Witch's Bell Book One

appease, or even change the past, then you can do virtually anything you want in the now.'
    'And that's what's happening here?' he questioned, wiping at the rain dribbling down his forehead. 'But what's this got to do with death?'
    'You rewrite the lives of the living through altering the lives of the dead. You sacrifice the past for the benefit of the future,' she closed her hands before her. 'By using the recently-deceased, Detective, you can summon the force of Death. And when you have it in your presence, you can use the immense magic released to rewrite your story. Death is a universal force, and its power is unimaginable. Death is the very thing that keeps stories going, not that you'd know it. The very thing that keeps the alive alive, that keeps the moving in motion. Everyone thinks that Death is the end; well they're dead wrong. When things begin to slow down, when their energy begins to ebb – they die. And through death they change forms, break up, then recombine in other ways. The movement is preserved.'
    Nate hardly looked impressed by her impassioned description, and simply kept blinking the water from his eyes. 'But the dead are dead. Trust me; I'm an ex-homicide-detective. How exactly do you call this “death” through a corpse?'
    'Death, unlike what most people believe, isn't an instantaneous thing. You don't die, then Death severs your soul, and you skip off to the afterlife, or get reborn. You dream first. It can take up to a week, or even more. But the soul goes through the memories of its life – the dreams, the achievements – and, well, collates them. It's like marking up a score sheet at the end of a game. It’s a way for the soul to be clear about what it's achieved, before it moves on.'
    'Sounds like mumbo jumbo,' the Detective declared with a cough.
    'No, mumbo jumbo is a special type of magic practiced by the witches of the Caribbean, Detective. And let me assure you, it doesn't sound anything like it. Plus, I'm not asking you to believe in this, I'm just asking you to listen.'
    'Then skip to the stuff I need to know, time's ticking.'
    She pursed her lips. 'Time doesn't tick, clocks do. Time wanders. But that's not the point. The point is your little bad-guy in there has found the grave of the recently-deceased. He's probably been planning this for some time, too,' Ebony wiped the water off her face, only for the now driving-rain to replace it at once. 'What you do is you gather the important objects of whomever you are performing the rite on – wedding ring, photo, beloved pet, deed to their house, a book they wrote – whatever gave them incredible meaning in their lives. Anyhow, you perform the rite on the grave,' Ebony found her stomach turning at the thought of it. She hated this side of magic, she really did. It was dark, inhuman, and seemed to violate everything magic should stand for. She put a hand to her head, before finally continuing. 'Anyhow, you perform the right and summon up Death.'
    'So what are the objects for? Why do you want a guy's favorite watch? Is that to get a lock on him, or something?'
    'No, that's to threaten his soul.'
    'Threaten his soul? What are you talking about?'
    'Okay,' Ebony finally saw a specially painted truck pull up at the cemetery gates. It would be carrying the ammo they needed. It wasn't every day the Vale Police Department would get access to magic bullets because, Ebony reminded herself with a soulful sigh, it wasn't everyday they needed them. They were a pest to get hold of, too. It was all a part of the Pact. Should the need arise for more direct magical intervention, and before the Police would be forced to call the Coven, they would get access to a little more heavy-duty weaponry. They had to request them directly from the Coven though, but once they were released, the police officers of Vale would get their hands on blessed, cursed, and magic-sucking bullets. Something for every occasion. It rarely, rarely happened that they would need them. It had only happened to Ebony three times. Once when a madman had somehow gotten hold of a banned book of spells, and was holding several people hostage. Another time when a very powerful demon had attached itself to a cursed family ring. And another time when someone had tried to kill a witch. Ebony shivered at the mere thought of it, and took a careful sniff.
    'We don't have much time. Here's the quick version,' she began to half-walk, half-jog over to the van. 'When you summon Death through