Lemons!

Olive rushed behind a large counter on the opposite side of the store front. She retrieves a lemon and two rusted nails.   "One way to find out." She points to Cory. "Hammer."   Cory leaps into action and retrieves a hammer.   When he returns he hands it over and Olive places the lemon at the center of the table saying, "Mavis, if you would."   Mavis takes the hammer as Cory places the nail at the center of the lemon. She lightly drives the nail in. Olive turns the lemon on the side, and mavis taps the second as well.   Immediately, there's a reaction. Toby feels a sense of panic. She jumps up from the table, shrieking. She backs away from the lemon as if the very smell is painful.   Cory springs forward, blocking the door and locking Toby in a firm but gentle embrace. "It's alright. Relax. It'll pass."   "Let me go." Toby begins whimpering, fear overcoming her senses as the adrenaline surges. Her heart races. Something is coming for her, full of rage and hate. The seconds pass and as they do… it never comes.   She shouts once more, "let me go, please. I have to get out of here."   Mavis tosses the hammer onto the table and the sound makes Toby jump.   Olive sighs. "Trust me, Toby. This is the safest place you can be right now."

Lemons! This yellow fruit is quite a useful plant for the Touched, or anyone for that matter. Let me tell you what is already known of this miraculous fruit before we get into… the weird stuff.   Lemons hail from Asia, a hybrid of sour oranges and citrons. Rich in vitamin C, the lemon also possesses astringent properties and antioxidants that make them useful for food preservation, disinfecting, and of course cooking. Fun fact, the lowly lemon is also considered a berry.   Their trees produce fruit year round, and can produce up to 600lbs of fruit in a year. They can live anywhere from 50 to 100 years depending on care, but they're picky. They prefer tropical and semitropical climates which most avoid due to the heat, inaccessibility, and sometimes wild nature of those parts of the world.

  Lemons are useful to the touched in particular, as well. When producing a potion or some other form of magical product, Lemons increase shelf life. Not just because of their physical properties but also because it is known they can, doubling their preservative qualities when used by the touched.   They are also useful in combating hexes and curses. It was once believed that if one carries a lemon in their pocket it would bring good fortune. This carried over into magic as carrying one can protect against forms of magic, but it's one time only. The lemon will be shriveled and dry when you retrieve it.     Following a common tradition, driving rusty nails through a lemon can end a curse. Again, it's one time only. Doing so will send the cursed into a panic as the curse is slowly worn away. It's one of the only ways to counter a curse, and can only be done by one of the touched.

Minutes felt like snail trails, long and slow as the illusion of agony slowly subsided. By the end, Toby was sweating, her eyes fixed on the lemon.   "There's that then." Olive laughs, "this just keeps getting better." She turns to Mavis, "How did you know?"   "Shelby Kent." Mavis smiles as if her answer explained everything. When the opposite is clear, she clarifies, "He used to live here. Ghosts don't just pop up. We're an isolated bundle of magical chaos and I haven't seen even one."   Toby stays quiet at first, but her curiosity slowly overwhelms her. "What just happened?"   "Oh, we nailed a lemon to the table." Olive replies.   "Don't be like that, Oli. she's terrified." Cory says, turning to Toby. "Someone cursed you. You're not the only touched in Boring."   "What kind of curse?"  

"I have no idea." Cory turns to Olive who shrugs and shakes her head.   Mavis speaks then, "Let's keep this between us. No need to alarm the others in town. I'll do some digging on the Intranet and see what cases I can find." Mavis then looks Toby in the eye. "You should stay here for a while."   Toby shakes her head. "I can't. I have to get to them. They're starving by this point."   "Have someone go with you and bring you back, then. Cory?"   Cory nods. "No problem. Let's go feed the zombies."   "Are you sure?" Toby asks. "It's not exactly glamorous."   Cory laughs. "Neither am I."