FOURTEEN: A Touch of Magic - Pt. 1

Friday night had finally arrived—the night of the Halloween dance, the night we had been waiting for—and I was standing in my bedroom, staring down at a giant pentagram drawn on my floor with salt.

Thursday afternoon had been a whirlwind. After we had left the hotel, Lana and I had gone shopping for our costumes. I had decided I would dress as a mermaid, pairing a sea foam dress with a seashell-studded headband.  Lana, meanwhile, had plucked a slinky red dress off the rack, which she paired with Devil horns from the Halloween shop. It was not the most original costume in the world, but she had been so excited—her eyes alight as she had spun in front of the dressing room mirror—that I couldn't deny her of her fun.

When we got home from our shopping adventure, we locked ourselves away in my bedroom, brainstorming our next move. We spoke for hours, trying to come up with a solution to our Billy-and-mystery-girl problem. We worked through each plan, following them to their conclusions, and created a ton of paper ball waste, until we finally came up with something that was so incredibly insane that it just might work... but also something so insane that I couldn't believe we might actually have to do it.

I crossed my fingers on Friday, hoping Billy would decide on his own to skip his volunteer work for one day and just take Lana to the dance. But when he still hadn't asked by seventh period, I knew that we'd have to enact our crazy back up plan. So I sent a quick text to Peter Thatcher, asking for a favor.  And although he voiced some concerns regarding my request, he delivered.

And now I was standing in my bedroom, the dance just a few hours away, staring at a salt pentagram as Lana lit candles at each point.

"You're sure this is okay?" I asked Lana as she set the last candle into place.

She blew out a match and sent me a look. "You know I'm not sure," she said. "But I've worked with loopholes for millennia, and I think this will be all right." She pointed to the plastic bag lying crumpled on my bed. "Is that the shirt?"

I nodded, passing her the bag. Peter had shoved it at me as if it were on fire in the parking lot after school. His face had displayed a jarring amount of expressions, including both confusion and a bit of I-don't-want-to-know-what-this-is-for. Inside the bag was Billy's sweaty gym shirt; Peter had nabbed it for me when Billy's back was turned in the locker room, before he could toss it away in his locker.

Lana took the shirt out and dropped it into the middle of the pentagram. She surveyed her work, adjusted a single candle, and smiled, pleased.

"Okay," she said, rubbing her hands. "Let's do this."

I nodded, my mouth suddenly dry. "Okay."

Lana must have seen the nerves rippling over my face because she came over and gave me a hug. "You'll do great. It's not that hard, promise."

Easy for you to say. "Okay," I repeated.

Lana took my hands in hers, interlocking her fingers with mine. Her hands were warm and reassuring, but I still trembled from her touch.

The Devil closed her eyes, and suddenly I felt a rush run through my arms, like a river had been unleashed into my veins. Lana's magic flowed through me, filling me with something odd and warm and buzzing and fast. And then, just like that, the rush ended, so suddenly that I let go of her and stumbled backwards, nearly falling onto my bed.

It was done. All of Lana's power was now mine.

My arms crackled oddly, as if lightning was dancing across my skin. "Do you always feel like you're going to catch on fire?" I asked, concerned by the sensation.

"That should wear off soon," Lana said, brushing my worry to the side. She then looked down at her own hands. "Huh, so this is what it's like to actually feel human." She shook her limbs out. "Kind of... empty. But also... lighter? Very weird."

She then pointed to the pentagram and the shirt in the center. "All right. You should know what to do next."

"I don't think I do," I said.

I could tell she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "You have my powers now. Magic is like an instinct. It's innate. The symbols in the pentagram, and Billy's sweat on his shirt, will help guide you. You just need to focus on your goal and do it."

I was about to disagree with her—this was just so foreign to me—but now I could feel her magic settling in a little deeper, taking root in my muscles, bones, and nerves, re-wiring my senses. I did know what to do.

I closed my eyes, focusing on Billy's shirt. My fingers twitched, and suddenly, I could feel what Lana had been talking about before: about the tender threads she had woven through this town, and the way people danced around, like little puppets with a trailing string. I sorted through the threads that flowed from Billy's shirt, each one a connection to someone in his life. Finally, I found the one that led to this girl. I couldn't see her face, but I could feel her energy, feel the soul this thread hooked into. And then, I started to tweak things.

When I was done, I opened my eyes. Lana looked at me expectantly. "Did it work?"

"I think so... I guess we'll see tonight." I looked down at my hands. "This is so weird."

"You're doing great," Lana said reassuringly. "Now that you have my powers, we don't have to worry about me going too far. I just get to be a normal, teenage girl for a night, trying to win a guy's heart." She smiled widely. "It's the perfect plan."

Except for that one little thing... I thought, thinking about the t-shirt. "And tomorrow," I clarified, "everything goes back to normal?"

"Yep," Lana said with a nod. "When I head back to the Underworld, my magic will come with me. Everyone will forget I ever existed. It will be as if the past few days didn't happen. So everything that happens tonight is temporary—except to me." She smiled. "If tonight with Billy goes well, I'll have the memory forever."

She reached out and suddenly took my hands in hers. "Thank you," she said, "for doing this for me. I know it's not a conventional deal. And I know who I am, and that it probably wasn't easy for you to agree to help me. But I will always appreciate you for taking a chance on me. I just... I feel..." She struggled for the right word.

"Happy?" I wagered.

"Loved," she said, looking me straight in the eye. "I don't... know if it's because I don't have my powers right now. Maybe it actually does make me a little more like a human, a little more emotional. But just knowing you're doing this for me, it makes me feel that maybe I am worthy of love." She pulled me into a hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

I couldn't help it; I squeezed her back, her joy infectious. "You're welcome, Lana."

A few hours later, once we were dressed and ready to go, my mother insisted on taking some pictures of us in the living room.

"You both look gorgeous!" she said.

"Don't do anything stupid," my dad said, giving me a look as if I hadn't been an uncharacteristically good daughter for the past seventeen years.

Thankfully, the chaos was cut short when Alex arrived in his car. He stepped outside to greet my parents—I could see my dad give him a harder than usual handshake. Mallory, meanwhile, mimed kissy faces at us from behind my parents' backs. But soon Lana and I were calling our goodbyes as we piled into the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Hey," I said, my eyes immediately falling to Alex's tie. It was patterned with sea stars, and the green color complimented his dark skin. "Nice tie! Where did you get that on such short notice?"

He grinned. "My dad's a biology teacher at the middle school. I got lucky searching through his collection. Unfortunately he didn't have anything with mermaids, but I thought it was close enough." He looked at me, taking in my dress and the seashells threaded through my hair. "You look great."

I felt a little heat on my cheeks. "Thanks."

He glanced at Lana through his rearview mirror. "You do too, Lana."

"Thanks Alex," she said, but her eyes were focused outside the window on the houses that swept by. I could feel her excitement in a literal sense; her magic living in my skin seemed to pulse with her pounding heart.

We had decided to carpool with Taylor, so our next stop was her house. When we pulled into her driveway, I sent her a quick text: We're here!

I expected her to immediately rush out the front door with Clarissa in tow, but her door remained firmly shut. And then she sent me a response: Can you come inside for a moment? Just you?

I frowned at the text. Something was up.

"Hey, I need to run inside quickly," I said, unbuckling myself and sliding out of the front seat. "But I'll be right back."

"Be quick!" Lana said impatiently.

I batted her concern to the side and ran up the porch steps.

I expected Taylor to be in her room, maybe rushing to put on the last dabs of makeup on or needing a third pair of eyes to let her know she looked all right. Instead, I found her pacing in the front hallway.

"Hey!" I said, taking in her costume: she was wearing a slick black jumpsuit and a pair of cat ears. Her eyes were darkened with glittery black eye shadow. "Wow. You look amazing." Then, catching her nervous energy, I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know where Clarissa is," she said. "I haven't heard from her since like 2pm. We were coordinating our costumes and she said she was doing a last minute run to the costume shop to grab a witch's hat and that was the last I heard from her. I've been texting her and no response. I've called her like five times—her phone just goes to voicemail. She hasn't posted on Facebook or the forum since then, and I've been watching the news to see if there has been a car accident or something because I'm worried she's dead or... or maybe I've been too pushy about this relationship thing and now she's avoiding me?"

I watched Taylor's eyes start to tear up and I had to interject.

"No," I said. "There's no way that's the issue. She was just talking with you a few hours ago and it sounds like she was onboard with everything, so it can't be that. Maybe she misplaced her phone? Or... or maybe she has some family emergency going on right now that she's dealing with." I looked at my best friend. "I know it's not you."

She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Well if it's not me... then what the hell is going on? I'm really worried." She looked away from me. "Maybe I shouldn't go to the dance."

"That's not going to make her text you back quicker," I said.

"I know. I just... I don't know how I'll feel out all night not knowing what's going on with her."

I reached out an arm, wanting desperately to console her, wanting her to feel better and come to the dance because it was going to be fun and Lana would be vanishing at midnight and when she was finally gone I wanted my best friend with me dancing the night away. "Taylor," I started, but before I could finish my sentence, I felt a little bit of Lana's magic slip, darting out my hand and into my friend.

I jerked my hand away, realizing what had happened a moment too late. I looked at Taylor's face and watched as the concern marring her features melted away, falling to the side like wax on a burning candle.

"You're right, Jessa," she said, her voice suddenly light and airy, all panic and worry gone. "Clarissa can just meet us at the dance once her emergency is dealt with. Waiting for her here isn't going to help anyone."

"Ahh..." I said, struggling to piece together words.

Taylor leaned forward now, giving me a quick, tight hug. "Thank you, Jessa. You always know what to say. Now give me one second—need to grab my bag."

As she darted up the staircase, I stared at her back numbly, and then looked down at my hands. "Behave," I hissed. "You need to stay put." But the magic didn't respond to my admonishments.

Taylor returned a few seconds later, and within minutes we had joined everyone else in the car. I pulled out my phone and drafted a text to Lana: Your magic darted out of me into Taylor all on its own...

But after staring at the text for a few seconds, I found that I couldn't hit "send." Because all around me, the mood was light and people were laughing. Alex had cranked the music in the car. Lana was fixing her makeup in a compact mirror. And Taylor was singing along to the music: off-key, but bright and happy.

I couldn't help but notice that I, too, was happy. And as much as I didn't want to admit it, part of that was because Clarissa was missing in action. It meant I got my friend all to myself.

Perhaps the magic hadn't acted against my will after all.

You need to be careful, I thought to myself, rubbing my hands on my thighs. You're messing with things you shouldn't be messing with. Lana might be in the clear from tonight, but you're not.

I pressed my head to the car window. This was going to be a long night.

- - -

I absolutely love these next few scenes. Get excited for all the stuff that's about to happen ;) Also, is it just me, or does anyone else love Halloween? I totally wish my high school had a Halloween dance. ~Bdicoccco