Lacey met Hypatia for the first time on a beach at night. It was after her shift at the bar, and the illegal fire jugglers drew her in. A drum circle beat energy into the air, and voices chanted and wailed to the rhythm. Hypatia was spinning in the sand. Her black hair lifted on the breeze and flashed a hidden tattoo that Lacey recognized as the Seal of Solomon. The mystery of it all was too much to resist, and so she approached her and lowered her neckline to flash the upside down pentagram. Hypatia's eyes flashed with intrigue. She took Lacey's hands in hers and lulled her into a swaying, undulating embrace.

Then an older man joined them. Hypatia introduced him as The Night Man. They went back to his apartment on Cookman avenue. This was the first night she cheated on Tom since moving back home with him. She knew perfectly well that he required her to keep him informed, but something about it being a secret made it so much more exciting.

After spending hours in this couple's bed, Lacey got dressed in the living room, zipping up her boots and sweeping her hair all to one side, Hypatia came out and sat down next to her on the couch.

"You're different," she said. "My boyfriend likes inviting a girl to bed with us every now and then. You're the first who actually seemed more interested in me than him."

"That can't be true."

"It is," Hypatia affirmed. "He has that kind of commanding personality, and he's gorgeous, especially for the girls around here with his blonde hair and surfer body."

"He reminds me of my boyfriend," Lacey had said to that. "Thinks he's God's gift to women. But I like you better."

Hypatia stifled a smile. "I want to see you again."

"Maybe the four of us could party. Tom doesn't mind sharing."

"Liam does," Hypatia replied.

"And how is that fair?"

"Can you pretend you like him more than me? I want him to keep you around."

Lacey played with Hypatia's hair, twisting it on her finger. "I used to strip, hun. I can make any guy think I like him."

Hypatia was a lovely creature. Lacey began sneaking in a few hours after work to go visit her on Cookman. She became involved in her coven of pagans, parking on Jacob's lawn and playing at witchcraft in Ghost Woods.

Then one day she went to a meeting. Hypatia hushed her, one finger beckoning. They walked in silence to the clearing where the sect of Baphomet met for rituals. Hypatia told stories about the history of the place, how she and Jacob met there as children, how Jacob christened the place with a virgin's blood when they were teenagers and how the sect of Baphomet still held orgies at the summer equinox. At Lacey's first meeting, she remembered taking some kind of chem and losing track of time and place, but she remembered seeing two very young looking girls half-conscious in the dirt.

"How late can you stay?" Hypatia asked Lacey.

"I can stay our all night. Tom's in Seaside visiting his mom."

"Satanists," the girl on the ground whimpered. Lacey could tell from her shiny eyes that she was hallucinating.

"When do we get to be witches?" the Asian girl asked.

"You'll be witches yet," Liam replied. "But first you must prove your loyalty to the coven."

"I've always wanted to be a witch," said the Asian girl.

"Please don't hurt her." The other girl's eyes shimmered like stars. She scratched her scalp under her nest of yellow hair and sniffled. She was such a pretty thing. Lacey would think back on that moment many times and remember that she had never seen a sweeter girl in her entire life. She didn't know then that this was Alexandria. Alex's friend signed the Book of Baphomet that very night. Alex, however, well, they had other plans for her. She was a virgin. She would shed her virgin blood for Baphomet and make love to Liam in a ritual.

On Halloween, Lacey discovered Alex in bed with Liam and Hypatia. Liam was anchored beneath both girls. Hypatia held a knife against the back of Alex's neck, poised to bring blood dripping down the star of Solomon that was inked on her back. The henna was thick and black like dried blood. At first Lacey thought she was too late. But Alex's breath was strained, her eyes glazed over. Lacey reacted with her gut. She grabbed Hypatia by the throat and flung her off the bed. Hypatia hit the wall, her instrument sliding across the floor.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Lacey shrieked. "She's completely out of it."

"I heard no objections," said Liam.

Lacey smacked Hypatia across the cheek and Hypatia retaliated with a swift punch. Lacey clutched her eye and backed slowly toward the door.

"Cool it, Red," said Liam, rolling Alex over like a doll. "You serve a dark lord, remember?" He laughed and started getting dressed.

"If you cut her, it's over for you," Lacey snarled, appealing to their self-preservation if nothing else. "She'll know. And this place will come falling down like a house of cards."

That was enough to stop them. Lacey had been too late to prevent the rape, but Alex wouldn't have to know. Her mind might yet be spared.

Hypatia and Liam returned downstairs to the party. Lacey got a washcloth from the bathroom and tried cleaning the henna from Alex's back. The stain had already set. She checked her pulse, which was faint. She rolled the girl on her side and touched her lips to make sure she was still breathing. Everything was good. The girl would live. The Gunne Sax dress had been her idea. She dressed her and stayed with until dawn to make sure nobody else touched her. As people in the common room began getting up and making coffee and the light was coming in through the windows, Liam came back and stirred Lacey from her light slumber.

"You dressed her?" he asked.

"She's so young, Liam."

"Look," he murmured. "She knew what she was doing last night. She got wasted. Came here. Came to me."

"She was with Tom," Lacey said.

"Your ex, right?"

"I swear I don't know how he found out about this place."

"I do. I invited him."

"You did?" Lacey's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"Because," he said, stroking Alex's hair. "I care for her, Lacey. Not like Tom. He brought her here and split."

"He left?" Lacey was more than a little skeptical. It seemed unlikely that Tom would have gone without taking Alex with him.

"He must have. I haven't seen him in hours." Liam gazed upon the slumbering Alex. He kissed the girl's hand and smiled at Lacey. "You can go now," he said, scooping Alex up into his arms. "I'll take care of her."

"Don't hurt her," Lacey said. Most girls would have been too afraid to challenge Liam.

He smiled. "Careful, Red. You don't want to see me angry."

"It's not me you need to worry about. I don't talk to cops. But you better hope this kid doesn't remember what happened to her. Her folks have money."

After that evening, Lacey despised her friends. She wanted to ruin them, rip them off, fuck them utterly.

Hypatia spent less time at the cabin. She said she needed time to come back to herself. Liam started to become paranoid about police looking into their pagan sect. He confided in Lacey about Hannah Saunders. He had been so high, he didn't know she was dying. Hypatia convinced him to run, abandon the scene. They didn't want to get blamed for it. But for the weeks and months that followed, that girl had haunted Liam's dreams.

"Oh, Lace," Liam said one evening, leaning his head way back. "Hypatia's got proof." There was a flashdrive. A movie. No way out should Hypatia turn on him.

So Lacey tried to steal it for him, get .
to be his new partner. But after she tried and failed and after Liam beat the shit out of her, she knew the only way to get him was to isolate him, take away his allies. Hypatia deserved to die anyway. How many girls had she helped him rape?

"I serve a dark lord," Lacey reminded herself. She stared at her own reflection , "This I do in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit."

Nathan was so easy to control. He had white knight syndrome, would do anything for a damsel in distress, and Lacey had distress written all iver her after the beating Liam gave her.

She spun a tale. It was surprisingly easy to convince Nathan to kill for her, and she figured she could rip off Liam and get away with her marine.

She used with Liam the exact manipulation she used on Nathan. She had collapsed into Liam's arms and sobbed bitterly, frightened to death having just learned of Hypatia's murder.

They had to run.

Before the day was out they had a bag full of money and safe house where one of Liam's associates helped Lacey dye her hair and shaved Liam's head. They procured a vehicle, making plans to drive down to Mexico and hop the border. But before they could go, Liam wanted one last revenge.

Lacey saw this as her opportunity to switch out Liam's go-bag money with newspaper and make a run for it. Alex would be collateral damage. And as it would turn out, so would Tom. But that wasn't her problem. She didn't owe them anything.