Chapter 2

2

I was about to get into a taxi when a group of people with clubs forced the driver to stop.

They smashed their clubs against the windows, making a deafening noise.

"Willa Sterling, get out here! You promised my child would live, but he died two days later! Give us our money back!"

"You heartless fraud! You scam people out of their savings! Aren't you afraid the dead will come for your soul at night?"

"You little witch! You're a curse to everyone around you. No wonder your parents dumped you at an orphanage. Now you're trying to climb into the Blackwood family? Pathetic!"

"Everyone, grab her! Throw away that creepy bracelet of hers so she can't scam anyone else!"

That bracelet was an heirloom, the most important tool for my soul-calling rituals.

To protect it, I scrambled out the other side of the car to run.

Behind me, the window shattered with a sound that nearly broke my eardrums.

Glass shards sliced into my back, but I ignored the pain and ran.

Then, a familiar voice stopped me cold.

"Willa Sterling, if you take one more step, your grandmother dies right here!"

Silas was gripping my grandmother by her hair, slamming her onto the pavement.

I screamed and tried to rush at him, but the angry crowd tackled me to the ground.

My head was pressed into the concrete, my face distorting under the pressure.

Silas took a baseball bat and poked it repeatedly into my grandmother's chest.

"Run, Willa. Why aren't you running now?"

"I'm begging you! Please let her go! she has a heart condition. She can't handle this! Please!"

I struggled with everything I had, tears streaming down my face.

Calling souls shortens one's life. In my past life, Grandma died early because she took the brunt of my bad karma.

Now, she was being beaten until her face was bruised and bloody. She reached out with a trembling hand.

"Willa, don't be afraid..." she whimpered before being knocked down again.

She tried to crawl toward me, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.

I broke down, shaking my head. I tried to break free, but a police officer nearby used a taser on me.

Seraphina covered her nose and looked away in disgust. "Ugh, that old person smell is revolting."

"Silas, Willa is a freak, and her grandmother isn't much better. Since the young one won't behave, teach the old one a lesson first. Let her know who's boss so she never dares to scam anyone again."

Seraphina was egging him on to kill my grandmother, her eyes full of malice.

Silas raised the bat to strike her back, and I used every ounce of strength to throw myself over her.

But I was a second too late.

Warm blood sprayed across my face as my grandmother's eyes fixed on me.

She looked like she had a thousand things to say, but her body just went limp on the ground.