Once again I needed to suit up for a fight with an enemy that had the upper hand. I hated that. But I had a few things on my side, not the least of which was how pissed I was that the little fucker had put a curse on the house and almost got me killed no less than three times. I was gonna bitch-slap that prick like he’d never been bitch-slapped.

Inside I loaded up the .38 and packed a spare. Unfortunately, with this type of scenario there wasn’t really much specialized equipment. Holy water, silver bullets, and all that were only for certain sects within the monster community. I did take a small anti-magic amulet with me, just in case, but I prefer not to rely on things like that. As far as I’m concerned, it’s like using the enemy’s weapons.

Besides, we were dealing with something very different; the human monster. All I could really bring to the party was some heat and my brains. Oh, and my leather sap, in case the whole thing could be solved by a crack to the skull.

I put Sam in a box with a towel and prepared to head out, but as I lowered him into the box, an ominous and familiar click came from the open front door. I was frozen, holding the head and staring dumbly as Sabrina lowered her camera and grinned like a fiend.

“Monster hunter kills competition,” she said. “I can see the headline now.”

Then Sam opened his eyes and yelled, “Can’t you see we’re busy!”

Sabrina almost dropped her camera. She staggered into the house and then back against the wall for support. I prayed she’d faint so we could make a break, but she was too tough. She gathered her composure with a few deep breaths. Within fifteen seconds she was cool, calm, and ready for another shock. That tore it—I liked her.

“We have some metalhead in Sherman Oaks that’s been playing with satanic rites and interdimensional tampering. Possibly conjuring curses—the whole gamut of nasty evil,” I said, lowering Sam into the box once more. “Sounds like the kid started out playing, but we have a trail of bodies . . .”

“Brian Hogue, Carl Potter, and Sheriff Dawson,” Sabrina said as she came up to me. “They were the apparitions outside my window.”

I shot her a quick glance. “Dawson too?”

“Wha—? Who? Dawson?! I thought he was dead!” Sam was freaking out in the box.

I waved for Sam to shut up.

I grinned. “So, they appeared again?”

She grinned back. “This time I went outside and confronted them. They wanted my help.”

“Could this get any fucking weirder?” Sam yelled from the box.

“They talked to you?” I added.