"Don't turn around, I'm not here." The woman in the backseat tells Dev with a deep purr. He watches her put a thin blue cigarette into a long holder. She inhales and the cigarette lights itself. When she exhales the smoke drifts up from the backseat smelling of something exotic and... floral perfume? The same scent from the little postcard that helped him retain his sanity when reading the book.

Against instructions, Dev turns to look in the back again. Still alone.

"Stubbornness will go a long way in learning how to tap into the book. But you'll need more than stubbornness and a cute scar to endear me to you. Settle in and listen."

Dev tries to relax but every muscle in his body is tight with anxiety and fear. He glances up at the rear view mirror. It adjusts itself to allow Dev and the woman to see each other better. She was a beauty. Long, dark auburn hair framing a face with full lips, a dusting of freckles, almost luminescent green eyes. His mother would love her if she didn't look like she was straight out of a racy dime store novel. She wore a black slip coupled with a white fur shawl in stark contrast.

"I'm all ears, lady."

"Good. Now, first things first, where is the book?" She smiled and blew more smoke into the front seat. Dev reached up and touched the inner coat pocket before thinking. She nodded.

"Keep it with you. You belong to it now as much as it belongs to you. And they can be fast to anger if you leave it behind. Have you been reading it?"

"It's not in English."

"Well of course it isn't. We can't have everyone finding magical spirits. The world wouldn't know what to do with all the power."

Magic Spirits? "Numen?" Dev inquired. She smiled.

"You are a quick study, at least. Numen is what the Roman's called it, and they were partly right. Remnants of entities from eons ago attaching themselves to objects and places, instilling what they are bound to with a piece of their cosmic energy. As the items and locations are utilized for this power the providing source can sometimes latch onto those that are using said power. You seem to have attracted a particularly unsettling fragment."

"What does it want with me?" Dev shuddered thinking about the warped version of himself.

"You used the book. I think It wants to give you access to its power."

"No, thank you. That creature is the truest form of evil I've ever dreamt of, and its my job to find killers." He was repulsed thinking of the tortuous images in the book and the morbid visions he had had.

"Oh, don't be silly. Good and Evil don't exist in this case. The power attached to you is merely a reflection of how others used it in the past. Think, has it tried to harm you yet or has it just been so new and frightening that you labeled it as bad? I think it likes you. Some people who find power like this use it for their own ends. It twists them and the power."

Dev felt his stomach drop. This wasn't what he wanted to hear. It was somehow better and worse than going crazy. "You said I used it? I've only had it for a day, I haven't had time to decipher anything inside, let alone how to use this so called cosmic magic spirit."

"You have been missing for days." She said as if that explained it all. She rolled her eyes in exasperaion. "You shunted yourself a week into the future. I tried to find you. Even with my considerable resources you had ceased to exist for 7 days, then popped back in, screaming like a mad man. Luckily you still had my note. I fused a small sliver of power in the ink to keep your head on straight. You're welcome." With a self satisfied grin she puts another cigarette in the holder and it lights itself again.

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Dev's head was sent spinning and his stomach dropped again. He was going to vomit. It shouldn't make sense. It didn't? He pulled the book out of its pocket and the twisted Dev appeared in the seat next to him. It reached out and touched the book and shuddered. Dev pressed himself against his door and let out a screech. It extended both arms and held Dev's head. It's distorted features shifting like television static. Dev started to see shapes in the static, vague at first. Fading in and out then focusing into random objects, places and faces. Sometimes the visualization gave off a happy feeling, most were dour and painful.

He was beginning to understand. These were different forms the creature had been throughout its history. Sometimes it was a helpful source, leading to discoveries and inventions that improved human life. More often, it was found by people that lusted after the power it provided and they found sick ways to pervert its gifts into giving them more. Each user added to the book and over time the only entries were of malice, the benevolent teacher washed away by death and torture.

The last image in the static was Dev's face. It was up to him to put the power to good use. A single tear dropped from his damaged eye.

"This morning in the mirror. Was that reflection a glimpse what I'll become if I get corrupted? What am I supposed to do?"

"For starters, slow down. You channeled a lot of power on your first outing and while impressive, its a good way to blow yourself up. The circle you haphazardly scrawled on your mirror was from one of the entries before you came into the book's possession, and to be frank, its not for you. You shouldn't be doing any of the spells in that book." She at least had the decency to look guilty for a moment.

"Now hold on. Have you been watching me? How did you know I had the book to begin with? It felt like someone was following me before I even had the book. And your note on my car was conveniently there after I had taken it in as evidence. How are you connected to the victim? Did you set me up to get attached to this book?" Dev turned to look at the backseat again and was surprised to see the woman in the seat through the smoke. Almost as surprised as her. Dev got out of the car and opened the back door to draw her out of the car. He slammed the door and grabbed her arms. Holding them at her side he backed her up against the car.

"How?" She asked short of breath.

"Explain yourself! I might be suspended, but we are still in the parking lot of a police department. I'll have you arrested in connection to the murder at the mill and clear all this magic bullshit up!" Dev felt a pressure building behind his eyes. The woman stared at him with a look of awe plastered to her face.

"Please, calm down before you hurt me or yourself." She was barely able to keep the fear out of her voice.

Dev let go of the woman and steadied himself against the car. He caught his reflection in the side mirror and gasped. His left eye was glowing turquoise and a similar colored vapor was swirling out of it. He felt like he had gripped a live wire. He felt completely recovered from his all-nighter. Where he had gripped the car a moment ago was dented in the shape of his hands. He suddenly couldn't breathe and fell to his knees.

"Shh, its okay, deep breath in." She comforted him. "And out, again. You will learn to control it with practice. Until then, you must avoid situations where intense emotion can trigger these kinds of responses."

"Responses?" Dev felt the charge fading and got to his feet.

"The power is part of you, no matter how tenuous the connection is right now. Like I said, it likes you. You have an unusually strong bond and you don't even know it's name yet. Learn that, and you will be able to read the book and start making your own entries."

"And my eye? That light, it was strange but... I felt the power."

"It can manifest physically. The power you felt and displayed are just a taste of what you are in store for." She rubbed her arms where he had grabbed her.

"I'm sorry. I never should have touched you, I had no right." He looked away, ashamed.

"You shouldn't have been able to bring me here, let alone touch me. You are going to be interesting."

"What do you mean 'bring you here?'" Dev looked confused.

"I was lounging in my hotel, miles away. I had only sent a projection and voice to you and yet, somehow, you were able to pull me into your car." She straightened her hair and dress. "Keep hold of that note, I'll use it to contact you again to teach you how to use basic magic." She begins walking away.

"You didn't tell me how you're connected to this. You haven't even told me your name!" Dev calls after her. She laughs and turns back to face him.

"In time Devlin Brígh, in time." She turns away and Dev catches a glimpse of something sinister in her silhouette. A shadow of wings, claws, and blood. And a shattered golden halo orbiting sweeping horns. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had a twisted guest.