Erin clenched her teeth as Matilda twitched at the near mention of his name. “He, what he’s done to me is fucking creepy, and I know it is but I just can’t stop thinking about him and being with him. I feel sick because I can’t see him and I don’t know what he’s doing right now. It took me forever to realize what was happening, and I want me back and Katrina does, too, plus I’m worried that he could do this to someone else.”
The blood rushed from Matilda’s face, and she felt as though there wasn’t enough air in the room for both of them.
“Are you going to faint again?” asked Erin. Matilda closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh, whoa. Do you think he put this shit on you, too?”
Matilda’s eyes flicked open and she glared at Erin. “Stop talking.”
“Sorry, just, if he—”
“I said, stop talking.”
Erin swallowed and looked around the room, waiting for the storm that was raging in Matilda’s eyes to pass.
“Look, I’m really sorry about whatever’s happened, but I really can’t go on like this. Please help me.”
Matilda sighed. “Fine.”
“Yes!” Erin clapped her hands together like she was applauding a miniature poodle. “Can I help? I mean, with the magic?”
“You have to help, otherwise it won’t work. I bet he’s just gone basic love spell.” Matilda took a deep breath and gestured toward her dresser. “Get that bag of salt and grab that cauldron.”
Erin jumped off the bed and skipped over to the dresser, her eyes flying over the surface for what she needed.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe you said cauldron. This is so cool.”
Matilda rolled her eyes as Erin put a small bag of salt into the miniature cauldron and picked it up. “Do you have a photo of yourself?”
“On my phone, yeah,” said Erin.
“And you’re happy to set fire to your phone?” Erin looked as though Matilda had just asked her to spill a pint of her own blood. “Didn’t think so.”
“Do you have a printer out here?”
Matilda shook her head and glanced out of the window. “We’ll use the one in the school library.” She stood and pulled Erin’s scarf from around her neck, then took the cauldron and wrapped the scarf around it. “Keep this with you all night. Sleep with it in your bed, and we’ll do the spell tomorrow.”
“For real?”
Matilda nodded. “Noon is the best time. And then you can leave me alone. Okay?”
Erin nodded and walked to the door, then turned around, her eyes wide and honest.
“I really am sorry, Matilda, about you-know-who.”
Matilda folded her arms. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Erin buttoned up her coat and opened the door, leaving Matilda alone in her heartbreaking silence once again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Three days until Halloween
“That’s it?”
Erin was clearly disappointed at how smoothly the spell had gone, but Matilda was relieved. She was feeling weaker and weaker with each passing day, and her magic seemed to be so hit-and-miss it was making her feel uneasy about casting.
Erin looked up at the clock in the science lab. “I mean, that wasn’t even five minutes. That’s all it takes to remove a love spell?”
Matilda didn’t look up as she tipped the ashes and salt from the cauldron onto Erin’s scarf and tied it into a pouch. She handed it to her, then blew out the candles that were dotted around Erin in a circle.
“You tell me. Do you feel like you’re still in love with him?” said Matilda.
A smile broke out between Erin’s dimpled cheeks. “No … no, it’s gone.” She threw her hands above her head. “Thank you; I’m gay again!”
Matilda handed the pouch to Erin. “Keep this with you for the next week. Sleep with it, carry it around, and you should be fine.”
Erin nodded and put the pouch in her backpack. “You want to go get some lunch?”
“No.”
“Come on, you must be hungry?”
Matilda stood up and glared at Erin. “Look, I did the spell, now just leave me alone.”
Erin blinked at Matilda like she’d just slapped her. “I just thought…”
“Just think nothing. This doesn’t mean we’re friends again; I did what you asked so now we can both move on,” snapped Matilda as she shoved things into her bag.
Erin flinched but didn’t back down. “I know you’re hurting, but you don’t have to go about things like this.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“Well, look at my two girls having a little fight.” Matilda and Erin jumped and looked at the doorway where Oliver was leaning with his arms crossed. “Although, one of you isn’t my girl anymore, are you?”
“How did you find us in here, asshole,” said Erin, curling her lip as she looked Oliver up and down.
Oliver shrugged. “I could sense you were both in here, up to something. Matilda and I have a connection, isn’t that right?”
Matilda’s heart beat in her throat, and her blood rushed to her cheeks. The longing she felt for Oliver made her sick, and she looked at the spot just in front of his feet before he could see the tears forming in her eyes.
“Prick.” Erin marched up to Oliver. “Don’t ever mess with my head again. Thank God I won’t be seeing your fuzzy face and bad perm in my dreams anymore.”
Oliver shrugged. “The spell was actually meant for Matilda, but you were a great test subject. The way you followed me around, sending me messages, trying to get her out of the picture.” Oliver grabbed Erin’s wrist as it flew up from her side, her hand balled into a fist. “Watch it. Play nice.”
“Like you, you mean?” spat Erin.
“I can play how I want.” Oliver turned to Matilda and pulled something out of his pocket. “You can have this back now that I’m done.”
Matilda recognized the necklace Oliver was holding up: a chain with a silver leaf dangling from it.
“Take it, then. It’s yours, isn’t it?” he said.
“Where did you get that?” asked Matilda, folding her arms as she glanced at Erin.
“Took it from your bag while you were in PE,” said Oliver.
Erin stepped forward and took the necklace from Oliver, then looked at Matilda.
“You still wear this?” said Erin, her face softening. “I lent this to you, like, five years ago.”
Matilda frowned at Erin and snatched the necklace from her hand. There was too much emotion flying around the room, and she just wanted to crawl into one of the science cabinets and hide.
“Oh, wait,” said Oliver, looking from Matilda to Erin. He clapped his hands together and smiled at Erin. “The necklace was yours? That’s why you ended up under my spell instead of my sweet Matilda. I knew it wasn’t because I’d done it wrong.”
Erin glared at Oliver. “So glad you’ve cleared that up.”
“Whatever,” said Oliver, shrugging, “but I’m actually here to talk to my girlfriend, just quickly. Can you give us some privacy?”
Erin’s face softened as she looked at Matilda, then shook her head. “I’m staying.”
Oliver rolled his eyes. “Fine. Matilda, have you thought about what I asked you? About what I want you to give me?” Matilda risked a look into Oliver’s eyes. She nodded, clenching her fists so he wouldn’t see her hands shaking. “And?”
Matilda swallowed. “You’re not getting anything from me.”
Oliver nodded. “Thought so. Something else, then.” Despite herself, Matilda’s heart leaped. “Will you meet me later? I have something to show you.”
“Where?”
“At the well,” said Oliver. Matilda nodded; if she wasn’t going to give him the grimoire, then she needed to know what he had planned. “There’s my girl. See you there tonight at seven.”
Erin stared at Matilda. “You’re not actually going to meet him, are you?”
“Course she is,” said Oliver, biting his lip as h
e cocked his head and looked at Matilda. “She can’t resist me.”
Erin looked at Oliver like he was something she’d scraped off the bottom of her shoe.
“Whatever,” she said, shaking her head as she picked up her bag. “Thanks for your help, Matilda.”
Oliver moved out of the way so Erin could get through the door, then winked at Matilda.
“Yeah. Thanks for your help, Matilda.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The sky was ink with a scatter of stars thrown across its surface as Matilda made her way through the woods. At least the shadows of night would hide her pain from Oliver.
The crows cawed as Matilda ducked under the branches and stepped over the tall grass at the edge of the clearing. She’d spent the last few hours preparing herself for being alone with Oliver, knowing that it was better to find out in person what he had in store for her rather than waiting for him to twist the knife from the shadows, but seeing him leaning against the well made her stomach spin.
Oliver looked up at the sound of Matilda’s feathered comrades, a smile sliding across his face as he watched her walk toward him. The wind whistled past, and Matilda frowned as she picked up the smell of something that didn’t belong, something tainting the aroma of the surrounding woods. She took a long breath, trying to place the smell, then stopped when Oliver opened his arms wide.
“You came,” he said.
Matilda paused for a split second, losing herself in the previous few weeks spent with him. He stood up, his eyebrows drawn together in over-the-top concern.
“Something wrong?”
“Was it real?” she blurted out. Oliver frowned at the question. “Us? Was it real or was it magic?”
Oliver smiled. “What do you think?”
Matilda swallowed and looked down, willing her tears to make their way back to her broken heart. “I … I … I…”
“It was real, Matilda. On your part, anyway. The love spell was a backup, but I didn’t need it in the end. You fell for me the old-fashioned way.”
Matilda’s insides crumbled as though she’d been punched in the heart all over again. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then put her hand in her pocket and squeezed the pouch hidden inside. She’d asked Nanna May to grind her a powder and she’d obliged, without any questions. Feeling it in her palm lessened Matilda’s anxiety, but she still needed to know what Oliver wanted.
“Why am I here, Oliver?” she managed, her stomach lurching as she looked around, still unable to place the smell.
Oliver rubbed his hands together. “Thought you might need a little more persuading to give me what I want, so I’ve got a surprise for you.”
An icy trail crept down Matilda’s neck as Oliver put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Uncertain steps came from the other side of the clearing, and Oliver’s surprise emerged from the trees.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. Tears prickled her eyes as a beautiful black-and-gray horse stared at them from the edge of the trees. “No! Oliver, what are you doing?”
“What?” Oliver frowned as he walked over to Matilda. “Aren’t you pleased to see Checkers?”
“Oliver, please,” said Matilda, blinking as the horse from her childhood watched her from the trees. She looked at Oliver, searching his face for some glimmer of humanity but seeing nothing but danger. “What are you going to do?”
“Well, it’s not really what I’m going to do, it’s more what you’re going to do.” Oliver whistled again, and the horse eagerly cantered around the edge of the clearing, its head bobbing up and down as the wind tousled its hair. Matilda watched it run, the beauty of the horse overwhelming her like it did when she was a child. “Come here, girl.”
The horse broke away from the tree edge and trotted over to Oliver, nuzzling his outstretched hand. Matilda’s shoulders clenched around her neck as she watched and waited for the destruction to begin. She hurried toward the horse, but Oliver lifted a finger and she stopped in her tracks.
“You stay there,” he said, then pulled a bag out of his pocket. “I’m giving you one more chance; give me your grimoire.”
Matilda bit her lip, her breath ballooning in her lungs. Oliver stroked the horse’s neck as he watched her, his eyes as dark as the night. He sighed and dropped his head for a moment, then looked up and shrugged.
“Your choice. But know that what’s about to happen, and what happens to anyone else, is all on you.”
“Oliver, please don’t. Whatever you’re going to do, whatever you think you want, it’s not worth it. You can still come back from this,” said Matilda, pressing her hands together as she pleaded with him.
“Come back? I’ve always been here, Matilda, and I like it here.”
A sob caught in Matilda’s throat as she looked at Oliver; his face was the same one she’d fallen for but his features were different, tinged with danger and death. She shook her head, still unable to believe she was in her own life and not a nightmare.
“There must be something else you want?”
Oliver sighed. “It’s quite straightforward.” He paused, waiting for her, then nodded. “Remember, this was you.”
Oliver undid the small bag and whispered into Checkers’s ear as he upended the contents into his palm.
“What’s that?” asked Matilda, fear squeezing her vocal cords.
“Grain, plus a few extra things,” said Oliver, holding up his palm.
“Checkers, don’t! Don’t eat that!” shouted Matilda as she ran toward them.
“Stop where you are,” shouted Oliver, “or I’ll gouge her eyes out, right now.”
Matilda froze, her muscles fighting to run to Checkers but her heart knowing that Oliver was so far into the shadows he was capable of anything. She clenched her fists as the horse stepped forward like the trusting, beautiful idiot she was and started munching from Oliver’s hand. She swallowed its last mouthful, then lifted her head and backed away.
Flapping rippled from the outer trees right into the clearing, turning into a chorus as the birds thrashed their wings in premonition. Checkers snorted, then bobbed her head up and down and trotted from side to side, like she was standing guard on a drawbridge, then turned to Oliver.
“Here we go,” whispered Oliver. “Checkers, beautiful girl, turn your head to the left.”
The horse snorted, then moved her head to the left, following Oliver’s command perfectly. Matilda’s breath quickened as Oliver raised his eyebrows at her, then looked at the horse again.
“Checkers, lift up your front left leg.” The horse obliged, and Oliver patted her side and looked at Matilda. “Not bad, huh? Now, Checkers, give me a bow.”
Dread squeezed its bony fingers around Matilda’s heart as she helplessly watched Checkers edge closer and closer to something deadly. She wiped a tear from her cheek as the horse dipped her head down and lifted it up again.
“Good girl. Now, Checkers, run across the clearing and jump over the well on your way back.”
“Oliver,” said Matilda, lifting her hands as if she were pulling Checkers’s reins. “Please, just leave her alone. I’m begging you. Please don’t hurt her.”
“Shut up,” spat Oliver as Checkers cantered across the clearing. She turned around at the tree line and galloped back.
Matilda held her breath as she watched the horse cross the grass. She dug her fingernails into her palms as Checkers got closer to the well, then almost wept with joy as the horse leaped clean over the stone wall, then circled back and joined Oliver’s side.
“Now, Checkers,” said Oliver, pointing to just beyond the well, “trot over to that patch near the well.”
Checkers did as Oliver said, looking back at him to check she’d followed his command properly. Matilda’s eyes flicked from the horse to Oliver, unable to see what invisible danger she was heading into. The horse stopped under the moonlight, and Oliver pulled a small silver item from his pocket. He locked eyes with Matilda and grinned as he held up the lighter, and Matilda
’s throat closed as she realized what she could smell when she arrived at the clearing.
Gasoline.
Matilda charged at Oliver, her screams echoing between the trees. He ignited the lighter and threw it on the grass just as Matilda tackled him. They tumbled to the ground, Oliver’s laughter and Matilda’s screams spiraling up to the stars, and she watched in horror as a trail of fire snaked from their feet to where Checkers stood.
“No, no, no, no!” she screamed as their stage in the middle of the clearing lit up the night.
Matilda scrambled up, Oliver’s laughter assaulting her ears as she tripped toward Checkers and the bright orange flames blazed between her and the horse.
“Relax,” said Oliver as he stood up and brushed himself off, “she’s perfectly safe as long as she stays inside the ring of fire. You didn’t think I’d actually set a horse on fire, did you?”
Matilda held her hands up against the heat, squinting through the flames until she saw Checkers moving back and forth, whinnying for someone to help her. Everything in the woods screamed for the horse; even the nocturnal animals were woken by the smell of burning hair and fear drifting on the wind. Matilda sobbed as she tried to get to the horse, hoping that Checkers would know someone was trying to help her, but her mind raced with panic and helplessness.
“You’re right; I totally would. I don’t give a shit about animals.” Oliver laughed, the flames making shadows dance gleefully across his face. He clapped his hands together suddenly and Matilda flinched. “For our next trick, Checkers is going to take a few steps forward until she’s standing in the flames.”
“No!” shouted Matilda, tears from the heat of the fire and for Checkers rolling down her cheeks. “No, Oliver, you have you stop this. Please, please don’t hurt her.”
Oliver crossed his arms. “Not until I hear the magic words.”
“Anything, please, I’ll give you what you want.” Matilda pressed her hands together. “Just, please, let her go.”
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