting laughter bouncing through the house, followed by the shrill cry of tormented souls.

Out front, the Jabberwock roared in agony, and Cerberus howled out in pain, the sounds reverberating through the house. The night was nothing more than a swirl of chaos, and Kisa looked over at Beth.

"Where did Marco go?" she asked.

"I don't know, but..." Beth stepped away from the wall and brushed some debris off her dress. "Once I find him, he's a dead man."

Dana was upstairs when she heard the front door explode. Quetzalli emerged from her bedroom with a concerned look on her face, and the two of them rushed to the top of the stairs to look below.

There was a flash of light, followed by a scream from Beth. Quetzalli was already heading for the stairs when a man in a hoodie pointed his wand up at her and hissed something under his breath. Dana shoved Quetzalli out of the way in time to catch the brunt of the magic, and the shockwave carried both of them into the wall, showering them with the shattered balusters of the railing.

"Urgh," Dana moaned as she got to her feet. When she took a breath, she could tell that something had punctured a lung, so she looked over her shoulder to see a large wooden splinter sticking out of her back. She pulled it free and then yanked a few extra pieces out of her thigh and arm.

"Hey, you okay?" She shook Quetzalli by the shoulder, but the dragon was motionless. "I need some help," she called to the rats down the corridor, which shook them out of their stupor, and they came running. Together, they dragged Quetzalli into Mike's bedroom.

"Naia," she called, and was most of the way into the bathroom when the nymph appeared with a terrified look on her face. "I need your help!"

"We're under attack," Naia told her, then saw that Dana was dragging Quetzalli and helped pull her into the mostly empty tub. "My fountain has been frozen by angry spirits, and some man is running around with a wand."

Out back, Cerberus roared, and then the whole house shook. Down below, furniture sounded like it was being tossed around, and then the Jabberwock let out a shriek.

"Sounds like the end of the world," Dana muttered. "Guess I'd better go do my part."

"Dana, be careful," Naia warned her.

"Yes, Mother," she replied sarcastically. She walked into Mike's room and frowned. There wasn't anything she could use as a weapon in here, and the rats that had followed her were watching her as if waiting for instructions. She held a finger to her lips and cracked the door open. She used the selfie cam on her cellphone as a makeshift periscope, grateful that it was still functional, though the screen was cracked.

Out in the hall, a group of shadows were dragging their hands along the walls, shredding the wallpaper and gouging the plaster. The man in the hoodie made it to the top of the stairs and turned away from Dana, striding down the hall with purpose. When he made it to the mysterious door, he went to work right away spinning the gears, and then pulled the lever to the door. The door let out a hiss, and instead of swinging open, sections of it rolled out of the way, revealing that it was a series of moving circles that overlapped.

Dana moved down the hall, staying low and in the middle. The shadows spun to face her, their distorted features flickering in and out of existence.

She held up her fists, not sure what she was going to do with them, when she heard someone laughing downstairs, followed by the flickering of lights. The power went out briefly, and when it came back on, the spirits were grouped at the top of the stairs, as if curious what was happening down below.

"Come play with me!" It was the voice of a child's toy, and then Jenny was there. She tore through the spirits like they were paper, her fingers ripping ghastly holes in their bodies. The spirits fled, vanishing through the walls and floorboards. Jenny's wild eyes briefly met Dana's, and then she stuck out her tongue and dove into the floor like it was a swimming pool. The rats, having enough of this nonsense, scattered.