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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsYApiaONc
“Rahel?” My name sounded like a question in his mouth. “Tell me you found something.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GbjeYx4VH
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh99aHaRRvo
“I did,” I replied, measuring my words like coffee beans on a scale. “And we need to talk. In person.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhUBs7PSMV
“That bad, huh?” A humorless laugh rattled through the connection. “What did the lawyer say?”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48DL4Jmsvi
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqQ1som66j
“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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfpQfNrBoM
“Not that I remember.” His voice had changed, the slight intoxication giving way to something harder, clearer. “Why?”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuz7aWXlbh
“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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7XsRZvMuP
“And you think this person might know something about what happened to him?”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPz6HTepuGW
“It’s possible.” I hesitated, weighing my next words. “We need to find this Markus.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprCyQj38Rh
“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.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mizUlav2o
I straightened in my chair, a jolt of anticipation cutting through my exhaustion. “Do you have this book?”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vbkQKgaCS
“No.” Frustration colored his voice like a bruise. “It would be at his house. The townhouse near Central Park.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1bOOrA4nT
“Could you get access?” Even as I asked, I knew the answer wouldn’t be simple.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ohf8th0SL
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxMPpBqLQQ
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8054kG5Sv
“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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5ok65ptzU
“Something stupid,” I murmured, covering the phone’s microphone with my palm.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKUoRs8e9z
“You want to break in,” Auntie stated flatly, her spectral arms crossed. “High risk, potentially high reward.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhW7gtYlq6c
“That’s dangerous, babygirl,” Ma cautioned, her ghostly eyes wide with concern. “You get caught, you go to jail.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyl23wfS3JT
“If what we just watched is real,” Grandpa added, his voice soft but firm, “the risk of doing nothing may be greater.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1aVPULTUs
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyMwVBlhar
“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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mylV1A1pB
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?”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIrPEIQb6Z
“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…”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaIVjBoRjx
“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.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbg4zp5nZS
“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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3fl7mKZee
“Tomorrow evening,” Jason proposed. “I can look into Aurelia’s schedule, see when the house is likely to be empty.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43sa2jZBSK
“Where should we meet?” I glanced at the spirits around me, their expressions ranging from concern to grim determination.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRuC00zn4I
“I’ll pick you up,” Jason said. “Send me your address. I’ll come by in a cab around seven.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UACNLus4l
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0UJkz61ue
“Alright,” I agreed, my throat dry. “Tomorrow at seven.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3SnwHjUaB
“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.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwJFY66kJR
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8t0mjZqrB7
“This is insanity,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzv02SjMhz9
“High-risk, high-reward,” Auntie repeated, her ghostly eyes narrowed in thought.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRRa3U0Bqq
“You sure about this, babygirl?” Ma asked, her form shifting closer to me. “There are other ways to find this Markus person.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbITFTeCsk
“None as direct,” Mister B. countered. “And time may be a factor.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqG0BmqTlE
“If Aurelia discovers we’re investigating,” Grandpa added, his gentle face creased with worry, “she might take steps to eliminate evidence. Or witnesses.”63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsM57BAMsGE
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm35VG7SXHf
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXI1E2pgHvo
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4im768Dbk6
And I was about to cross her.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiDJnA3IIe
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5ODAYsYDq
Tomorrow I would become a criminal. But tonight, I needed to understand exactly what kind of monster we were dealing with.
63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1V9vqzUj8
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