Crystal's arms encircled Max. With a deafening whoosh he shot from her arms, like a bullet from a gun. She felt herself drawn in the opposite direction into a blackness so overpowering she thought she had been blinded. Unable to tell up from down, she spun, as helpless as a leaf sucked into the eye of a tornado. The strange, yet familiar odor that had accompanied the explosion filled her lungs, its acrid scent mingling with a hint of ozone. A pulsating drone battered her ears. Her skin crawled with the tingling sensation of static. It raised every hair on her arms before settling at the nape of her neck.

Bright pinpoints of color gradually penetrated the void.

Everything was gone. The park. Tuti. Max. Baron Kane. The hideous creature that had lunged from the tree. Even the ground beneath her feet. She hung helpless, suspended in the center of a vortex.

The swirling accelerated. The pinpoints of light grew larger then burst into color. The colors intensified in a kaleidoscopic display of dizzying proportions, then blurred, the streaks of brilliance absorbed by a stark whiteness.

The roaring became a high-pitched wail. Another sound, like a frantic heartbeat or the steady clip-clop of horse hooves joined in, rising and falling around her like a living thing gone mad.

There was a loud snap.

Electric blue sparks crackled before her eyes. They danced across her skin, fizzling, then dissipated with a crisp zap. Only the staccato clopping remained.

She was standing on a deeply rutted dirt road in dense woods. From behind, she heard the terrified whinny of a horse. She spun around.

The animal's eyes bulged with fright. It reared, hooves flailing above her head. Crystal dove to the side and rolled onto the grassy shoulder of the road.

The horse was pulling a wagon. The driver, dressed in clothes similar to Baron Kane's costume, tugged on the reins, trying to regain control.

The man raised a trembling hand and pointed directly at Crystal. He shouted one word over and over.

"Witch! Witch! Witch! Witch! Witch!"