"Everyone has their young days..." Black Goat said, looking totally unfazed. "Back then, I thought it'd be a laugh to scare the pants off any humans trying to track us – and it totally worked, by the way..."
[From then on, the Greeks never dared to use that spell to secretly track us again.] Horned Water Snake drawled lazily. [I remember that night like it was yesterday...]
"This thing floating by someone's bedside in the dead of night is seriously creepy," Cohen said, eyeing the blood-red eyeball. "Looks like Black Goat had some wild ideas back in the day – it's like something straight out of a myth, the eye of some ancient god."
Funny enough – this counter-curse Black Goat cooked up when he was younger actually fit Cohen's whole evil god vibe with the Silver Key folks...
"Thanks," Cohen said to Black Goat.
"No problem, kid," Black Goat replied kindly.
"Roar..." The lion tilted its head up, nudging the goat behind it, probably wanting it to roll up its yarn ball.
Cohen flicked his wand without a second thought, helping the lion re-wind the unraveling yarn – since Black Goat's view was completely blocked by the lion's big head and he couldn't see the yarn mess at all.
After heading back to the bedroom with the Earl, that feeling of being watched crept back in.
But this time, Cohen wasn't some "weak, pitiful, and helpless" person being watched anymore –
Cohen used that counter-curse – and in the blink of an eye, Cohen's vision expanded big time.
Cohen could even sense the location of his target; it seemed to be in the London area, close to King's Cross Station.
Through the eyeball created by that counter-curse, Cohen saw a dimly lit room and three seriously shady-looking dudes crammed in front of a mirror.
"Ugh..." Cohen said with disgust. "There's a bunch of pervy old guys peeping at a thirteen-year-old boy..."
"Ugh... there's a creepy thirteen-year-old boy peeping at a bunch of old guys," the Earl chimed in, pretending to be just as disgusted.
"Say that kind of thing again, and I'm going to buy Caroline some exploding stink pellets," Cohen said menacingly. "Mr. Earl, you wouldn't want to be stuck in a cage with Caroline then, would you?"
"You're so wicked!" the Earl shrieked.
"You're the one who started acting like a pervert!" Cohen retorted.
Meanwhile, in London, a random trio from the Silver Key organization was still in front of the mirror, plotting how to lure Cohen into going to war with the world.
"I think He's already on the path to pure destruction and evil..." said Number One wistfully, the reflection of his bald head flashing under his hood every now and then. "Soon... very soon, we'll witness the end of this filthy world..."
"But He still needs a little push," said Number Two, who was incredibly hairy and looked like a total throwback. He spoke with intense excitement. "Didn't you hear what He said? That family is sheltering Him – and a god doesn't need sheltering! He hasn't grasped just how powerful He really is... We need to help Him realize his own strength..."
"I actually have a feeling... He's putting on an act..." said Number Three rationally and worriedly to his two companions. "He might have already figured out we're spying on him and is just lost in a dream, not wanting to wake up. He's resisting waking up; we should—"
Suddenly, the rational Number Three went silent.
"Why did you stop? What do you think we should do next?" Number Two asked Number Three.
"The mirror..." Number Three's voice trembled.
"What about the mirror—" Number One and Number Two glanced at the full-length mirror in front of them.
It should have been showing Cohen's image, but now the mirror didn't show the bedroom scene anymore. All they could see were three black-robed men huddled together.
They could only see their own reflections; the spell had fizzled out.
And that wasn't all. Through the mirror, they saw a horrifying eyeball covered in bloodstains, grotesque, and still spinning, floating above their three heads.
Cohen's voice came from the eyeball, laced with a hint of amusement. Combined with the dim little room, the scene almost made their screams burst their eardrums.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!"
Cohen rubbed his ears. How could these three big guys scream louder than a bunch of girls? Weren't they supposed to be an evil cult organization? Why did they seem so chicken...?
Even though these three weren't much brighter than those two Muggle petty thieves from last night, the one Cohen had marked, Number Three, seemed to be close to figuring things out.
They absolutely couldn't be left alive, especially since one of them seemed to still be planning to go after Rose and Edward – how could there be people who want to destroy the world but are such damn cowards and afraid of dying?
Cohen really couldn't wrap his head around why these three guys, who could be scared into making chipmunk noises by a creepy eyeball, were trying so hard to force him to destroy the world – did they seriously think that believing in Cohen would let them survive after the world ended?
Cults, man... they're bad news.
"I need to pop over to London," Cohen said to the Earl. "Cover for me – don't let Mom and Dad find out."
"Give me something easy to work with here," the Earl said helplessly. "How am I supposed to cover for you? When your parents knock, should I yell, 'Cohen's in his room... you know... don't come in'?"
"There's this—" Cohen controlled his remaining flesh puppet, which crawled out of the box and morphed into his appearance. "But this robot isn't smart enough. It can fool rats, but it's way too easy to see through if it's supposed to be a person, especially in front of Edward and Rose..."
"I can do the voiceover," the Earl said, mimicking Cohen's voice. "'Hello, I'm Cohen Norton. What are you looking at? Look again, and I'll eat your soul—'"
"I'll leave it here pretending to do homework. If Edward and Rose knock, just open the door and make up some excuse..."
Cohen checked the rats in his pocket. There were still a few barely clinging to life, almost starved, but enough for him to stay invisible and apparate to London, find and take down those three watchers, and then smoothly return home, acting like nothing ever happened...
"What—" the Earl started to ask.
Cohen had already thrown on his cloak and vanished.
"Couldn't he give me, like, a tutorial or something?" the Earl grumbled at the empty air. "What if his parents ask why he's doing homework without even touching his quill?"
Cohen reappeared, but before the Earl could say anything again, Cohen grabbed the box and disappeared with another pop!
"Don't pick up that guy's bad habits," the Earl said to Caroline, the new owl, who was perched nearby.
"Hoo-hoo?" Caroline hooted.
"Nope," the Earl said firmly. "How come all you ever think about is being hungry or... you know... That sounds awfully familiar..."