Frankie was sweating by the time he made it to the alley at 12th and German Streets. He had run most of the way, only slowing at intersections for passing traffic.
And he was just in time, too. The man from the location ritual lay in the middle of the alley, cowering under Lady Luck, who stood over him.
Frankie waved his hand at her and sent her flying back away from the man. The witch rushed up to him and helped him onto his feet.
“Are you okay?”
The man nodded, then his eyes grew large and he started pounding a fist against his chest.
“Can you breathe?”
He shook his head, his eyes going wild.
Frankie remembered that the man had been eating dinner when Lady Luck had arrived at his doorstep. “Great,” he said sarcastically. “You’re choking.” He flicked two fingers toward him and a piece of meat came flying out of the man’s mouth and landed on the pavement a few feet away from them.
The man gasped for breath. “Thanks. That was—how the hell did you do that?”
“Don’t worry about it right now. You need to get out of here.”
“But she’s coming to collect on our deal.” The man looked around Frankie’s shoulder in Lady Luck’s direction. She had risen to her feet and was brushing the dirt and mud off of her white outfit, which had been stained.
“And I’m going to squash that deal completely,” Frankie assured him. “Now go. She can’t hurt you if she can’t find you. And be careful! She might’ve turned your luck bad already.”
The man nodded. “Okay. Thank you! Keep an eye on my family.”
Frankie looked over to the house. “Go in and take them with you. Keep them all safe. Just for tonight. She shouldn’t be a problem anymore after that.”
“You know how to stop her?”
“I’m going to try.”
The man ran off toward the house.
Frankie turned and saw Lady Luck standing several feet away in the middle of the alley with her arms crossed.
“So now you’re just undoing all of my deals, is that it?” she asked. “I make arrangements that everyone agrees to. Someone is going to have to pay for them.”
“Is that how you justify trying to get Evelyn to kill herself?”
“Suicide? Who mentioned that?”
“I know what you were trying to do.” Frankie gritted his teeth. “That line of thinking that you put in her head never leads anywhere good.”
Lady Luck chuckled. “Well, if she’s feeling bad about herself, then maybe—”
The anger overtook Frankie and he charged at her. For a moment, he saw the look of surprise on her face, but then she regained her composure and simply adjusted her stance over several feet. Frankie made his own adjustments, but his foot sank into a pothole and he tripped before he could reach her.
Bad luck.
“Undo what you did to Evelyn—and Anna,” he demanded as he picked himself up off the ground.
Lady Luck smirked. “When it comes to Anna, she made a deal.”
“And you’re going to be okay with her getting hurt or possibly dying to pay for that deal?” He considered using his power on her, but the way he tripped showed that she was already using her power. There was no telling how his own magic might backfire.
“It’s the terms that she agreed to. And it’s how I get paid.”
“Then how are you justifying what you’re doing to Evelyn?”
“She’s trying to stop me from making these deals. Just like you are.” She reached for the slanted roof of the nearest garage and knocked on the framing three times.
Seconds later, the structure began to rattle. The next thing Frankie knew, the whole garage was tilting on its side and coming right toward him.
He jumped out of the way, inadvertently putting more space between him and Lady Luck.
Life before building standards meant a shoddy unsupported structure.
When Frankie had recovered from the fall, he saw Lady Luck running down the alley toward Holland Street. Jumping on the shingle tiles of the fallen roof, Frankie raced through the debris in pursuit of her.
She neared the end of the alley and he was afraid she might make it to the street in time, so he extended his hand and waved it toward her feet.
To his surprise, it worked perfectly and she fell, smearing her white dress with even more dirt from the alley.
He slowed to a jog as he caught up to her. “What I don’t understand is, why are you doing this? What are you really getting out of this?”
Lady Luck glared at him from behind her veil as she picked herself up again. “I collect souls. Sometimes, the bad luck only turns a good spirit into a disheartened one and I can’t collect. More often, their bad luck leads to their death—whether accidentally or at their own hands. That’s when I’m able to collect.”
“So when it’s just a disheartened spirit, that’s when you plant thoughts in their heads and try to push them to end their lives themselves?”
She shrugged, the hint of a smirk evident on her lips.
“Suicide.”
Again, she shrugged. “What’s the harm? With some, it doesn’t take much convincing. And with Anna, I might not wait for her baby to be born to cash in on the deal. I see a double opportunity with her.”
“No!” Frankie thrust both of his arms at her, putting all of his magical energy behind the attack.
But Lady Luck’s good luck was on her side and his magic backfired, sending him flying back from where he stood. He flipped over a fence and right into someone’s backyard, where a dog was waiting on the other side.
At the sight of the intruder, the dog began snarling and barking at him. Frankie lifted himself off the grass and the dog took several nips at him, a warning to get out of his territory.
Annoyed, Frankie used his magic to push the dog away. It squealed as it flopped on its back and quickly regained its footing. Still, it kept a careful distance as Frankie climbed up the fence and launched himself over it.
Lady Luck waited on the other side with a wide, humorous smile. “What would’ve made that more perfect was if you landed in the dog’s—”
“What is it going to take to get you to stop what you’re doing?”
She smirked again. “I will never stop. Now, this is goodbye. I have deals to make.” She started to leave, then turned back to him. “Oh, and don’t try to stop me. You’ll only embarrass yourself.”
Frankie seethed with anger as he watched her walk off. What was he thinking, trying to come after her completely unprepared? He wasn’t. He was reacting to what Lady Luck had done to Evelyn.
Lady Luck sauntered down toward the end of the alley, likely feeling smug and untouchable.
Anna and Evelyn stepped into view at the end of the alley near Holland Street. Lady Luck stopped, took a quick look behind her, and started backing up.
From atop the chicken coop, Levi called down to Lady Luck. “Surprise!”