I found Claudette standing over her body by the side of Palmer’s Road on the outskirts of town. The rain had set her free, flooding her room and washing away the holding circle. I was too late. My sister’s kiss had already wrought its nightmarish magic on the girl and all I could do was stare at them both as the rain beat down. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Could only watch with silent horror. And then Claudette smiled that wicked smile of hers and I felt something snap inside of me. A black rage roared up from within, swallowing my shock and grief. I leapt at my sister, threw her violently to the ground, closed my hands around her throat and squeezed. She struggled against me but the anger had made me strong. I could have ended it there – should have ended it – but as her eyes dimmed a memory rose, unbidden and unwelcome . . . Claudette and I as children, up to our waists in cold snow. Black twisted trees crowd over us like hands and there’s something growling nearby.
