Beautiful Creatures

  We drove past the Stop & Steal. Boo was sitting by the stop sign at the corner. Waiting. He saw the hearse and loped slowly after the car. “We should just give that dog a ride already. He must be tired, following you around day and night.”

  Lena glanced in her rearview mirror. “He’d never get in.”

  I knew she was right. But as I turned back to look at him, I could have sworn he nodded.

  I spotted Link in the parking lot. He was wearing a blond wig and a blue sweater with a Wildcats patch sewn on it. He was even carrying pom-poms. He looked scary and sort of like his mom, actually. The basketball team had decided to dress up like Jackson cheerleaders this year. With everything else that had been going on, it had slipped my mind—at least that’s what I told myself. I was going to get a lot of crap for this, and Earl was just waiting for a reason to jump all over me. Since I had started hanging out with Lena, I had developed a hot hand on the court. Now I was starting center instead of Earl, who was not too happy about it.

  Lena swore there was nothing magic about it, at least not Caster magic. She came to one game and I made every shot. The drawback was, she was in my head throughout the game, asking me a thousand questions about foul shots and assists and the three-second rule. Turns out, she had never been to a game. It was worse than taking the Sisters to the County Fair. After that, she skipped the games. I could tell she was listening, though, when I played. I could feel her there.

  On the other hand, maybe she was the reason the cheer squad was having a tougher year than usual. Emily was having a hard time staying on top of the Wildcats pyramid, but I didn’t ask Lena about that.

  Today it was hard to pick out my teammates, until you got close enough to see the hairy legs and facial hair. Link caught up to us. He looked worse up close. He had tried to put on makeup, smeared pink lipstick and all. He hitched up his skirt, tugging on the straining pantyhose underneath.

  “You suck,” he said, pointing at me across a row of cars. “Where’s your costume?”

  “I’m sorry, man. I forgot.”

  “Bull. You just didn’t want to put all this crap on. I know you, Wate. You wussed out.”

  “I swear, I just forgot.”

  Lena smiled at Link. “I think you look great.”

  “I don’t know how you girls wear all this junk all over your face. It itches like hell.”

  Lena made a face. She almost never wore makeup; she didn’t have to. “You know, it’s not like we all sign a contract with Maybelline when we turn thirteen.”

  Link patted his wig and stuffed another sock down his sweater. “Tell that to Savannah.”

  We walked up the front steps, and Boo was sitting on the lawn, next to the flagpole. I almost asked how that dog could have possibly beaten us to school, but by now I knew not to bother.

  The halls were packed. It looked like half the school had skipped first period. The rest of the basketball team was hanging out in front of Link’s locker, also in drag, which was a big hit. Just not with me.

  “Where’re your pom-poms, Wate?” Emory shook one in my face. “What’s the matter? Those chicken legs a yours didn’t look good in the skirt?”

  Shawn pulled on his sweater. “I bet none a the girls on the squad would lend him a skirt.” A few of the guys laughed.

  Emory put his arm around me, leaning in toward me. “Was that it, Wate? Or is it Halloween every day, when you’re hookin’ up with a girl who lives in the Haunted Mansion?”

  I grabbed him by the back of his sweater. One of the socks in his bra fell down to the floor. “You want to do this now, Em?”

  He shrugged. “Your call. Bound to happen sooner or later.”

  Link stepped in between us. “Ladies, ladies. We’re here to cheer. And you don’t want to mess up that pretty face, Em.”

  Earl shook his head, pushing Emory down the hall in front of him. As usual, he didn’t say a word, but I knew the look.

  Once you go down that road, Wate, there’s no goin’ back.

  It seemed like the basketball team was the talk of the school, until I saw the real cheer squad. Turns out, my teammates weren’t the only ones who had come up with a group costume. Lena and I were on our way to English when we saw them.

  “Holy crap.” Link hit my arm with the back of his hand.

  “What?”

  They were marching down the hall single file. Emily, Savannah, Eden, and Charlotte, followed by every member of the Jackson Wildcats’ cheerleading squad. They were dressed exactly alike in ridiculously short black dresses, of course, pointy black boots, and tall, bent witches’ hats. But that wasn’t the worst part. Their long black wigs were curled into wild ringlets. And in black makeup, just below their right eyes were painstakingly drawn exaggerated crescent moons. Lena’s unmistakable birthmark. To complete the effect, they were carrying brooms, pretending to frantically sweep around people’s feet as they walked down the hall, in procession.

  Witches? On Halloween? How creative.

  I squeezed her hand. Her expression didn’t change, but I could feel her hand shaking.

  I’m sorry, Lena.

  If they only knew.

  I waited for the building to start shaking, the windows to blow out, something. But nothing happened. Lena just stood there, seething.

  The future generation of the DAR headed toward us. I decided to meet them halfway. “Where’s your costume, Emily? Did you forget it was Halloween?”

  Emily looked confused. Then she smiled at me, the sticky sweet smile of someone a little too proud of herself. “What are you talkin’ about, Ethan? Isn’t this what you’re into now?”

  “We were just tryin’ to make your girlfriend feel at home,” Savannah said, smacking her gum.

  Lena shot me a look.

  Ethan, stop. You’ll just make it worse for yourself.

  I don’t care.

  I can handle this.

  What happens to you happens to me.

  Link walked up beside me, yanking up his stockings. “Hey girls, I thought we were comin’ as bitches. Oh wait, that’s every day.”

  Lena smiled at Link in spite of herself.

  “You shut your mouth, Wesley Lincoln. I’m gonna tell your mamma that you’re hangin’ out with that freak, and she won’t let you outta your house till Christmas.”

  “You know what that thing on her face is, don’t you?” Emily smirked, pointing from Lena’s birthmark to the crescent she’d drawn on her cheek. “It’s called a witch’s mark.”

  “Did you look that up online last night? You’re an even bigger idiot than I thought.” I laughed.

  “You’re the idiot. You’re goin’ out with her.” I was turning red, which was the last thing I wanted to do. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have in front of the whole school, not to mention the fact that I had no idea if Lena and I were even going out. We had kissed once. And we were always together, in one way or another. But she wasn’t my girlfriend, at least I didn’t think she was, even though I thought I’d heard her say that at the Gathering. And what could I do, ask? Maybe it was one of those things that if you had to ask, the answer was probably no. There was some part of her that still seemed to be holding back from me, a part of her I just couldn’t reach.

  Emily jabbed me with the end of her broom. I could tell the whole “stake in the heart” concept would be attractive to her, just about now.

  “Emily, why don’t you all go jump out a window. See if you can fly. Or not.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I hope you enjoy yourselves sittin’ around the house together tonight, while the rest a the school is at Savannah’s party. This will be the last holiday she spends at Jackson.” Emily spun around and marched back down the hall toward her locker, Savannah and their minions trailing behind her.

  Link was joking around with Lena, trying to cheer her up, which wasn’t hard, considering how ridiculous he looked. Like I said, I could always count on Link.

  “They really hate me. It’s never going to get old, is it?”
Lena sighed.

  Link broke into a cheer, jumping around and waving his pom-poms. “They really hate you, yes they do. They hate everyone, how ’bout you?”

  “I’d be more worried if they liked you.” I leaned over and put my arm around her awkwardly, or tried to. She turned away, my hand barely brushing her shoulder. Great.

  Not here.

  Why not?

  You’re just making it worse for yourself.

  I’m a glutton for punishment.

  “Enough of the PDA.” Link elbowed me in the ribs. “You’re gonna make me start feelin’ bad for myself, now that I’ve doomed myself to another year without a date. We’re gonna be late for English, and I gotta take these pantyhose off on the way. I’m gettin’ a serious wedgie.”

  “I just have to stop at my locker and get my book,” Lena said. Her hair began to curl around her shoulders. I was suspicious, but I didn’t say anything.

  Emily, Savannah, Charlotte, and Eden were standing in front of their lockers, primping in front of the mirrors hanging inside the doors. Lena’s locker was only a little farther down the hall.

  “Just ignore them,” I said.

  Emily was rubbing her cheek with a Kleenex. The black moon-shaped mark was only smearing bigger and blacker, not coming off at all. “Charlotte, do you have any makeup remover?”

  “Sure.”

  Emily wiped her cheek a few more times. “This isn’t comin’ off. Savannah, I thought you said this stuff came off with soap and water.”

  “It does.”

  “Then why isn’t it comin’ off?” Emily slammed her locker door, annoyed.

  The drama got Link’s attention. “What are those four doin’ over there?”

  “Look’s like they’re having some kind of problem,” Lena said, leaning against her locker.

  Savannah tried to wipe the black moon off her own cheek. “Mine isn’t comin’ off, either.” The moon was now smeared across half her face. Savannah started digging around in her purse. “I have the pencil right here.”

  Emily pulled her purse out of her locker, searching through it. “Forget it. I have mine in my bag.”

  “What the—” Savannah pulled something out of her bag.

  “You used Sharpie?” Emily laughed.

  Savannah held the marker up in front of her. “Of course not. I have no idea how this got in here.”

  “You’re so lame. That will never come off before the party tonight.”

  “I can’t have this thing on my face all night. I’m goin’ dressed as a Greek Goddess, Aphrodite. This will completely ruin my costume.”

  “You should’ve been more careful.” Emily dug around in her little silver purse some more. She dumped her purse on the ground under her locker, lip gloss and nail polish bottles rolling around on the floor. “It has to be here.”

  “What are you talkin’ about?” Charlotte asked.

  “The makeup I used this mornin’, it’s not here.” By now, Emily was attracting an audience; people were stopping to see what was going on. A Sharpie rolled out of Emily’s purse into the middle of the hall.

  “You used Sharpie, too?”

  “Of course I didn’t!” Emily shrieked, rubbing her face frantically. But the black moon only grew bigger and blacker like the others. “What the hell is goin’ on?”

  “I know I have mine,” Charlotte said, turning the lock on her locker door. She opened the door and stood there for a few seconds, staring inside.

  “What is it?” Savannah demanded. Charlotte pulled her hand back out of her locker. She was holding a Sharpie.

  Link shook his pom-pom. “Cheerleaders rock!”

  I looked at Lena.

  Sharpie?

  A mischievous smile spread across her face.

  I thought you said you couldn’t control your powers.

  Beginner’s luck.

  By the end of the day, everyone at Jackson was talking about the cheer squad. Apparently, every one of the cheerleaders who dressed up as Lena had somehow used a Sharpie to draw the innocuous crescent moon on her face, instead of eyeliner. Cheerleaders. The jokes were endless.

  All of them would be walking around school and the rest of town, singing in the church youth choirs, and cheering at the games, with Sharpie on their cheeks for the next few days, until it faded away. Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Snow were going to have a fit.

  I just wished I could be there to see it.

  After school, I walked Lena back to her car, which was really just an excuse to try to hold her hand a little longer. The intense physical feelings I had when I touched her weren’t the deterrent you might have expected. No matter what it felt like, whether I was burning or blowing out light bulbs or getting struck by lightning, I had to be close to her. It was like eating, or breathing. I didn’t have a choice. And that was scarier than a month of Halloweens, and it was killing me.

  “What are you doing tonight?” As she spoke, she pulled her hand absentmindedly through her hair. She was sitting on the hood of the hearse and I was standing in front of her.

  “I thought maybe you’d come over, and we’d stay home and answer the door for trick-or-treaters. You can help me watch the lawn to make sure no one burns a cross on it.” I tried not to think too clearly about the rest of my plan, which involved Lena and our couch and old movies and Amma being gone for the night.

  “I can’t. It’s a High Holiday. I have relatives coming in from all over. Uncle M won’t let me out of the house for five minutes, not to mention the danger. I’d never open my door to strangers on a night of such Dark power.”

  “I never thought of it that way.” Until now.

  By the time I got home, Amma was getting ready to leave. She was boiling a chicken on the stove and mixing biscuit batter with her hands, “the only way any self-respectin’ woman makes her biscuits.” I looked at the pot suspiciously, wondering if this meal was going to make it to our dinner table or the Greats’.

  I pinched some dough, and she caught my hand.

  “P. U. R. L. O. I. N. E. R.” I smiled.

  “As in, keep your thievin’ hands off a my biscuits, Ethan Wate. I’ve got hungry people to feed.” Guess I wouldn’t be eating chicken and biscuits tonight.

  Amma always went home on Halloween. She said it was a special night at church, but my mom used to say it was just a good night for business. What better night to have your cards read than Halloween? You weren’t going to get quite the same crowd on Easter or Valentine’s Day.

  But in light of recent events, I wondered if there wasn’t another reason. Maybe it was a good night for reading chicken bones in the graveyard, too. I couldn’t ask, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I missed Amma, missed talking to her, missed trusting her. If she felt the difference, she didn’t let on. Maybe she just thought I was growing up, or maybe I was.

  “You goin’ to that party over at the Snows’?”

  “No, I’m just gonna stay home this year.”

  She raised an eyebrow, but she wasn’t going to ask. She already knew why I wasn’t going. “You make your bed, you better be ready to lie in it.”

  I didn’t say anything. I knew better. She wasn’t expecting a response.

  “I’m fixin’ to go in a few minutes. You answer the door for those young’uns when they come around. Your daddy’s busy workin’.” Like my dad was going to come out of his self-imposed exile to answer the door for trick-or-treaters.

  “Sure.”

  The bags of candy were in the hall. I ripped them open and turned them over into a big glass bowl. I couldn’t get Lena’s words out of my head. A night of such Dark power. I remembered Ridley standing in front of her car, outside the Stop & Steal, all sticky sweet smiles and legs. Obviously, identifying Dark forces wasn’t one of my talents, or deciding who you should and shouldn’t open your front door for. Like I said, when the girl you couldn’t stop thinking about was a Caster, Halloween took on a whole new meaning. I looked at the bowl of candy in my hands. Then I opened the front door, put
the bowl out on the porch, and went back inside.

  As I settled in to watch The Shining, I found myself missing Lena. I let my mind wander, because it usually found a way of wandering over to wherever she was, but she wasn’t there. I fell asleep on the couch waiting for her to dream me, or something.

  A knock at the door startled me. I looked at my watch. It was nearly ten, too late for trick-or-treaters.

  “Amma?”

  No answer. I heard knocking again.

  “Is that you?”

  The den was dark, and only the light of the TV was flickering. It was the moment in The Shining when the dad chops down the hotel room door with his bloody axe to bludgeon his family. Not a great moment for answering any door, especially on Halloween. Another knock.

  “Link?” I clicked off the TV and looked around for something to pick up, but there was nothing. I picked up an old game console, lying on the floor in a pile of video games. It wasn’t a baseball bat, but some decently solid old-school Japanese technology. It had to weigh at least five pounds. I raised it over my head and took a step closer to the wall separating the den from the front hall. Another step, and I moved the lace curtain covering the glass-paned door, just a millimeter.

  In the darkness of the unlit porch, I couldn’t see her face. But I would recognize that old beige van, still running in the street in front of my house, anywhere. “Desert Sand,” she used to say. It was Link’s mom, holding a plate of brownies. I was still carrying the console. If Link saw me, he’d never let me live this down.

  “Just a minute, Mrs. Lincoln.” I flipped on the porch light, and unbolted the front door. But when I tried to pull it open, the door jammed. I checked the lock again, and it was still bolted, even though I had just unbolted it.

  “Ethan?”

  I unbolted the lock again. It bolted shut with a snap, before I could take my hand away from it. “Mrs. Lincoln, I’m sorry, my door seems to be stuck.” I rattled the door with all my weight, juggling the console. Something fell to the floor in front of me. I stopped to pick it up. Garlic, wrapped in one of Amma’s handkerchiefs. If I had to guess, there was one over every door and every windowsill. Amma’s little Halloween tradition.