Chapter 9

Christina was sitting with her back to the wall, breathing in and out, eyes closed. Amy kept peering out of the toilets to make sure Wendy didn't come in. They had been in there for over half an hour. 'I think it's safe to leave.' Amy said. 'We can get a cab round the corner.' She knelt down and put her hand on Christina's knee. 'You feel better.' She commented.

'Yeah, a little.' Christina said. 'It's never been this bad before.'

'Your powers must be changing.' Amy said.

'Into what?' Christina wondered. 'Get me up.' She said, holding a hand out to Amy. Amy hauled her off of the floor and they checked once more before leaving the cafe.

'Where are they!?' Lauren exclaimed. 'It's been like forever.'

'It's been an hour, if that.' Lisa said.

'Amy said they were fine.' Katherine reminded them.

'I know but I won't believe it until I see it.' Lauren said, slumping down on the couch. Dani was sitting patiently on the bottom step.

'What if...?' Dani started.

'I don't want to hear it Dan, Amy said they were fine.' Katherine put her foot down. Just then, the front door opened and Amy and Christina walked in. 'Thank God.' Katherine sighed.

'I thought you weren't worried.' Lauren mocked as she went over to greet her sisters. 'Hey.' She said, hugging them.

'Hey, everyone good?' Christina asked.

'We're fine.' Dani said, hugging Christina.

'What happened to you guys?' Lisa asked as they gathered in the hall way.

'My fault.' Christina said. 'Breaking into the safe took up more energy than I thought. I wouldn't have made it back to the car in time.'

'She told me to leave her there.' Amy said.

'She's an idiot.' Lisa pointed out. Christina rolled her eyes.

'We just held up in the cafe round the corner until we knew the coast was clear.' Amy told them.

'And you're both okay?' Katherine wanted confirmation.

'Yes, we're fine.' Christina smiled. 'I would like a nap though.'

'Go and get some rest Chris.' Amy said, nudging her towards the stairs. 'We'll try and figure this out.' Amy pulled the amulet out of her pocket as Christina left.

'It's so pretty.' Dani said, looking over the amulet. So far though, it was just like any other piece of jewellery.

'Amy, what happened exactly when Chris opened the safe?' Katherine asked as she flipped through the book.

'Pretty much what she said. It was a tough safe and she had to use more energy. It was blue, like it always is. Her eyes didn't change colour though. And then it opened and she got really weak.' Amy told them.

'At least she didn't pass out this time.' Dani commented.

'What are you thinking Kath?' Lisa asked.

'Just seeing at what level her power needs to be to make her shut down completely. So far it's demon exploding.' Katherine smiled but then sighed.

'There's nothing in the book about the amulet.' Katherine confirmed, closing it in frustration.

'I can't find anything online.' Lisa said, moving her laptop aside and taking the amulet. She looked around the room. 'And there aren't any spirits attached to it.'

'Kath, any visions?' Lauren asked. Katherine took the amulet from Lisa and focused on it.

'No, nothing.' She said after a moment. Christina entered the room, her hair slightly ruffled from sleep and sat down next to Dani.

'Good sleep?' Dani asked.

'Yeah, I feel better.' She confirmed. 'Have you found out anything about the amulet?'

'No, nothing.' Lisa said. 'It's like it doesn't exist.'

'Let me see it.' Christina held out her hand as Katherine passed it to her. And as soon as it made contact with her skin it lit up.

'Woah!' Dani said, sitting up straighter. Christina was staring at the amulet as it glowed in her palm.

'Chris?' Lisa said nervously. 'You okay?'

'I'm fine.' She confirmed. 'Has it done that for any of you guys?' She asked.

'Nope, just you.' Lauren confirmed. The amulet started fading.

'I guess it wants Christina to have it.' Lisa said.

'We still don't know what it does though.' Amy reminded them.

'Well, what about if I just wear it and see if it affects me?' Christina suggested.

'Are you sure?' Katherine asked. 'What if it's dangerous?'

'Do we have any other options?' Christina asked. 'Because trust me, I don't want to be the guinea pig for this experiment.'

'No, sorry.' Amy admitted.

'Alright then.' Christina took a long breath and put the amulet around her neck. It glowed briefly as it hit her chest but quickly settled down once more.

'Now what?' Dani asked.

'Now we wait.' Katherine said.

'I'm bored.' Dani said as she walked into the living room. Lauren was watching the television and Katherine was reading. Dani slumped down on the sofa, distracting Katherine.

'Why don't you get a head start on college? Read something?' Katherine held up her book.

'No thanks.' Dani said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. Katherine shook her head and went back to reading. Suddenly, they heard a loud crash from upstairs.

'What was that?' Lauren asked, just as Amy ran into the room from the kitchen.

'Everyone okay?' She said.

'Yeah, it came from upstairs.' Dani said. They all got to their feet and made their way up the stairs.

'Lisa? Christina?' Katherine called as they went. As they turned into their family room on the top floor, where they kept everything magical, they saw Lisa and Christina sprawled out on the floor. But they were laughing, which was a good sign.

'What are you guys doing up here?' Lauren asked. Lisa Christina sat up and pulled Lisa with her. They were covered in soot, or something similar, and smoke was filling part of the room. Katherine went over and opened a window to let in some fresh air.

'Lisa was trying a potion.' Christina said.

'It didn't go as I'd planned.' Lisa admitted.

'No kidding.' Amy said, waving the smoke away from her face.

'What potion was it?' Dani asked, looking at the book.

'The one for repelling evil from a space.' Lisa confirmed.

'I can't even do that one yet Lisa, and I'm the best person here when it comes to making potions.' Dani said. No one argued with that.

'Well forgive me for trying something new.' Lisa got to her feet, followed by Christina, who still had the amulet around her neck.

'Do you know what that does yet?' Katherine asked.

'No.' Christina sighed, playing with the amulet in her hand. 'It keeps glowing though so it must be doing something.'

'Maybe we should test it?' Katherine suggested.

'How?' Christina queried.

'Have you used your powers since you put it on?' She asked.

'No, haven't had a reason to.' Christina said.

'Okay.' Katherine looked around. She took one of the cushions from the couch in the corner of the room and put it on the floor. 'Hit the pillow with some energy.'

'You want me to kill the pillow? Is it evil?' Christina asked. Lauren grinned.

'No, just try.' Katherine said. With that, Christina put out one hand and sent some energy into the cushion. As soon as the energy appeared they all looked shocked. Christina's usually ice-blue energy was blended with a shade of orange-red, not unlike the stone in the amulet. The two colours spiralled together as it hit the target. The energy penetrated right through the pillow and the floor. Christina immediately drew her hand to her chest and the energy stopped.

'What the hell?' Amy said.

'That's new.' Christina looked down at her hand. Lisa lifted the pillow from the floor and looked down.

'Is this a problem?' She asked as they all stared at the hole in the floorboards. They could see right into Dani's room below.

'You better not have fried any of my stuff!' She said, peeking her head down to check the damage.

'I didn't use that much energy, or I didn't mean to.' Christina said, a hint of fear in her voice.

'That's what the amulet does.' Katherine looked at her. 'Amplifies powers, like it would have for mum.'

'So theoretically, I'm strong enough to defeat Belial with this amulet.' Christina said.

'Great.' Lauren said. 'Now we go find him and send him back to hell.'

'No we can't.' Katherine said. 'We need to give Chris more time to test her powers now. They could be unpredictable.'

'I agree.' Lisa said. 'And we need to get a board to cover that hole.' She said, moving from the room with the others following. Christina stood silently for a moment, holding the amulet and whispered;

'Thanks mum.' Before following her sisters from the room.