"It was pretty scary, but nowhere near as bad as the first time I ever saw anyone try to use magic." She shuddered. "My Dad moved us to a house in the country so he could relax - he has a heart condition, so leaving the city was kinda supposed to be good for him. But he bought a haunted house. The people who owned it before us, Adam and Barbara? They died in a car accident right down the road. They're really nice ghosts, but ... my step-mom didn't care. She wanted them exorcised, and she got one of her yuppie friends to try and do it."

She stared straight ahead instead of closing her eyes, not wanting to imagine the way their faces had shriveled, the horrible way they'd started falling apart as they levitated above the dinner table.

"It went bad. Really bad. Really fast."