When Rachel arrived at the hospital, she found Matthew in the waiting room.

"How is Lila?" she asked.

"She's in surgery. It's bad, Mom - really bad. The impact knocked her vital organs up into her chest cavity."

"Excuse me - Mr Cory?" It was a uniformed policeman.

"Yes?"

The cop handed him a shopping bag. "A witness turned this in." he said, "Your wife was carrying it when she got -uh - hurt."

"Oh."

"Everyone's really sorry about - what happened."

"Yes, so are we." said Rachel, "Thank you, Officer."

Matthew removed the contents of the bag: two tiny dresses, and a sweater with a pattern of pink bunnies around the hem. Tears welled in his eyes.

"What's Jasmine going to do without her mother?" he said.

"The doctors can do wonderful things these days," said Rachel, putting her arms around him. "We mustn't give up hope."

****

"It all happened so fast that the witnesses didn't get a good look at the motorcycle's license plate," Toni Burrell told her boss, "But one of them is pretty sure that the first letter was a 'J' or 'I' and the second was a 'P' or 'R'."

"Check it out." said Acting Captain Josie Sinclair, "There can't be that many motorcycles in Bay City."

****

Rachel's cell-phone rang. She went over to the window and took it out of her pocket.

"Hello?"

"Have I called at a bad time?" said Akageno.

"Well - " said Rachel, "I suppose you heard about what happened to Lila? I'm with Matthew at the hospital. We're waiting for her to come out of surgery."

"I quite understand if you think the Stark business can wait, but I have made some progress in deciphering his book, and I'd like to discuss it with you, at your convenience."

"Oh, about Stark," said Rachel, "Gary says there's no record of him, or of the Lumina Foundation, before last year."

"About the time David Halliday dropped out of sight." said Akageno, "I see."

Just then, Sofia entered the waiting room.

"Matt?" she said, "I came as soon as I heard about Lila."

Matt flung himself into her arms, and burst into tears.

"It's okay." she murmured, "I'm here."

Seeing this, Rachel told Akageno that she'd be right over.

****

"I have done some research into the original Jordan Stark's history." said Akageno, "The authorities became suspicious of him when it was noticed that children and young women invariably disappeared in the vicinity of any house where Stark took up residence. He always moved on before the pattern became too obvious, so he was able to get away with it for some years."

"He was murdering people?" said Rachel, "Why?"

"Magic - major magic - requires a great deal of power, Rachel. There are various ways of raising power, but the fastest, the - easiest - is by inflicting pain and death upon living beings. What is called 'Black' magic is basically the magic of blood and death. The higher the creature one kills, the more power is released. Sacrificing human beings is far more effective than merely killing animals."

Rachel grimaced. "What was Stark doing, exactly, that needed so much power?"

Akageno didn't answer directly. "Jordan Stark had married a young woman named Amalie Kitteridge, very much against her family's wishes. When the rumours about Stark's activities reached them, her father and her brothers forced their way into his house, and discovered Amalie's lifeless body. Stark was arrested for her murder. At his trial, he insisted that she had not really been dead, that he could have revived her, if only the authorities had not interfered. He was condemned to death, but managed to escape from his cell, and was never seen again."

"What do you think happened to him?" said Rachel.

"I'm not certain, but the portion of BEYOND IMAGINATION which I have read describes a ritual by which the soul can be removed from the body and put into an inanimate object."

"Do you suppose that - he did that to his wife?" said Rachel, "He took Amalie's soul and put it - somewhere - and then the family broke in before he could reverse the process? That's why he kept saying that she wasn't really dead!"

"It's possible." said Akageno, "In fact, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Stark managed to do the same thing with himself, after he escaped from prison."

"You mean, Stark hid from the authorities by putting his own soul into - what?"

"A copy of his own book, perhaps." said Akageno, "With an spell that would be activated when the book was opened by anyone with even a trace of magical ability."

"Such as, a rare book dealer named David Halliday!" cried Rachel, "Halliday is Stark - or, he's possessed by Stark!"

"It's all speculation so far, Rachel. I shall need to read more of his book."

"I know one thing for sure," said Rachel, "I don't want David Halliday anywhere near my daughter!"

****

"What will I do if Lila dies?" said Matthew, "How can I raise my daughter alone?"

"You're not gonna be alone, Matt," said Sofia, "I'm gonna be here for you."

Lila's doctor entered the room. "Mr Cory? Your wife survived the operations."

"So - she's going to be all right?" said Matthew.

"It's too soon to say, but if she lives through the next few days, there could be as much as a 50-50 chance."

"Can I see her?"

"She's in Recovery right now." said the doctor, "We've got her on a heart-lung machine, to keep her breathing. You can see her when she's moved to the ICU."

"You should go home, Matt." said Sofia, "You need to eat and sleep, and spend time with Jasmine. You're not helpin' Lila by sittin' here."

"I suppose you're right." said Matthew.

****

"Claudia, if David Halliday comes here looking for Amanda, I want you to say that she's not at hom." said Rachel, "He is not welcome in this house."

"Yes, Mrs Hutchins." said the housekeeper.

****

A figure slipped quietly into the room where Lila lay unconscious, reached out a gloved hand to unplug her life-support, then exited.

To be continued.