Ashes to Ashes

READING AND DRIVING IS SOME DANGEROUS SHIT, but so is a damn ghost, so it ain’t like I got a choice. I get my ass to the health food store as fast as I can, and I start grabbing whatever shit I see. I found a couple of other spells in the books, for protection. We have to take every precaution.

First thing I do is race home and put a chalk perimeter around my house. I grab Shep and throw him into my car, because he’s turned out to be a good guard dog, at least where Mary’s concerned. Thinking back, I realize that he always barked like crazy when Mary was around.

Then I go to Reeve’s. Thankfully, it’s pretty dark, so none of the neighbors can see me doing the outline around their place. Even the garage, just in case. I move fast, and a couple of times I think I hear a noise, and I jump, but it’s just the wind. I hope.

With Reeve, I want to do extra. I feel like I need to fortify his room, too.

Mrs. Tabatsky lets out a gasp when she sees me standing on her doorstep. “Kat!” She grabs me for a hug. “What are you doing here, honey?”

“Hi, Mrs. T. I’m here to see Reeve. Is he home?” I’m talking so fast, the words run together.

“Yes, yes. Come in,” she says, pulling me through the front door. She pats me on the butt. “Go on upstairs. I’ll bring up a snack.”

“Thanks, Mrs. T!” I scramble up the carpeted stairs, two at a time, my book bag bouncing against my shoulders. It feels so familiar. Even his house smells the same, like potpourri and casserole.

I’m heading toward the attic stairwell when a hand reaches out and closes around my wrist. It’s Tommy Tabatsky, in basketball shorts and no shirt. His body looks pretty good, too. I think all the Tabatsky boys were born with six-packs. The last time I saw him, he was making out with some random skank at the Greasy Spoon.

“What are you doing in my house, DeBrassio? You here to see me?”

I shake him off me like he’s a gnat. “Tommy, I don’t have time for this.”

I turn to leave, and Tommy says, “You know I got my own place now. You should come by sometime.” He winks at me, and I flip him off, and he laughs. “Same old Kat.”

Reeve’s door is slightly ajar, so I just barge in. He’s in bed with his laptop in his lap, no shirt. Do he and his brothers just never wear shirts? “What the hell!” he yelps. He jumps up and grabs a T-shirt.

Shutting the door behind me, I say, “Nice boxers.” I walk over to his desk and start opening his drawers.

“Quit snooping around my stuff! What are you even doing here? You dropped me off hours ago.”

I find an almost empty bottle of vodka and a bottle of whiskey in the bottom drawer. “You look like hell. You need to eat something, get some sleep.”

He puts a pillow over his head. “So then leave so I can sleep.”

“I’m about to, so shut up!” As I’m running around his room, I almost trip over an empty bottle of whiskey. I pick it up and shake it at him. “What, are you an alcoholic now? Are you trying to drink yourself to death?”

“That’s none of your business.” Reeve gets up and snatches the bottle out of my hand. His eyes are flat; there’s no light in them. He looks . . . hopeless. Who knows how long Mary’s been torturing him, but it has clearly taken a toll.

“Your mom said she was gonna make us a snack. Go get it.”

“God, you’re so bossy,” Reeve grumbles. But he goes.

As soon as he’s out the door, I unzip my book bag and grab the sea salt. Reeve has two windows, so I pour a stream along the sill of each one, and then I do his doorway. Next I get the sage bundle, light it up with my Zippo, and start waving it around. I hope I’m doing this right.

I’m smudging the shit out of the space around his bed when Reeve comes back with a tray. “Please don’t burn your goth girl incense in here,” he says, setting the tray down on the bed. “It gives me a headache.”

“It’s not incense. It’s sage. I’m clearing negative energy, you ignorant ape.” And with that, I run out the door.

“Hey! My mom just made you a snack!”

I’m burning rubber to White Haven. I call Lil, and she picks up on the first ring.

“Kat. What’s taking you so long!”

“I found a spell that’s supposed to protect our houses. I did mine, and I stopped by and did Reeve’s. We can do yours before we leave.”

“Thank God!”

“There’s one more thing. To do the most powerful binding spell, we both need to bring something that’s precious to us to sacrifice—as, like, an offering. I think we have to do it. We don’t know how strong Mary is, and I ain’t doing this twice.”

“So, like, the pearl necklace my dad gave me for my sweet sixteen?”

“No, you dummy! Nobody cares about your pearl necklace. You don’t even care about your pearl necklace.”

“What did you bring?”

“My Oberlin acceptance letter.”

She gasps. “Kat! No!”

“Mary knows how badly I want to go there. I’ll give it up for her.”

“Well, you don’t need the letter anyway. You can still go.”

“It’s what the letter represents. I ain’t going to Oberlin.” Damn, it hurts to say the words out loud.

“But you didn’t apply anywhere else! That means you’ll be stuck here for another half year at least.”

“I’ll figure something out. We can’t fuck around, Lil. Who knows how far Mary’s going to take this! Come up with something good. Be outside in five!”