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Jamal ran for the front door. He gripped the doorknob. Tarot cards pelted him, filling the living room with shadow monsters. His skull necklace flared brighter.
He twisted the doorknob and threw the door open, revealing a shadowy figure.
It blocked the doorway—and Jamal’s only escape path.
The skeletal fingers extended toward him, reaching for his neck like spindly claws. Then a deep voice rang out. “Little man, you’ve got my necklace. And I want it back.”
“Wh-what are you doing out here?” Jamal stammered, backing away from Dr. Facilier. The skull on his necklace flared. “H-how do you know where I live?”
The shadow man grinned. His teeth glinted in the moonlight. He was standing on the front stoop, holding the cane with the crystal.
“Enchanté,” Dr. Facilier said, tipping his top hat forward. He aimed his cane at Jamal’s throat. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? As long as you have my necklace, we’re connected.”
“My grandmother’s necklace,” Jamal said, reaching for it. His fingers clasped the skull. He could feel heat emanating from it. “The shadows. The tarot cards. You did that to me!”
He backed away in fear, but the shadow man only tilted his head back and chuckled. “Well, now, I can’t take all the credit. I had a little help from my friends on the other side.”
“Your friends did that?”
“They’re special friends,” Dr. Facilier said. “They help me get what I want. And right now I want that necklace from your grandmother.”
“But I can’t give it to you,” Jamal protested. “My grandmother left it to me. I already told you. She wouldn’t like it.”
What he didn’t say was that he was afraid of why the shadow man wanted the necklace so badly—and what he’d do with it. It clearly had special powers and could protect him.
“If you give me the necklace,” Dr. Facilier said, “then all these terrible things will stop—and you’ll no longer be in your brother’s shadow.”
With that, he produced the third tarot card again. It was the one that represented Jamal’s potential future, where he stood in the spotlight and his brother was the one in the shadows. Jamal stared at the card, feeling how much he wanted it.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Dr. Facilier said, seeing the expression on his face. “To be out of the shadows for a change? I can do that for you.”
Jamal licked his lips. He was so tempted. But then the skull necklace flared again.
It was a warning.
But what if there was another way? To keep the necklace—and get the future depicted in the card?
“What if I could offer you another form of payment?” Jamal said, his voice wavering.
Dr. Facilier raised his eyebrows and tipped his hat. “A bargaining man, huh? What else could you possibly have that I’d want?”
“Right, wait here…” Jamal said. He dashed back into his house, trampling over the tarot cards littering the hallway floor. The shadow monsters stared up at him.
Guilt pooled in his gut, but he ignored it. I have to do this, he thought, running into his bedroom. He crept to his brother’s bed, slipping and sliding on tarot cards. Malik was still sound asleep with the pillow over his head. His muffled snores drifted out.
Jamal knelt down and reached under his brother’s bed. His hands landed on the trumpet case. He slid it out, flipped the clasps, and cracked open the lid, revealing the trumpet.
“I’m really sorry,” Jamal whispered, slipping the trumpet out of the case. “But I need this…. You don’t understand what it’s like….”
He shut the case and slid it back under the bed. Then he ran outside, where he found Dr. Facilier waiting for him—not very patiently.
“Little man, this had better be worth it. My time is highly valuable.”
Jamal held up the trumpet. Its brassy surface glinted in the pale moonlight. “Right, I can trade you this,” he said, ignoring the terrible feeling in his gut.
Dr. Facilier frowned. “A trumpet? Now what would I want with that?”
“My grandmother left it to my brother,” Jamal said. “We each got a gift from her estate. It must be valuable. It’s old and has been in my family for many generations.”
