Prologue
"I really thought it was over, baby.
But uh, I guess not."
- Musiq Soulchild
Underneath the mountain of purple sheets, Jazmine tossed from side to side.
"Jazmine."
She tore off the sheets and sat up, groaning as she glared at her laptop.
It was a video.
A loud, bright video of her and Cindy from earllier that day. They were excited, enjoying the first day of summer in Cindy's Jeep Wrangler, their hair flapping behind them in the brand new car, their shrieks barely heard through the wind.
There was just one problem...
That didn't sound like Cindy.
As a matter of fact, it sounded nothing like her.
"What the hell?" Jazmine wiped her eyes, stumbling out of bed to close it.
After a few minutes of trying (and failing) to close the tab, she minimized the Photo app and pushed the screen down, hopping back into bed.
"That's weird." She stared at it, shrugging. "I'll take it up to Apple Care first thing." She murmured, lying down to close her eyes. "Probably a new MacBook dropping. I hope they come out with a pink one."
"Jazmine!"
She huffed, rubbing her eyes in disbelief as she sat up and glared at her desk.
The laptop was up again, like she hadn't just closed it.
Jazmine stared quietly, nothing that the wind had picked up outside, so strong she could see the branches tap gently against her window, as if trying to get her attention, to warn her about something.
"I clearly forgot to close it." She mumbled, slowly walking back to her desk. "I gotta stop spending every night out with Cindy, get some sleep. I'm too young to be losing my memory."
Jazmine closed the laptop, staring at it to make sure it was closed.
Then she crawled back into bed, easing under the covers.
"Go to sleep." Jazmine muttered to herself. "It's just a thunderstorm. It'll pass soon."
She jumped, terrified by a second bolt of lightning, her eyes glued straight ahead, watching.
The laptop still didn't move.
Just as her eyes fluttered shut, she heard it fling itself open again, typing.
All by itself.
She sat up straight, watching in horror.
Her first thought was 'What a strange dream'.
Her second thought was 'Oh hell no! I don't do ghosts!'.
Her third thought was 'Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed by thy name…'
After all, like her granddaddy's baptist preacher said….
Resist the devil, and he will flee.
"Jazmine!"
The typing on the laptop grew furious.
She stayed still, listening as the door creaked open, an eerie silence settling over the room.
Her parents were away on vacation, and she'd never make it to her neighbors, not even if she screamed for help.
If there was someone in the house,she only had two choices:
Stay.
Or make a run for it.
"Jazmine Marie Dubois!" Something yelled, howling her name aloud.
Welp...that did it.
The sound of an invisible whatever calling her full, government name was enough to help her decide.
She tossed the covers off and slid to the floor, gasping as the lightning flashed outside, the wind crashing more rain against her window.
She sped downstairs as fast as she could, desperately pulling on the door to escape.
She could hear heavy footsteps behind her, the dark sounds of laughter as goosebumps appeared on her arms,.
"No." She whispered, pulling the door harder until she fell. "C'mon, open! Open!"
This was it.
This was how she died.
"Don't be afraid." A quiet voice told her. "We're only here to help."
Jazmine stared up at the three golden orbs, hovering just a few feet away.
She stared silently, watching them float down the hall, then wait for her to follow.
She moved forward, walking until she'd made her way up the stairs and into the attic.
It didn't take long for her to spot the cardboard box, illuminated by the orbs, patiently waiting for her to look inside.
Jazmine recognized the box.
It was one that she normally skipped over. It was filled with a bunch of her old baby stuff, things she hadn't looked at since she was three.
She reached inside, lifting out a manilla folder full of documents. There were a few articles, a court case, some random junk, and...a birth certificate.
A birth certificate dated sixteen years back.
Jazmine gasped, reading her name aloud.
"I'm adopted?!" She shrieked, thumbing through the folder. "I guess Cindy and Riley weren't teasing." She frowned. "I'm really not their kid."
Ignoring the pang in her heart, Jazmine dug through the box, her eyes watering.
There was a small green onesie, a white rattle in the shape of a rabbit, and a tiny hardback pamphlet, complete with a small inscription, tucked away in the corner of the box.
"What's this?" She picked it up, examining its blank, dusty pages.
She wrinkled her nose at it, lifting it onto the center of her palm.
"Why is this old, beat-up thing in here? It's just some ugly, old- WHOA!"
All the doors in her house began to open and slam shut, again and again, as the footsteps downstairs rushed up, louder than before.
She felt something prickle across her hands, then across her entire body. A green blast of light filled the room, the ground shaking beneath her feet.
"Seriously, stop!" Jazmine tried to breathe. "That's scary! Cut it out!"
It went quiet.
Jazmine watched the book grow in her hands, expanding slowly, until it was a large, heavy grimoire, so big she needed both hands and wrists just to hold it.
"Nope." Jazmine dropped it to the floor.
"I'm gonna go to church this Sunday and repent." She shook her head. "I always knew there was something off about this house! I'm good, now. Goodnight!"
"Just trust trust us." The orbs spoke in unison. "Please. You need our help."
Jazmine sighed and crouched down to lift the book, running her fingers across the cover.
"To Jazmine Marie Dubois: The Golden One." She read the inscription, flipping it open to look through the pages. "Wait...it's empty."
SLAM!
She hopped back, dropping the book after it slammed itself shut.
The three orbs appeared again, whirling around her.
"Okay, seriously!" She put her hands over her face. "Whatever you…things are doing, cut it out!"
But they didn't stop this time.
They whirled faster and faster, until Jazmine saw three translucent black women, fading into outlines.
"Welcome back." They smiled. "Blessed be."
The book snapped shut, and her world became a mixture, half shadow and half light.
She stared until the darkness took over, crying as she collapsed on the floor.
And at that moment, the real story began.
And the normal Jazmine Dubois was no more...