(A/N):
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After a Week...
Forks...
Late Evening...
Jojo's Mansion...
The mansion was quiet. Not sleepy quiet.
Focused quiet.
Jojo sat at the long wooden table in the common room, the silver pocket watch resting beside him, ticking with soft persistence.
Before him sat a velvet-lined box.
The one Lorraine had handed over earlier.
Across the room,
Lorraine stood with composed anticipation.
Beside her were Sophie Banners and Chloe Paxton, both still fresh into their path as witches under Inadu's training.
Their auras had steadied in recent months, but sparks of inexperience still flickered around them like static.
Inadu leaned against the wall silently, arms folded, observing.
Caroline sat on the armrest of a chair, curious.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Gayathri and Cecellia hovered nearby, eager but restrained.
Jojo opened the box slowly.
-Creak
Inside—A tarot deck.
But not ordinary.
The cards were older than they appeared.
Edges darkened, symbols faintly shifting when seen from the corner of the eye.
The surface of The Tower card shimmered slightly, as if remembering lightning.
He picked up one card.
The Devil.
The illustration's eyes glinted unnaturally under the light.
Lorraine spoke.
"The case came from Boston."
Jojo raised a brow.
"Details?"
Lorraine stepped forward and placed a slim folder beside the box.
"Filed three days ago. A young woman named Hayley. Early twenties. College student."
She paused.
"She claims the tarot deck predicts deaths."
Sophie added, slightly breathless,
"Not vague symbolism. Exact outcomes."
Chloe nodded supporting the claim of her friend.
-Nod
"She did a reading with friends. The cards described how each of them would die."
Caroline smirked faintly.
-Smirk
"That's dramatic."
Lorraine didn't smile showing the images of the dead people of two people one was man and another was a female.
"They started dying."
Silence settled.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Jojo flipped another card.
Death.
The skeletal figure seemed almost amused.
"Sequence?" he asked calmly.
Lorraine nodded seeing Jojo was taking the case seriously.
-Nod
"Each death mirrors the card drawn. Brutally accurate."
Gayathri swallowed just imagining how terrifying it was.
-Gulp
"So cursed deck," she muttered.
Inadu finally spoke, voice cool.
"Not cursed."
All eyes turned to her.
"...."
"...."
"...."
She walked closer, gaze narrowing slightly at the cards.
"This deck is bound."
Jojo looked up.
"To what?" he asked.
Inadu's eyes darkened faintly.
"An cursed spirit."
Cecellia shifted uneasily.
The velvet tarot box sat open on the table like a mouth that had already tasted blood.
Lorraine took a slow breath.
"It started as a birthday trip," she said. "Hayley and her friends rented an old house outside Boston. Historic property. Cheap for a reason."
Sophie folded her arms tightly.
"They found the deck in the basement," she added. "Inside a locked cabinet."
Chloe continued, voice quieter.
"The box had warnings carved on it. Something about not using the deck unless you respect the zodiac signs."
Caroline muttered dryly,
"Of course they ignored it."
Lorraine nodded grimly.
-Nod
"They did readings anyway."
Jojo leaned back slightly, listening.
"In the reading," Lorraine continued, "each card described a specific fate. Not metaphorical. Literal."
She began counting softly.
"The Magician. The High Priestess. The Hanged Man. The Fool."
Sophie swallowed.
"First death happened the next day," she said. "Exactly as the card described."
Chloe's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
"The second death was worse. The victim tried to avoid it. Changed plans. Stayed home."
Her voice trembled faintly.
"It didn't matter."
Jojo's expression didn't change.
"...."
But inside—He already recognized the structure.
'Tarot curse bound to zodiac enforcement… entity punishes deviation from destiny.'
He remembered the plot from his previous life.
This wasn't random. This was enforcement magic. Lorraine continued.
"By the time we arrived in Boston, two of them were already dead."
"The spirit attached to the deck," Inadu added quietly, "isn't a wandering ghost."
Jojo looked at her.
"It's anchored."
She nodded hearing Jojo's words which seems to guess the name in her mind.
-Nod
"Ancient ritual construct. Likely bound to the original astrologer who created it."
Sophie shivered. "We tried scrying."
Chloe added, "The readings backfired."
Lorraine's voice hardened.
"It was too strong. Every attempt to trace it gave us false echoes. It was like trying to find something inside a hall of mirrors."
Jojo tapped one of the cards lightly.
The Hermit.
The illustration's lantern flickered faintly.
"So you removed the deck," he said calmly.
Lorraine nodded hearing the words of Jojo.
-Nod
"We couldn't destroy it there. The backlash would've killed the remaining survivors."
Chloe added, "The curse grows stronger with each completed prophecy."
Sophie's voice lowered.
"And it knows when it's being hunted."
The room went still.
Caroline blinked looked at Lorraine.
-Blink -Blink
"Wait. The survivors?"
Lorraine turned slightly.
"They're here."
Jojo's eyes sharpened.
"Where?"
"At Jenny's house," Sophie replied. "Next door."
Gayathri stiffened. "You brought an active curse here?"
Lorraine met her gaze steadily as she looked at Jojo.
"Forks has stronger defenses than Boston. And we needed him. In Boston, the entity's presence warped the air. Reflections moved on their own. The tarot figures would appear in corners of rooms."
Chloe whispered in low voice,
"It mimics the card art before killing."
Cecellia swallowed hard hearing all the conversation taking place before her.
-Gulp
"...."
Jenny's House...
Living Room...
Jojo stepped through the door first.
Behind him came Inadu, Lorraine, Sophie, Chloe… and then Alice and Rosalie, who had just returned with shopping bags still in hand.
Alice dropped her bags on the counter.
"So," she said brightly, "apparently we adopted haunted college students."
Rosalie rolled her eyes but scanned the room immediately, assessing.
"...."
On the couch sat three visibly shaken young adults.
Hayley. Paige. Paxton.
And standing near the far wall with arms crossed and skepticism written across his face—Grant.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The air felt heavy. Not oppressive yet. But aware.
Hayley looked up when Jojo entered.
She hadn't slept properly in days.
Dark circles framed her eyes. Fear had carved itself into her posture.
Grant spoke first.
"So this is the guy?" he muttered. "The paranormal specialist?"
Jojo ignored the tone. He looked at Hayley directly.
"...."
"Start from the beginning."
Hayley swallowed. Her fingers trembled slightly as she began.
-Gulp
"It was Elise's birthday," she said softly. "We rented this old house outside Boston. It was supposed to be fun."
Her voice drifted.
And the memory pulled her back—
—
Flashback...
Boston, Massachusetts....
The house had looked charming at first.
Old colonial architecture. Tall windows. Wood floors that creaked in nostalgic ways rather than ominous ones.
They had laughed while carrying luggage inside.
Music playing.
Champagne bottles popping.
Elise had found the basement key in a kitchen drawer.
"Treasure hunt! For more drink" she'd joked.
They went down together.
The basement was colder than it should've been.
Dust in the air.
And against the far wall—A locked cabinet.
Inside it, wrapped in dark velvet—The tarot box.
It had carvings etched into it. Warnings.
Zodiac symbols circling the lid.
"Don't use it if you don't know your sign," Paige had read aloud.
They laughed.
They didn't know it wasn't a joke.
They paid the house rental fee.
The owner had mentioned the "antique collection" casually.
And that night—They did readings.
Each card described their personality in eerie detail.
Then it described their deaths.
They thought it was creative writing.
Until the first one died.
—
Back in Jenny's living room
Paige began crying quietly.
"It wasn't random," she whispered. "It described how she'd die."
Paxton's jaw tightened.
"The second death followed the card too. Exactly."
Grant scoffed, though his voice lacked conviction.
"People die. It's coincidence."
Lorraine's eyes flicked toward him.
"Two in forty-eight hours?" she asked calmly.
Grant didn't answer.
"...."
Hayley looked at Jojo she was desperate for a way to save herself and her friends life.
The air still faintly cold
Jojo didn't rush. He took a chair and sat opposite them, posture relaxed, fingers interlocked.
"Tell me your cards," he said calmly.
Hayley nodded shakily.
-Nod
"We didn't just pull one each," she explained. "After the reading, I went back to the box. There were warning inscriptions under the zodiac signs."
Grant muttered, "We didn't take it seriously."
Jojo ignored him.
"Hayley," he said gently, "start with yours."
She swallowed.
-Gulp
"I drew The World."
The room went quiet again.
Hayley continued.
"It said… my cycle would complete. That I would see everything fall into place before it took me."
Paige squeezed her hand.
"It didn't describe a specific death," Hayley added. "Just that I would witness the final act."
Jojo nodded slowly.
"Next."
Paige wiped her eyes.
"I drew The High Priestess."
Her voice trembled.
"It said I would be watched through reflections. That truth hides in mirrors."
She looked at her own reflection in the dark TV screen and shuddered.
"And the warning?" Jojo asked.
Hayley answered for her.
"Never look into mirrors alone. Cover them at night."
Paxton shifted nervously.
"I drew The Hanged Man."
His voice was tight.
"It said I would be suspended between choices. That I would die by suffocation if I ignored the signs."
Grant scoffed faintly but didn't interrupt.
Hayley added quietly, "His warning was to avoid enclosed spaces and never be alone near heights."
Jojo nodded.
"And you?" he asked, looking at Grant.
Grant hesitated.
"I drew The Fool," he muttered.
Alice tilted her head.
Grant continued reluctantly.
"It said I would walk blindly into my fate. That arrogance would seal it."
Paige whispered, "The warning was to never separate from the group."
Grant rolled his eyes slightly.
"Coincidence."
The lights flickered again.
More noticeably this time.
Caroline crossed her arms.
"Coincidence doesn't drop temperature ten degrees."
Grant fell silent.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Jojo leaned back.
"And the two who died?" he asked.
Hayley's eyes filled.
"Elise drew The Magician. It said she would be deceived by something she trusted."
Paxton's voice hardened.
"She died after her car GPS rerouted her into a dead-end construction site. Something… attacked her there."
Paige whispered, "The other drew The Hermit. He isolated himself. Thought he could outsmart it."
She swallowed thinking about what kind of cruel death awaits her.
"He was found in his apartment. Alone."
Silence.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Jojo absorbed it. Yes. The entity enforced symbolism.
Not random violence. Structured. Ritualistic.
Sophie added, "The spirit manifests according to zodiac alignment. It attacks when the moon matches the victim's sign."
Alice's expression darkened.
"That's tonight," she murmured.
All eyes turned to her.
She looked at Paige.
"You're a Pisces."
Paige's face drained of color.
Jojo stood calmly.
"Until this ends," he said, voice steady, "you follow the warnings exactly."
He looked at each of them.
"Stay together. No mirrors uncovered. No enclosed spaces alone. No separation."
Grant started to speak.
Jojo's eyes shifted to him.
"If you ignore it," he said quietly, "you die."
No theatrics.
Just fact.
The temperature dipped again.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
[New Fan fic: Star Entertainment: Building An Empire. Check it out.
There will be two chapters a week(Monday and Tuesday)
If delayed I would post it on Wednesday or Thursday.]
Thanks for reading the chapter!
Please give a review and power stone!!!