I kept my steps lively as I marched down the street towards the store. I only needed a few things. I jammed my hand in my tote bag and fished around for my wallet. I had twenty dollars and some change. That should be enough for some campfire food. I ducked into Grocer Outlet. I knew I shouldn't be here, but it was the cheapest place to get food.I darted around the aisle to avoid eye contact with my manger. If I was careful, I could get out of here without getting seen by anyone that would rat on me. I sunk in low as I waited for the manger to pass."What are you doing?" Angie asked.I nearly jumped out of my skin. I knocked several cans of beans from the shelves as I danced around in an awkward spin to avoid stepping on them and to get a better look at the intruder trying to blow my cover."Shut up," I breathed. "I'm trying to be covert here."His stony face stared at me."What are you doing?" He repeated."Why do you care?" I whispered harshly. "I'm not in any danger so piss o

The scream died. The darkness cleared. The glow of the symbols dimmed until they were just dirt again. My stomach ached, but my balance returned as my eyes stopped spinning. A body lay slumped at the center of the star.I took a tentative step forward, testing to see that I could. When my foot moved freely, I leaped the two steps forward and crouched down at the center."Mila?"At first I thought she was dead. Her body didn't move, but then I realized the body wasn't right. It was too big to be Mila. I fumbled to turn the flashlight on. It was hard to tell in the light, but the hair wasn't right either. It was too dark, not Mila's bright blonde.The head lifted. The hair fell back. Two grey eyes stared out at me. I stumbled backward. The eyes staring back at me were mine. The face staring back at me was mine."What the fuck!" I cursed as I jumped back and my butt hit the dirt.The eyes staring at me blinked. "Can you get this light out of my eyes?" The woman leaned away from the

I stood at the checkout counter moving mechanically. This job required no thought, which was good because my mind was zipping through countless scenarios where I could have saved Mila's life. It always came down to two things: I trusted too easily and I wasn't brave enough. I wished I could be like my sister. She seemed so confident and so knowledgeable. I needed to learn from her so nothing like this happened again.I was the last one in the store again. I hated working last shift, but I had no choice. It came with a little pay bump. I stepped out into the night air. I was glad my car was working again, but I had left it for Lanie to use. It was another walk in the dark home for me. My eyes shifted from side to side as I walked through the parking lot. I was getting that feeling again, like it was okay if the darkness got me. I was pretty worthless, after all. But nothing seemed to appear. No black clouds, no burning embers, no shadow man tonight. Everything was just normal. It was a

I woke in the early afternoon. My mind felt heavy. It took me a long time to fight through it to wake up. I availed myself to a hot shower as I tried to straighten out my thoughts. I needed to confront Lanie about what Mother accused her of. Had she lied to me or was Mother just twisting her words? I leaned my head against the wall as the water ran down my shoulders. I didn't know who to trust. I didn't know what to do anymore. It felt like every move I made was the wrong one. I needed to make a choice.I dug down deep, replaying Mother's words, Lanie's, and Remi's over in my mind. I even played Angie's... wait Angie."Angie," I said, my voice clear in the hot steam of the shower. "Angie," I repeated with force, picturing him in my mind."You are not supposed to be able to summon me," his deep angelic voice echoed. I could see his tall muscular frame silhouetted through the shower curtain."Shit, it worked," I said."You are not dying. And you are naked. I should be going.""Wait

I could feel the power crawling inside me. It crept beneath my skin like small worms creeping and searching for an escape. I pictured my skin like an iron shell of armor keeping them in. It calmed the movement, but increased my squeamishness. I burst open through front door of our house. It was a small two bedroom rental that backed up to a large forest, a forest that just happened to include the biggest nexus point on land in the United States. That was not actually a coincidence as I was instantly reminded when my knees banged into the couch.I went flipping forward over it and land square on my ass in the middle of the living room. I was getting tired of this new arrangement already. Mother insisted that everything line up with the ley line. I think in the grand scheme of things, a few households that weren't in line with feng shu was not going to make that much different with power flow, but when Mother insisted, I didn't argue. It wasn't worth the fight."Are you just getting in