Evelyn watched from her hiding place with Tommy and Levi as Frankie weakened with the exertion of his powers—and his body. He stood in the center of the street as Hecate loomed closer. In the shadows, their proximity had not been realized to each other yet. There was still time for Frankie to escape.
“Frankie!” Evelyn called out.
His head swiveled toward the sound of her voice.
For the first time in a long time, Evelyn felt hope.
“Evelyn? Where are you?”
“Right here! I’m stuck—trapped in a psychological connection with Tommy. It’s been a couple days.”
Frankie still couldn’t place where her voice was coming from, but he followed the sound of it. “Hang on. I’m coming to help.”
“I have to stay near Tommy,” she explained. “I can’t control anything within the real world. It’s like I’m on an alternate plane or something.”
“That’s exactly where we are. I cast a spell so that I could be on the same plane as my phantom.” Frankie climbed up a small embankment and into some overgrowth. “I thought I could stop Hecate by stopping my phantom. Levi traded in his soul to save mine. If I can stop Hecate, then I can save Levi’s soul.”
“He traded in his soul?”
“Not yet. I don’t think she got to him. But the deal’s been made.” Frankie huffed. “I can’t…it’s hard…to breathe.”
“It’s this plane,” Evelyn said from nearby. “I’ve been growing weaker the longer I’ve been here. It’s like this alternate world is draining my will to live. That’s probably how Hecate gets her victims to agree to trade in their souls. She tortures them.”
Frankie was quiet at first, although the rustling of the weeds around them signaled his movement. “We’re going to get out of here. We just need to save Levi first.”
“Too bad he can’t hear your master plan,” Evelyn said. “If he could hear us, we could work together to figure out a way out of here.”
Frankie stepped into Evelyn’s view and she reached out and touched his shoulder so they knew where the other was in the darkness. Just the sense of touching someone who knew that she was there gave her more hope than she’d had since she cast the spell to connect to Tommy.
Frankie pulled Evelyn into a hug. “It’s so good to see you!”
His arms wrapped around her warmed her spirit. Suddenly, she felt more alive—and had more energy—than she’d had in a couple days.
“It’s good to be seen.” She pulled him tighter to her.
The witch pulled away. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
Evelyn nodded to Frankie’s left.
Levi was on the move. Slowly, quietly, at first. But then Tommy groaned.
“You won’t be able to hide forever,” Hecate called to them from the street.
Her words made Levi move faster, pulling Tommy along with him and throwing all possibility of stealth out the window.
Evelyn was dragged along with them and Frankie hurried to keep up.
“Don’t use your power,” she warned. “It’ll only weaken you. Wait until we’re closer. When we’ll really need it.”
“Okay.” Frankie struggled to keep up with the group’s pace. He couldn’t imagine using his power on top of it.
Eventually, Levi made it to the next street that ran parallel to Arlington. He hesitated, eyeing the crossroads, then cut through the yard of the recently-constructed house. Unlike many of the other houses in the area, this one had landscaping and a white picket fence outlining the perimeter of the property.
“Come on, Tommy,” Levi encouraged. “We can do this. Up and over the fence.” He heaved, but Tommy was nothing but dead weight and collapsed against the fence.
“She’s gaining on us.” Worry crept into Frankie’s voice.
“Gate,” Evelyn muttered.
Confused, Frankie looked around until his eyes landed on the opening through the fence down a few feet. It was hard to see in the darkness.
“Gate!” Frankie echoed. “Gate!”
But Levi couldn’t hear him and continued to struggle to get Tommy to climb over the fence.
Frankie flicked his fingers and the gate softly moved. It was barely a blip, but it made enough noise that it caught Levi’s attention.
“Better idea, Tommy.” Levi hauled him down to the gate, but when he swung it open Hecate suddenly appeared.
She sneered down at them. “Doorways are my mode of transportation, dear.”
“Damn,” Frankie swore to himself. He should’ve seen that coming, but he wasn’t thinking straight. Not with how tired he was.
“Frankie, we have to do something!” Evelyn cried out.
“There’s nothing you can do!” Hecate said to her, then turned back on Levi. “It’s time to pay the piper!” She loomed over him and held up her lantern. Levi froze where he was as his soul slowly began to exit his body.
“Levi!” Frankie yelled, but it was no use. All he could do was watch as his friend’s soul was ripped from his body. And all for Frankie. Levi was nonmagical. He was happy. There was no reason for him to be trading his soul in at all.
“That is the last time that you contain me!” Zanabar suddenly roared from beside Hecate.
The sudden appearance of the sorcerer broke her concentration and Levi’s soul—which was halfway between his body and her lantern—returned back to Levi and he slumped to the ground.
Frankie ran to his friend and tried to reach out to him, but his hand simply passed right through him. “Levi! Get up! Come on! You have to run or she’ll—”
Instinctively, Frankie ducked out of the way as a lightning bolt soared over his head as Zanabar attacked Hecate.
In return, she summoned an army of phantoms—including both Frankie’s and Tommy’s—to attack Zanabar. He, of course, couldn’t see any of it, but Frankie did.
“Levi,” Frankie tried again as his friend started to rouse. “Do you have the potion? Is it in your pocket?”
“Frankie, he can’t hear you,” Evelyn said from Tommy’s side.
“I have to try!” He turned back to Levi. “Remember, we made it with Anna back at the house? Right after she said we could spend the night.”
That was the one saving grace from all of this. This whole ordeal could’ve been happening in Anna’s house where she would’ve been vulnerable and William would’ve been clueless and unprepared for an attack. At least Frankie’s grandparents—and his unborn father—were safe.
“Levi, you have to listen to me!” Frankie called out. “Use the potion!” His voice strained as he shouted.
Meanwhile, the fight between Hecate and Zanabar grew deadlier as they each hurled attacks at one another, coming closer and closer to Levi and Tommy. For the moment, however, the phantoms seemed focused on Zanabar and not on Frankie or Tommy, and already Frankie felt more energetic than he had before.
“Get up!” Again, Frankie reached for his friend. This time, his hand landed on Levi’s shoulder. The connection astounded Frankie for a second, but then he took advantage of the moment. “Use the potion!”
Levi sat up, apparently hearing Frankie’s call. He looked around, confused, but Frankie called out again.
“Just throw it!”
Fishing in his pocket, Levi raised the vial and waited until Hecate drew nearer, distracted. Then, when she was close enough, he hurled the potion at her. It crashed open on impact and the contents drained onto her clothing, seeping in and reaching her skin.
She continued to move about, controlling her phantoms, until a light swirled around her before quickly vanishing. A moment later, Hecate’s movements resulted in nothing. No control over phantoms. No deflecting of Zanabar’s attacks. No magic.
The disgraced goddess stopped and studied her hands, then looked to Zanabar.
“What did you do?”
The sorcerer turned to Levi, then his eyes traveled to Frankie.
“He can see us?” Frankie asked Evelyn.
“I can see you too,” Levi said.
Frankie smiled at his oracle friend. “We’re back?”
“We’re back!” she returned the smile, although she was weak.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Levi said.
Frankie pulled Levi to his feet and rushed over to Evelyn and Tommy.
“Maybe the power-stripping potion removed her hold on us too?” Evelyn considered.
“Or maybe it’s because once her power was gone, then the phantoms were completely ripped from existence as well,” Frankie offered. “And if there were no phantoms, there was nothing tying you to the alternate plane, and I was only there to follow you. It was a chain reaction.”
“Who cares?” Levi said. “We’re about to die!”
Evelyn tried to get to her feet, but fell back to the ground. “I can’t get up. I’m too weak. I spent too long on that other plane.”
Levi looked over his shoulder, then back to his friends. “We have to go now.”
Frankie hooked Evelyn’s arm around his neck and propped up her body with one of his arms. “Levi, you grab Tommy.”
“I’m on it.” Levi was already helping his friend off the ground.
“Stop them!” Hecate demanded of Zanabar.
The sorcerer looked to the group, then back to Hecate and stood by.
Frankie fished in his pocket for another spell. “Evelyn, it’s you and me.”
“I don’t think I can do it,” Evelyn said. “My magic—”
“Is enough,” he cut in. “We have to at least try.”
She clamped her mouth shut and nodded.
Together, the two of them recited:
Demon of the gate, guardian of hell,
We banish you to hell with this spell.
Hecate froze, her eyes frantically flashing between Frankie and Evelyn, and Zanabar. Then a portal opened beneath her feet and she fell into it, sending a scream echoing up from inside. The next second, the portal closed up, leaving an eerie quiet in its wake.
“Is it over?” Levi asked.
Zanabar stepped toward them and raised his hands from beneath his cloak. “No, it is not.”