I followed Wolf to his truck, protecting the candle flame with a cupped hand. Each step I took, the flame flickered. Wolf held the truck door open while I climbed inside.

The idea of someone reading my thoughts made my skin crawl in a whole new way. I hated being invaded, my thoughts and memories combed through. The more I tried to clear my mind the more it filled with racing thoughts.

Wolf drove quickly into town, hung a sharp right and headed into a run-down section filled with narrow, twisting alleys and tin shanties. He brought the pickup to a halt in front of a crumbling Victorian shack. Yellow lights glowed from its grimy windows.

My candle, now just a waxy stub, winked and burned out. Wolf tossed the remains into the bed of the truck as we climbed out. He took my hand and led me up the cracked sidewalk. We ducked under a clothesline strung near the front porch and knocked on the carved door.

Moments later came the shuffle of feet and the swish of curtains. With a groan the door opened. A pale woman stood in the shadows, hunched over in a severe brown dress with a mass of white hair pinned in place by ivory combs. She inched closer, standing in silence, staring out at us with hard, expressionless eyes.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she held up a hand and motioned us in. “I know why you have come.” The woman spoke with a thick accent. A mixture of old French and something else. “Ms. Sassy called me, told me of your troubles.”

We entered into a massive hallway decorated with ancient looking pictures in oval frames. She led us through a maze of rooms into a dingy sitting area. We sat on a faded sofa while she pulled up a folding chair and gathered my hands into hers. Her fingers felt like the claws of an eagle, thin and brittle as they worked over mine.

“Have you heard of the circle of six?” she asked. I looked at Wolf and we both shook our heads. “The circle is used for protection. Six items, all the same, planted in the earth to form endless roots.”

“Is that what we have to do to protect ourselves?” I asked.

Magda shook her head. “No. This is how the evil one keeps her spirit grounded. So that no spell can drive her from the land. It is ancient witchcraft and very strong.” The old woman clasped her hands and her eyes softened. “I feel her inside you, my dear, trying to whittle into your soul, meld and become a part of you like she did your mother.” She shook her head. “I’m very sorry, but there is no way I can be of help to you. It would be impossible for me to know the objects she planted.”

Wolf stood. “But we can at least try to find them. Right? If we start digging around that place, we should be able to figure out where the objects lie. They have to be near the house I’m guessing.”

Magda peered up at Wolf. “What you don’t understand is that she wasn’t foolish. She would have planted a dozen decoys. Remember, she had lots of time to do this as she grew up there.”

“Great,” I mumbled.

“But there is some good news.” Madga rose to her feet. “You will only need to pull one of the objects from the earth to break her hold over this world. This is an important task. It’s very dangerous to have her in your unconscious mind. Polluting your soul. As time wears on, she will slowly take more and more of you until she consumes you altogether, and anyone else in her way.” She smoothed the creases in her dress. “Never forget, she can, at certain times, read your mind and know what you are up to. She will attack with a ferocity far greater than you’ve ever experienced.”

I got to my feet, shuddering. “If only we could figure out what objects she planted, we’d have it made.”

“My guess,” Wolf said, “is that it has to be something that wouldn’t rot, something metal or rock.”

Madga shrugged. “It could have been anything.”

“If she can read my thoughts and hear our conversations since were connected, then why can’t we use my mind to invade hers and unlock her secrets?”

Madga reached out and snatched my wrist. “Never do such a thing! To read her mind is to pass through the gates of hell.”

My heart galloped. Madga’s grip on my arm intensified. “There is one thing that keeps coming to me.” Magda closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples. “I keep hearing a dark voice. It's muffled because it’s coming from deep within you, but it’s not your own. It’s like some kind of song or chant. A spell used to block or keep something from your memory. Something on parchment, something legal in nature, perhaps a land deed or an old will.”

“General Cobb’s will?” Wolf asked.

Madga opened her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know. The magic is stronger than anything I’ve ever encountered. Good luck to you.”

Wolf took my arm and we hurried outside to the front porch.

“Thank you,” I said. Magda nodded and quickly shut the door.

“The will is still on the dash of my truck where you left it, if you want to take another look.”

We hurried to Wolf’s truck, climbed inside and grabbed the document from the dashboard. We read over it a dozen times. Nothing contained any clues to the objects Sabine would have planted.

I rolled the will up and sighed.

Wolf took it from me and glanced over it again while I rested my pounding head. “This is interesting,” he said.

“What?”

“It’s an inventory of all the things he intended to give to his heirs. I wonder if we go to the courthouse and read the probated index, if the list would be the same or if some items might have been missing. Like small items Sabine stole over the years that wouldn’t be noticed.”

“Yes, but it had to be six of the same item,” I said. “So for example, if six stone statues came up missing, people would notice.”

“I know but it could be something very small and unimportant. After my dad died, they made up an inventory of everything he owned, including a stack of bricks.”

Wolf glanced at his watch. “The courthouse is closed, but we’ll crash at my place then hit the clerk’s office in the morning.”

We woke early the next day and hurried to the courthouse just as they opened. Sitting at a large wooden table, we scanned the fragile documents comparing the original will to the probated inventory, recorded after General Cobb’s death.

Wolf shook his head in frustration. “Nothing. I don’t see a single item any different on the original then on the inventory afterwards.”

I scanned the document again for what seemed like the hundredth time. “Wait.”

“What?” Wolf asked, stretching his back.

I pointed to the end of the document and grinned. “I think I just figured it out.”

Wolf’s face contorted in a blurry mass, my head throbbed so hard I thought my eyes would burst from their sockets. Sabine voice chanted in my head, stabbing at my brain. “Get out of my mind!” I snarled. The noise suddenly stopped.

Wolf cradled me in his arms. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, my pulse rocketing through my veins.

Wolf read the part of the inventory where I had pointed. “Ten barrels of corn. One blacksmith forge. Twelve pickle crocks and two hundred survey spikes.”

Wolf’s eyes widen. “It has to be the spikes. No one would notice them missing. Not six of them from such a big pile.”

I nodded. “As soon as I made the connection, she attacked me. So we have to be on to something.”

“Let's get a copy of the original map of the place, showing the boundaries. That way at least we have something to work with.”

The clerk made several copies of the property entries for us. Wolf and I returned to the large table and started crossing off places we knew could not contain the objects, such as the old well site and where the septic had been dug. However, after a time it became clear we couldn’t easily find six small ties buried on the huge section of property.

We walked from the courthouse, my head pounding with each step. “We have to find a way to block her from your mind,” Wolf said. “Otherwise we’re never going to get anywhere.”

“Yes, but it’s not as easy as you think,” I snapped. “Plus, I’m totally wigged out. I hate the idea of something crawling around in my head reading my thoughts.”

Wolf’s face brightened. “I have an idea.” He hurried to the truck, reached into glove box and pulled out an IPod and headphones. “Put this on and tune into a hard rock station. Maybe we can blast her out, or at least scramble the messages.”

I slipped the ear buds into my ears and cranked up the music. At first, all it did was make my head throb even worse. Then, slowly, the pain eased and Sabine’s grip on my aching temples disappeared. “It worked!” I shrieked.

Wolf pulled one of the earpieces out with a grin. “Cool, now let’s head to the sporting goods store. There’s something I want to buy.”

We pulled into the last remaining parking spot at Eddie’s Tackle and Bait Shop.

“Wait here,” Wolf said. “This will only take a minute.”

“Are you taking me fishing?”

“Not with a pole, but with something even better.”

Wolf disappeared into the store and came out moments later with a long black instrument.

“What is it? A club?”

Wolf shook his head. “It’s a metal detector and it's going to help us find our stakes.”

“What a great idea!”

Wolf put the truck in drive and we raced toward the old plantation house. My mind filled with so many worried thoughts. I put the earbuds back in and turned up the music, hoping to block out any chance of letting Sabine enter my mind again.

Along the roadside, ancient oak trees swayed, as if waving me away. I would have given anything to have Wolf turn the truck around, head back to Benny, and forget the old house. But I couldn’t give up now.

A gust of wind shrieked as we turned down the gravel road leading to the mansion. I shivered at the unsettling sound. Goosebumps raised along my arms. Crouching into the pickup seat, mouth dry, heart flying, I struggled to control the panic welling inside me, the overwhelming powerful fear that crippled me in so many areas of my life.

Wolf idled the truck to the bushes near the front gate and switched off the motor. In silence I watched my mother pace back and forth on the porch, possessed by Sabine, moving her hands as if casting spells. We waited several moments and then finally she returned into the house.

Wolf tapped the iPod and gave a thumbs up. He signaled for me to follow and we crept through the front gates, staying as low as possible, keeping to the foliage. Wolf turned on the detector and waved the wand around the area where we suspected there might me a spike planted. I kept an eye on the house just in case Sabine appeared again.

Wolf searched for an eternity and came up with only two beer bottle tops and a handful of rusty nails. We returned to the pickup to re-group. He studied the map scratching his head. “I don’t get it. To form a circle I would think a stake should be somewhere around this area.” He pointed to a spot on the map where the broken foundation lay shattered.

I sat upright, my heart racing. I pulled the earbuds from my head. “I know where one could be! I think I tripped on it, because it left a rust mark on my sandal. I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I was so worried about Benny. He had flown from my arms and landed in the grass. I just assumed it was a broken piece of concrete. But it couldn’t have been if it left a rusty mark. It had to be a metal stake!”

“Quick,” Wolf said. “Put the earbuds back in before she reads any more of your thoughts. I want you to stay here while I look. It’s too close to the house. Whatever you do, don’t leave this truck until I get back.”

“But I want to—”

Wolf gripped my shoulders, his fingers digging into my flesh. “Listen to me, it’s too dangerous. I want you to wait here.”

Wolf turned to leave. I placed the earbuds back into my ears and tried to relax. Wolf slowly hiked toward the house, keeping his profile low. My mind jumped from one horrible thought to another. What if Sabine caught him? What kind of evil powers did she wield? The power to kill? I could feel a massive anxiety attack coming on. I had to stop this way of thinking or my head would explode.

Time crawled by, I waited twenty minutes before I got so worried I couldn’t take it anymore. I climbed out of the pickup and crept into the bushes, staying low, trying to catch a peek at him. I scanned the area from the bog, over the slave shacks and back to the house. Nothing. Where was he?

Something caught my eye in a stand of weeds in the grass. My mouth went dry. I struggled to swallow a dry lump clogging in my throat. Wolf's metal detector lay discarded near the broken foundation. The music in my iPod faded, I shook it and it started playing again and then died. No—Not now!

A dead battery symbol flashed on the little screen. The front door of the house opened and slammed shut. Suddenly, I felt myself being propelled through the air, landing hard on my back.

I stared at the porch and saw my mother’s hair flying all around her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Something gripped my ankles and dragged me at a rapid speed over the earth. Weeds scratched at my tender flesh. Clawing at the ground, I tried to stop myself. I snatched a long thick weed, sharp stickers digging into the palm of my hand. I held on gritting my teeth against the pain. The plant pulled from the earth, uprooted, and I was being dragged again.

I flipped onto my back and spotted Wolf sneaking up behind my mother, a rust colored rock raised over his head. I clamped my eyes shut. I couldn’t bear to watch him hit her. But she read my mind quicker than he could react. Her grip on me released and she sent him reeling over the porch railing and to the ground. I scrambled up, watching in stunned horror as his shirt ripped from his body and his flesh began to burn.

“No!” I screamed, racing toward him. He still clutched the rock in his hand and handed it to me before the flames engulfed his body and he collapsed on the ground. I grabbed it to toss it aside, to put the fire out with my own body, when I realized what he handed me wasn’t a rock at all—it was part of an iron stake!

The moment my fingers gripped it the fire left Wolf’s body and Sabine screamed an angry cry of defeat.

My mother lay in a crumpled heap. A dark swirling mass shot from her lifeless body. The dark mass rocketed into the air where it turned sharply and stabbed into the ground like a lightning bolt. The grass turned a charred gray and a dark ring formed where Sabine’s ugly spirit had returned to the earth.

Wolf clutched his throat, a terrible cough rattling in his chest. He scrambled to his feet and grabbed my arm, but I jerked away from him, running to my mother. I dropped to my knees cradling her head. Her face was pale, her skin so cold.

No. Please No.

“Mom!” I gripped her shoulders, shaking her like a rag doll. “Wake up, Mom. Mom!” I held her closer, willing life to return to her limp body, wishing my heartbeat could somehow enter her body and sustain her. Her lips parted slightly but her beautiful face remained expressionless. I shook her again and her head sagged against my shoulder. Breath, faint at first, feathered my cheek. She was alive!

“Wolf!” I cried. “Help me!”

Wolf rushed to me and grabbed my mother from me, carrying her in his burned arms, rushing to the pickup. “Go open the truck door!”

I bolted ahead of him and lunged for the door handle. I swung it open as he put my mother inside and quickly climbed in beside her. Her eyes fluttered open. “Dharma,” she whispered. “I had the worst dream. I thought you were lost.” She frowned, her eyes filled with confusion. “I've been so worried. Where's Benny?”

My heart flipped, tears rushed to my eyes. Mom really did care about us, even though she wasn't the best mom or the most perfect. I wrapped my arms around her. “No Mom, everything is okay now. Benny's fine. He's with friends and I'll take you to him.”

Mom released a heavy sigh, leaning her full weight against me. “I’m so tired, Dharma. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I feel so weak.” She struggled to sit up but collapsed against my shoulder again.

“You need to rest Mom, everything’s okay now.”

I held onto her tight, staring out the back window at the swamp as we drove away. The decayed wreckage of weeds and plants, the thick cypress stumps, the silent watchful eyes of the slough. All witness to my struggle with its tainted waters. Hangman’s Tree loomed in the shadows. Its twisted black branches reached out with clutched fingers. I shuddered, thinking how close we all had come to being one of its victims, our bones resting in a boggy grave.

Mom spent the next few days in the hospital. Once in a while, bits and pieces of her experiences would come flooding back to her as she struggled to remember. All she really cared about was that me and Benny were okay. Seeing her worry made me realize how much she really did loved us.

Wolf recovered quickly from his wounds. He made me promise not to ever go back to the old house—at least not alone.  Even though I gave Wolf my word, there was something about my ancestral home that pulled at me, that beckoned me to return.  Maybe someday I’d go back and face whatever evil might still lurking in the shadows.