Today was the end. No fantastic parlor tricks, no methods of conjuring, no home remedies—nothing will solve my problem! How can this be? How can everything plummet to ground zero? Where did I go wrong?

"Ugh, the world's ending. These dark circles just won't go away," I cried while staring at the mirror and curling a short lock of golden blonde hair.

"I'm sure the world will not end because of your vanity issues," replied a black cat.

I stuck my tongue out at the provocative feline lying across my bedspread. Cat? Yeah, no. Sebastian was the farthest thing from your normal domesticated animal. A lazy familiar he may be, but a cat he was not—try a Leviathan. And don't ask how a giant sea monster folds into a tiny hairball. Some things are just better off a mystery.

"Oh please, Seb. If I don't pride myself on this gorgeous figure and awe-inspiring face, I'd be a stick in the mud. I'm sure the world would end for me." I smiled at him and framed my face with both hands.

"Doubtful. Perhaps, try the work you've been doing for a change, Lanna," he snickered.

A deep gut wrenching moan tore from my body. "Shut it! Work is for the poor, and you know we're poor. I was expecting a large payout when I agreed to help stop the magic crisis." I bit my fingernail in dismay.

"Magic crisis? Try a bunch of socially deficient Earth Wizard brats throwing a temper tantrum. Humans," Sebastian drawled.

He had a point. Only adolescent boys were stupid enough to reveal the hidden truth of magic. I don't mean card tricks and trap doors; I mean full blown spell crafting, wand wielding, magic. Can't really call it an accident when they altered the gravitational field of Verdina's largest city. But, hey, what do I know.

"Boys will be boys," I said before turning back to my reflection.

My hands smoothed down the extra folds from my short, tight, green dress. Perfection like usual, except the damn dark circles I couldn't hide. With a finger, I touched the soft skin beneath my eye.

"Damn curse, why doesn't it work anymore?" I muttered to myself.

"Maybe it reached an expiration date," chuckled Sebastian as he leapt off my bed and headed out of my bedroom. His sleek black tail swished with each step.

Oh, no. My mouth dropped open from his words. "Dammit, Seb. Did you touch my skin care curse?" I screamed from the top of my lungs.

Silence met my question. "Well, shit." What a troublemaker if only you could exchange familiars for an upgrade.

I released a pent up sigh, guess tonight I'll be doing some spell crafting. Curse magic was my forte, it basically equates to me being a Black Witch. I mean who wouldn't have a love for all things that ooze dark matter? Ah, it brings me back to my high school days when everyone feared me. What was even better: they didn't even know what I was.

Yet, in less than a day, two weeks ago, all that came to an end. Those snot-nosed brats thought it'd be a good idea to reduce the gravitational field. It makes you wonder how they even got such power. Well, lucky us, it led to our world being stripped of its neutrality, and now we're forced to follow interworld laws like everyone else.

I mean don't get me wrong, it was kind of hilarious. Citizens became trapped in some freakish places, I mean I wouldn't even go there and that says a lot.

But the problem wasn't how it happened, but what happened after. The last two weeks have been a literal hell. Everyone became so excited and optimistic. Let's gain world peace. Let's end world hunger. Let's solve poverty. Gah, so sickening.

It made me want to play the villain, and just ruin their happiness, to show them how dangerous magic could be. The feeling was just too good to be true, how I dreamed of it.

I'm joking, I would never do something like that. It would require way too much effort, and think of the repercussions if I got caught. There was no way I'm wearing orange the rest of my life. The color didn't match my eyes—a beautiful green apple—my most amazing feature. Did I say how beautiful they were?

Anyways, in the end I'm just incredibly lazy. The thought of world domination was boring, so unoriginal. I would be much better off charming a bunch of handsome men with perfectly chiseled bodies.

So, instead of being a bad girl, I did my civic duty—boring. Well, life still goes on.

With one more flawless, white, toothed smile, I turned and left my bedroom. The fresh, cool, Autumn air swept in from an open window, meeting me as I entered the kitchen. The smell of pumpkin spice invaded my thoughts of the crispy bacon soon to be in my stomach.

The news blared gibberish into the quiet morning, but like always I paid it no mind, after all I was too busy making a nice delicious breakfast. I reached into the old fridge and pulled out an opened pack of bacon. The sight alone was tantalizing.

Those thin stripes of white next to the soon-to-be mouthwatering meat, oh my. Kicking the door shut, I grabbed a large pan from a lower cabinet and switched the stove-top knob to high heat. With care, I placed each slab of bacon side-by-side into the pan.

My clean hand went to my face, wiping the hint of drool away from my mouth. I dropped the same hand to my stomach and rubbed the area.

"Soon, my stomach, soon."

The chime in the front dinged, but I ignored it. Who would come to the store this early? Sebastian could speak, let him deal with it.

"You have guests," Sebastian said followed by a long-winded yawn.

I turned, my gaze flickering between him and the frying pan. "This isn't a good time..."

"If you eat too much of that, you'll get fat," he sniggered.

Did he notice the drool? I raised a hand to my hair, using the sweep as a decoy to brush my hand against my mouth.

I pinched my lips together before shutting off the heat. "Fine, I'm coming," I groaned.

Dragging my feet, I moved to the front of my house—to the store. Yes, I have a shop, aren't I one of those useless witches that sells charms to all the foolish Humans? Kidding. I don't sell curses to Humans, technically interworld law states they are illegal. But, well that's for non-magically inclined Humans.

A semi-translucent fabric twirled above the doorway from the breeze. Look at my scent changer go! It made the lack of bacon in my stomach ten times better. Pumpkin spice wafted around me as I entered the front room.

Walking in, I saw the guests Sebastian was referring to—policemen.

"Well hello, what can I do for you fine gentlemen this morning," I said in my most sweet and innocent voice.

The dark haired one frowned in response. "Cut the act, Lanna."

It was Trevor Skilts, he's been coming around lately. Tall, dark and handsome, not befitting one in his line of duty, and he cared little for jokes. Still, the way his lips turned downwards tugged at my heartstrings. He was like that fine piece of gourmet chocolate, capable of melting in your mouth.

I leaned forward against the counter, my low cut dress showing a little extra. "Rude as always Trevor. Who is your decadent looking partner?" I couldn't help but lick my lips once in response.

His cheeks turned bright red from my simple gesture. "August Winfield, nice to meet you," he stuttered.

Laughter expanded in my chest, erupting in full force. "Looks like you got stuck with an innocent one, Trevor. Need some help breaking him in?"

"Your concern isn't needed. Maybe you should focus more on paying your bills on time."

My smile disappeared. "Keep your nose out of my business."

"Should have picked up your mail then," Sebastian remarked, pushing the red lettered envelope of doom towards me.

A squeak escaped my closed lips. "Wait, you're not here about that are you?"

"Of course not. Do you honestly think they would send crime investigators from the magic division up here to deal with debt," Trevor growled.

"Okay, bye then," I said before turning my back to them, about to exit the room.

"We aren't done yet, Lanna."

I let out a sigh, creeping back around to face him with my hands on my hips. "What do you want then? Need me to hold your hand again?"

The new kid, August, interrupted his incoming insult. "I've heard great things about you and your ability as a Black Witch. We were hoping you could lend a new set of eyes on an investigation that we're in charge of, if you would be so kind." He grinned with his tousled dirty blonde hair giving him the appearance of an angel.

"You are a cutie, aren't you? How old are you August?" I purred, sending him a warm smile.

He blinked several times. "Twenty-two, why?"

"No reason. And are you seeing anyone?"

"Will you stop trying to get a date with any man that's in front of you," Trevor barked, adding a glare to the mix.

"Oh please, stop being jealous. Also, it's not every man, it's just not you," I gave him a wink to rile him up even more.

His stormy attitude receded from thunderous to a silent chill. "I think it's in your best interest to hear us out."

I clenched my jaw, the force brimming on painful. Polite speech, gah! Where did he get off using that all-knowing, over-confident, proper tone of voice? Such a characteristic cop, cooling his head and the conversation when he wanted to regain control over the situation.

Blowing out a long breath of air. "Fine, go on."

"Have you been watching the news?"

"No, was I supposed to?" I countered while I found a growing interest in my well-manicured nails, noting the lime green paint was chipping off from wear.

"There've been over thirty car, train, and bus accidents today alone."

I couldn't help but let a gasp go on purpose. "Oh, boy!" I spoke with a higher pitch than was needed. "So, what was the cause? One hell of a late night party? And they didn't even invite me, how sad."

"Keep your sarcasm to yourself, Lanna. It was undead."

"Uh... what? Why would there be undead in the middle of the city?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me how such a thing could be possible? What or who could manage this?"

I leaned back, looking up at the ceiling and spotted a splash of cherry sauce. What, the... how did that get up there? I frowned from the thought.

"Come on, Lanna dear, can't figure this one out on your own?" spouted an ecstatic Sebastian who was wagging his tail like a dog.

"Shut up, Seb. It's so easy, it makes me yawn." I pretended to stifle a yawn.

"They are right! You are truly an amazing Witch," August said. His face brightened to an intensity so blinding, even a star couldn't be compared.

"Oh, August you are just the sweetest. What else do they say about me? Do they speak of my great beauty?" I responded with honey coating my words.

He gave a small chuckle at my question. "Well, they also say you are incapable of working with others and shallow, only caring about your looks and the looks of those around you."

It was like getting shot with an arrow, but one to kill. I grabbed my chest and hung my head low in pain. "It hurts so much."

"Will you stop your melodramatic act and focus on the situation. If you know the cause, then tell us. You'll get your consulting fees after the job is complete," Trevor muttered.

I stood up straight, resuming a serious facade. "A powerful Necromancer."

"A Necromancer? Where will we find them?"

"Well, normally they'd be near their summons. But you said they are wandering around aimlessly?" confusion leaked into my voice.

"Yeah, they act with no direction," he responded immediately to my concern.

"Then they are quite powerful," said Sebastian who got up to stretch his limbs on the front counter. "Zombies are summoned to fulfill a contract or an objective. They wouldn't move recklessly unless they were told to do so. They also need to prevent their bodies from decaying, so their master must be near."

"Ah, but maybe their master just summoned them to do just that. Maybe they wanted to create unrest in the city for some larger purpose?" I said with triumph.

"That would be foolish. There are more efficient ways, why bother."

I stuck my tongue out at Sebastian, who declared my grand scheme garbage. "Well either way, the best way to find out what their purpose is, is to find the Necromancer."

"We've currently contained the horde as best we could. But panic is still spreading because everyone is fearing for their lives," Trevor interjected.

"Fearing for their lives? What more car accidents? I mean it's not like they move at mach speed. Ah, must be those poor grannies, can't even outmaneuver a turtle." I laughed.

"But zombies eat people, so they were probably scared of that. Doesn't human flesh set them off?" August said.

"You're kidding me right? You think zombies run around screaming brains all day long? You crack me up."

August seemed confused at my statement. Well considering the current state of Human culture, most movies depicted zombies as man-eating monsters.

"Then what do they eat?" 

A/N: Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed the first taste of what this book will be about. I look forward to hearing back on your thoughts, and any suggestions you may have. Happy reading.