The man streaked across the parking lot, darting swiftly between parked vehicles and empty lots. Zoe kept her eyes fixed on him until he turned left, ducking out of sight. "He’s getting away!" she shouted to her brothers. "Stop right there! Get back here!"

Zoe had to admit that maybe her shortcut to the old warehouse that had been converted into a shopping mall hadn’t been such a great idea. Jeez, she thought. You head out thinking that it’s such a wonderful day and – BAM! – you get robbed.

Her heart pounded as her brothers raced past her.

"When didn’t the freeze last!?" Zane yelled accusingly at their eldest sibling, Zack, who had – amongst many of his powers – the power to stop things in time. Although it doesn’t always work on all demons, especially the higher-leveled ones, it’s been working like a charm ever since he’d triggered it – so long as the target isn’t supernatural.

"Beats me!" Zack shouted back. His favorite black leather jacket flapped like a veil behind him as he bolted down the path. Reaching the spot where the man had turned, they looked to their left and saw that it was a dark alley.

The man was there, running past a cluster of Dumpsters. They lunged ahead. They couldn’t lose him. All of Zoe’s important belongings were in that handbag – her identification card, her credit card, some private stash of money, etc.

The man swung his head around to stare at them, and grinned.

Zoe turned to her elder brother. "Can’t you just, you know, wave your hand at him or something?" Zoe waved her hand at the man, signaling Zane to knock the guy down with his telekinetic powers.

"He’s a robber, Zoe, not a demon," Zane reminded her pointedly. "And besides, why can’t you just orb your handbag over?"

"Because I’ll probably orb it into pieces!" Zoe replied with a yell. To both her delight and dismay, her power of telekinetic orbing has developed recently, becoming more destructive. The only problem is that she hasn’t really gotten a hang onto it yet. "And besides, we can’t let him see us do any visible magic. Otherwise he might tell the cops or even the media about us, and then it’ll be déjà vu all over again for you guys."

It had been a well-known story at the X Manor. More than two years ago, her brothers had been exposed on live television as witches. All hell had virtually broken loose. However, it was all so Cats-in-the-Cradle that they had not bothered to bring up that story anymore.

Zoe checked out the dark alley ahead. It was a dead end, blocked by three brick walls. There were no doorways, no exits, and no stairs to climb.

No way out for him, she thought, as the man came to a stop. She folded her arms against the chill of the shadowed alley.

The man backed up against the brick wall, cornered and trapped. They stood in front of the guy, so close that they could just reach out and peel the evil smirk off his face. They had him surrounded and he knew it.

"All right," Zack said, stepping forward as he pushed up the sleeves of his leather jacket. "Just give us the handbag and nobody will get – oh."

The man was holding onto a ball of crackling energy.

An energy ball. Typical demonic weapon.

"Huh," Zoe snorted and gave Zane a crooked smile. "Guess you were wrong about the ‘not demon’ part."

"Yeah, yeah, crap!" Zane snapped, and in one sweeping motion, raised his arm in the direction of the man – scratch that – demon.

The demon made a strangled cry as he was hurled into the air and slammed against the brick wall. He landed in a heap on the ground, moaning. The energy ball in his hand fizzed out.

"Now’s your chance!" Zoe said.

The demon interrupted with a cruel laugh. "You mean it’s my chance." With lightning-fast agility, he got back onto his feet, outstretched his arms and snapped his fingers at Zack.

Zack found himself completely immobilized. His body felt stiff and he felt stuck in place. He heard the demon laugh as a ball of bluish energy materialized in his hand. Unable to move out of the way and unable to summon the power that would save him, Zack heard his siblings let out a scream as everything went black.

"Zack!" Zoe screamed as she watched her eldest brother hurtle through the air and landed on the metal cover of a Dumpster. Beside her, Zane lashed his hand out at the demon again, hoping to throw him off his long enough so that Zack could recover.

But he remained where he was, unaffected by Zane’s power.

Zane suddenly felt light-headed. He braced himself against a brick wall as the sensation passed quickly. He then realized that he hadn’t eaten anything except toast and coffee for breakfast.

The demon smirked. "Foolish witches," he said. Then, mirroring Zane’s earlier movement, he waved his hand in their direction.

As if struck by some unseen force, Zane and Zoe were suddenly thrown off their feet. They landed on their stomach, and Zoe let out a pained moan.

What’s going on? Zane thought as a shadow hovered above him. He looked up.

The demon stood there, his head tilted. A smug smile crossed his lips. "Thanks for your powers," he said. Then, after allowing a dramatic pause, he added, "I’ll be back." He then shimmered out of the picture.