With Pulser’s help, Coco was seated on the family sofa. He sat down on a wooden chair facing her. She stared at him, trying to read his expression. Finally, Coco looked away.

She could decipher nothing. 

Pulser slowly leaned forward, catching her gaze. “Coco…what happened Friday should have—” 

“What?” She shouted, outraged. “What happened Friday. What day is it?” 

“Monday.” 

“I was out that—”

“Coco, please. I’m trying to explain.”

Three days she was out cold? How could that be possible? Who was Evil? What happened to her arm? What about school? Her brother? Wasn’t he worried? She needed to get back— 

“Coco!”

Her head snapped up. “Sorry.”

Pulser sighed. “Friday never should have happened. I was careless to try telling you without any protection. It won’t matter now because of that…thing around your neck. It will alert Evil the minute you fully understand which, I hope, will take a while.” 

Coco laughed without humor. She was beginning to feel better. Her mouth no longer felt dry and cottony. But her head still pounded and her arm felt like it was never going to get better. 

“I don’t understand. Does your family know about this?”

“Please, stop getting off track. I’m doing my best to tell you. It’s not easy to talk about.” A little strain entered his voice. 

“And you think it’s easy for me?” Coco demanded. She gripped her knees. “You said I’ve been unconscious for days and haven’t offered up any explanation as to why. On top of that, you’re claiming dark magic is what caused my injuries? If this is some prank, it isn’t funny, Pulser. I want to go home. You’ll be sorry if you’ve treated my brother this way.”

Panic flickered in Pulser’s eyes. “No! That’s the last thing I’d ever do, to either of you! What I’m saying is the truth. Just hear me out, Coco. This involves you. I can’t be quiet about it any longer.”

“Then explain everything to me. You’ve been acting strange all week. I don’t like it.”

“Okay, I’ll start with my family.”

“How does that explain what happened Friday?”

“I’ll get there. It’s important you know everything about me.” He took a deep breath. “My family is gone. No! I don’t mean dead!” Pulser explained when she stared at him; horrorstruck. “I simply mean gone. I don’t know where any of them are. Except my brother. I met my mother once when I was ten. My foster family…” His body sagged forward. “Mary and Bill died by dark magic. They were human and couldn’t protect themselves. You see, I’m a…a sorcerer.” He looked at Coco before going on. “My foster parents didn’t know this and suffered with their lives. My brother, Evil, is also a sorcerer. You’ve mentioned before how you thought your eyes were strange. But they’re not. It’s a sorcery trait and one way to distinguish between us and humans. Eyes that have a distinct ring around them means there is magic flowing through that person’s veins. The ring is the most defining physical evidence we have to identify one another. Sometimes our hair color gives us away. Our magic fully develops when we turn twenty, which is the reason behind my behavior last week.” 

Coco closed her eyes, willing this all to be lies. She had no idea Pulser went through foster care. Everything he was telling her about his family was too new; too strange. He must have been lying to her all these years about his family. That was the only rational explanation she could come up with. 

Pulser had been lying to her. And that really pissed her off. She forced herself not to glare as he continued.  

“When you were nine, you were proclaimed a ‘problem child’ by the Council. The Council runs practically everything in my world and are highly respected. Since they proclaimed you a problem child, you were forbidden to be one of us. They cast a spell over you that would last until your twentieth birthday. It was put in effect to keep you from gaining your magic. The spell made you forget who you were. The reason you were left defenseless was because of a prophecy. It foretold a child with pink hair would one day triumph over evil. Everyone thought it meant Evil. So, you were banned from your magic. I was assigned to watch over you by the Council, to ensure you never came into your magic. Though, my thoughts about the matter have changed since knowing you. We are friends, Coco. Never doubt that.” 

She looked at Pulser, trying to absorb it all. Coco wanted to deny it and claim he was really pulling a prank. It would be an easy conclusion to make. The logical conclusion to make. But there was something ringing true in his words.

Besides, if he was telling the truth, she was human. She didn’t have the potential to be a sorceress. Still, when faced with Pulser’s serious expression, and the fact she knew there was something off about her upbringing, it was hard not to believe him. It was the most logical thing to accept in a world where logic denied Coco her normalcy in everyday life. 

The things she had done…what her brother was still doing. She didn’t know how to explain half of what went on in her life. Why were their eyes so strange? How did Ray end up on the roof of their house when he fell from his second story window?

She wished she could tell him he was lying and that his story was just a poor attempt at making her feel better. But there was a resounding truth to his words that she couldn’t ignore.

The necklace around Coco’s neck started to burn her throat, her chest. She screamed, but it was cut short by Pulser’s hand. “Don’t move,” he whispered. “Evil’s here.” 

Coco’s heart accelerated. A thin sheen of sweat covered her face. There was a smart rap on the door followed by a cruel voice, “Come out, come out wherever you are.” 

Almost too quick for Coco’s eyes to follow, the door exploded open and a hooded figure emerged from the dust-filled doorway. Coco’s head felt like it was splitting in two. She couldn’t move. She could barely breathe. 

The cloaked figure stalked towards her. 

“Pulser!”

The figure lowered its hood to reveal a dangerous looking man. Dark brown hair fell to his muscular shoulders. It flowed in the draft from the broken door. His beard was short and emphasized his strong jaw. His eyes were an electric blue. Impenetrable black encircled the color. His tanned skin looked rough and weather-beaten. Scars ran down his face and along his neck. He chilled Coco to the bone.

She tried backing away but it was no use. 

“How does my curse feel? Here,” he waved his hand. “Better?” 

All at once the pain stopped. Coco stood, shaking, disoriented from the…curse. 

“Coco Teal. I can hardly believe I thought you were strong. You are nothing but a human!”

She was thrown into the living room window by a force she couldn’t see; glass sprayed everywhere, cutting her open in several places. She landed painfully in the front yard. 

Evil came at her again; this time he held a deep blue staff in his hands. The top opened to the sky like a budding flower. Set inside the opening was a clear crystal that sparked with crackling energy.

“Leave her be,” Pulser demanded. “I was ordered to watch over—” 

Evil grinned. His eyes glinted as they landed on his prey. “Coco Teal is coming with me. You broke your oa—” 

Pulser’s shouts drowned out the rest of Evil’s words.

Coco cringed away when Evil offered his hand. Her heart was thumping so loudly she couldn’t hear herself think.

Pulser tried to take a step closer, but some invisible force stopped him. 

Coco couldn’t believe this was happening! How had she gone from a normal day at work to this? Surely someone was going to notice and call the police. They weren’t being quiet.  

Evil laughed. He took three long strides towards Coco, raised his hand high to the sky, then closed his fist like he was grabbing something in midair. The necklace around Coco’s throat constricted, choking her. 

Evil pulled his closed fist towards himself. The necklace had a mind of its own. It yanked upward, pulling Coco to her feet. Knowing what it was going to do next, she dug the back of her heels into the ground. 

The sane part of her mind knew it wasn’t going to work. 

Evil pulled his closed fist tight to his chest and she all but flew towards him. She pulled and struggled, to no avail. The chain dug deep into her skin. 

Coco looked to her left to see sweat pouring down Pulser’s face; complete concentration set in the depths of his eyes. She wanted to scream—to shout out to him. But she was afraid of breaking his concentration.

Coco looked back at Evil. Her eyes bulged in horror. His fingers closed around her right arm, his grip tight. 

When he did that, something inside her cracked.

Not a bone, but something…unnatural. She felt like something deep inside her had awakened. Something that shouldn’t have been freed.

Pulser screamed in rage. He flung his arms to the sky and muttered an ancient form of magic. Lightning flashed down, missing Evil by half a centimeter. 

The necklace was growing hot. It cut deeper into Coco’s neck. She screamed in pain and her vision blurred. She could no longer make out Evil’s face. “PULSER!”

Evil flicked his staff once and sent Pulser crashing into an upstairs window. 

“Stop it! Please stop!” Coco shrieked. “What do you want?” 

Evil grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her close to his face. “You.” 

Astonished, Coco could only stare.

Evil smirked. Flicking his staff again, the roof of the house collapsed inwards, burying Pulser beneath the rubble. 

“Pulser!” Coco yelled. Fresh tears rolled down her face. “Pulser!” 

 “Quiet,” Evil spat. “Or you’ll be next to join him.” He released her arm and grabbed the necklace. “This is quite pretty. Consider it a gift. Come, we have things to do.” 

Coco shook her head. She didn’t want to go anywhere with this man. She needed to make sure Pulser was alive. She wanted her baby brother to know that she was okay. She couldn’t leave without seeing him!

“Do not make yourself a prisoner.” There was a warning behind his words.

“No! You are terrible! I will never—” 

“Fine. I offered.” Evil twisted her arms behind her back and bound her hands together with rope. “We’re leaving.” 

Having no choice but to follow, Coco looked back at Pulser’s house, keeping her heart throbbing sobs from escaping.

She feared him to be dead.