I sat at the counter of my store, munching on a cheese sandwich. It was around twelve o' clock and I was having my lunch. A woman had been hovering outside my store for the past ten minutes, looking at all the occult products I have and having a torn look on her face, as if she really wanted to buy something but her conscience was telling her things like: "Don't buy those books! They are the writings of the DEVIL! The DEVILLLLLLLLL!"

Well, I for one knew the Devil, (his name is actually Lucifer), didn't have time to write books on witchcraft, voodoo, or demonology. He was busy in Hell managing the damned and waiting patiently for the so called End of Days.

I pulled out my cell phone, about to dial Jiayi's number, when the woman finally made up her mind and came inside. She wandered up to the counter and said, "Hello."

"Hi," I responded, pocketing my cell phone and facing her. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah…" She muttered. "Um…do you have any tarot cards?"

Tarot cards? What the heck did she want tarot cards for? Well, maybe she wanted to be a fortune teller, who swindled people out of their hard earned cash. There are very few witches in the world that have jobs as fortune tellers and fewer still that use tarot cards as a means to look into the future. Tarot cards in the hands of a regular person are useless and just a big scam. Take it from me.

Still, I wasn't about to say no. This women could do whatever she wanted with them.

"Sure," I said, putting down my sandwich and opening one of the drawers below my counter. "Let me see here…"

I rummaged through the drawer, brushing aside voodoo dolls and Shinto statues, and finding a pack of tarot cards. I grabbed them, pulling them out and put them down on the counter.

"Here," I said. "Anything else?"

The woman shook her head. "No….That's it."

"Alright," I said. "That'll be two dollars."

The lady gave me the money, scooped up the tarot cards, and practically ran out of my store. I watched her go, and then pulled out my cell phone again and resumed dialing Jiayi's number.

I put the cell phone to my ear, listening to it ring and tapping the counter. I felt bad about waking Jiayi up during the day but this was very urgent.

After about six rings, there was a click and Jiayi's voice answered the phone.

"Hello?" He grunted, sounding very groggy and irritable. Vampires were able to be awakened during the day, but they were slow and not as powerful as they were at night.

"Its Anton," I said.

"I should have guessed," Jiayi grumbled on the other end of the line. "You're the one who made me get this infernal device."

"Hey, it helps us stay in communication better," I replied.

"Hooray," Jiayi said emotionlessly. "What is it? And this better be really important."

"Oh, don't worry about that," I responded. "I assume you are familiar with Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of death?"

"Mict-Oh no," Jiayi hissed. "Did you anger him, Anton?"

"No no," I said. "Not like the time I angered Oceanus and nearly got crushed by a tsunami. Mictlantecuhtli is coming here. Kokopelli paid me a visit and warned me that Mictlantecuhtli is coming to absorb a lot of powerful magic from several buried magic users buried in this very town."

"Hmm," Jiayi grunted. "That is bad. If he does that, he'll have enough power to finally overthrow Aztec pantheon and begin his quest to become the most powerful god ever to exist."

"Yeah," I replied. "He won't get far, as the other pantheons will take note of his activities and defeat him, but he could do some serious damage to the balance of the universe before they do. And, that's not all. Mictlantecuhtli considers me a serious threat to his plan, and is sending some his servants to dispose of me before he gets here."

"How odd," Jiayi said, chuckling. "Usually, no one ever considers you a threat. Although I say it's for good reasons."

"Har har," I said dryly. "You're quite the comedian, Jiayi. Listen, a group of cihuateteo is coming for me tonight. Can you be here to help save my life?"

"Sure," Jiayi said. "Unless something else comes up. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Knock yourself out," I responded. My jiang shi friend hung up.

I pocketed the cell phone again, and continued munching on my sandwhich. As I swallowed pieces of it, I went over how to prepare for the incoming attack in my head.

Cihuateteo were spirits of women who had died in childbirth and now they haunted the world searching for victims. They were very malevolent and often stole children in the dead of night and drank the blood of those who crossed their paths. Often, the Aztecs would leave the carcasses of animals on crossroads, (where cihateteo haunted), as sacrifices to appease them. They were nasty things and I was not looking forward to facing them.

However, they, like most supernatural monsters, had weaknesses. Cihuateteo could be warded off by blessed mirrors and any religious symbol would cause them to withdraw in terror. Also, the fresh blood of a virgin child could wound them badly. The third one was not an option, however. I couldn't just go around, grab a child, and cut his or her skin for blood. The boys in blue would come for me and I'd be locked up, spending the rest of my immortal life in some prison cell. And, uh, I didn't want to hurt a child and all that.

A blessed mirror is relatively easy to do. All you have to do is dip it in holy water or even better, ask a god to bless it for you. As I was kinda short on time, I decided to just soak it in holy water instead. I keep a tub of holy water in my room for this kind of purpose.

But before I did all that, I'd finish my sandwhich.