Stardust: Tales from Cirque Macabre

by Kristen Strassel

  “Are there vampire spells in here? The book is so hard to read.” Holly huddled close to me with her hand on my shoulder as I carefully turned the pages. They were thick and waxy, and whoever recorded the instructions had done it with a quill dipped in ink. Splotches marred the edges, and in time, some of the words had feathered and blurred in the grooves of the paper.

  “Even when they’re new, it doesn’t make it any easier. It’s not the same English we’re used to. I’ve traveled there,” she added. It always jarred me when Holly reminisced about the places she’d been since her trips didn’t only include exotic places, but decades and eras that passed long ago. “I wound up in a convent, and they wanted me to copy the Bible. It was before the printing press.”

  “I remember that.” She’d come back with bloody knuckles after disobeying and refused to handwrite anything for years. It drove Lucille mad. “I’ve always skipped over any spells that had to do with darkness. The visions always start when I try to read them like someone doesn’t want me to cast them.”

  Making this request harder to fulfill. I wouldn’t fail Holly, who gave me the same open-mouthed gape that I had for her moments before. The only thing we had in common when it came to our powers was the fear of the unknown. There was so little we could control.

  “Why do you think that is?” she asked.

  “It’s not what I’m meant to do. I’m here to help, not to harm.” That mantra had repeated in my head all my life. It was the only constant with my visions. I knew where to find the forbidden spells in Impractical Magick, in the appendix. They came with warnings and disclaimers, begging the caster to proceed with caution, and in some cases, to reconsider their intentions. My eyesight blurred as I flipped past the spells that parted a fool from his money or a dishonest man from his life. There were very few spells that dealt with the supernatural. It was the honor system. We weren’t all alike, but we didn’t mess with our own.

  An unfamiliar power surged through my body from my fingers that turned the page. A spell that powerful could generate enough energy to stop my heart. But mine pounded, assuring me it was still there.

  How to Raise and Manipulate the Dead. “This is it.”

  Holly angled the book so she could read it more easily. “Are you sure? This looks like a spell that will attract vampires to us.”

  “I didn’t think we’d find it.” I should’ve known better, with all the flashing warnings and things I couldn’t explain in my latest visions. It was more like I didn’t want to find it.

  “But at least they’ll do what we want.”

  She was right, but manipulate wasn’t the same as destroy. Lucille was way too lazy to go on a killing spree, I refused to harm another living creature, and Holly didn’t like to get her hands dirty. We were relying on this spell to do the heavy lifting. The page burned my finger as I used it as a placeholder, flipping to the back to see if there was anything that would better serve us. No such luck. Raising and manipulating the dead it was.

  “We need sand, a candle, and blood.” The corners of my vision were black, like I looked at the book through a grimy window. I licked my lips as my mouth watered, the same way it did before I got sick. “We live in the desert, and I’ve got plenty of candles.”

  We had plenty of blood, too. It was a question of whose we’d spill.

  “Should we be doing this here? In the apartment. The spell will attract vampires.” Holly slid off the bed and picked her clothes up from where they’d fallen the night before.

  “Good point. Any ideas of where we should go?”

  “Yeah.” Holly brushed out her hair. It fanned around her like flames as it fell from the bristles. Her coat of armor. “The Riviera.”

  Not a good idea, either. “That’s where your show will be.” And in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip, with hundreds of people around while we chanted over a lit candle and spilled blood. The spell didn’t mention meeting the local police.

  “Exactly. That’s why we’re here. And apparently, we’re also here because vampires, for whatever reason.” Holly knotted her hair into a bun as she considered the bookshelf closest to her. She picked up a red candle and handed it to me. “We draw everyone to the same place and let them duke it out for themselves. No destroying required.”

  “Interesting theory.” I didn’t have anything better. “So which one of us donates the blood?” If she suggested getting it from a stranger, I was so done.

  Holly pressed her lips together, like she wasn’t sure of her answer. “I’ll do it. It’s my show. We need to keep you at a distance, in case you need to pull me out of some sort of supernatural war.”

  “Are you having visions now, too?” It would be a relief if she did. We could compare notes.

  “No, but my intuition is screaming at me.”

  “Are you sure you still want to do the show?” I asked, hoping for some clarity. She only nodded.

  I shuddered. Lucille may have asked me to destroy vampires, but her real target was Holly. Even worse, Holly knew it, and she was bravely marching toward her demise.

  Lucille had been right. I was the one with the most to lose. My life would be nothing without Holly.

  I’d always wanted to be more like Holly. And now, that meant doing the brave, foolish thing. We were headed to the Riviera and on a path toward self-destruction. My vision was black, and I wouldn’t be able to drive, but it wouldn’t stop me from completing my mission. I’d cast the spell, rouse the vampires, and figure out a way to protect Holly.

  The sun offered no shelter in the middle of the day. We wandered around the outside of the hotel, looking for a private place to let a little blood and summon a few vampires.

  “We should’ve waited until sundown,” I said, already weary from the heat. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the spell if I was sweating.

  “This is perfect. We’ll get a head start if the spell works.” Holly bit her lip when I glared at her. “Sorry. When it works. Why don’t we find someplace inside? There’s a theater in here. My official start isn’t until the end of the week, but if I explain to them who I am—”

  “They’ll be totally fine with you trespassing and setting things on fire.” I laughed.

  “They better get used to it.” Holly pushed open the door like she owned the place. Soon, she would. I stopped short. It always overwhelmed me when I came to a place I’d only seen in my visions. The familiarity was a lie and I knew better than to trust it. Holly knew what was happening, and I was so glad she was with me. She put her hand on my back and kissed my cheek. We’d never done that in public before. It felt damn good. The casino floor was smaller than I expected, and it didn’t take us long to find the entrance to the theater. A few employees eyed us suspiciously as we approached the door.

  “You’ll have to cast a spell to unlock it,” she added.

  “Easy.” Inanimate objects were a piece of cake. It was the stuff with opinions that posed a challenge. “What about those waitresses that are staring at us?”

  Holly glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. Every eye in this part of the room was on her. She’d let her waist-length red hair fall out of the elastic, and her long legs were bare. “You can spell them, too.”

  My bag grew heavy on my shoulder. All this magic would exhaust me and distract me from the real cause. We should’ve stayed home. I didn’t have all the materials I needed to get them to leave us alone, but I had the chant memorized. Holly placed her fingers under my chin and drew my gaze back to her. Her gold eyes reflected the flashing lights from the slot machines. The constant pinging was drowned out, all the noise gone. Her lips were so close to mine and my insides rumbled with an insatiable craving. Nothing existed besides Holly.

  She cast her gaze down and I had to catch my breath before adjusting to reality. The waitresses had scattered. Only a few gamblers remained, entranced by the machines.

  Impractical Magick wasn’t the only thing weighing down my bag. I always traveled with stones, because I never knew when
I’d need them. I pulled out my favorite—gold topaz that always made me think of Holly, and rubbed my fingers against its jagged surface as I whispered the chant. It was more of a protection spell. I didn’t frequent the section of the book that advocated wrongdoing. Holly placed her bets on the theater’s security code, and I tugged on the door. The second try was a charm.

  Darkness greeted us as we walked through the theater. It was much more comfortable than the forced light of the casino or the unrelenting sun. Holly’s eyes were wide and unblinking as she looked around, finally hitting her what was going to happen. The theater wasn’t huge, it seated maybe a thousand people. In the center of all of it was the stage. A single security light shone down on it.

  “Before we do this, I want to see you up there.” I nodded toward the stage.

  Holly approached the stage, climbing up the side, drawn to the spotlight. That was where she belonged. She spread her arms wide and twirled around, laughing. “I wish I knew how to dance.”

  All I cared about was that she could dodge vampires. I joined her, closing my eyes and picturing the cheering crowds and the band supporting her. There were holes in the vision, approaching Holly. That was enough to snap me back to reality.

  We sat cross-legged in the light. I unpacked my bag and set up for the spell. Holly’s knee bounced nervously.

  “Don’t let it get the best of you,” I said. “It’s nothing but a room. You’ll be what makes it special.”

  “Right. No pressure or anything.”

  Good point. I picked up the topaz and rubbed the surface before starting. It wasn’t part of the spell, but I wanted to ward off security guards. I took the sand out of the bag and stood to create a circle around us. Holly stilled. The red candle separated us, and I said a quick thank you to the spirits who’d guide us before I lit it.

  Holly held out her hand. My own hands shook as I positioned the knife. I just had to nick the surface. She sucked in a deep breath when I made contact, and then held her bleeding finger over the flame.

  “Trust me with your life, it will last forever,” I chanted. The spell suggested saying it four dozen times. The numbers always had significance. After repeating myself ten or so times, the words felt funny on my lips and I began to lose count. Holly joined in, and I shook my head, but she didn’t get the message. I couldn’t stop the chant to tell her to be quiet. We only had one chance to get this right, and we already screwed it up.

  Holly put her finger in her mouth to stop the bleeding. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. “How will we know it worked?” she asked.

  The question should’ve been when will we know how badly we screwed it up, but she was already scared enough at the prospect of the show. I put the stone back in my bag and leaned over the smoldering candle to kiss her. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

  5

  Holly was gone when I woke up. She disappeared every so often, and it freaked me out every time. Especially tonight, after we crooked our fingers at the unknown. If anyone had a come-hither smile, it was Holly. But there were other options, too, none of them good. If Lucille had dragged her out of bed in the night to bring her to the asylum, she’d go kicking and screaming my name. There would be no sleeping through that.

  When it had happened to me, I’d still trusted Lucille. Trying to find the good in everyone led to trouble from time to time.

  Her absence carved a hollow into my gravity. Most likely, it meant Holly was time traveling, but that was even more dangerous than the asylum. At least now asylums had rules. So did the places she visited, but the problem was she didn't know what they were. She was a woman alone, walking a tightrope between their reality and hers. I don't know how she managed, but I could barely breathe until she came back.

  Sometimes I'd turn around and she'd be there like she'd never been gone. Or I wouldn't realize I'd fallen asleep and she'd snuggle against me. I lay awake, waiting for it to happen, tensing every time a shadow moved across the bedroom wall, and at every noise.

  The gunshots in the distance didn't seem so scary anymore. Unless Holly’s out there...

  I had to think about something else. I grabbed my favorite spell book off the shelf and looked for something simple that would bring peace. I inhaled the musty leather scent, realizing it would probably render my spell from earlier that day null and void, but I didn't care. I'd done what was asked of me. I'd been given no instructions on how to deal with it.

  My eyes burned as the room brightened to the misty gray of sunrise. Still no Holly. The words blurred together but I kept chanting. I recoiled when the door opened, expecting to see Lucile or something much worse, and let out the breath I'd been holding for hours when Holly walked in.

  "You're glowing." Either that or my vision was so blurry I couldn't see properly. My yawn brought tears to my eyes. "Tell me the short version of where you've been. The long one can wait until after we wake up."

  "I'm not going to sleep." Holly sat on the edge of the bed. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled. The glow was real. "I met my dance teacher."

  Now neither of us were sleeping. "She gives three AM lessons?"

  Holly laughed as she shimmied out of her clothes. She'd been prepared in a T-shirt, stretchy booty shorts, and a sports bra. Her skin was still dewy when she crawled under the blankets. It was freaky for her to bring a souvenir back with her, even if it was sweat. "I had to wait for her to finish her show. She's in Vegas, by the way. At the Tropicana."

  "Is she there now?" I asked.

  "No." She chuckled. "Well, I'd be really surprised if she was. Everyone in her show was excited about the prospect of President Kennedy."

  "So 1960."

  "Yeah, I didn't have the heart to tell them what happens to him." Holly pulled me tighter. "The woman I talked to is named Bette. She's not that much older than us. Twenty-five at the most. She's so beautiful, Rainey. She's got a feather headdress and the rest of her costume is sequined. That's what I want to look like when I go on stage. I wound up in the theater, which was awkward, because everyone was so glamorous, even in the audience. And there I was in my pajamas. I hate that part about time traveling. I wish there was some way to get a heads' up about where I was going before I got there. Anyway, I managed to sneak backstage after the show. No one paid attention to me, since everyone was pretty much naked in the dressing rooms."

  Knowing Holly, she'd have no problem stripping down to fit in. I didn't ask her if she did. I burned with jealousy at the thought of it. "What did you do?" I wouldn't put it past her to have become a part of a dance troupe that existed more than fifty years ago.

  "I explained my situation." Holly would make it sound that easy. "She didn't quite understand what I meant, and she thought that I wanted to audition for their show. And she might think I'm a runaway. I didn't correct her because I doubt this dump existed back then, and I don't know enough about the city yet to tell her where I live. But she's willing to teach me. I have to help her out in the dressing room with her hair and makeup."

  She was so screwed. "What do you know about vintage styling?"

  "I'll mostly be cleaning, which I can totally handle." She grinned as I rolled my eyes; Holly was a slob. "And when I'm not there, I'll be Googling like crazy and practicing on you, if you don't mind."

  "I don't." My head hurt. "How will you get to work on time, every night?"

  "I only have to be there once a week. She's not paying me, it's not a formal job." Holly rolled over and stared at the ceiling. "The being there at a certain time thing, I haven't figured that out. But I have to. Bette's amazing. That's what I want my show to be like."

  "How do you know you'll have that much control over what you get to do?" I asked. She'd signed the contract in a trade for her freedom. "What if someone else choreographs your routines?"

  Holly sighed. "Honestly, I'd been hoping that would be the case. But if I can come up with something better, they should consider it. And the costumes, Rainey, wait until you see them. The headdresses! T
hey walk down the stairs in high heels with these giant things on their heads. They're like works of art. I want one so bad."

  "You'll get one." My eyes burned from lack of sleep. "Maybe not right away, but eventually."

  Holly had her head in the clouds about her latest travel, and it worried me. If anyone could pull off making a weekly appointment in another decade, it was her. She wanted this badly, and it surprised me. She'd never expressed any interest in dancing or performing on stage before Lucille strong-armed her into the contract. But Holly had been lost before that, a whirlwind of energy and unrefined power and no outlet, making her bored and restless, so it was hard to warn her about the way things played out in my head without sounding like a jealous bitch.

  "Did you do it?" Lucille asked when I shuffled into the living room.

  Nobody in this house was an early riser. I usually was tiptoeing around the other two, but I liked the quiet time by myself. It gave me time to work on my spells and write in my journal. I tried to keep track of my visions, as much as I could remember. It helped me put the pieces together, and look for themes in what I Saw. It was the only way to figure out what the message was, and what I was supposed to do with the information.

  So much had happened around the spell, I almost asked what it was. "Yup. Yesterday afternoon."

  Lucille nodded and went back to her movie.

  "What are we supposed to do if it works?"

  "You're a catalyst," she said, like that made any sense. "So is Holly. Vampires don't need blood, they need energy. But once they consume the energy, they destroy it. They always need more. It will cause a war between clans."