17.03.2015

Sadie Kane

15:30pm London

I couldn't help but shiver coming out of the portal. The feeling that I was stepping over my mother's grave lingered deep in my bones. Unfortunately, the Needle was the closest magic portal to Gran and Gramps's flat.

Fortunately, the weather was miserable and there was no one about, so I brushed the sand off my clothes and headed for the Underground station.

At 16:00, I stood on the steps of my grandparents' flat.

It seemed so odd to behome? I wasn't even sure I could call it that anymore. For months I'd been longing for London-the familiar city streets, my favorite shops, my mates, my old room. I'd even been homesick for the dreary weather. But now everything seemed so different, so foreign.

Nervously, I knocked on the door.

Would they think I've changed, too?

No answer. I was sure they were expecting me. I knocked again.

Perhaps they were hiding, waiting for me to come in? I imagined my grandparents, Liz, and Emma crouching behind the furniture, ready to jump out and yell "Surprise!"

Hmm… Gran and Gramps crouching and jumping. Not bloody likely.

I fished out my key and unlocked the door.

The living room was dark and empty. The stairwell light was off, which Gran would never allow. She was mortally afraid of falling down stairs. Even Gramps's television was switched off, which wasn't right. Gramps always kept the rugby matches on, even if he wasn't watching.

I sniffed the air. No smell of burning biscuits from the kitchen. Gran should've burned at least one tray of biscuits for teatime. It was a tradition.

I got out my phone to call Liz and Emma, but it was dead. I knew I'd charged it!

When did I agree to be a part of a cheap horror movie?

My mind was just beginning to process a thought-I am in danger-when the front door slammed shut behind me. I spun, grabbing for my wand, which I didn't have.

Above me, at the top of the dark stairwell, a voice that was definitely not human hissed, "Welcome home, Sadie Kane."

My hands tingled as if I'd stuck my fingers in a light socket. I tried to summon my staff and wand, but as I may have mentioned, I'm rubbish at retrieving things from the Duat on short notice. I cursed myself for not coming prepared-but really, I couldn't have been expected to wear linen pajamas and lug around a magic duffel bag for a night on the town with my mates.

I considered fleeing, but Gran and Gramps might be in danger. I couldn't leave without knowing that they were safe.

The stairwell creaked. At the top, the hem of a black dress appeared, along with sandaled leathery feet. The nails looked suspciciously like a bird's talons.

The woman's face looked like it was actively merging with a bird. Her skin looked like melting wax, her nose was a beak. Her eyes gleamed in their cavernous sockets.

Her dress, I had to give it to her, would've made a lovely bird inspired Met Gala look. It was midnight black, fluffy, and huge like a fur coat six sizes too big. As she stepped toward me, the material shifted, and I realized that it wasn't fur. The dress was made from shining black feathers.

Her hands appeared from her sleeves-clawlike fingers beckoning me forward. Her smile revealed teeth like broken bits of glass. And did I mention the smell? Not just old person smell-old dead person smell.

"I've been waiting for you," said the hag. "Fortunately, I'm very patient."

I grasped the air for my wand. Of course, I had no luck. Without Isis in my head, I couldn't simply speak words of power anymore. I had to have my tools. My only chance was to stall for time and hope I could collect my thoughts enough to access the Duat.

"Who are you?" I asked. "Where are my grandparents?"

She reached the foot of the stairs.

"Don't you recognize me, dear?" Her image flickered. Her dress turned into a flowered housecoat. Her sandals became fuzzy green slippers. She had curly gray hair, watery blue eyes, and the expression of a startled rabbit. It was Grandmother's face.

"Sadie?" Her voice sounded weak and confused.

"Gran!"

Her image changed back to the hag, her face grinning maliciously. "Yes, dear. Your family is blood of the pharaohs, after all-perfect hosts for the gods. Don't make me strain myself, though. Your grandmother's heart isn't what it used to be."

My whole body began to shake. I'd seen possession before, and it was always hideous. If I had any blood of the pharaohs, it was turning to ice.

"Leave her alone!" I meant to shout, but I'm afraid my voice was more of a terrified squeak. "Get out of her!"

The goddess cackled. "Oh, I can't do that. You see, Sadie Kane, some of us doubt your strength."

"Some of who-the gods?"

Her face rippled, momentarily changing into a bird's head, a long sharp beak dangerously pointed towards me.

"I don't bother the strong, Sadie Kane. In the old days, I even protected the pharaoh if he proved himself worthy. But the weak… Ah, once they fall under the shadow of my wings, I never let them go. I wait for them to die. I wait to feed. And I think, my dear, that you will be my next meal."

I pressed my back to the door.

"I know you," I lied. Frantically, I ran down my mental list of Egyptian gods. I still wasn't half as good as Carter at remembering all those names. But after weeks of teaching our trainees, I'd gotten better.

Names held power. If I could figure out my enemy's name, that was a good first step to defeating her. A bird that feeds on the dead.

To my amazement, I actually remembered something.

"You're the vulture goddess," I said triumphantly. "Nekhbet!"

The old hag snarled.

"But you're supposed to be a good goddess!" I protested.

The goddess spread her arms. They turned into wings.

"Vultures are very good, Sadie Kane. We remove the sickly and weak. We circle them until they die, then feed on their carcasses, cleaning the world of their stench. You, on the other hand, would bring back Ra, that wizened old carcass of a sun god. You would place a weak pharaoh on the throne of the gods. It goes against Ma'at!"

Her breath smelled like roadkill.

"Right," I said. "First, get out of my Gran. Then, if you're a good vulture, I'll buy you some breath mints."

She lunged at me. I dove sideways, clambering over the couch and tipping it in the process. Nekhbet swept Gran's china collection off the sideboard.

"You will die, Sadie Kane!" she said. "I will pick clean your bones. Then the other gods will see you were not worthy!"

I waited for another attack, but she just glared at me from the other side of the sofa. It occurred to me that vultures don't usually kill. They wait for their prey to die.

Nekhbet's wings filled the room. Her shadow fell over me, wrapping me in darkness. I began to feel trapped, helpless, like a small sickly animal.

If I hadn't tested my will against gods before, I might not have recognized this as magic-this insistent nagging in the back of my mind, urging me to give up in despair.

"Nice try," I said. "But I'm not going to lie down and die."

Nekhbet's eyes glittered. "Perhaps it will take some time, my dear, but as I told you, I'm patient. If you won't succumb, your mortal friends will be here soon. What are their names -Liz and Emma?"

"Leave them out of this!"

"Ah, they'll make lovely appetizers. And you haven't even said hello to dear old Gramps yet."

Blood roared in my ears. "Where is he?" I demanded.

Nekhbet glanced at the ceiling. "Oh, he'll be along shortly. We vultures like to follow a nice big predator around, you know, and wait for it to do the killing."

From upstairs came a muffled crash-as if a large piece of furniture had been thrown out a window.

Gramps shouted, "No! No-o-o-o!" Then his voice changed into the roar of a mad animal. "NOOOOOOAHHH!"

The last of my courage melted into my combat boots. "Wh-what-"

"Yes," Nekhbet said. "Babi is waking."

"B-bobby? You've got a god named Bobby?"

"B-A-B-I," the vulture goddess snarled. "You really are quite dense, aren't you, dear?"

The ceiling plaster cracked under the weight of heavy footsteps. Something was tromping toward the stairwell.

"Babi will take good care of you," Nehkbet promised. "And there will be plenty left over for me."

"Good-bye," I said, and I bolted for the door.

Nekhbet didn't try to stop me. She shrieked behind me, "A hunt! Excellent!"