I had been nearly thirteen when Justin Du Morne had taken Elaine and I to Massachusetts while he searched for some magical artifact that was reputed to have been there. We had checked into a rather nice little bed and breakfast in a small town called Darkness Falls where I spent a pleasant, if unmemorable afternoon and evening studying while Justin scoured the countryside for his artifact. The next morning, the loose tooth that I had been wiggling for the past week - my final baby tooth if I remember correctly - had finally come out.

I had proudly shown the bloody tooth to Elaine with some inane comment about being almost grown up. I knew not to expect anything more than a compliment from my friend and then future girlfriend, since Justin had made it quite clear that he would not be playing the part of the tooth fairy shortly after he took me in, and had advised me to properly dispose of any teeth I may lose. Justin's reaction to the tooth had been rather unusual to say the least. The man - who had been focused on a book moments earlier - looked over at me in surprise an instant before he dropped the book, raced over, snatched the tooth away, and promptly disposed of it himself as if he believed that I would try to keep it. Back then - unknowing of the danger of doing so - I probably would have. Less than an hour later, we were checked out of the bed and breakfast and speeding down the road at what had to be at least three times the posted speed limit.

The car, which had barely been holding together under the strain of conveying three magical beings, finally gave out two towns over.

I would have thought this incident to have been entirely forgotten, had I not received a call requesting my assistance from the town earlier. A young woman named Caitlin Green had called seeking a spell that would ease her younger brother's fears and enable him to sleep, after traditional medicine had apparently failed. I had almost referred her to a more local witch who specialized in healing despite her assertions that money was no object when it came to her brother's well-being, when she had mentioned something about a local legend. Curious, I had asked for more information. Her response sent me out making my way through the Nevernever to Boston before hopping on a bus after barely taking the time to pack.

Why the Wardens hadn't dealt with this in the century or so it was going on, I do not know. I do know however, that the woman's story was most likely true. The details seemed consistent with something supernatural, especially the part of how the "Tooth Fairy" tended to only take the child's final baby tooth, ignoring all others. Why else would my former teacher have fled from the town after I lost my final baby tooth, if not for the curse?

&!&!&

Kyle Walsh swallowed nervously as the plane took off. While he wasn't as bad as he heard wizards were at disrupting technology - he had to change the batteries in the flashlights he only kept because he wasn't entirely confident with his light spells nightly, and change the bulbs weekly - since he only had a little bit of power, airplanes probably depended on a number of delicate electronic systems to remain in the air, and it would probably be his bad luck that he would end up shorting a critical one and cause the plane to crash.

Kyle did his best to calm himself. When a magic user was stressed they tended to...the little light over his seat shorted out.