Tonya read the text again. Aunt Helene had spotted the pearls-and-lace Doctor from the farm, working on her floor. Despite being hit with a 2x4, the lady didn't have a scratch on her. Not only that, the growth in Aunt Helene's stomach was increasing at an impossible rate. Her Aunt had tried every conceivable healing spell to no effect. A witch of her stature could affect ordinary cancer. There had to be other forces at play and she suspected Waldock. What exactly could be growing in there?

Aunt Helene's message instructed Tonya to collect the hand from the Shoppe and bring it to Toronto. Tonya threw on her clothes and got in the back seat. "Where's Lynette?"

"We dropped her at the hospital," said Priya. "What's going on?"

"My Aunt made an unusual request." She dialled Aunt Helene and set her phone to 'speaker.'

"Hello?" Her Aunt's voice sounded wheezy.

"Priya and Ducky want to come to Toronto and help," she explained, "but we can't bring the hand."

"Go to my apartment. It's in a jar hidden at the back of the fridge."

"Why is it so important?"

"We need it to stop Waldock." Aunt Helene coughed weakly.

"I had to put it in my dorm but we can't go there."

"Why?"

"It's too close to the cemetery. If I go anywhere near, Waldock will get in my head again. He could make me attack my friends."

"You have more power than you think."

The Entity had made her hear voices, and feel despair like a victim of Pompeii, and see with dragonfly vision. She told Aunt Helene about her blackout in the car, and how Ducky had to pull her off Priya before she strangled her.

"To overcome a mind like yours takes a lot of power. Jack won't be able to control you plus other people at the same time, especially if you can lure him out of Loon Lake. Your friends just need to watch over you."

"All these years you and my parents never trained me in magic, never warned me about the dangers. Why?"

"There are factions in Loon Lake, and your parents belong to the 'no magic' faction."

"You could have helped me when I worked in the Herbal Healing Shoppe. Now you're too sick to fight and I don't know what to do."

"This never would have happened if it weren't for Jack."

"Why me though? It feels like he's singling out me and my friends."

Ducky told Aunt Helene about being buried alive, and how Tonya had saved them. "There's something you're not telling your niece, and it's not just how to use magic," he said.

"Jack and I... used to be close. That should have been enough protection for my sister and Tonya, but I was a fool to trust him. When I was in high school he seemed so daring, channelling power through me at first, and then we experimented with necromancy."

"You used dead bodies?" Tonya asked.

"It turned my hair white in my teens, like Jack's. That scared me and I stopped but not before I learned that any  piece of Jack's natural body will always remain magically linked to him. When I buried him I kept his hand just in case. Promise you'll bring it."

Tonya promised. She disconnected and addressed her friends. "You can't go with me. It's too dangerous..."

Ducky put a hand on her shoulder and moved in so close, their noses touched. "We're going."

"In my car," said Priya.

"Waldock could make me attack you."

"You heard your Aunt," said Ducky, "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Yeah." Priya nodded, arms crossed.

"Aunt Helene calls Waldock 'the most feared necromancer in generations.'"

"But can he beat the digital generation?" said Ducky. He puffed out his chest, arms akimbo.

"I could kiss you both!" Tonya threw herself into a collective hug.

Priya broke the huddle first: "Let's go."

# # #

When they reached campus, the students were gone. Perhaps they had run out of food and wandered to the grocery store. Perhaps they were quarantined at the health centre. There was no time to investigate.

Priya parked in a tow-away zone right in front of the dorm. "Let's be quick."

As they waited for the elevator, the routine action gave Tonya a sense of normalcy, as if when they got to her floor, the halls would be full of chatting students and buff guys in housecoats.

Instead, the corridor was empty except for Roberto, waiting outside her door.

"Thank God you're here," said Roberto. "Everybody's gone and I can't find Lynette."

"We left her at the hospital," said Ducky. "You should visit her."

"What about you?"

"We have to go to Toronto," said Tonya.

"Bring me with you." He followed them into the room.

"There's no space in the car," said Priya.

"You really should see Lynette," said Ducky.

"She'll be fine." Roberto's mouth was impassive but his eyes darted around the room as if searching for something.

His odd response made Tonya wary. She took off her bandanna and grabbed the jar from the bar fridge. As she took it out, she wrapped it in cloth and held it to her chest.

Roberto dashed to her side, his hand reaching for the jar. "Here, let me carry that for you."

"Don't bother. I'm okay."

"I insist." Roberto lunged for the jar.

"It's quite alright." She yanked it out of range.

Roberto grabbed for it, trying to wrest it from her hands.

"Here!" Tonya threw it to Ducky who caught it and ran like a quarterback.

"Don't let him get it!" Priya yelled.

They ran after Ducky, out the door and down the fire exit stairs.

Tonya couldn't believe it. A tow truck had already pulled up outside, driven by Zain. He was preparing to hook up the front end.

"Oh no you don't!" Priya shouted.

All three dashed for the car and slammed the doors behind them but Tonya was too slow. Roberto caught her door and pushed his way into the back seat with her.

"Get out!" She kicked him in the chest, but instead of falling back, he grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her out of the car. The back of her head connected with cement and she saw stars.

"Give me the hand or I'll kill her!" yelled Roberto.

"They can't hear you, the windows are closed," said Tonya. Roberto had to be under Waldock's control.

You could say that but once again you'd be missing the obvious. Did you really think a man powerful enough to resurrect himself would choose to inhabit a body of dirt and bone? Not when I could live inside this big, handsome frame. It took a long time to find a body worthy of me, from a suitably magical family.

Roberto was Waldock! She had to get away and tell the others. She curled her body around the jar, while Roberto tried to pry her open like a starfish. Priya and Ducky leaped out of the car and tried to haul Roberto off her just as Zain joined the fray. It was a struggle her allies were losing. If she didn't do something, Waldock would get his hand back.

Retaining her position, Tonya unscrewed the jar and slipped the wet hand into an inside jacket pocket. Noiselessly, she resealed and wrapped it, using the lid to hold the cloth in place. Zain pulled her away from the others. When Roberto's hands pried hers open she shouted: "No!"

Roberto and Zain took the jar and, laughing, jumped into the tow truck.

Tonya hurried her friends into the car and they drove away. When they reached the highway, she held her jacket open slightly to show the hand to Ducky.

"Ugh!" said Priya. "What's that smell?"

"The hand. We have to get it to Aunt Helene before Waldock realizes I still have it."

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