Dear readers, tonight we print a video interview transcript with a young witch, who recently lost her best friend in mysterious circumstances. The two friends met while investigating a house that reeked of brimstone and radiated a sense of evil. She knew a demon is involved, but her new friend the exorcist seemed to be hiding something.

Oscar: You ready?

Maggie: I feel sick.

Oscar: Relax. I’ll edit the video before uploading it, so if you mess up, no worries—we can just do that part again.

Maggie: Right. Okay. [inhales deeply] I’m ready.

Oscar: Awesome. So tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up? What was it like there?

Maggie: Um, I’m really not here to talk about me…

Oscar: My subscribers like a little background. Just give us the basics.

Maggie: Okay, fine. I grew up in St. Augustine, Florida—in the same old Victorian house I live in now, actually. My grandmothers raised me. Grandma Gail was a flight attendant. Nana was—

Oscar: A witch!

Maggie: Yes, a witch. She sold herbal remedies and cast spells for clients—very secretively, because witchcraft faced even more prejudice back then.

Oscar: And she’s the one who taught you magic?

Maggie: She was my first teacher, yes. I remember her leaving crystals on the windowsill to recharge them by moonlight and lighting candles on her altar every evening. But Oscar, you know I—

Oscar: You’re here to talk about the case files, right. So let’s jump in. You’ve recently started publishing accounts of the paranormal cases you handled with exorcist Beatriz Romo Reyes. What inspired you to put them out there? Are you trying to educate people about the supernatural?

Maggie: No, I— Well, I guess that is a benefit. Since most people don’t believe in the supernatural, they miss the signs when their house is haunted or their friend is possessed. If they knew more about it, they could recognize the danger sooner and save themselves a lot of pain and trauma—and even their own lives sometimes. But no, that’s not really why I’m publishing the cases.

I’m doing it for Bea. She’s… She was never famous—she wouldn’t have wanted to be.

Oscar: Ha! Can you imagine? She would’ve totally punched the paparazzi and gotten sued.

Maggie: Yeah… But she helped so many people, put her life on the line countless times, and that… that deserves to be known. I want people to read about her and—I don’t know—appreciate her sacrifices, I guess.

Oscar: A worthy goal. So you worked with Bea for years on a ton of different cases. What was the scariest thing in your adventures?

Maggie: Are you kidding? You know what kind of stuff we dealt with. The ghosts who tried to murder me, the literal portal to hell, anything involving the Fair Folk— How do you expect me to pick just one thing?

Oscar: You’ve got to rank them, Maggie. What was the worst?

Maggie: [long pause] When Bea… When she… When I lost her.

[silence]

Oscar: Yeah, shit, sorry. Bad question. I’ll edit that out.

Maggie: Thank you.

Oscar: [clears throat] Cool. So, uh, as you’ve mentioned, these paranormal cases involved a lot of danger. You’ve been attacked by ghosts and zombies, stalked by creepy necromancer guys, cursed by weird faerie magic, and that’s just the stuff I know about. So why did you do it? Why help Bea with her cases?

Maggie: Because the people who contacted her needed help. They didn’t understand what was happening to them, much less have the means to fight back. I didn’t contribute a lot—not nearly as much as Bea—but my spells and charms protected people. When we resolved a case, and the client was finally safe from whatever entity was terrorizing them… that’s a good feeling.

And I got to hang out with Bea. She could make me laugh even when it seemed like we were about to die.

Oscar: Tell us more about her as a person. Hobbies, pastimes, and stuff. What did she like? What did she hate?

Maggie: Oh, gosh. She liked drinking—probably too much. She went to bars a lot. She went to the gym a lot, too. She had a secret stash of steamy romance novels—actually, wait. She wouldn’t want me saying that. Can you edit that out?

Oscar: Sure.

Maggie: As for what she hated… Celery, I guess? Oh! Ouija boards. She despised Ouija boards because so many of her clients got hurt after messing around with one and summoning something horrible.

She didn’t like watching paranormal horror movies, either. Found them boring since they reminded her too much of work. I’d have to pick a different genre when we had movie nights. She liked movie nights. I did, too.

Oscar: So what does the future hold for you? Will you keep taking on paranormal cases?

Maggie: What? No! I couldn’t without Bea. You’ve seen her in action. I’m not like that, and I can’t face the supernatural threats she did—not by myself.

Oscar: [pause] You’ll have to get her back, then.

Maggie: Oscar… She… What happened to her… There’s no reversing that. I wouldn’t even know where to start.

Oscar: If anyone could figure it out, it’s you.

[silence]

Maggie: I don’t know. Um. Is the interview over? How did we do?

Oscar: Uh… We’ll need to rerecord a lot of it.

Maggie: [sighs]

If Kristen Brand could have any superpower, she’d want telekinesis so she wouldn’t have to move from her computer to pour a new cup of tea. She writes supernatural fiction about ordinary women facing extraordinary threats. Whether they’re exorcising demons, hunting fae, or solving murders, her protagonists tackle the paranormal with wit, strength, and a healthy dose of sarcasm. Kristen lives in Florida with her husband and son, and her hobbies include crochet, comic books, and desperately trying to keep the plants in her garden alive. Visit her website for more, including a full list of her books.

You can find Maggie on the pages of Smoke and Hellfire.

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