Chapters (97)
- Cover
- Back Cover Text
- Praise
- Booklist
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Eighty-Eight
- Eighty-Nine
- Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
- Excerpt
“One day, I was looking for an old school paper I was going to use for a new assignment.” Her eyes locked on to the flame as if she were watching herself. “I was searching through some of my mother’s things. I went into her closet and through some boxes and found an old journal my mom had. I began reading it and learned that my dad was not my dad, that he used to beat my mom and she went out and had sex with some jerk she’d met at a bar. She didn’t even know his real name. She was going to have an abortion but tried to convince my dad that he was my father.” Janie exhaled. “I guess my dad found out that I was not his kid and that’s why he left. My mother doesn’t know that I know, or maybe she does, I don’t know, but it’s like this hateful thing between us and I’m not sure I can ever really love her like I should, you know?”
“That’s sad. You came so close to not even being born,” Nikki said.
An owl hooted in the quiet that followed until Marie said: “I’m getting cold. I want to get dressed.”
“Shh. Not yet.” Nikki took a half sheet of paper from her bag and set it before the candle. In the light they saw her neat printing but could not read it. “We need to make a circle, hold hands, and you must repeat the words I say exactly as I say them. This is serious. Do not say anything else. Repeat them together. Ready?”
The girls held hands, nodded, and Nikki began making strange sounds.
“Nema! Live morf su reviled tub… .”
Momentarily taken aback by the gibberish, Janie and Marie repeated the odd sounds in unison with Nikki until she ended with “…ni tra ohw rethaf rou!”
“What did we just say?” Janie asked.
“The Lord’s Prayer backward.”
“But why?” Marie asked.
“It gives us power from the nether regions.”
“The nether regions? Do you mean hell? Are we, like, witches?”
“No, it’s in the books I read. We’re almost bound. One more thing, give me your pointer finger on your left hand.”
Nikki reached into her bag. Something small glinted in the night and without warning, using a sewing needle, she pricked the tips of Marie’s and Janie’s fingers, then her own, drawing blood.
“That hurts! What’re you doing, Nikki?” Marie said.
“Don’t be a baby. Touch your bloody tips together with mine over the flame so our blood mingles.”
The girls pressed their fingers together. Their blood hissed as it dripped into the melted wax pooled atop the candle.