Tonya stood there, looking at Marta collapsed on the floor. The rest of the partygoers were crowding in to see what was wrong.

"Back up!" It felt like the loudest she'd ever spoken.

They all stepped back, and Tonya dropped to her knees, positioning Marta on her back for resuscitation. She swept her finger through Martha's mouth to check for obstructions. At the back of her throat, she felt the hard edge of pizza crust, tweezered her fingers together and pulled, but it wouldn't budge. Tonya tilted Marta's neck, gave her a rescue breath, and then joined her hands over her chest to give her thirty chest compressions. By the time she got to the last, a faint gurgling came from the girl's mouth. This time when Tonya breathed into her, Marta's chest rose a little. Encouraged, Tonya slipped her fingers into Marta's throat again. The pizza had moved forward a bit, and this time she was able to get a grip on it. She pulled, taking out a wide piece of crust.

Marta coughed and started thrashing on the floor.

"Are you okay?" asked Tonya.

The colour was coming back to Marta's face. As soon as she stopped gasping, her first words were: "Get out of my room!"

At first Tonya thought Marta was joking, but the girl's face was red and her eyes stood out of her head. She was furious.

"But..."

"Don't let me see you anywhere near my room!" She shot Priya a look. "Or near my boyfriend again!"

"You're welcome," said Tonya. She turned to go.

When Priya tried to leave with her, Tonya whispered: "Stay here and make sure she's okay. I'm going downstairs to wait for the ambulance."

Outside, it was a lot colder than Tonya expected. The wind blew through her thin red top, and made her wish she were wearing one of her roomy old sweaters. At least her discomfort was temporary. Marta was in real trouble, and she wouldn't accept help.

Tonya heard the door open and Priya joined her. "They're panicking, hiding the alcohol in case the cops come with the ambulance. Marta wants you to turn them away."

"The paramedics have to see Marta. She really needs help."

"She'll be delighted when she finds out you sent them," said Priya.

Tonya wasn't worried about what Marta thought of her. After vomiting in the change room, and now gulping pizza like a starved wolf, Tonya was more afraid of what would happen if Marta didn't get medical care.

The ambulance pulled up and she recognized the same paramedics who came for Professor Rudolph.

"Where is she?" asked the woman.

"I'll lead you up," said Tonya. "I gave her CPR and got the food out of her airway. She'll tell you she's okay, but will you take a look at her anyway? She's been purging, and binging, and I'm worried about her."

As they waited for the elevator, the attendants stood on either side of a stretcher. Behind them, Tonya turned to Priya.

"What did Professor Rudolph and Marta have in common?"

"Passing out?"

"Food. He stuffed his face full of fries in the middle of a lecture, and then wandered off, blank-eyed." All the way to the Three-Century Ash, but Tonya wasn't going to mention what that meant to Priya. Until she had proof, mentioning supernatural forces would make Priya think she was a nut. Something told Tonya she wouldn't have long to wait.

When the elevator arrived, Priya went up with the attendants while Tonya stayed behind.

Something was coming. Tonya could feel an extra current in the earth beneath her feet. Her parents never spoke directly about magic, but she had lived in Loon Lake all her life, and she knew the signs. It was something supernatural but this wasn't good, like that extra sensation she sometimes had in the Herbal Healing Shop. That magic gave her a warm feeling, or made colours look brighter for a while.

This energy, rising up from the ground, felt cold and dark. Something bad was coming, and it was all connected somehow: Marta, the professor, the porridge-eating circle...

Then it hit her. The cemetery. All those swim team kids, pigging out on oatmeal, cross-trained by running through the cemetery. Professor Rudolph visited his wife's grave at the cemetery, and the Ash was on her Aunt's property, just outside the cemetery. Her roommate Lynette took her boyfriends on romantic walks through the cemetery's winding paths. Marta didn't have an eating disorder, she had caught a disease, and it was spreading.

Tonya stood clear as the attendants emerged from the elevator. Priya was with them, as was Marta, walking shoulders squared, face neutral. Her mask only slipped when she caught sight of Tonya and wrinkled her nose.

"I hope you feel better..."

"Shut up!" Marta strode past, flanked by the two attendants. When they reached the side of the road, she said something Tonya couldn't hear, but it made the attendants laugh. They got into the ambulance alone, and Marta waved as they drove away.

"C'mon," Priya said, "let's take the stairs."

On the way up to Priya's room, Tonya tried to compose a rational, convincing argument. Priya was so excited about her art installation, but if she set it up in the graveyard, the whole campus could catch Marta's eating disease.

Breaking the news to her friend felt that much harder when they arrived and Priya gave her a hug. "What you did was brave. That ungrateful witch should be thanking you."

Tonya sat on the edge of Priya's bed and gestured for her to take the desk chair. "I have to tell you something important." When she had Priya's full attention, Tonya went through each case, explaining that Lynette, Professor Rudolph, Marta and the swim team had all developed symptoms after exposure to the graveyard.

When she finished explaining, Tonya waited for some response but her friend didn't say anything. Had she already guessed Tonya's conclusion?

"I think it's too dangerous to put your art installation in the graveyard," she said.

"You can't be serious."

"More people will get sick. Marta almost died tonight."

"She has a problem."

"What about the professor? And I told you about Lynette. She's hardly ever home these days, and when she is, she eats constantly."

"Do you know the Professor is still sick?" asked Priya. "The hospital never called. Maybe he signed himself out."

"Look, I have a feeling, okay? People in my family have kind of a connection to...

Priya frowned. She was shaking her head.

"Something weird is going on in that graveyard. I can feel it."

"Good. That makes it even spookier."

"I'm serious."

"An eating contest is not a virus. Do you know how crazy you sound?"

"Trust me. Loon Lake isn't like the city."

"Right. You're auntie sells herbs and calls it medicine. People in your family believe in a bunch of superstitious garbage"

"Her cures work!"

"Sorry. No offense to your sick aunt. The point is, my Art should frighten. People think Art is pretty, but pointless. When they walk through that graveyard, I want them to feel like cavemen again, surrounded by wild beasts and scared of the dark."

"The cemetery is creepy, but so is the forest on the other side of campus. Why not move it, just to be safe?"

"We've already handed out the flyers, and announced a bonfire in the field just outside."

"That's my Aunt's property!"

"It's an empty field. Besides, that was Shin's idea."

"Tell him to move it."

"Too late, people are going to show up whether we like it or not."

"Make an announcement. Rope off the area and put up signs. We can't lead a hundred people through the cemetery tomorrow night. It's going to be a disaster."

"Do you know how many hours I've put into this? The Art has taken years, and the installation weeks. I did hours of paperwork to get the permits. I've already installed most of the pieces. You can't just tell me to dismantle my masterpiece."

"There are powerful forces behind this." Extra-powerful on All Hallows' Eve.

"Forces... Like gravity?"

"Can't you feel it?" Tonya put her hand on the wall of Priya's room. An extra energy thrummed through the drywall. She took Priya's hand by the wrist and placed it where it vibrated most. "It's magic, evil magic."

"I don't feel anything," said Priya, snatching her hand away. "You're tired. You just saved a girl's life and it's getting late. That's enough excitement for one night. Maybe you should go to bed."

"You have to call it off."

"Sure, don't worry," said Priya. "Now go to bed before you fall over."

"So you'll do it?"

"If you promise to get your ass into bed."

Tonya had a nagging feeling that Priya's little smile meant she was humoring her, but how could she argue with a promise? Besides, she was too tired to fight with her best friend.

#   #   #

The minute she got home, she kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed, too exhausted to even brush her teeth.

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