Undead and Unreturnable

"Your sword disrupts magic," I began, because somebody had to say something.



"Yes."



"So why didn't it 'kill' Cathie?"



"I don't know. I've only ever killed vampires with it. I tried to kill a werewolf once, but it just made her change back into a woman. She was so startled she ran away from me, and I never saw her again."



"There are werewolves?" Cathie asked. "For real?"



"You gotta be kidding me, werewolves. Like I don't have enough to deal with?" I bitched.



"It was only the one time," Laura said defensively. "I'm sure you'll never have to meet one. They're rarer than vampires, I bet."



"Let's for cripe's sake hope so. Cathie, is any of this looking familiar?"



"I only saw the house from the inside," she said apologetically. "I remember what the inside looked like... and the smell of the place. I remember that."



"Oh, it's that one." Laura pointed to a nondescript split-level on the end of the block. It was tan with dark-brown trim. The driveway and sidewalks had been neatly shoveled.



"It is?" Cathie whispered, leaning forward so that her head popped through the seat between us.



"How do you know? Cathie, does anything ring a bell?"



"Just the smell. How does she know?"



Laura sighed, a dreadful sound, and looked at the nice little split-level the way I would look at a child abuser. "Is it a black house? All black, even the sidewalks? Even the snow around it?"



"No," Cathie and I said in unison.



"It looks black to me," Laura said simply.