Poltergeeks Read Online Free PDF

from the blown-out doorway. I grabbed one of the two dozen empty cottage cheese containers Mom uses as starter pots for magical herbs and blew out any dust that lingered inside. I grabbed a small hand broom and a dustpan and then stepped into the magic circle.
      "We're going to do some chemistry," I said, as I swept up dirt and scorched teddy bear stuffing.
      Marcus's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Sweet! I'm totally down with that! Want me to run home and get my calorimeter? I've always wanted to measure the amount of heat generated by a spell – it might actually help me identify the specific elements that charge your magic. I mean, assuming there's a molecular catalyst somehow."
      I carefully dumped the contents of the dustpan into the cottage cheese container. "No offence, Marcus, but this kind of chemistry would probably wreck your calobobiter thingy."
      "Calorimeter," he sighed. "What are you planning to do anyway?"
      "Just a hunch that tells me we might be able to trace the origin of the spirit we'd trapped in the teddy bear. With any luck, it might give us a clue about who attacked us," I said, heading out of the shed. "Follow me."
      Within minutes we were downstairs in the study, a spare bedroom that doubles as a makeshift lab for anyone who deals in the business of magic.
      Each of the walls has custom-built utility shelves that stretch from floor to ceiling and on each shelf there is everything from jars containing herbs or strange liquids sealed with wax paper to old Chinese food containers filled with oddly-named items like "Milk of Dill Root" or "Crow's Toe". There's a long worktable that stretches down the middle of the room and it's covered with piles of dusty spiral notebooks, beakers, flasks and, of course, candles; lots and lots of candles.
      I placed the cottage cheese container on the table as Marcus sat down on a stool and gave me a disapproving look that told me precisely what he was thinking.
      "You're totally setting yourself up to get a blast of shit from your mom, Julie," he warned. "If she finds out that you've decided to play supernatural detective, she'll lose it."
      "We were attacked," I said firmly. "And did you see how Mom got all secretive back in the shed? She has a hunch what this is about and I know her, Marcus. She'll clam the heck up if I push her on it."
      "Maybe there's a reason for it," he said. "I think you should back off."
      I waved a hand. "I know my limitations. I'm just going to try and figure a few things out on my own, okay? That's my shelving unit over there with all my own spell ingredients. Do me a favour and see if you can find a small bottle labelled "distilled water". You'll also see a spool of white thread and a small box with some birthstones in it. Would you bring them over here?"
      Marcus nodded and started searching through the cluttered shelving unit while I pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail. I scooped a couple of teaspoons of "poltergunk" out of the cottage cheese container and dumped it in a cold marble bowl.
      "Here," said Marcus, dropping the items on the worktable. "Julie, just promise me that nothing will happen like what happened in the shed today, okay?"
      "You have my word," I said, as I unscrewed the cap from the bottle of distilled water. "There won't be a problem; I'm just going to invoke a small tracking spell. Oh, one last thing… we need a map of the city. Would you be so kind as to use the computer in the den and print one off from Google Maps?"
      "Alright," he said, as he headed toward the stairs. "You know, I seriously need to get a life. I'm not built for getting my butt handed to me by poltergeists or warlocks or whatever this is."
      "You have a life!" I shouted. "Besides, supernatural sleuthing with me has to be way more interesting than chasing all the brain-dead hot chicks at school like most guys do, right?"
      I pulled a small rough opal out of the box of birthstones and