I woke up in a strange corridor and found myself under weathered stone arches in a broken labyrinth and not on Highway 12 in a Californian suburb.

I probably should have freaked out.

A strange sensation of familiarity overcame me. Still, I didn’t understand where I was or how I’d gotten there.

“Help!”

My brother’s plea cut through my clouded mind.

Rising to my feet, I dusted myself off. My katana was in my hand but the shotgun was back with the car.

The Banshee’s cackle echoed and I put my hand to the cold stone wall, letting it guide me in the darkness as I walked with care through the corridors, stepping over puddles of murky water.

Above me was the open night sky. I was in some kind of roofless stone ruins, but it was a sky I had never seen before. I knew those stars didn’t hang over our Earth. That didn’t faze me though. Like I said, my newfound senses and energy were tingling and I was stronger and rejuvenated, despite having my butt thrashed by an old hag.

At the end of the corridor I stepped under a doorway. I turned left down a new corridor and saw a series of small ancient archways forming a hallway. The Banshee could lurk behind any of them so I raised my sword in front of me and took cautious yet determined steps forward.

I passed through the first archway, eyes darting up and all around, trying not to let goosebumps crawl up my spine in waves. Though I heard the she-demon’s evil laugh, I couldn’t quite tell where the echo originated.

After the second archway I found myself in a small room with thick shadows on either side of me. It became quiet as a crypt and I felt like somebody was watching my back. My skin began to crawl. My instincts told me to turn around.

As I did, my sword met the claws of the Banshee with a loud clash. Sparks of magic energy flew. Then she retreated into the shadows.

I started after her but her voice sounded behind me.

“You’ve meddled too deep, mortal,” said the hag.

She was atop a thick wall and held my brother by his face, her filthy hand clamped over his mouth, muffling his cries. “When I’m done slicing him to bits, I’ll finish your mom off too. Then you!” Her hands and claws were glowing now as she too drew strength from this ancient place. Terror filled my brother’s eyes.

My anger bubbled, built up inside me and I unleashed it. Celtic knots swirled around me, circling my entire body, and not just my left arm this time.

I leapt at her, dashing through the air. Sword met claws again. The old hag and I were locked in combat and she snarled at me with bloody fangs. I swung, swiped, and stabbed, but she danced about me, her tattered dress twirling in the tendrils of the mist.

She attacked me then and scored a hit, her claws wet with my blood. Ouch. Ignore the cold burning sensation. My knees were not wobbling from pain or fear. Not at all.

I just need an opening.

Out of my peripheral I caught the glow of Nehemiah’s staff.

I brought my sword back, poised for a killing stroke.

“Ukuqhuma!” he yelled as a purple fireball laced with electric sparks flew from his staff and hit the Banshee.

She soared up and over me.

I leapt up to meet her, imbued with Luck. My katana slashed the hag across the torso, then gravity tugged me down. I landed on my sneakers, sliding on rubble into a puddle of water. She crashed behind me.

A strip of her dress clung to my hilt and I used it to wipe her blood off my blade. I turned to face her, stunned she was still holding onto life.

Without thinking, I tossed the red and white strip into the water. She let out a gasp, as if this was the most painful thing I had done to her yet.

With her dying breath she wailed at me.

This wasn’t the same sonic scream as before. I wasn’t thrown back or knocked with a great force. But I felt her power rush over me, leaving a rune or a mark that glowed through my T-shirt.

Though it stung, I said, “Is that the best you can do? You’re finished!”

She managed a wicked grin before falling to her back, dead.

The victory seemed hollow.

Like, why did she smile?

The glowing on my chest stopped, but tugging my collar down revealed a symbol burned into my skin.

Okay, whatever. I’d worry about that later. Where the heck were we? How would I get Aiden out of here?

As if to answer my thoughts, a purple light pierced the dark. Nehemiah walked through the mist with his glowing staff held high, his other hand guiding my brother. He looked from the dead Banshee to me and simply nodded his approval. He eyed my katana.

“What are you, Irish-boy? Some kind of shamrock samurai?”

I barely noticed. I was smothering my brother with a bear hug.

Nehemiah turned to go and we followed quickly through the mist.

Though I only took a few steps forward, I panted as if I’d run a great distance and I fell to the highway asphalt.

After I caught my breath I said, “Thanks man, you saved us.”

“You’re welcome,” said Nehemiah. “It’s not like I did much. You killed the Banshee. You remembered to wash the blood from an article of her clothing.”

“Oh yeah...” I said. “I totally did that on purpose.”

Nehemiah stepped closer to me. His nose wrinkled like he smelled something foul. “Pull down your shirt collar.”

How did he know? I moved my collar, exposing the mark.

“Awesome,” he said. “Just great!” He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

My mother interrupted, ran up and hugged my brother and me. Tain approached us, slower than normal but it was good to see he was alive, if a little battered. Tain licked my face.

“Oh boys! I thought I’d lost everyone.”

“We’re fine, Mom. It’s over now.”

“Oh it’s not over,” said Nehemiah. He approached my mother and brother and bid them to stand.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Mom said, “but what are you?”

“I’m a shaman. Or a wizard as you may call it,” he said.

“No way!” said Aiden.

My mom was at her wit’s end. “First, psycho she-demon banshees and now wizards?”

Nehemiah chuckled. “It’ll all make sense soon. Just look right here.”

As he spoke he held out his right palm up while grasping his staff in the left. A small purple flame formed over his palm. “Peer into the light. Lose yourself in it. Think of the outrageous things you saw and throw them into the flame.”

The purple flame mesmerized my mother and brother and it scared me.

“What are you doing to them?”

“It’s okay,” said Nehemiah, “I’m helping them forget.” He finished the spell, the flame dissipating, and my mother and brother stared off into space.

“Help me guide them back to the car,” said Nehemiah. I obeyed. “In a few minutes they’ll be back to normal and they’ll forget all the supernatural things that took place tonight.”

“What about the car accident and the rest? Everything that happened at the house?”

“The mind is an interesting thing. I’ve simply made gaps in their memory but the mind will fill those gaps with whatever seems logical and rational. You’ll see.”

I frowned and shrugged. I guess that made sense. “How did you find us?”

“The same way I always find these monsters. I sense the Bad Luck, the Chaos.” He paused, then started coughing. It sounded bad, like a wheezy cold. When he finished, he cleared his throat and added, “Why couldn’t you guys stay in one dang place? Fighting across town… you had me driving every which way to find this Banshee.”

In silence I waited for him to erase my memories of tonight too.

“What?” he asked.

“Aren’t you gonna MIB flash me and the dog next?”

He laughed. “The dog? Are you serious? He can’t talk, man.”

“What about me?”

He sighed. “You, my friend, are marked by a Keening.” He took a long finger and jabbed my chest.

“A what?”

“The hag. She wailed at you with her dying breath. It’s called a Keening. Sometimes Banshees do that. Basically you’re marked for death. You’re a walking target for supernatural beings now, especially the Fomorians.”

“The what?”

“Fomorians. Come on, Saint Patrick. Don’t you know your own people’s mythology?”

I looked at my chest, back at Nehemiah and then to my dog. Neither of them had sympathy for me. “I thought we were done. I defeated her. I don’t want me or my family to be part of this.”

“Tough luck,” he said. “You’re in too deep now, kid. But at least you got powers. And that means…” He sighed, “…you’ll need training.”

He smacked my shoulder and said, “Come on. Let's get your family back home.”