"Can you tell us about anything unusual that might have happened during her reading?" Carol said, holding up her hands in a placating gesture.
"Um…" Isabel hesitated, clearly torn between her desire to avoid confrontation and her need to maintain some semblance of control. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never heard of any Katie."
"She told us you gave her a reading," I said gently, taking a step closer. "But it was more than that, wasn’t it? Tell us what happened. Tell us what you did.”
Suddenly, she swept an arm across the top of her shelf full of spells. They exploded onto the ground, and strange smells rose up. She began to murmur words in another language, and spirits seemed to rise from the broken spell bottles. Above us, the lights began to flicker, and my stomach sank.
One of the spirits leapt at me. “Ouch!” I shouted, wrapping my arms around my shoulders in shock. Who knew spirits like this could hurt you. I guess I did now.
Beth threw a spell from her pocket and the scent in the air changed to mint. Another spirit leapt at Beth but slammed into some unseen wall in front of her. Carol lifted her hands, and crystals rose from the surfaces around us. She pushed her hands forward, and the crystals went flying through the spirits, striking Isabel. She cried out, flopping back on the ground, ending her spell.
I thought we might be in the clear when her words began again, and the spirits attacked all of us. Every time one of them struck me, it felt like my entire body was being punched. Carol cried out. Beth was digging in her pockets for more spells, and Deva was ducking and diving around the room like a martial arts expert.
Unable to help myself, I stretched out my hand and let some of my karmic powers flow. The shelf that Isabel was hiding behind began to topple over, and I heard her scream. She rolled just in time to avoid it, and then Beth threw two more potions and began to repeat the same words over and over again. Deva and Carol joined in too, so I tried to follow their suit.
The spirits fluctuated, growing smaller and more transparent. Isabel climbed to her feet and screamed, “No!” Then, the spirits were gone.
“Isabel!” I shouted, gritting my teeth as I held my sore shoulder.
"Leave me alone," she cried, suddenly bolting for the back door like a frightened deer. We exchanged stunned glances for a moment before instinct kicked in, and we took off after her,our laughter mingling with the adrenaline pumping through our veins.
As Isabel dashed out the door, we were hot on her heels like a pack of hounds in pursuit of a fox. The chase was on. If she thought she could curse our friend, and some irritating human, without consequences, we were about to teach her a lesson. My heart raced along with my feet as we tore through the streets.
"Isabel, stop!" Deva yelled between breaths. "We just want to talk!"
"Come on, Isabel! This is getting ridiculous," I shouted as the wind whipped through my hair, sending it into a tangled mess.
"Look at us." Carol panted as she tried to keep pace. "Four middle-aged women chasing after one little witch."
"Speak for yourself," Beth said, only slightly out of breath. "I'm still young and spry."
We sprinted through alleys and hurdled over garbage cans like a group of kids playing tag, but this game had much higher stakes. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, and my muscles burned from the exertion.
Suddenly, Isabel made a sharp turn into a narrow alleyway, and we followed.
"Almost... got her..." Deva heaved, reaching out in an attempt to grab hold of Isabel's flailing arm. Fate had another plan.
With a shriek, Isabel tripped over a stray piece of trash and went sprawling onto the ground. As we skidded to a stop, I winced at her pained cry and bent over to steady myself.
"Are you okay?" Carol asked, concern etched across her face as we gathered around the fallen witch.
"Go away," she said through gritted teeth, clutching her ankle with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Just leave me alone."
“You want us to leave you in a dark alley alone?” Carol asked, lifting a brow.
She tried to rise and fell again. “I’d be fine if you idiots had just left me alone!”
Great. This investigation certainly wasn’t bringing out the best in me. I’d fallen into Katie’s dressing room, and now I’d broken some lady’s ankle. Not a great start.
"We didn't mean for you to get hurt," I said softly. "We can't just leave you here like this. Let us help you."
She tried to crawl away, then rise, before falling again. Looking down at her already swollen ankle, with tears streaming down her face, I could practically hear her thoughts churning.
"Fine," Isabel said as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "But only because I don’t have a choice."
"Understood." We carefully maneuvered our way around her, offering support as she hobbled back toward her shop. The pain in her eyes was evident, but so was the simmering anger beneath the surface.
Isabel's face twisted in pain and annoyance as she hobbled alongside us, her anger palpable.
