As they piled into the car, Henry’s excitement grew, thinking about all the possibilities of hypnotism. They arrived at the library, and the car had barely come to a stop when Henry opened the door, ready to bound up the stairs and secure a front row seat.

“Henry,” his mother said.

Oh no! He knew that tone. He knew what was coming.

“Take your sister.” It wasn’t a question.

“But—”

“No buts. You will take your sister. End of story.”

Usually this sort of standoff ended with “and we’ll go for ice cream later” or some similar bribe. Not this time. His mother’s intensity was almost scary.

“Fine!” He felt his cheeks redden as his excitement changed to anger.

But Brianna wasn’t moving. “Do I have to go, Mommy?”

Suddenly there was hope! Surely his mother would not force her little darling to do something she didn’t want to.

“Yes.” A single word uttered with power. He had never seen her so adamant about anything.

Henry’s neck hair bristled. If his mom was scary before, she was downright frightening now. The car door slowly opened. Brianna stepped out and had barely closed the door before the car rocketed away, tires squealing as it turned the corner and disappeared.

“Wow” was all he could think to say. Mom had been acting even weirder than usual since the incident with the moles, but this was beyond weird.

He finally faced his sister, only to find her glaring at him. Clearly she was angry.

“Hey, it’s not my fault.” But as they continued their staring contest, it dawned on him that this might be the first time Brianna was forced to do anything she didn’t want to. A now-you-know-what-it-feels-like smile crept onto his face.

“This isn’t funny, Henry.” Her gaze drifted upward. An extra-large full moon loomed on the eastern horizon.

Henry knew it was an optical illusion that made it appear bigger and closer than usual, and on a normal night he would find it an awesome sight. But tonight he found it … intimidating. He reached into his pocket for the safe and secure feeling of the Coralis wand and received the now-familiar tingle in his fingertips.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Brianna whispered to the moon.

Henry felt it too but wouldn’t dare admit it to her. “Come on, then. Let’s get this over with.” He reached for her hand but she jerked it away and walked ahead of him.

Fine, be that way.

A sign on the wall read MAXIMUM OCCUPANCY 60 PEOPLE. Henry took a quick head count. Eleven people. No, make that ten people and one bully. And before he could catch her, Brianna went right to the front row and sat next to him.