Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. When Natalie's seventy-two hour hold ended, her mother picked her up from the hospital. She handed Natalie her bag and they checked out, not without prescriptions they had no intention of filling. Natalie turned her drained face to the sun and closed … Continue reading Ch 24. High School Ritual: Home Sweet Home (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Vanessa hopped across the baseball field on the foot wearing a shoe. But the shoe had a heel and she tipped over into the dirt when she bent over to pick up the other shoe. She sat on the ground and pulled … Continue reading Ch 23. High School Ritual: A Change of Plans (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Mikhail stopped at the ballpark on his way home. Natalie hadn’t been in school since she was being held by the medical authorities, so any future plans to go back to the mall were on hold. He climbed up on the rusty … Continue reading Ch 22. High School Ritual: Some Unfinished Business (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Natalie traced the iron lattice on the window with the tip of her index finger. Through the greasy panes, she saw that the day was as gray as the walls. Her face, devoid of all color, showed no expression. Twenty-four hours down, … Continue reading Ch 21. High School Ritual: 5150’d (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Vanessa settled under the big blow-dryer at the hair salon and opened her magazine. She was getting a brand new hairstyle to mark a new era of her life. The she would get her nails painted and go shopping to reward herself … Continue reading Ch 20. High School Ritual: A Run-In (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. When the bell rang, Natalie hitched up her backpack and said to Mikhail, “We need to talk about what happened last night. But not here. Not with—” looking behind her quickly “—with her around.” They decided to go to the mall after … Continue reading Ch 19. High School Ritual: Mall Rats (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Chadworth straightened his books one last time and shut his door. He possessed one of the wings of his parents’ palatial estate and he had formed a plan to improve it. His father and fifth stepmother, who was only three years older … Continue reading Ch 18. High School Ritual: A Very Decent Proposal (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Vanessa left Chad’s place kicking herself. Why did she waste her time following Chad when she should have stalked the two losers? She wasn’t worried about the Chad situation. At first she thought that his enjoying his new life was a setback. … Continue reading Ch 17. High School Ritual: Are You Paying Attention? (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. After Vanessa had surreptitiously followed Chad, Natalie and Mikhail remained standing outside the library. Natalie shrugged and adjusted her backpack, and Mikhail stood without moving. “Well,” Natalie said after a moment, “I guess I’m going home to study, even though I don’t … Continue reading Ch 16. High School Ritual: The Search Party (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Chad sped home from the library, trying to soothe his anger. He hadn’t gotten a chance to borrow any of the books he wanted, and not only did he not get to even look at them, he now ran the risk of … Continue reading Ch 15. High School Ritual: Scholarly Pursuits (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. After dinner, Natalie unpacked her bookbag and sat down on the floor. She couldn’t focus. She tried English, tried math, threw the books aside, searched the room for Mr. Squeaks. She turned on her favorite emo album, but all she could think … Continue reading Ch 14. High School Ritual: Shhhh! (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. When he fell from the cliff’s edge into the foggy abyss, Mikhail flipped over and over for what seemed like both forever and only a moment. He landed without any pain—in fact, he could hardly feel his own body—on the bank of … Continue reading Ch 13. High School Ritual: The Dead Land (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Exactly one week after the ritual, Vanessa settled into her plush La-Z-Boy and rocked back and forth. Everything was according to plan. Chad’s life was going to spiral downwards without football to keep him afloat, and that girl with the green hair … Continue reading Ch 12. High School Ritual: Progress Report (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. After yet another night of barely sleeping, Chad dropped into his seat in first period English. He rubbed his eyes and laid his head on the desk. He hadn’t gone to any football practice or even partied a little. To pass the … Continue reading Ch 11. High School Ritual: The Straight-A Student

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. On Monday night, Natalie sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor, holding Mr. Squeaks against her cheek. She stroked his nose and whiskers and kissed his head. Mr. Squeaks was the only thing that made her happy. She kissed him once more, placed … Continue reading Ch 10. High School Ritual: I’ll Get You, My Pretty, and Your Little Mouse, Too (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. The family started dinner without waiting for him. The bathtub was running and Mikhail was staring in the mirror. Greasy black hair, pale skin, the purple eyes of one who hasn’t slept in days. He had made his plan. Dinner was not … Continue reading Ch 9. High School Ritual: The Mirror (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. After the evacuation, Chad surprisingly didn’t feel like going to practice. Normally he enjoyed a nice, long, hot shower with his teammates in the locker room to loosen up and relax, but it didn’t appeal to him that day. Neither did playing. … Continue reading Ch 8. High School Ritual: The MVP (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. On the Monday morning following the game, Vanessa, Chad, Natalie, and Mikhail were seated in their first period English class. Natalie held her head up with one hand, her face curtained by her faded green hair, stared down at her notes, and … Continue reading Ch 7. High School Ritual: Class Time (SepSceneWriMo)

Four high school students encounter an evil spirit. Thoroughly cliched and hopelessly derivative. Growing up, nothing Mikhail did was ever right. Not according to his father, anyway. A career army man, he was disgusted by the quiet, passive nature of his son. One of Mikhail’s most vivid memories was when his father made him play … Continue reading Ch 6. High School Ritual: Dear Daddy (SepSceneWriMo)