For Girls Who Walk through Fire by Kim DeRose

Author:Kim DeRose [DeRose, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Published: 2023-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Madeline

“No.” Madeline stopped Chloe as she arranged the ring of purple candles. “The circle needs to be perfectly symmetrical, and the candles equally spaced.” Why was it that no one else ever seemed to take things as seriously as her?

“I’m pretty sure that’s not written anywhere in the spell,” Chloe defended.

“Now what?” Madeline asked, adjusting the candles herself. She had no patience for imperfection—not tonight of all nights.

“Hey,” said Bea, in a gentle tone. “I think you might be feeling a little stressed-out being so near your target.”

“Yeah,” agreed Elliott. “Which is totally understandable. But maybe you should take a deep breath before we keep going.”

Madeline started to argue, then realized Bea and Elliott were dead-on. She was so tensed up, her shoulders were practically near her ears.

“How about you breathe with me?” Chloe suggested.

Madeline nodded, then inhaled in time with Chloe, holding her breath a few seconds before slowly exhaling.

“Better?” Elliott asked.

“Yeah. A little, actually,” she admitted. “Thanks.”

“Okay.” Elliott nodded. “ ‘Now place the thirteen silver needles into the object of importance,’ ” she read. “ ‘And then bind it with the silver cord.’ ”

Madeline grabbed the pack of sewing needles and, one by one, stabbed them into the teddy bear, particularly focusing on its button eyes and insidious smile. Stupid bear. Why had she ever thought it was so sweet to receive a ratty old childhood souvenir as a nine-month anniversary present?

Taking the silver necklace chain, she wound it round and round the bear’s throat, pulling it tight until it looked like the bear was choking. How many times had she fantasized about doing this very thing to Derrick? Or scooping out his eyeballs with a tablespoon? Or forcing him to eat a pile of dog crap? There were a million ways she’d imagined torturing him. Sometimes it involved making his friends and family watch.

“ ‘Then place the object of importance in the center of the ring of candles,’ ” Elliott instructed. “ ‘And sprinkle the snakeskin ashes over it in a spiral.’ ”

Madeline placed the bear in the circle’s center, then took the baggie from Chloe and sprinkled the ashes over the bear, feeling the grit of them between her fingers.

Sometimes she’d fantasized about burning down his house. How easy would it be to just sneak in at night while he was sleeping—she still knew the alarm code—leave a lit candle near his bedroom drapes, remove the smoke detector from above his door, and sneak back out? She could be in and out in five minutes flat, and no one would even notice. Of course, in this fantasy he always perished. And would it really be a loss? Did the world really need one more good-looking, college-bound, athletic, self-centered a-hole who’d just go on to ruin more girls’ lives?

“And now,” Elliott announced, setting the open book before Madeline, “you cast your spell.”

Madeline straightened her spine and extended her right hand over the book. It wouldn’t take much to channel her rage—it was right there beneath the surface

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