though I’d gotten my shit together, fetched real supplies and banished the spirit from his bedroom, saving him from future attacks by beings of Lower World.
“Anyway, let’s get started.” While Laura cleared the bed, I opened my backpack. If we were going to pull off the real thing, we needed plenty of supplies. Real supplies. Not the multi-colored beads and tarot cards from the local magic shop I used for show. The truth was, I never did any real magic when we conned someone. You don’t have to cast a spell to get your best friend to stop levitating a mechanical pencil.
“So,” Laura said, spreading a towel across the bed. “What exactly do we do here?” She hopped up and sat cross-legged facing me.
I sprinkled the crushed sage—for healing—between us, its light piney scent tickling my nose. “I’m not one hundred percent on this. Mom told me about it, but we never practiced. Said it wasn’t necessary.” I rolled my eyes, then immediately felt bad about being ungrateful. “Anyway, this spell should be straightforward. Mom said it was pretty beginner stuff.”
“Well, that would be you and me, my friend, so I hope you’re right.”
After placing the blue candle for protection in the center, I brought out matches and lit the wick. As soon as the flame sparked to life, the blood in my veins began to tingle. Power filled the room, and I heard Laura let out a light sigh. My skin prickled, and the green of Laura’s comforter became more vivid, more green, like the world had gone from standard-def to HD. I could hear my heart thumping as if it were inside my eardrums instead of inside my chest. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. It was as if I were more alive than I normal.
“This reminds me of how…” I sighed and stared hard at the blue wax dripping down the side of the candle. “It reminds me of how the house used to feel every time Mom was home, especially after she’d been on a case. Like she still had shaman magic in her hair or something.”
“Stop it,” Laura said. “I’m not going to let you go down that path right now, not when we have to cast a rune neither of us has ever done before. No fear, no sadness, remember? That’s our motto when doing this stuff.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Safety first. No fear, no sadness, no strong emotions.” I repeated the words in my head and smiled at Laura. “What would I do without you?”
“For one thing, you wouldn’t have anyone to discuss the pros and cons of superhero secret identities with.”
I flipped open the rune book, the pages crackling between my fingers, and shook my head. “I still say Bruce Wayne is the secret identity and Batman is the real man.”
“But he has to put on a costume to be Batman.”
“Who’s to say that your t-shirt and jeans aren’t a costume? You could be using them to pretend you’re a normal girl, in order to hide the shaman underneath.” I glanced at the clock. “Anyway, as tempted as I am to get into this argument again, let’s get going on this or we’ll be late.”
I found the right page in the book, cut a piece of parchment from the notebook and began to draw the rune in broad, black marks. Two vertical lines with a big X between them. After I placed the parchment on the sage leaves, I met Laura’s eyes. It was time for my least favorite part—the knife. My skin stung when I pricked my thumb, drawing an instant pool of blood. Quickly, I handed the knife to Laura and she did the same.
“According to my mom, we have to mix our blood. That’s how the magic binds us together.”
“Okay, kind of weird,” Laura said, holding out her hand. “But it makes sense.”
I reached over the flame and pressed my thumb against hers, squeezing tight so our blood would mingle, binding us and our magic as one. Then, we each placed a thumb on the parchment, directly over the black marks I’d drawn. Red spread in random patterns across the paper.
“Do you think your dad is snoozing in his recliner?” I asked. “We have to do the song.”
“Is it a weekday afternoon?” Laura nibbled on a fingernail and glanced at her bedroom door like she wanted to check.
“If he hears us, then we can just say we were watching a wonky video on YouTube.”
“Okay,” Laura said, pulling her eyes away from the door.