The call connected on the second ring. I pressed the phone to my ear, conscious of the damning evidence still frozen on my laptop screen. Jason’s voice came through strained and slightly slurred, the words blurring at their edges like watercolors left in the rain. I wondered briefly what he’d been drinking, how much of it was in his system. It didn’t matter. What mattered was what I’d seen, and what we were going to do about it.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObB2yrJdtu
“Rahel?” My name sounded like a question in his mouth. “Tell me you found something.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTiYJRTBLZ
I glanced at my laptop again, at Aurelia Green’s form captured in that single frozen moment—a murderer walking away from her crime. Did Aurelia have the power to see things, know things? Did she already know that Jason had contacted me? Did she sense our connection on an energetic level? Would she try to magically attack me too? And if I told Jason about my observing, would his strong emotions alert Aurelia? Paranoia, perhaps, but after what I’d witnessed, paranoia seemed like good sense.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmo1japQkT
“I did,” I replied, measuring my words like coffee beans on a scale. “And we need to talk. In person.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdb4ZfqctUh
“That bad, huh?” A humorless laugh rattled through the connection. “What did the lawyer say?”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmRrSCA41p
I watched the spirits gathered around me, their faces solemn in the blue glow of my laptop. None of them spoke, but their silence carried weight.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVbMrGxNGI
“Your grandfather made arrangements. Precautions.” I chose each syllable with deliberate caution, aware that saying too much could be as dangerous as saying too little. I couldn’t risk making Jason emotional. “Jason, did Seamus ever mention consulting with a tarot reader? Someone named Markus?”
The line went dead for several heartbeats. I could almost see Jason’s face, the way his eyes would narrow, focus sharpening through the alcoholic haze.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5linDwuNxA
“Not that I remember.” His voice had changed, the slight intoxication giving way to something harder, clearer. “Why?”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2OgXQpdx8
“According to information I received today, Seamus was seeing a spiritual advisor in his final months. This person apparently warned him about… danger.” The understatement felt absurd, given what I’d seen. Danger. Like calling a hurricane a breeze.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIXxDoTjh0
“And you think this person might know something about what happened to him?”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0O2H2XesX
“It’s possible.” I hesitated, weighing my next words. “We need to find this Markus.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMmfMw1KDT
“Wait.” The sound of movement filtered through the phone—the rustle of fabric, the soft thud of objects being shifted. Then came the familiar sound of papers being sorted. “There was a book. Red leather. My grandfather kept all his contacts in it. Old school, you know? No digital address book for him.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DiHh5JyJd
I straightened in my chair, a jolt of anticipation cutting through my exhaustion. “Do you have this book?”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1drNiMW72c
“No.” Frustration colored his voice like a bruise. “It would be at his house. The townhouse near Central Park.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4JSMyj6hk
“Could you get access?” Even as I asked, I knew the answer wouldn’t be simple.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXL6QnC1js
Another pause stretched between us, longer this time. “Not officially. After the will reading, Aurelia had the locks changed. Said she didn’t want me ‘wandering in and taking things.’ Like I’m some kind of thief.” Bitterness seeped through his words, dark and pungent.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbndi8JYCwp
I considered my options, each path spreading before me like cracks in thin ice. What I was contemplating wasn’t just unethical—it was illegal. A line I’d never crossed in my investigations.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIJvzaE6ju
“What are you thinking?” Mister B. asked, like he couldn’t hear my thoughts, his translucent form shifting closer to me. I held up one finger, silently asking for a moment.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0W6KX4qVd
“Something stupid,” I murmured, covering the phone’s microphone with my palm.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9n8LEhIPc
“You want to break in,” Auntie stated flatly, her spectral arms crossed. “High risk, potentially high reward.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8k0rSh8iQq
“That’s dangerous, babygirl,” Ma cautioned, her ghostly eyes wide with concern. “You get caught, you go to jail.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyymSZkJDl
“If what we just watched is real,” Grandpa added, his voice soft but firm, “the risk of doing nothing may be greater.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoq2SCMssFl
I uncovered the microphone, decision made. “Jason, what if we went to the townhouse? Not through the front door, but…” I let the words hang, unspoken but unmistakable.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrOiOoOWlR
“Breaking and entering?” He finished the thought, his tone somewhere between shock and reluctant admiration. “That’s—”
“I know what it is,” I cut him off. “But after what I’ve seen today, I believe your grandfather was murdered. And the conventional authorities won’t believe how.” They would laugh me out of the precinct if I tried to explain that Aurelia Green had performed blood magic to kill Seamus. That she had hidden death beneath his favorite rug like a landmine.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXOXTK1QnO
The line went quiet again, longer this time. When Jason spoke, his voice had dropped to a near-whisper, as if he feared being overheard. “You think she used some kind of… I don’t know, poison? Something untraceable?”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5tkbrRVGA
“Something like that,” I agreed, unwilling to explain the full truth over the phone. “The evidence is… unconventional.” An understatement so profound it bordered on dishonesty.
“Then let’s do it,” Jason said, the words tumbling out with sudden decisiveness. “I know the security system codes—or at least, I knew them before. Seamus never changed them. If Aurelia hasn’t completely overhauled everything…”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9sCRU38Xt
“We need that book,” I said firmly. “It’s our best lead to finding Markus.” And possibly our best hope of proving what Aurelia had done—if Markus had indeed warned Seamus about danger in his house, about death lurking beneath his feet.
“I’ll need to prepare,” Jason said, energy audibly surging through his voice like electricity through a downed wire. “Figure out the timing. Make sure Aurelia isn’t there.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjSlKxeFnT
“We should meet first,” I suggested, caution tempering my own growing resolve. “Plan this carefully.” The last thing we needed was to stumble into Aurelia’s lair unprepared.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgG3QdzbS4d
“Tomorrow evening,” Jason proposed. “I can look into Aurelia’s schedule, see when the house is likely to be empty.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglqsqpSevA
“Where should we meet?” I glanced at the spirits around me, their expressions ranging from concern to grim determination.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcGNov2MkJ
“I’ll pick you up,” Jason said. “Send me your address. I’ll come by in a cab around seven.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObWx2GZFjk
I hesitated, my fingers tightening around the phone. Jason knowing where I lived felt like another line being crossed, another defense surrendered. But given what we were planning to do together, such concerns seemed suddenly, oddly quaint—like worrying about tracking mud on the carpet while the house burned down around you.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGKbFwWKZE
“Alright,” I agreed, my throat dry. “Tomorrow at seven.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8BJKqcrkl
“And Rahel?” Jason’s voice had taken on a new quality—a clarity and determination I hadn’t heard from him before. “Thank you. For believing me. For helping.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwByVwN6Mkk
The call ended, leaving me in the spectral glow of my laptop screen, surrounded by the watching spirits. I sat motionless for a moment, absorbing the magnitude of what I’d just committed to. Breaking into a multi-million-dollar Manhattan townhouse owned by a woman who, evidence suggested, practiced death magic. A woman who had killed her own father for his money.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDIP3BoIRi
“This is insanity,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RKJlZe0nG
“High-risk, high-reward,” Auntie repeated, her ghostly eyes narrowed in thought.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqwZBTE6r0
“You sure about this, babygirl?” Ma asked, her form shifting closer to me. “There are other ways to find this Markus person.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBpjdgWGB7
“None as direct,” Mister B. countered. “And time may be a factor.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48GrAOPMli
“If Aurelia discovers we’re investigating,” Grandpa added, his gentle face creased with worry, “she might take steps to eliminate evidence. Or witnesses.”66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVJb5xG35b
I nodded grimly, the implications hanging in the air between us like smoke. I picked up my phone again and texted my address to Jason, the simple act feeling weighty with consequence. Then I set the phone aside and returned my attention to the laptop. There were hours more footage to review—somewhere in those green-tinted recordings might be additional evidence of Aurelia’s activities, clues that could help us understand what we were facing.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM98lzAfi9b
Tomorrow evening seemed both too distant and too soon, the hours stretching and compressing like an accordion in my mind. Until then, I would prepare as best I could, gathering information and steeling myself for what might prove to be the most dangerous undertaking of my career, even worse than the adventure at the abandoned casino down at the docks.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbjYnNycvu
Because if what I’d witnessed on that footage was truly black magic aimed at causing Seamus Green’s death, then Aurelia was not only calculating and ruthless—she was genuinely dangerous in ways that most people couldn’t begin to comprehend. The kind of person who knew how to use blood and bones and darkness to get what she wanted. The kind of person who wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if threatened.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DCCp8YXLg
And I was about to cross her.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ykDpp813a
I unpaused the video and continued watching, searching for more evidence in the ghostly green recordings. Behind me, the spirits gathered close, their presence a cold comfort in the growing darkness. None of us spoke. We didn’t need to. We all understood what was at stake.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugq2SHUWmK
Tomorrow I would become a criminal. But tonight, I needed to understand exactly what kind of monster we were dealing with.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSounRUpwWq
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