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Going to the Internet, he typed Brenna Flanagan's naine Moments later, her na new, but it did have as purported to be a genuine portrait of the woman, supposedly painted by a man said to have been bewitched by her A small notation said the artist, John Alfred Linder by name, had thrown himself off a cliff the day he learned of her death

Roshan stared at the woe, completely mesmerized by what he saw In this portrait, done in color, her likeness to Atiyana was even an, with hair as red as the flareen eyes flecked with gold Eyes that held a soul-deep sadness She had a small determined chin, a finely shaped nose, perfectly arched brows, and lips that begged to be kissed Draped in a flohite gown, she sat on a curved settee, her back straight A large black cat with yellow eyes was curled up on her lap

A witch, indeed, he thought wryly as he printed the picture It seemed there was a cat in every h the only movie he could recall offhand was Bell, Book, and Candle, probably because he had long been a fan of the enchanting Kim Novak

Cats were believed to embody demons that performed the witch's tasks Roshan remembered a scene in the movie where Ki an incantation to h he couldn't recall the cat's na to the movie, witches lost their pohen they fell in love He wondered absently if there was any truth to that

Reading on, he learned that it was believed a witch could take on the form of a cat nine ti Such anis, or birds A subsection talked about anirowled at an es were associated with black ick and were believed to cause illness Anyone ned a dog could be accused of witchcraft The ancient Egyptians believed that cats had souls It was hypothesized that burying a rooster at the junction of three streams or at a crossroads would avert evil

He looked at the date of Brenna Flanagan's death and felt an odd shiver run down his spine All Hallow's Eve, 1692, the saood and evil, past and present, was said to be the thinnest

He stared at her inaled the co sensation that spread through every fiber of his body, warning hi he had experienced every night for al that it was tilanced toward the hich was already growing light

Today would be his last day

Today, he would put an end to his cursed existence

He would leave the protection of his house and watch the sun cliht of a new day one last tiolden heat warotten pleasure turned to pain and it destroyed him Like Brenna, he wouldintroduction to the fires of an unforgiving hell that surely awaited hi, he put the book aside and walked out the front door Descending the steps, he glanced over his shoulder for a last look at the house where he had lived for the last half-century It was a big old house, with huge roos It was his favorite of all the places he had occupied in his long existence

Turning toward the east, he lifted his gaze toward the horizon, watching in awe as the rising sun painted the heavenly blue canvas with brilliant slashes of pink and lavender and ochre

It see that his last sunrise should be the most beautiful one he had ever seen