Amelie (ON HOLD)

II

  Tʜɪs ᴡᴀs ᴀ mistake.

  The dark eloped me in a cold whisk of fear. Even as I lit the candle, I became more aware of the caliginosity peeking in each corner of the room.

  Unsurprisingly, Jaqueline's closet was quite big, and the racks of faux fur and golden sequins only smirked back at my cartoon pyjamas. I flickered my eyes down to the objects on the table in front of me, realising how set up I'd been. Jaqueline must've planned this in order to have all of the things needed. I was only a pawn in this horrible prank of hers.

  At least it was only the ritual. Not being a believer in ghost stories came in handy in moments like these. Yet still, I wasn't exactly ecstatic at the idea of doing it.

  I gulped and took a deep breath, taking the same match I used to light the candle, to ignite the burning incense. A delight of rose and vanilla blended around the small space. At least it was a calming scent. My eyes blinked between the scrap of paper containing the chant and the knife. Was I really going to do this?

  What if I chickened out? I'd be bullied for the rest of eternity by these girls. Whoever told me bullying stopped in high school was a liar. Maybe it was because I still lived rather close to home, meaning most people from my high school came to this college, or maybe it was because I was still a complete and utter loser. Who knows.

   "Okay." I quietly exhaled. I picked up the knife and pointed the tip to my palm. Slowly, I pushed it in and felt the sharp pain elicit my blood.

  I picked up the note with shaking fingers and began to read.

   "Come meet me in the dark. Where I wait for you. One candle." I looked at the burning candle and then hovered my gaze over the singular sapphire, pear-shaped, earring, looking as if it had been transported straight from the Victorian era with a rusted gold halo.

   "One beauty." I let a drop of blood splatter onto the gem.

   "One scent." I watched as my burning red blood flooding the water holding the incense. I then looked at the singular white rose petal.

   "One purity." I let the blood drop and soak the silky whiteness.

  I focused back on the last bit of the chant. "I offer all of me to all of you. Take me as yours. Live in my heart. Infect my blood. Destroy my mind. I linea nodum solutionem det mihi." I felt a swift, lightheaded feeling overtake my whole body. "Ut per vinculum nisi tibi et tibi." I swallowed down what felt like the taste of metal. "In aeternum."

  The lightheaded feeling persisted through the next few moments. I had finished the ritual. Could I leave now?

  I nervously looked around the room. I knew nothing would happen but still, the eeriness was present throughout every trace of air that fell into my lungs.

  Just as I was about to get up, a gush of wind howled outside and rattled against the window, pushing it open, filling the closet with a biting breeze. I shivered at the sudden coldness and waited a few moments in shock.

  It was just the wind. It was an October night and so harsh weather was to be expected. I held my breath and shakily exhaled. It was nothing.

  I examined the room once more and braced my palms on the table. My blood was still spilling out of the cut on my hand, most likely staining the pristine, marble table of Jacqueline's. I felt the slight sting from the cold contact but decided to ignore it. The wind still whistled outside but subtly now. I thickly swallowed the metallic bile building in my throat and felt a sudden coldness take over the room.