Alice folded the thick envelope of cash and slipped it into her pocket.

Suddenly, Horatio convulsed. A violent, wet cough erupted from his chest.

The sound was hollow, as if his lungs were tearing apart. The old man's face turned a terrifying shade of purple. He gasped for air, his hands clawing at his throat.

Daryn panicked. He dropped to his knees, patting his father's back. "Medicine! Get the medicine!" he screamed at the hallway.

Horatio hacked violently and spat a mouthful of thick, black-streaked phlegm onto the rug. He slumped back into the wheelchair, his breathing shallow and rattling.

Alice's eyes turned lethal. She stepped forward, pressing her two fingers firmly against Horatio's wrist.

The moment her skin touched his, a freezing, bone-chilling energy shot up her arm. Death aura. She immediately severed her spiritual connection to protect herself.

She stood up straight. Her eyes swept the massive living room like a radar, hunting for the source of the rot.

The sharp click of stilettos echoed from the foyer.

A young woman strutted into the room. She wore a brand-new Chanel tweed suit and carried several luxury shopping bags. Felicity, Alice's cousin.

Felicity stopped, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she looked at Alice. "Why does the house smell like a thrift store?" she sneered.

"Watch your mouth, Felicity!" Byron roared. "This is your cousin."

Felicity rolled her eyes. "I am not claiming some trailer park trash as my family."

Alice ignored the insult. Her eyes were locked onto Felicity's chest.

Resting against the expensive silk blouse was a black, wooden pendant carved with jagged runes. It was practically vomiting thick, black death aura into the room.

Alice pointed a finger at Felicity. "Take that off and throw it away. Now."

Felicity gasped, clutching the pendant defensively. "Are you crazy? You want to steal my things already?"

She lifted her chin proudly. "I paid a fortune to a top psychic for this. It's a high-level blessing amulet to protect Grandpa's health."

Alice let out a short, harsh laugh. "That is a Death Mark. It feeds on the vitality of blood relatives. That's why he's coughing up blood."

Felicity's face turned red with anger. "You uneducated fraud! Don't try to scam us with your ghetto ghost stories!"

Daryn stood up, torn. He trusted Alice now, but he couldn't believe his own daughter would bring a curse into the house.

"Let's just put it in a drawer for now," Daryn said gently, trying to mediate. "We'll call a doctor for Grandpa."

"No!" Felicity shrieked, stomping her foot. "You're all brainwashed by this stray dog!"

She spun on her heels and ran toward the grand staircase, refusing to surrender the necklace.

Byron lunged forward to chase her, ready to rip it off her neck himself.

Alice threw her arm out, blocking his chest.

"Don't," Alice said coldly. "Forcible removal triggers a violent backlash. Let her learn the hard way."

Horatio gasped, his breathing slightly easier now that Felicity was further away. He weakly squeezed Alice's hand. "Forgive her... she's spoiled."

Alice patted his wrinkled hand. "I don't hold grudges against idiots being used as pawns."

From the second floor, the sharp sound of shattering glass echoed through the house.

A second later, Felicity screamed.

Alice looked up at the ceiling. The corners of her mouth curled up. "The show begins."

Daryn jumped to his feet, his face pale. He rushed toward the stairs to check on his daughter.

Alice didn't move. She sat down gracefully on the leather sofa, picked up a cup of black tea the maid had just brought, and took a slow sip. "Relax," she said to Daryn. "She won't die."

Upstairs in the hallway, Felicity stared at the puddle of liquid on the floor. Her limited-edition perfume bottle had just slid off her vanity table for absolutely no reason.

"Damn it," she cursed, crouching down to pick up the largest shard of glass.

As her manicured fingers reached for the shard, the black wooden pendant on her chest pulsed with a faint, sickly red light.

A wave of intense vertigo hit Felicity's brain. The room spun. She pitched forward, her knee slamming violently into the jagged glass.

The sharp edge sliced right through her expensive pantyhose and deep into her flesh. Blood instantly welled up, dripping onto the floor.

Felicity let out a piercing scream.

Panicking, she scrambled up and limped into her en-suite bathroom, desperate to wash the blood away.

She blindly slapped the faucet handle upward.

She didn't notice that the hot and cold indicators had somehow been reversed.

Boiling, scalding water blasted out of the tap, pouring directly over her hands.

Felicity shrieked, violently yanking her hands back. The skin on her knuckles instantly turned furious red, blisters bubbling up in seconds.

The compounding pain broke her. Sobbing hysterically, she ran out of the bedroom, desperate to find her father.

She reached the top of the grand staircase. She was moving too fast. The heel of her stiletto, weakened by her frantic running, gave way.

Snap.

The heel broke clean off. Felicity's ankle twisted brutally. She lost her balance entirely.

She tumbled down the carpeted stairs like a broken ragdoll, bouncing off the steps until she crashed onto the marble floor of the foyer.

Daryn and Byron sprinted to her. Daryn fell to his knees, pulling his battered, sobbing daughter into his arms.

Felicity's hair was a mess. Her makeup was smeared with tears. She pointed a shaking, blistered finger at Alice, who was still sitting on the sofa.

"She cursed me!" Felicity wailed. "She used voodoo on me!"

Alice set her teacup down. She walked over slowly, standing over Felicity, looking down with zero sympathy.

"The perfume fell because your aura is chaotic," Alice stated clinically. "You burned yourself because bad luck blinded you. You fell because the curse is heavy."

Alice pointed at the necklace. "That 'amulet' absorbed enough negative energy and is now feeding it back to you."

"Liar!" Felicity screamed, clutching the pendant. "The psychic is famous!"

As she yelled, a hairline crack appeared on the surface of the black wood.

A thin tendril of visible black smoke hissed out of the crack and shot straight up Felicity's nostrils.

Felicity's eyes rolled back. She started convulsing, coughing violently, her face turning the exact same shade of purple Horatio's had.

Daryn panicked. He finally believed Alice. He reached out, his fingers hooking around the necklace's cord, ready to rip it off.

Alice's hand shot out like a viper, clamping onto Daryn's wrist with iron strength.

"Stop," Alice commanded, her voice echoing with arcane authority. "The death aura is inside her. If you rip it off now, you'll tear her soul in half."

Felicity choked, unable to breathe. The arrogance was gone. Pure, unadulterated terror filled her eyes. She reached a trembling, blistered hand out toward Alice, letting out a pathetic whimper for help.