Baby's First Bewitching

"Whatever you will is, like, the law, or something. That wizard, Austin Cowlick wrote that as the first law of magick. Right?"

Karen rolls her eyes.

"That's Aleister Crowley Baby, and he wrote, Do what thou wilt, shall be the whole of the law."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. I got the candles Missy asked for. Did you get that flame-knife thingy?"

"It's called an athame, and I had to make do with a cheese-knife."

Two girls wander the moonlit school halls, still in their uniforms.

"If the penguins found out about this, they'd probably kill us."

"Yeah or like, tell our parents and we'd be expelled or something."

"Forever the pessimist, aren't we?"

Baby glares at Karen in confusion, they stop before the door to the old boiler room.

"Okay Baby. Are you ready?"

Baby grabs Karen's outstretched palm.

"I'm ready."

Karen opens the door, and leads Baby through the threshold into stagnant darkness.

The door slams shut behind them.

"Hello ladies. I've just finished the preparations. Did you both bring what I asked you to?"

Missy's voice causes the pair to jump, Karen ignites a match.

"We sure did Missy. Except I couldn't get three white candles, I got two whites and a black. That's okay though, right?"

"White means white Baby. White symbolizes purity, and good intentions, whereas black symbolizes darkness, and malicious intent. Are you really that stupid?"

"Come on Missy. Don' be too hard on her, we've improvised before, right? Ouch!"

The match burns Karen's fingers, and dies.

"Ugh, I guess it'll do. At least you got a proper athame, right?"

"Cheese-knife."

Missy let loose a heavy sigh.

"Amateurs. Oh well, our will is our power, not our instruments. Karen, pass me the cheese-knife, and light just the white candles. Whatever you do, do not light the black candle. We don't want to aggravate Inanna, or anything else."

Karen hands over the dull-blade and lights the white candles; the illumination reveals a large symbol, a strange network of lines within a circle, drawn in salt on the hardwood floor.

Missy takes the two white candles and places them where the lines intersect, before positioning her friends around the circle and handing them a printed piece of paper.

"Now read along with me girls. We, three witches, call upon Inanna to open her gates, if we are so deemed worthy. Reveal to us our future paths. Come now Spirit of Venus, shine down your luminescence and reveal to us that which we so desire. Open for us your-"

The black candle shoots to the center of the circle and floats in mid-air.

Baby's legs betray her, leading her into the salt-sigil.

The others stay silent, Baby approaches the candle, and grips the wick.

"I'm sorry. She leaves me no choice."

With a flick of her fingers, the candle is lit.

Karen and Missy never knew why she lit the black candle, or where she disappeared to after she did so.

They never saw her again.