The Dead Girls Club - Damien Angelica Walters Page 0,38

stories.”

“What?” Rachel said, and at the same time Gia said, “What do you mean?”

“There’s a ritual we could do,” Becca said.

“Like looking in a mirror and saying Bloody Mary three times?” I said. Everyone knew that didn’t work. Nothing like that did.

Becca’s nostrils flared. “Sort of. But you don’t need a mirror.”

“A séance?” Gia said. “Or light as a feather, stiff as a board?”

“Nope, it’s way better,” Becca said.

I wanted to remind them that when we’d done the séance last summer, Becca had blown out the candles and pretended it was the spirits, even though we all saw her do it. And when we tried light as a feather, stiff as a board, we dropped Gia and she hit her head.

“What do we have to do?” Rachel said.

“A bunch of stuff. And if it works, the Red Lady will step out of the shadows and show you her face.”

“Then what?” Gia said.

“That’s it. She isn’t going to do anything, not if you’re not doing anything wrong. You get to see her and then she goes away.”

“Are you sure?” Rachel said.

“Positive.”

“So when can we try it?” Gia said.

“How about Saturday?” Becca said. “We’ll do it at the house.”

“But I won’t be here, remember?” Gia said. “We’re leaving for Ocean City on Friday and won’t be back until next Friday. You know that. I told you.”

Rachel groaned. “Gi-a.”

“It’s not my fault you forgot.”

“We’ll wait for you,” Becca said. “The Red Lady isn’t going anywhere.”

* * *

My mom was out running errands when we got back to my house. I put on MTV, but I was the only one watching. Everyone else started talking about what body part they’d give up if they needed to ask the Red Lady for help. I said I wouldn’t give up anything.

Then Becca said, “What if your parents were killed and the person got away with it?”

“I don’t even want to think about that,” I said, glaring at her. But even then I wouldn’t ask the Red Lady for help. Not that she was real, anyway, because she wasn’t.

“I would give up my boobs,” Gia said. “Nobody would have to die either.”

“You can give them to me,” Becca said, making grabby hands.

Gia squealed, and the two of them ran around like we did when we were little. We’d pretend our hands were poison, and if you got touched you had to act like you were dying: grabbing your throat, flopping down, gasping for air.

“Yeah, but what if?” Gia said.

“La-la-la, I can’t hear you,” I said, covering my ears.

Becca yanked one wrist and Gia the other. I squirmed away.

“You have to tell,” Becca said. “What would you give up?”

Rachel stood in front of me and pointed one finger. “Eyes, fingers, or toes? Or boobs,” she said with a giggle.

“Toes,” I said.

“What about your hair?” Becca said. She was smiling, but it was funny. Not happy; kind of mean.

“Sure,” I said. “My hair, then.”

“I mean all of it,” Becca said. “And it would never ever grow back again.”

“Like bald?”

“Yes,” Becca said.

“No way,” I said.

“I thought you wanted to cut it off,” Rachel said. “Becca said you did.”

“I want to cut it short, not all off.”

“Nope,” Becca said. “You said cut it all off.”

“I meant cut it shorter, to my shoulders, not all off,” I said.

“That isn’t short,” Rachel said.

“It is for me.”

“We could do it,” Becca said, her voice quiet.

“What?” I said.

“Cut it. It would be fun.”

I grabbed my braid. “Uh-uh. My mom would kill me.”

“It’s your hair,” Rachel said.

“I know, but it’s too thick. It won’t look right.”

“We could cut it so short it wouldn’t matter,” Becca said. Her mouth was too open, her teeth too big, like she was ready to bite.

My stomach clenched. I knew they really wouldn’t do it, but their faces said they would if I let them. Maybe even if I didn’t.

Ignoring them, I plopped on my back on the floor between the coffee table and television, my head propped up with a throw pillow. I craned my neck and saw a faded yellow butterfly on the underside of the table. A crayon ghost, drawn by a smaller girl. I always forgot it was there. It made me kind of sad, made me think one day it would fade away to nothing, and by then I wouldn’t remember it had ever been there at all.

Becca flopped down beside me but didn’t say anything. Gia and Rachel did the same on her other side. When my mom got home, we were still not really