Midnight Magic, page 98
“Sure.” I toss my backpack over my shoulder.
“Well, I know I’m not officially supposed to be here in this cemetery, but I am, and I don’t think I’m going anywhere soon. Do you think… Well, do you think you could make me a gravestone?” He looks up to meet my eyes with his one dark sad one and my heart tears in two. If he were alive, I just know we’d be best friends.
“Gods, yes,” I say moving forward, but stopping, realizing I can’t give him a hug like I’d just planned to do. He doesn’t seem to notice. “Of course I can.”
He looks as if he’s kicking some dirt with his shoe but it doesn’t actually do anything.
“Thank you,” he says with a smile. “It’s something I’ve always wanted.”
“I’m glad I can help.” My stomach growls again. “I’ll be back sometime this week, okay?”
He nods happily before waving as I take off.
“See ya!” I shout to him over my shoulder and hurry to the shop to meet Vance and Victor.
CHAPTER 11
It only took two more days before I was able to get to the book, find the page, and make sure it’s opened to where I needed it to be for Theodore to get the rest of the list and directions for me.
I actually had to do it in parts because the headmistress didn’t actually leave, she just kept stepping out of the office. I’m not sure if this is something she looks at or even knows is here, so I couldn’t mark the page—I feel like that would have been obvious if she looks at it frequently, so I just tried to remember how deep into the book it was since the pages aren’t numbered. The moment I got it opened, her footsteps alert me to her coming back so I hop up and pretend to dust the shelves for the third time today. Thankfully, it only took a few page swipes to find the one I needed, and then I shoved it back under the shelf and started to polish her trophies… again.
Last night, right after my success, I ran to the cemetery and asked Theodore to meet me here today, out back. I’ve already checked that the book is still in place, and it is. I took the chance of leaving it open all night so I wouldn’t have to rush to do it today.
Just as I’m glancing up at the clock to notice I have only five minutes left, she comes walking in with a large box and gently places it on her desk. Of course, of all nights, she keeps me here later to make up for all of the times she let me leave early.
“These will need to be polished before you go,” she says before taking a seat in the chair behind her desk. “And do it out there. I can’t have you distracting me.” She runs a hand over her large forehead before flicking her wrist towards the door.
I walk closer to the desk and glance inside the box, frowning.
“This will take me all night,” I say.
She glances up at me. “And what about all those times I let you off early? That’s how life works, and as I’ve said, this is your last chance to stay at this school, Miss Beauregard, so I suggest you do as you’re told.”
I bite my tongue and pick up the box, waddling into the other room like a damn penguin because it’s so heavy.
“And you better not drop that!”
I roll my eyes and mock her tone with a face that probably looks ridiculous. The box is placed on Wentzel’s desk since he wasn’t in today. I have a weird feeling I’d be scolded for putting them on the floor. Like that would matter; they’re in a damn box.
It only takes another hour to polish the ones in here and have them placed neatly back into the box. Walking back to her office, I knock on the frame to get her attention since the door is open. “I’m finished.”
She stands from her seat and walks over and past me, straight to the box. She picks one up and thoroughly inspects it before doing the same to a few more.
“You may go,” she says as she checks the underneath of a rather small trophy that looks like it was made for a child to play with.
“Thank you.”
I pick up my bag and rush out of the office, heading straight to the gardens, which is where I asked Theodore to meet me today. It’s dark out and I’m not worried about anyone seeing him at this point, though he did assure me he can control who sees him and when, but still… there are some powerful witches at this school, along with some who are sensitive to the “other side,” as they claim anyway. All I need is for someone in this place to see me talking to a ghost…
“You took a long time,” he says, appearing beside me. I don’t get startled this time and I think I’m getting used to him popping up.
“I’m sorry. The headmistress gave me extra things to do right when it was time to leave.”
“She’s not a nice lady.” He shakes his head, looking up at the tall building that looks more like a castle than a school.
“She’s just… yeah, you’re right. She’s not nice.”
I look around to make sure there is no one around before pulling out the list I have. When I’m sure we are alone, I show it to Theodore.
“This is what I have so far. It isn’t much, but I also need to make sure this is absolutely right so I don’t mess this up.”
“Oh, I’ll make sure. This needs to go smoothly.”
Theodore has asserted his agreeance to my plan many times. He firmly believes in giving people a taste of their own medicine. Me, on the other hand? I’ve had to keep talking myself into it. Even with the daily remarks and weekly trippings in class…
It’s not in my blood to be mean to people, but I just feel like I need to do this. Not just for me, but for anyone else who gets on their list of people who aren’t good enough.
He looks over the paper for a quick minute before asking, “Okay, where am I going?”
I rattle off the directions to him as best as I can while putting the list back into my bag. Even though he isn’t too far from the school, he said he’s never been here before. He doesn’t usually leave the cemetery at all, actually. Which makes me appreciate this even more. He’s totally out of his comfort zone and he’s doing it for me.
He nods again.
“Be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”
I huff out a laugh and he disappears.
I glance around again, not wanting to go too far, but knowing it’ll take him some time to get there. Spotting a bench beneath a cherry blossom tree, I place my bag down and sit.
When I first got to this school, I was so happy to see this garden. Gardening was one of the things my father and I did together, and it made me so happy to see how much pride and care the school put into theirs. But soon enough, even the happiness I felt in the garden, surrounded by the beauty of nature, wasn’t enough to carry over once I had to go back to reality. And now, it’s just like any other place in this school. It makes me miserable. These girls have literally sucked the life out of me and everything I enjoy.
Things are slowly getting better since I moved out, and I hope they’ll only get better after I get my revenge.
“Ingredients: one wishing crystal, one fully bloomed rose, one white candle, one scoop of dirt from—”
“Woah!” I say, holding my hands out. “Hold on, let me get my stuff.” I dig into my bag to pull out the paper and pen again. “That was much faster than I thought.”
“I like to be efficient.”
I look up and smile at him. “I appreciate it.”
I settle the paper on a book and start to write down what he said. “What was after white candle?”
“One scoop of dirt from the earth, and a hair of the mark.”
“Hair of the mark?” I ask, looking up at him with a frown.
He covers the side of his mouth with his hand to lean down and respond. “A hair of the girl you plan to make ugly.” He winks dramatically and I laugh while jotting it down.
“Okay, got that all. Heading back in there for the rest?”
He shakes his head before tapping the side of his head that is still whole. “I remember it all. Tis but an easy spell.”
“You’re sure?” I ask hesitantly.
“Quite sure.”
“Okay then, go ahead.”
He explains each step slowly enough for me to write down and even gives me the list of materials I need. When we’re done, I ask him to repeat every step to make sure I have it all right, when really I just want to see how good his memory is. He did, in fact, say he forgot his name, so I don’t feel bad not entirely trusting his memory, but he gets it all correct and I am impressed.
“Oh, and there was a small note on the bottom of the page. The spell must be cast under a full moon.”
My mouth drops open. “That’s in like a week? Maybe less?” We both look up to the moon that looks almost full at this point. Studying its phases was never my thing so I won’t know until I go look it up. “How am I going to do all of this by then?”
“You could wait until next month?”
“School will be done by the time the next one comes around… Or close to it anyway. No, this will have to be done on the upcoming one. I’ll make it work.” I get to my feet, determined to do this.
He smiles at me. “I enjoy your enthusiasm.”
I huff out a laugh. “Thank you for your help. Have you decided what kind of headstone you’d like?” I ask as I put everything back into my backpack.
“Yes, in fact, I have. I rather like my tree and I think something to hang on there will suffice.”
“That’s simple enough.”
We walk out of the garden, side by side, and when I head in the direction of home, he goes the opposite way back to his cemetery with a promise that I will make his marker for him right after I finish this spell.
It doesn’t take me long to get to the shop, but when I get there, I notice the closed sign is up, which is odd because they’re supposed to be open for another two hours. I glance through the window and see them both in there so I knock.
Vance looks in my direction and waves before walking over.
“What are you doing here?” he asks.
“I just left school.”
“Why so late? We thought you went home today.”
I step inside. “She held me later to polish her trophies.” I roll my eyes. “Why are you closing so early?”
“Heading home early. It’s slow and we thought we could have a nice dinner.”
I look from him to Victor. “Oh… well, if you want me to find something to do, I—”
“What? No. We want to have dinner with you too.”
“Are you sure I’m not imposing on anything?”
“Uh, yeah,” Victor says, giving me a strange look. “We’re sure.”
“We were just about to leave actually, I’m glad you showed up when you did.”
They grab their things, and we head out of the shop and into the car. We’re at their house in less than ten minutes.
CHAPTER 12
All of the ingredients are easy to find and I’m able to get them all the next day. The shop has most of them, and I brought it up over the nice dinner they made. The entire night I felt like I was bothering them, like maybe they wanted to have their own dinner together, but somehow it was messed up over me popping into the shop. I don’t think they were planning on going home, I think they were planning on going out to do something alone and I messed that up.
But after a few questions from Victor, who found it odd that one of my classes would require a wishing stone, he finally gave in and told me they have everything I need.
I can’t imagine them knowing anything about this spell in particular, so I wasn’t too worried about it, besides, I only needed three things from them. The wishing stone, a white candle, and a crystal jar, which they have waiting for me when I get out of detention.
Vance offers to give me a ride home when I get everything, to which I decline, but of course he doesn’t let me. Instead, he drags me out and drives me home, only to let me know him and Victor will be at the shop late doing inventory and I’m even more convinced I ruined their night last night.
I try not to worry about it as I get out of the car. I never used to feel like I was imposing on them before, why do I feel that way now? What is different?
Nothing, Adalaine. Absolutely nothing.
The only thing that’s different now is our ages. That’s it. We’re all still very much the same people, which I love. The more we spend time together, the more we all fit right back into place.
“See you later! Thanks for the ride,” I shout as I reach the door. Vance waves and takes off.
I head inside and up to my room to prepare for the spell. I fill the crystal jar up with water and drop the small white wishing crystal inside, secure the cap and leave it on my desk. Then I pull out the jar of dirt I grabbed on my way to the shop, and place that on my desk too. Next is the rose and I place it next to the candle, to allow it to dry out a little bit, which will make it easier to crush.
The last thing I need to do is get a hair from Elizabeth which will be easy enough to do tomorrow since she sits in front of me in History, one of the only classes that does not allow us to sit where we want. It’s like it was meant to be.
I pull out the paper with the spell written on it and look it over once again.
“Adalaine?”
“Holy owls!”I shout, bringing my hand to my chest as I set my eyes on Theodore. “What are you doing here?” I ask, looking around even though I know there is no one here. How does he know where I live? Should I be worried?
“There is something I need to tell you.” He stands in the open doorway, as if waiting for permission to step into my room which is kind of sweet.
“Okay,” I say. “Can you come in here in case my friends come home?” I ask. He nods and steps inside.
“I can, but they are still at the shop. It will be a while before they come here. They were busy.”
“What do you need to tell me?”
“Well, I went back to check the spell just to make sure I had it right. I had a feeling you were worried about my memory, so I just wanted to make sure that I did have it right.”
“And did you?” I ask, my concern growing, knowing I don’t have much time to prepare for this. There are only a few more days until the full moon.
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“Okay, then—”
“But,” he starts.
“But? But can’t be good.” I run a hand down my face. “What is it? Do I want to know? Is it bad?”
“Calm down. I got to thinking today while I was hanging out by my tree and something was bothering me, like a memory I had but couldn’t remember. That book, it is a book of the old witches.”
“Okay, what does that mean?”
“Mostly that it is old magic, and the spells have negative outcomes instead of positive. But then I really dug into my memory and I actually remembered what it was! When I first died, I remember going to visit my mother and when I saw her, she was performing a spell of her own from a very similar book. One thing I loved most about my mother, that most people did not like at all, was her need to speak out loud the thoughts she had in her head.” He points to his own head. “And I remember her saying, ‘Always check the fine print, Theodora, these witches are not kind.’ That made me realize I did not check the fine print at the bottom, so I went back.”
I groan. “And what did you find?”
“That spell is simple, you said it yourself. That it’s almost too good to be true. Well, there is a reason.”
“And what is that reason?” My impatience and nerves are mixing, making me feel sick.
“There is an ingredient it calls for that was not listed under the ingredients portion, but rather in the fine print.”
“Theodore, I’m trying really hard not to lose my patience here.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Virginity.”
My cheeks go warm, and my hand slowly slides down my face.
“Excuse me?”
“The spell calls for the virginity of the one performing it.” He shifts on his feet, avoiding my gaze.
I open my mouth and close it about a hundred times before I can finally form words.
“What?” Not that that word does anything for me. It doesn’t. I heard him loud and clear.
“The one performing the spell must give away their virginity, give away their purity atop the wishing crystal after it has been cleansed.”
I close my eyes and take in a deep breath.
“Thank you for telling me, Theodore. If you don’t mind, I’m tired and I’d like to go to bed.”
“Of course.” He nods, though he seems unsure, looking from me to the door. “I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah, of course.” I stand to open the door for him, but he just goes through it, popping a hand back through to wave goodbye.
I let out a long sigh as I plop onto my bed. How am I going to find someone to lose my virginity to in just three days? That’s nearly impossible for someone like me. Is it even worth it? Is giving up that part of me worth getting revenge?
“Gods, why!” I shout, slamming my hands on the bed until they’re sore. I growl out in frustration and kick my feet. I haven’t thrown a good tantrum in a long time, and it feels good.
I spend what feels like hours mulling everything over, trying to decide if I want to go through with this or not, and in the end, I decide I’m going to at least try.
It was my father’s dream for me to graduate from this school. He spent his life working to save money for me to attend and made sure it was entirely paid off before he passed so I wouldn’t have to worry about anything but my schoolwork. But I can’t survive another two years in this school with how things are going. Mentally, I cannot handle it.
Elizabeth needs a taste of her own medicine, and I’m going to give it to her because I’m convinced it’s the only thing that will get her off my back. And once she’s done tormenting me, the others will be too.
I have to do this, I have to.
CHAPTER 13
“Adalaine?”
I’m pulled from sleep at the sound of my name being called.
“Adalaine.”
