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  “No, no, it’s okay. I told you about it after all.” She sniffed and wiped her tears. “It’s good to have someone to talk to about it. You’re the only person I can talk to about it.”

  Carly gave her friend a hug.

  “Aw, my Care-bear.” They laughed, and Carly grinned at Abi’s old nickname for her from elementary school. “Anyway,” said Abi. “It seems like your Dad’s doing okay.”

  Carly nodded. “Yeah. I mean, he’s got Karen coming over tonight, so that’s something. They were splitsville there for a while. He never explained anything to me but I think he was just having a tough time with things. I know he feels getting close to Karen is like betraying Mom, but if he could get past that, I know he’d be a lot happier.”

  “Hmm,” Abigail’s eyebrows went up quizzically and she cocked her head in mock exaggeration of oh-no-you-di’n’t. “Did I just hear you give approval to the woman usurping your mother’s throne?”

  “Aw,” Carly waved that off. “I don’t think she wants to replace Mom or anything like that. I was stupid to think that way. I really think she cares about Dad. And ... she hasn’t had it all that easy herself.” She recalled the talk they’d had in the kitchen, when she told Carly about her dad beating her up after finding her boyfriend in her bedroom. Carly told Abi about how Karen had caught Ethan in her bedroom.

  “Wow, she didn’t tell?”

  “No, but she did urge me to tell him myself. Said she didn’t want to have to lie to him if she was asked.”

  Abi nodded. “That makes sense. Cool of her, though. Was Ethan totally freaked?”

  “He was worried. I’m sure Dad would have his head mounted for the living room if he knew, which is why I haven’t told him. Dad’s coming around to Ethan slowly, but something like that before they’ve really had much of a chance to get to know each other would set us back a bit.”

  “Yeah, Ethan six feet in his grave would set you back quite a bit.”

  Carly grinned and kicked the bed skirt up toward Abigail face. Abi closed the science book and leaned off the edge of the bed. “God, this is so boring.”

  “We’ve got to get it done. We only have a couple more days. If my dad let me stay tonight and we don’t have something to show for it ...”

  “Yeah, I just need a break. Want a Coke?”

  “Sure.”

  Abi pulled one of the cans out of cooler they’d been using for their experiment and handed it to Carly. They cracked open the cans and Carly felt the carbonation tickling her nose as she took a drink.

  “So,” Abigail said. “What do you think about the murders up at the keg party in Rainbow Falls?”

  Carly shook her head, swallowing a drink. “Terrible. From the sounds of it, it’s all pretty weird. Pretty damn scary thinking there’s some kind of murderer out wandering around in those woods though.” She shivered.

  “Eh, couldn’t have happened to better people if you ask me.” Abigail carefully set the soda down and folded her legs to sit Indian style on top of the bed.

  “Abi!”

  “Oh, come on, Carly. Raylee was all over Ethan at the last dance, hovering like a vulture over roadkill when she wasn’t buzzing in his ear. You remember—you were livid. I kept expecting him to swat her like a fly. She’s such a tramp. Was such a tramp. Another one of Sadie McSluttie’s hoard of hookers. Too bad Sadie wasn’t in that truck. The bitch.”

  Carly laughed, shaking her head. “Listen to you!” She laughed again and took a drink of her soda. “Good thing it’s just you and me in here, or the cops might think you were in on it.”

  Abi made her fingers do creepy crawly motions. “Yeah, that’s me. You know it. The Keg Party Killer. Anyway, you know you want Sadie just as dead as I do. And, you probably wanted Raylee to get hers too after the way she went after Ethan.”

  “Yeah, well Ethan is a handsome devil. He’s funny, smart, the best receiver Carson Lake has had in years. I can’t blame other girls for being interested in him.” Carly took another drink of her Coke. While she fully intended to be honest with that statement—really, she did have to expect that, and it was flattering because he had chosen her over them—she felt a bullet of darkness shoot through her gut at the thought of Sadie McBay’s challenge earlier today. Could Carly compete with all of that? Sadie may be a slut, but she did have it all. She could have been a movie star or a cover model. Carly couldn’t compare with Sadie. And Sadie sure as hell wouldn’t make Ethan wait for anything.

  One taste of me and he’d forget your name.

  Her eyes must have flashed a bit of that darkness because Abigail picked up on it right away. “Sadie’s a different story though, huh? Face it. You hate her.”

  “Well, she’s a rotten little bitch, but I still don’t want her dead.”

  “Maybe just an innocent little curse, then? How about making hair grow on her face, or make her grow a tail.” Abigail’s eye sparkled mischievously. The right side of her mouth curled up in a devilish grin. “How about making her implants explode—right in front of everyone! BAM!” Abi slapped her hands together.

  Carly shook her head and laughed. “Sure, Abi. No harm in that I suppose.” Carly rolled her eyes. “I swear you come up with some of the kookiest stuff sometimes, girl.”

  “Actually,” Abi said, “It came from something I read. Check these out.”

  Abigail rolled over on her bed. Her headboard had shelves in two compartments that closed on each end. She clicked the magnetic latch to open the door on the end closest to Carly. Inside were worn spines of numerous books, some of them old and tattered, fraying at the ends of the bindings, others were paperbacks with deep creases. They bore titles like A Treasury of Witchcraft, Ceremonial Magick and Evocation, Black and White Magic, Spells and Rites, The Satanic Bible.

  “Oh my God, Abi! The Satanic Bible? Girl, get this out of here right now! I can’t believe you’d read this, much less have it in your room.”

  “Relax, Carly, I’m not sacrificing goats or worshipping demons. I was just curious what it said. Most of it’s no more than a guide to hedonism. The rest of it’s pretty hokey.”

  “Ugh,” Carly leaned back onto the beanbag. “That is seriously disturbing. Spells and witchcraft? Good grief.” She shook her head. Carly’s pulse accelerated at the thought of her friend dabbling with forces beyond the physical world. Carly liked to believe there was a world beyond. A heaven maybe, or at least some kind of existence that was easier or better—relief after the long hard road of life. And she guessed she really just hoped that it was true more than believed it. But still, she felt in a way she couldn’t explain that something existed outside the realm of normal perception; the same way you know if a light is on when your eyes are closed, a sense of energy that can’t be seen or touched. Not knowing the nature of the energy, it probably wasn’t a good idea to try and bend it to your will. “Abi, you shouldn’t be messing with this stuff. That’s bad mojo. I’d get this crap out of your house as soon as possible. Like right now. And I’ll help you.”

  “Forget it,” Abi said. “I’ve read a lot about magick and the arcane arts. It’s not like in the movies where you just burn a candle and say a few words and a demon sprouts out of the ground and drinks your soul. There are disciplines, rites, and rituals. There’s alchemy, meditations, and prayers. Magick can be used for good or evil.”

  Carly removed Ceremonial Magick and Evocation from the shelf and flipped through it. Unease settled in the pit of her stomach as she replaced it, looking closely at her friend. They’d grown up together since Kindergarten, played Barbies and collected toy horses, even had a saga that went on for years between their groups of dolls that was as action packed and full of drama as any daytime soap opera. They’d journeyed through the awkward pre-teens and emerged into their teen years together, sharing books and embarrassing stories, like the first time Abi had her period in Miss May
es sixth grade class and had to run to the bathroom and wouldn’t come out until her mom came to get her. Carly had always stayed on the chaste and studious side, only partly seduced by the glamour of becoming a woman, while Abi had gone the other way, couldn’t care less about wearing make-up or dating boys (supposedly), and as a result took so much crap from people at school it was amazing she even showed up anymore.

  “Do your parents know you have this stuff?”

  “Ha. Carly, it’s a miracle if they even know I’m in the house most of the time.”

  Carly sat next to Abi on the bed. “So, when did you start reading all this stuff?”

  Abi shrugged. “Last summer I suppose.”

  “You never mentioned it.”

  “Well, I guess maybe you’d freak out, like you’re freaking out now. Sorry I brought it up.” Abi rolled her eyes, snatched the copy of Ceremonial Magick and Evocation from Carly’s hands and threw it in the bed cubby, locking it away.

  “Hey, I’m sorry. I just ... I don’t know, I guess it scares me a little.”

  “Power can be scary. You just have to learn to focus it. That’s what this stuff is about. But I need more. What I really need is someone who knows it to show me, someone I can apprentice with.”

  “Power? Apprentice? Okay, now I know you’ve been reading too much Harry Potter, girl.”

  Abi shrugged, rolling over in the bed, looking up at Carly. She smiled and spread her wild black locks of hair over the pillow, stretching. “So I guess that means you don’t want to go with me.”

  “To Hogwarts?”

  “No, bone head. To the witch’s house.”

  “The old house on Washington Hill? That witch?”

  “Is there another one?”

  Carly groaned. “Oh boy, now you’ve really lost it.” Carly reached over and rapped Abi’s head with her knuckles. “Mmm. Yep. All gone. I guess that doesn’t fare well for our science project.”

  “Seriously.”

  “No, seriously, Abi. We’ve got to get this project done.”

  Abi shrugged and sat up, a half-frown on her face, and Carly could tell she was really a little sad as she opened the Biology book and went back to the pages from which she’d been taking notes. Carly tried to empathize with Abi, and she guessed she could see where she was coming from—things weren’t going all that well for Abi, and for all the ribbing she took in school, she could see where her friend would be grasping at straws, looking for power in a powerless situation. She thought about how Sadie had talked down to Abi in front of their lockers this morning and the memory made her grit her teeth.

  Carly plopped on the beanbag and picked up her notes for planning their project backer boards. She took a drink of her Coke. “But really, I think Sadie McBay would look great with a tail.”

  They laughed and got back to work.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Ethan, Ryan, and Andy Cordina were having a helluva time at Shakee’s. The digital jukebox glowed from a shadowy corner, playing the songs they’d picked out. The lighting was dim and subdued, filtered through brown and red stained glass domes that hung over the rows of wooden tables. The scent of stale beer was barely overpowered by the smells of fresh pizza. They’d ordered two massive Super Meaties with everything and a pitcher of Mountain Dew. They had a pinball showdown on the Twilight Zone machine with Andy throwing the machine into ‘tilt’ one time, evoking a sharp yell from Hoss behind the counter. When it was Ethan’s turn to play, their number came up and he let his ball roll away because he was hungry enough to eat a horse trailer.

  Ryan and Andy grabbed the pizzas and took them to the table. Ethan poured the drinks. They had pretty much forgotten the whole episode with Lucas after practice. Ethan forgave Ryan for his faux pas telling Lucas that he’d slept at Carly’s, but the thought of it getting around still left him with a slug in his gut. Handling that would be tricky. He sure as hell didn’t want the news to get to Carly before he’d had a chance to tell her what happened. And he really didn’t want to have to tell her that he’d said anything at all ... but that was the best way to handle it.

  Andy had practically eaten half of one of the pizzas himself before Ethan finished his second piece.

  “Dude,” Ethan said, “save some for the rest of us.”

  “You guys are on your own,” Andy said with a full-mouth grin, chasing it down with some Dew.

  “Oh shit, check out who’s on the red carpet tonight,” Ryan said. He stopped chewing and was nodding at the front door. Andy didn’t even look, just shook a mountain of Parmesan cheese and red pepper onto his next piece.

  Sadie McBay and three of her friends walked in the front door of Shakee’s like the world had been waiting for this very moment.

  Ethan groaned.

  “Damn she’s hot,” Ryan said, staring.

  Ethan grunted. “And evil.”

  “All women are evil,” Andy said, lips smacking around his latest bite.

  “What the hell do you know about women?” Ryan said with a laugh.

  “Enough to know that they’re all evil.”

  Ryan rolled his eyes and nodded dubiously. Then he fixed his eyes on the sight of Sadie McBay. Even though it couldn’t have been any warmer than 30 degrees outside, she wore a dark gray skirt that ended just above her knees, and hugged the curve of her hips and ass like a second skin. She wore a sweater that likewise hugged her contours, from the flat plane of her abdomen to the jutting mounds of her breasts, perfectly sized for her figure—not so large she looked like she was going to tip over, but big enough you couldn’t help but notice. Her blonde hair swept over her shoulders and even from where they sat, the guys could see the sparkle of her green eyes, accentuated by her sweater. When she smiled and laughed to one of her friends, her teeth flashed, and the shine of her glossed lips was like the shimmer of water to a man dying of thirst.

  Ethan realized he hadn’t breathed for a minute. He frowned and looked down at his plate, starting back in on his latest piece of pizza, guilt prying with a cold spoon at a place just above his stomach. God bless Andy, he still hadn’t looked up from his meal.

  “Good God, man,” Ryan breathed. “It hurts to look at her. I mean, I can feel it in every part of my body. One part more than the rest.”

  “Dude, don’t even think about it. She’d chew you up and spit you out like old gum.”

  “That would be fine with me.”

  Andy said, “Can you pass me the Dew?”

  Ethan handed Andy the pitcher. He looked up again and studied the other three girls with Sadie—two of them he recognized from the cheerleading squad, but the third was one of the journalism students. None of them were ugly by any means, but they were so outshined by Sadie, it wasn’t important who they were. Just as Sadie liked it, no doubt. The girls placed their order and took their number card to a spot a few tables away. They didn’t seem to have noticed the guys yet. Ethan grabbed another piece of pizza and ate a third of it in one bite.

  “Anyway,” Ryan said, staring dreamily across the parlor, “that’s easy for you to say. You’ve already got a hot girlfriend. Me? I’ve got angst and serious back-up.”

  “You haven’t seen Tracy lately?”

  Ryan held up a hand and closed his eyes as if using some psychic power to destroy a memory. “Don’t speak her name, thank you.”

  Ethan smirked with one side of his mouth.

  At the end of his feast, Andy dropped the final bite-marked crust to his plate and wiped his lips with a napkin that came away tinged orange with pizza sauce and pepperoni grease. “Ahh,” he said. “Now that’s what I call a meal.”

  “Uh oh,” Ryan said.

  Ethan’s heart tripped. He finished his last few bites and then absently wiped his hand on a napkin. He couldn’t help looking up to see what was happening.

  A cute
redhead named Christine that Ethan recognized from the cheerleading squad had spotted them. She was leaning over to Sadie, pointing them out. The pizza he’d just eaten suddenly stirred like an enemy in his stomach, and a mild form of panic gripped him as Sadie’s eyes met his. One of her eyebrows went up in a sexy way that made Ethan’s heart race despite himself. He immediately tried to think of Carly ... of her soft features, her delicate laugh, the thrill of her touch, the way she’d felt pressed against him the other night. But all of that was dashed as Sadie said something to Christine conspiratorially.

  Sadie walked over to their table with a seductive sway. Christine followed her like a loyal dog. Sadie came to the end of their table, surveying the wreckage of their meal with a look of revulsion. Her eyes moved coldly over Andy, and as soon as disgust registered in her face, any hint of attraction that might have been working Ethan against his will was suddenly gone.

  “Did you leave any for your friends, you fat slob?”

  “No,” Andy said, “but I saved you a piece of crust. Oh wait, no, not this crust ... I mean the crust from the crotch of my underwear. Would you like me to dig it out for you?”

  Ethan chuckled and shook his head.

  Ryan spoke up. “You’ll have to forgive Andy. He hasn’t been laid in seventeen years. But me, on the other hand ... I’m an experienced hand, and I was just thinking that maybe you and I could—”

  Sadie looked down her nose at Ryan and zeroed in on him with loathing.

  “Did I speak to you?”

  His mouth snapped shut like a bear trap.

  Sadie came around the table where Ethan sat. He could smell the scent of her perfume, out of place in the pizza joint. She touched his shoulders with her slender fingers and began massaging him. A thrill rushed through him in spite of himself.

  Dear God give me the strength to walk away from this. Again he summoned the memory of Carly to his mind, and the thought of how pained she would be to even consider that he might have enjoyed any kind of attention from Sadie was enough to hurt his heart and spur him to escape the escalating situation. Ethan gently brushed her hands away, trying not to think about how the bare skin of her hand felt beneath his. He turned in his seat.