"Oh my God. Oh Shite!" I scrabble against the bedroom door until it finally opens, then crash into the darkened hallway. There's no floor under my feet, only pitch black darkness. Screaming, I plummet into empty black space.
~~~~~~
Disorientated, I wake up on the floor of Dr. Roy's office. Slowly I raise my hands to the sides of my face. Thank goodness, I'm alive! Dylan's worried face hovers over me and slowly coming into focus. A few minutes must have passed since I was under, but it easily could have been a couple of hours. My sense of time is completely wrecked.

"What happened, Lizzy?" He tenderly strokes my forehead looking concerned. You were yelling obscenities at someone.

"I don't know." Still woozy, I shudder at the memory of the hag and my mother's terrifying transformation, I sit up and level my gaze on the spirit psychologist. "Dr. Roy, I didn't meet any benign spirit guide. I met some hag named Kali."

He looks simultaneously shocked, concerned, and guilty. "That's not who I had in mind for your spirit guide. I think you may have gone too deep while under hypnosis. "He nervously licks his lips. "Maybe we should try again next week."

How can he blame his failure on me? I open my mouth to tell him what Kali said about him and his stupid vessel, but I decide not to waste my breath. Inadvertently, I flip his useless cup at him. "Thank you, but I'm done with this hypnosis thing. There's a demon on the loose that's impersonating my mother." I look at Dylan, "I think we should try the exorcist."

Dylan shoots a disgusted glance at Dr. Roy as Dylan helps me to my feet. "Come on Lizzy, I'll take you home."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once I'm in the car, and after I've calmed down, I'm surprised I don't feel much worse for wear. What an adrenaline rush. As we drive home, I'm beginning to get excited about meeting Kali.

"You know what, hon?"

"What, luv?" He glances over at me, raising an eyebrow.

"When I was under hypnosis, I thought Kali was going to hurt me. Now I believe that she was trying to help me. She was scary, but she warned me about Dr. Roy."

He looks at me and nods in agreement. "Lizzie, by the end of the session I had a bad feeling about his true motives. I'm glad we left before you were hurt."

"Me too. He was either a hack or in league with the demon. Kali warned me not to trust him. I wonder if she destroyed that thing that was impersonating my mother?"

"Don't jump to conclusions. For some reason, I doubt it."

"Why do you say that?"

He shakes his head, "There's too many strange things happening in Dresden. It can't be a coincidence that something paranormal occurs every time that book is involved. Whatever's causing this mayhem, I think it's being orchestrated by a human, not an ancient demoness."

"Or cult leader," I interject.

Dylan looks grim. "Yes, someone who's using ghosts and people as pawns to do their dirty work."

Our conversation is interrupted when I get an urgent call from Julia. "Lizzy—where's Dylan? There's a fire at his house!"

"What?" I yell, incredulous. Was the smoke in the attic this morning a premonition of a fire in Dylan's home?

Julia's hysterical voice cuts off my train of thought. I hear her saying something else, but I can't make sense of it." Anxiously, I look over at Dylan, "We need to get back to Dresden. There's something wrong at your house." When we pull up to the Grant house, we're greeted by a hellish scene. Smoke pours out of the windows, while Mason chaotically runs around on the front lawn. It's freezing outside, but he's dressed in only his underwear.

Exasperated, Dylan angrily slams his palm on the steering wheel. "That fool! He's set the house afire." Mason runs up to the Mustang, frantically pointing to the burning house. "What do you expect me to do, Dad. Pull a fire extinguisher out of my sleeve?"

"Dylan!" I grab his arm to get his attention. "We need to help him."  I lean forward, noting Mason's wearing Marvel Avenger underpants. "He'll freeze out there in just his boxers."

"Don't worry, I'll throw his friggin ass back in the fire. That'll teach him."

After he rolls down the car window, Mason leans his head in to chastise us. "Where have you lovebirds been all night? This is a bloody emergency."

Dylan's temper reaches its boiling point. "Bollocks, Dad. You left the stove on again didn't you?" He steps out of the car and starts arguing with his father. Yelling, he gestures at the smoke and flames pouring out of the windows. Despite the fact he's practically pulling his hair out in frustration, I can tell my boyfriend's more worried about his father than angry with him.

Sirens blare as a fire truck pulls up to the curb. Two heavily uniformed fireman jump out. Swiftly they retrieve their axes and break out the windows of the house. The rest of the fire crew pull out hoses to douse the carnage as Julia pulls up in her Cadillac. Seeing her arrive, Mason's eyes light up as he dances in front of his burning house. "My God woman, you're a sight for sore eyes." He runs up to embrace Julia, clutching her to his bare chest with his large naked arms. I grimace at the shocked look on her face.

Watching the flames sputter down into smoking debris, Dylan echoes my sentiments, "Good Lord, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"