The Book of Spells (Private 0.50)

“We need eleven women,” Catherine said.

“We chose you out of all the girls at Billings to join us,” Theresa finally chimed in.

Bia, for the first time, stopped staring at the door. Lavender straightened up slightly.

Clever, Eliza thought. Make them feel special, make this feel exclusive, and they’ll be more likely to stay.

“If you think it’s safe, Theresa, that’s all I need to hear,” Jane said.

“What about you, Alice?” Clarissa said. “You haven’t said a word.”

Alice coughed, covering her hand with her fist. She was still trembling slightly, but having the attention focused on her seemed to bring back some of her spirit. “There are spells in the book for making a boy fall in love with you, spells for beauty, spells to make you more graceful. What if . . . what if they actually work?”

“If what you say is true, I would like to try this,” Genevieve said eagerly, reaching for another chocolate. “I would like to try this very much.”

“We have to perform a ritual,” Catherine said, gathering up a set of purple candles.

“A ritual?” Bia said, backing away. “Like a sacrifice? We’re not going to kill a bunny, are we? Oh, Viola, please don’t let them kill a bunny.”

“We’re not going to kill a bunny, Bia,” Viola said. Then she looked up at Catherine as she accepted her candle. “Right?”

“We’re not going to kill anything,” Eliza assured them, touching the locket at the base of her neck. “We’re simply going to light these candles and recite a few lines together.”

Once everyone had their candles in hand, Catherine looked at Eliza and nodded. “Eliza. You’ll do the honors?”

Eliza’s knees quaked beneath her as she picked up the nearest candle at the end of the candelabra on the floor and lit her own wick with its flame. Then she went around the circle and lit the other girls’ wicks. Suddenly the uncertainty of it all was excruciating. What if something went wrong? What if something happened to her? Or to one of the other girls?

By the time she reached Alice, her right hand was trembling, and she had to use her left hand to brace it. Finally, she took her place in the circle between Alice and Catherine, looking around at the faces of their chosen ones. Lavender’s serious expression had not changed. Bia looked as if she was about to faint, but Viola seemed resolute. Jane swallowed over and over again, her eyes transfixed on Theresa, while Clarissa continually scanned the room, as if she was making mental notes. Marilyn and Genevieve simply appeared intrigued.

“Here’s what we’re going to recite,” Theresa said, her voice confident and clear. “‘We come together to form this blessed circle, pure of heart, free of mind. From this night on we are bonded, we are sisters. We swear to honor this bond above all else. Blood to blood, ashes to ashes, sister to sister, we make this sacred vow.’”

Eliza clutched her candle as the group tentatively began to recite. Most of them spoke clearly and slowly, their voices mingling in the dark. Only Bia seemed to be whispering. Her eyes were closed as she furtively rushed through the words, as if she feared to speak and yet at the same time feared to stop speaking the words.

“Blood to blood, ashes to ashes, sister to sister,” Eliza said, holding her breath and looking around the room in anticipation. “We make this sacred vow.”

There was a brief moment of total silence, during which Eliza was certain they were all on a fool’s errand—that nothing could possibly come of this. And then a whipping wind tore through the windowless chamber. Bia screamed. Alice grabbed Eliza’s arm and buried her face in her shoulder. A few of the other girls gasped as every last one of the candles flickered out. The tiny room was plunged into complete darkness, and without the light of the candles, it seemed even colder than before. Just as quickly as it came, the wind died, leaving behind an unnatural stillness.

Terror flooded Eliza’s veins.

“I told you I told you I told you,” Alice whimpered into Eliza’s nightgown. Somewhere in the darkness, someone wept.

“Bia! Bia, are you all right?” Viola’s voice was strained with panic.

“God has come to drag us all to hell,” Alice whispered furtively. “We’re going to burn for this, Eliza. We’re going to—”

Suddenly, Eliza’s candle flickered to life. Then, one by one, tiny pinpricks of light illuminated the room once again. With each flame, a new face glowed. Alice’s tear-streaked cheeks. Theresa’s pale skin. Viola and Lavender on the floor next to Bia, who was just coming around. Jane and Clarissa huddled near the door. Marilyn and Genevieve standing just where they’d been. Catherine seemed not to have moved a muscle in all the mayhem.

Eliza looked around in wonder and saw her sentiment reflected in the eyes of her friends. None of the other candles along the walls had been relit. There were but eleven flames in the room.

“It worked,” Catherine said breathlessly. “We’re witches.”

Basic Spells

“What do we do now?” Alice said tremulously, gathering the folds of her nightgown in her hands.

“I think we should try a spell,” Eliza said. She handed her candle to Catherine and plucked the book of spells off the top of the trunk, opening it to a page near the front. “There are some basic ones in here that seem simple enough.”

“We’ll just try something small. Something harmless. Here. Give it to me.” Theresa reached for the book, but Eliza held onto it. Theresa tugged once, then looked at Eliza with an expression of shock. Apparently no one had ever failed to yield to her before.