#jay cavanagh

Bloody Mary

 They had tired themselves out with snacks and dancing. With the fire dying down and the night growing darker, the Pend Pals had fallen into a loose circle, sprawled on and against various chairs. Even the decorations were flagging; the balloons sagging sluggishly and the streamers and bunting lying listless against the walls.

“Do attuneless have parties like this?” Aster asked. She was lounging next to Jay on the couch, her head resting against the cushions. Although quiet, her enquiry gains everyone’s attention, and the other conversations taper off.

Feeling on the spot, Jay hesitates. It was like this sometimes, when they all looked to her like she had the answers. It often made Jay feel like an attuneless tour guide, leaving her wishing for a blazer and a clipboard. Until she realised the teasing, she would receive for dressing like Beckett.

Clearing her throat, Jay sits up a little straighter. “Well, there’s parties, obviously. And they’re not NOT like this,” she explains, her hand coming up to wave vaguely at the room around them. “There’s just less, interactive food and, well…. magic, I guess.” Trailing off, she shrugs, not knowing what to say.

“You mean they’re just like us!” Atlas mocks, her eyes comically wide as her hand comes up dramatically to rest against her breast.

Rolling her eyes, Jay half-heartedly throws a cushion at her sister while the others laugh. Of course, Atlas effortlessly blocks it with a lazily raised arm, sending it spiralling uselessly behind her with a satisfied smirk.

Still laughing, Griffin joins in the questioning. “So, if there’s no magic, what did you do for entertainment?”

Jay pauses a sly smile on her face as memories from past party’s flash through her mind like a montage of mostly dumbass behaviour. “It depends on the party,” she answers teasingly. Her gaze flickers between Shreya and Beckett. Beckett flushes almost immediately and looks away when her meaning becomes clear, but Shreya holds steady, her expression defiant despite the tinge to her cheeks.

Clearing his throat, Griffin gains Jay’s attention, and she turns to face him, swallowing hard. “Seriously though, it can’t all have been music and dancing. What about party games?”

“Oh, yes!” Aster proclaims. “I love games! What about when you were younger? What party games did you play with your friends?”

Twirling a strand of hair around her finger, Jay stares at the fire while she thinks of what to say. “Well, there were sleepover games. Like, two truths and a lie, charades, trying to summon spirits. You know, the usual. There was also Bloody Mary. That was a big favourite for a while.”

“Isn’t that a drink?” Zeph interrupts. His nose scrunched in thought.

“No!” Jay laughs. “Well, yes. But, we were like, 12 at the time. So, we weren’t drinking much. It was kind of a game. A terrifying, oddly thrilling game.”

“Much?” Shreya snorts, coughing into her drink.

Jay sticks her tongue out at Shreya, but before she can retort, Beckett speaks up. “You mentioned summoning spirits. Isn’t that a dangerous past-time for children? Where were your parents?”

His tone is full displeasure, a frown marring his forehead and Jay can’t help but grin at him. “We were using a ‘Ouija’ board created by the same company that makes play-doh. I doubt we could have summoned a cold, never mind a spirit.”

“Play-doh?” Zeph questions, his eyebrows raised.

“It’s like…squidgy, colourful goop for toddlers.” Jay describes, her hand waving dismissively.

Smirking, Shreya stands to pick up a few snacks. “So, very dangerous?”  

“The worst!” Jay agrees, grinning.

“And Bloody Mary?” Beckett asked. “Was that harmless fun as well?” He still sounds disapproving, but he’s smiling, at least.

Tilting her head, Jay grimaces. “There was that one time, my friend Kat broke the bathroom mirror by punching it. That… was not fun. Or harmless.”

“Ok, now I need to know.” Zeph states. He moves closer to where Jay is sitting, scooting on to the floor until he’s sitting cross-legged.

“Me too,” Griffin adds. “Why would she punch the mirror? Is it part of the game?”

Jay looks around at her friends and finds them all looking at her expectantly. Well, she did bring it up, she thinks. The least she can do is give them a good story. “Ok, so. Bloody Mary is basically an urban legend. There’s lots of different versions out there, but I’ll tell the one I was told. Is that OK?”

At everyone’s agreement, Jay launches into the story of Bloody Mary. Doing her best to encapsulate the tale of a witch who was captured, tortured and murdered for the deaths of little girls and who ultimately cursed the villagers before her own end.

“Wait, how is this related to a game?” Griffin questions as Jay finishes the back story.

“Yes, it sounds like an attuneless village using an attuned as a scapegoat.” Beckett sounded angry, his eyes hard, and Jay worried that she had picked the wrong legend to tell.

“I’m just getting to that,” Jay assured. “I promise.” She holds Beckett’s gaze, waiting until he nods to continue.

“So, the curse was basically that if anyone dared mention her name in front of a mirror, she’d come and get them. Which launched the ‘game’,’” Jay continues, her fingers making air quotes as she smiles at Beckett, pleased when his posture loosens in response.

“During sleepovers, we would go into the bathroom, alone, with a candle. To summon her, you’d light the candle, turn off the light, recite ‘Bloody Mary,’ thirteen times…and then you’d look in the mirror. She was supposed to appear, either dripping in blood or to attack you to scratch out your eyes. The game was too see who could last the longest before freaking out.” Jay pauses dramatically, drawing back to see her friends’ reactions.

Frowning, Aster turns to Jay. “You delight in your friends being scared? That doesn’t sound very nice.”

“It’s not that they’re scared, it’s….” Jay flounders, looking at the others for guidance only to find equally confused and horrified faces. Except for Atlas.

“I dunno,” Atlas states. “Sometimes, being scared is good. It keeps you alert.”

“For what, exactly?” Griffin asks. “They’re kids. At home. It’s not like they’re in a war zone or running for their lives.”

“It builds character.” Atlas insists, refusing to back down.

“Or trauma,” Griffin mutters under his breath, but it isn’t low enough, and everyone can hear him, causing Atlas to scowl darkly.

Sensing an argument, Jay bites her lip, her gaze switching between the two before she loudly clears her throat. When that doesn’t work, she rolls her eyes and shouts to regain their attention.  “Can I finish my story now?” She asks once they’re looking at her once more. Griffin mouths an apology while Atlas nods, petulantly.

“So, this one time, we were at my friend Kat’s house, and she wanted to go first. We all crowded around the door when she was inside. She actually made it to thirteen, but then she screamed, like, really screamed.” Jay lifts her hands up in front of her for emphasis, her eyes wide.  

She can feel her words coming out faster as she continues, spilling over themselves, but she can’t quite slow down as she remembers that night. “I don’t know who opened the door, except that it wasn’t me. I think I was too scared to move. I just remember thinking – knowing – that if we looked at her, she wouldn’t have any eyes. But she was fine. Or at least, her eyes were. She was crying, and there was blood on her hands and in the sink, and there was glass everywhere! When we all started screaming, her mom came in, and we were all sent home. When I spoke to Kat the next day, she swore that she saw someone in the mirror with wild hair and red eyes.”

“Did you believe her?” Aster asked, her voice soft with worry.

Sighing, Jay shrugs. “I don’t know. I remember we all teased her about it, as you do. I mean, who tries to punch a ghost-witch?”

Zeph laughs at that, loudly. His mirth breaking the somewhat sombre tone that had grown around them.

“Is this why you were so freaked out when you first started seeing Atlas in the mirrors?” Shreya asked. Her voice was excited, and she had bounced upright to ask the question.

“No, I thought I was going insane, to be honest,” Jay admitted. “Even after finding out magic was real…it was…well, it was weird.”

“Good to know what you really think about me,” Atlas goads.

“Oh, give it a rest.” Beckett mocks. “You don’t need to pick a fight with everyone.”

Atlas’s scowl stays in place, but she rolls her eyes good-naturedly in Beckett’s direction. There’s a beat of silence as if everyone is contemplating the story Jay has told.

Finally, Aster breaks the quiet. “Did you play any fun games?”

“That was fun,” Jay argues. “Most of the time, anyway.” At her friends' unbelieving looks, she tuts. “Well, what did you guys play? Quidditch? So sorry I didn’t grow up knowing magic exists.”

Snorting, Shreya reaches out to nudge Jay’s shoulder. “Quidditch? Really?”

Jay shrugs, helplessly. For all she knows, they could have. Harry Potter was big damn near everywhere, after all. For the rest of the night, each of the Pend Pals gave accounts of their favourite childhood games. Even Atlas joins in, with an oddly heart-warming story about hide-and-seek, before ruining it by suggesting the skill set had helped her be stealthy.