After her initial shock wore off, Karen lunged for the door to open it, but it was locked.

“Crap!”

She grumbled as she unlocked the door and checked outside. However, the corridor was empty. She hurried over to the staircase, looking down, then up, but found no one.

Strange. Who would leave this? Karen flipped the paper over and examined it from different angles. It was torn out of a pocket calendar of some sort. Ciara’s note with an address and time was written on the day she had disappeared.

Karen’s eyes widened as she realized there might be a lead. The investigation had never found out where the client who had last seen Ciara lived. Karen ran back to the apartment and quickly grabbed her phone to check the address on the map. There was a text message already waiting for her.

C O M E   A N D   F I N D   M E .

It was from a blocked number. A chill ran down Karen’s spine as she realized how suspicious the timing of the note and the text message was. The paper slightly crumpled in her hand as she made a fist. First, she needed to tell the police—

Static cracked around her phone, making Karen drop it. She looked on, helpless as smoke rose from the device and it died. Her eyes widened as she realized the fire detector might go off any second. She grabbed the nearest pen she could find and quickly made a few gestures in the air. Actually, it was more like drawing in the air.

The smoke puffed out as if it was never there. Karen let out a heavy breath and bent down to retrieve her phone. It was completely fried. She tutted, angry that she had to buy a new one. She pried it open and realized the battery had melted and had damaged the SIM.

“Shit!”

She lost all her contacts.

***

Karen woke up early the next day and prepared to go out. Last night, she had checked the address and made a route. Thankfully, her laptop was still functional. I’d die if it was totaled like my phone, she thought. She tapped her pockets for her public transport pass and the specially enchanted pen that had served her for years before grabbing her keys. Karen felt strange leaving the apartment without her phone, but if her parents could survive without cells for decades, then she figured she could go a day or two without it.

It was a chilly Saturday morning. Everything looked bleak, covered in a gray fog. Karen huddled into her short coat. As she waited for the bus at the stop, she realized she should have put on her winter coat. It was even worse when she got on the bus because the heater was broken.

Great, she thought as she sniffled. If she survived this creepy adventure, she was sure to catch a cold. She ruminated on last night’s events. It was strange how her phone had died just as she was thinking about getting help and informing the police. The note, the text message, and the damaged phone were all connected somehow. She was so invested in it that she was able to ignore the terrible break-up. It might have been on purpose to get her mind off Jason.

Karen wanted to find out who was behind the note and how they managed to have such perfect timing. It didn’t make any sense. Unless...

She sat up straight and leaned forward. She was looking ahead, but her eyes didn’t see the seats in front of her as she recalled last night’s events. She felt like watching a movie clip. Thankfully, she was the only passenger on the bus, so no one saw her weird behavior and vacant gaze.

Unless the magic was timed. But then what was the trigger? She debated on this until they had reached her stop and she got off. Karen didn’t find an answer but realized it wasn’t relevant to her case. And if magic was indeed involved in this case, it was better to scout things out before reporting it.

She got the crumpled note out and looked for the street address. Her eyebrows rose as she glanced around. This area was full of mansions and lovely parks, in the wealthier part of town. No wonder Ciara had tolerated the rudeness of her new student.

Karen had a hunch that that person had a hand in her cousin’s disappearance. They were probably the last one to see her. With that in mind, Karen made her way cautiously to the mansion, which had been Ciara’s goal on that fateful day. Her feet quickly carried her to an orange-bricked mansion standing forebodingly in the middle of the street. It looked old, and ivy covered its side, giving it a charming but abandoned feeling.

Wrought-iron fencing ran around the estate majestically. Karen pouted; it would be hard to snoop with that in place. She walked along the length of the fence and found a tree reaching out to the street, giving adequate cover for her if she were to scale the fence.

Karen glanced between the fence and the tree repeatedly, considering her options. She was debating breaking in somewhere. This wasn’t jaywalking or stealing Ciara’s pudding from the fridge. If she was caught, she might be sent to jail. Unexpectedly, her cousin’s face flashed in her mind as if urging her to action.

The shadows cast by the tree moved closer to the fence, but Karen was too lost in her thoughts to notice. She stepped closer. I just need to get away before I get caught, she concluded. She wanted to help Ciara.

As soon as she made the decision, Karen immediately followed up with actions. She looked around, but no one was in the vicinity. The time for debating was over, and Karen quickly scaled the iron-wrought fence in the cover of the tree’s canopy.

A quiet noise escaped her as she landed on the other side and knelt frozen for a moment. I hope they don’t have guard dogs, Karen thought and could feel sweat forming on her forehead. Crap, I really didn’t think this through, did I?

She rose to a hunched position and hurried to the side of the building. The windows were large and weren’t high up, and they would’ve been perfect to spy on the interior without entering if not for the heavy curtains.

I hate curtains, she decided on the spot and quietly crept around the mansion. She found a backdoor leading to the garden. Karen glanced around but didn’t see any alarm devices set up in the vicinity. Her eyes sparkled as she stepped closer and slowly pushed the handle down. The door was locked, but it didn’t deter her from her goal. It was time to use her special pen made for quicker and better spellcasting. Karen was very proud of this item she had enchanted.

She quickly drew a simple formula in the air above the lock and heard a click. Karen smirked, letting herself in. She waited on the threshold for a moment, listening for any sounds. As she suspected, no alarm went off and there was no movement from inside the mansion either. She let out a breath, and her shoulders relaxed as she soundlessly closed the door.

She found herself in the kitchen and headed toward the other end of the room. Her footsteps resonated loudly in her ears, and she bent down to cast a silencing spell on her feet before continuing to the dim corridor. Soon, she ended up in the foyer, and she had yet to encounter anyone. This was the only place where the curtains were open, letting the sunshine in.

She glanced up at the high ceiling, spying an expensive-looking chandelier. Gulping, she wondered why they didn’t have an alarm in a place like this? What if it was a silent alarm? Sweat broke out on her skin at the thought, and Karen hurriedly looked around. She had to be quick, but the place was so big, where should she head to next? She wasn’t even sure what she was looking for; something, anything that would be related to Ciara.

A shuffling noise drifted down from the upper floor, making Karen prick her ears. When she heard another sound, she hurried up the winding staircase, taking two steps at a time. It was eerily dark on the second floor and she stopped momentarily. Karen looked around, seeing the curtains closed, letting through only a sliver of light in the middle.

Glimmering specks of dust floated in the sunrays, mesmerizing Karen for a moment. She felt as if she had stepped into a Jane Austen novel.

A clear sound made its way to her ears. Then came another. It was just like the sounds a piano made. She tiptoed closer to the ajar door whence it came from and peeked in.

Shadows gathered around her, but she was too engrossed in the mystery in front of her to pay any attention to her immediate surroundings. She couldn’t see the person, only a grand piano. An off-key note resounded in the air, and Karen winced. The figure moved and finally came into view.

She gasped, recognizing the person, and as if somebody had pushed her, she stumbled through the door opening and into the room.

“Finally. I’ve been waiting for you,” the woman said, circling the piano. Karen was speechless for a moment.

“Rose?”