Alex tugged hopelessly at Janine’s arm, but she barely even noticed his attempts and ended up dragging him forward with her. “This isn’t workiiiiing,” Alex murmured.

He looked around for something, anything to use as a weapon—a rock, a broken branch, whatever. But the path was clear, and now Janine was halfway there. It was hard to tell in this light, but the woman seemed to be smiling.

In desperation, Alex fumbled in his pocket, coming out with a slightly bedraggled packet of Toasty Crackers With Peanut Butter. He opened it, plucked out one cracker sandwich, and threw it at the woman.

And to his surprise, the wave of darkness and chaos actually receded from where it landed. Alex blinked, but his surprise didn’t keep him from throwing another, and another. Everywhere the crackers landed, the darkness drew back, until it had vanished from the clearing. The woman gave him a dark and foreboding look, then disappeared. Janine sank limply to the ground.

Alex nodded. “Nothing weird about snacks.”