wary of black magic

I never suspected a thing about what he really wanted, until the day Elaine stayed home sick. Concerned about her, I skipped my last class and came home early. The house seemed too quiet, and an energy I had never sensed before hung in the air like cloying, oily perfume. The second I walked in the door, I found myself tensing up.
It was my first encounter with black magic, the power of Creation itself twisted to maim and destroy everything it touched.
Elaine sat on the couch, her expression calm, her spine locked rigidly into perfect posture. I now know that Justin had put the mental whammy on her while I was gone, but at the time I knew only that my instincts were screaming that something was wrong. A wrongness so fundamental it made me want to run away screaming filled the room.
And besides. Elaine only sat like that when she was making a statement—generally, a sarcastic one.


Ghost Story Chapter 30, Page 323-324