The cloud evaporated, and the illumination from the night sky was once again surrounding the stranger. He smirked at me, but the gleam in his eyes was almost… proud. It was an odd response to what I’d just done. I took a quick pause to feel the barrier he claimed was in place, keeping him from coming further into the yard.

I hadn’t known of any barrier cast around the house tonight. Yes, there was one in place most of the time for simple privacy, but tonight, with the guests coming, it had been lifted. It also was basic and wouldn’t hold off another caster. I felt nothing out of the ordinary from where I stood, so I moved forward, toward him, until I could feel the power simmering in the air around me. I froze then. Fear slowly creeping up my body from my toes to the top of my head. I rarely experienced fear. However, this spell, it was hot… sizzling in intensity and it was stronger than anything my mother or aunt could cast alone.

“Who are you?” I demanded this time. This was no ordinary spell. I’d never felt something like it. Something this dark had to be here for a purpose. If this man was the being it was keeping away from the house, then he was far from harmless. Who or what could he be after?

Could my sisters have been able to cast something like this with my aunt and mother? I didn’t just doubt that, I knew it was impossible. The depth of energy at its core was more than any single witch in my family possessed. That much I could tell. One Kamlock alone couldn’t do this… and I wasn’t sure even four could.

“I’m the only motherfucker who can’t come to this party, sweetheart.” He sounded more amused than annoyed. His deep chuckle was gone as quickly as it had come. I expected him to say more, to explain what he meant, or ask questions. I expected several things, but what I hadn’t expected was for him to just vanish. Like a puff of smoke. Like the cloud I’d removed.

The cigarette lying on the ground where he had been standing was the only sign of his having been there at all. I stepped back staring at the vacated spot he had been in seconds before. Was that even possible? To disappear so easily? I’d never seen it, but I’d heard tales and that was what I always thought they were… tales. Stories made up to scare children. Charmed children had their own set of fairytales that were more like cautionary tales.