Tagline: They’re too hot to handle.
Back tagline: Valedictorian.
Summary: That’s all Marla Newman wants. But her chance is quickly slipping away.
Then Marla meets two juniors who say they can give Marla the power to get anything she wants. Anything.
But Marla soon learns that power comes with a price…paid in blood.
First impressions: This one sounds so good! We haven’t spent much time with Marla and this will be her first time as a protagonist, so I’m interested to get to know her properly. All we really know is that she’s a bit of a bitch, although she didn’t seem to bad in Sweetheart, Evil Heart. The plot seems pretty unique as far as what I’ve recapped on the blog so far, which is very welcome. On the cover we’ve got a candle burning a hole, and it opens up to reveal Marla on the phone with Phoebe Yamura and Dana Palmer behind her. [Note from future: Phoebe and Dana are barely even in it! This is one cover I would have loved to have seen as a normal Fear Street cover rather than the Seniors cover]
Will anyone die in this book? Let’s find out!
Recap
The yearbook has been updated to reflect poor Deirdre Palmer’s death, and we also have some new characters:
Melanie – A girl who dies in the prologue.
Roxanne – Marla’s new friend who dabbles in the Dark Arts.
Elena – Marla’s other new friend who also dabbles in the Dark Arts.
The book begins with the best prologue I’ve seen in a Fear Street book. Melanie Anderson is brushing her long, straight and black hair in the mirror, admiring it. Her hair is her best feature, and everyone tells her she could sell shampoo on TV commercials. She gasps when she notices a face appear behind her in the mirror, but there’s no one there when she turns around. Turning back to the mirror, the face is joined by another one, both smiling at her — ‘Two faces she recognized. Two faced she dreaded.’ Melanie can’t hide her terror and she screams at the two female faces to leave her alone; she’d played their game and did everything they wanted, but she can’t do it anymore. She has to stop. The eerie, floating faces just grin back at her, not reacting:
“I’m l-leaving,” she stammered. “You can’t stop me. I—I’m not afraid of you two.”
She took a shaky step toward her bedroom door. Then another.
She didn’t see the long, thin silvery cord stretch out from the mirror glass.
She didn’t see the shiny cord as it swung out from the mirror like a whip.
Heart thudding, Melanie started to run.
She ran two or three steps before the silvery cord snapped around her neck—
And sliced her head off.
Sliced it off so neatly, so clean—her body ran another two or three steps before it even realized the head was gone.
[A very unexpected yet amazing opening! This book has my full attention now] The main story begins with Marla Newman taking a seat next to Kenny Klein in the cafeteria. He tells her to eat up because she’s gonna need all her strength if she plans to beat him in the history class debate this afternoon! He’s been trying to make her nervous about this debate all week, and Marla believes he’ll do anything for an advantage. Marla absolutely has to win, though; her grade-point average is one tenth higher than his, putting her at the top of the senior class, and she’s determined to stay there — ‘After all, what’s the point of being second best?’ [Nerd!]
She wishes Kenny good luck, and the random girl next to him tells Marla she’s already won for best dressed, since her outfit is so great! Marla smiles before glancing down at her pale green silk shirt and ivory wool miniskirt; she spent almost as much time picking her outfit as she did studying for the debate because her mother always says you can spot a winner because they look like a winner. Kenny agrees Marla looks great, and Marla’s suspicious because he never compliments her; he must be up to something!
Next thing she knows, something bumps her arm, and as she turns around, the bottle of ice tea that’s now sideways on Clarissa Turner’s tray has splashed all over Marla’s silk blouse. [Haven’t seen Clarissa in a while! I hope she didn’t do this on purpose, she seems too nice] Marla is raging and calls Clarissa stupid for not looking where she was going, despite Clarissa’s apology. Sorry isn’t going to dry-clean her blouse before next period, after all! Clarissa offers to trade tops, but Marla isn’t interested in wearing that big plaid flannel shirt — ‘”This is bad, but that would be a disaster.”‘ [Hahaha she’s such a bitch] Clarissa calls her a snob and remarks that Marla just won’t be Miss Perfect today; ‘”Get used to it, girl, ’cause the truth is, you never really were.”‘ [Drag her, Clarissa!]
As Clarissa walks away, Marla finds herself wishing she’d fall flat on her face. And to her surprise, Clarissa’s feet go out from under her and she hits the floor hard, face first! Marla tries to hold back her laugh, but a giggle escapes, and Clarissa accuses Marla of pushing her, claiming she felt her filthy hands on her back. Marla denies it and hadn’t even moved from her seat, but Clarissa isn’t buying it and joins Trisha Conrad, Josie Maxwell and Jennifer Fear at their usual lunch table. [I wanna know why Josie didn’t get an invite to Trisha’s ranch if they’re such good friends. Clarissa wasn’t there either!] As Marla turns back to her lunch, she’s greeted by two girls dressed in all black; one tall and thin with long, straight blonde hair and icy blue eyes, [Stine’s favourite eye and hair colour combination!] and the other a shorter, fuller-figured girl with a frizzy mass of dark girls. [I like that Stine describes her as fuller instead of fat or chubby] They introduce themselves as Roxanne Vale, the blonde, and Elena Cross, the dark-haired one, and state that they’re juniors as they plop down across from Marla. Marla ignores Roxanne’s extended hand, noticing the odd jewellery of snakes and bats and skulls across her fingers, and asks what they want. The girls want friendship, and Elena mysteriously tells her friendship is power, but Marla isn’t interested — ‘”You’re kidding, right? Why would I be friends with a couple of…juniors?” She almost said weirdos.’ Roxanne and Elena insist Marla’s one of them, but Marla doesn’t agree, pointing out that she’s a senior. Roxanne says that doesn’t matter, and leans in close as she whisper, ‘”You have the power”‘.
Marla has no idea what they’re talking about, and with a smile, Roxanne reveals they just saw her push Clarissa with her mind, admitting she and Elena have the power too. They offer to show her how to use it, but Marla’s fed up by this point and tells the pair the only power they have is the power to annoy people, demanding them to get lost. Hurt and anger flash across the girls’ faces as they rise to their feet. Their eyes start coldly at Marla, so sharp and piercing, and Roxanne tells Marla she’ll change her mind — ‘”You’ll see.”‘ [I’m confused how they would know the Marla has the power. Like, how did they know she pushed Clarissa with her mind? Or had they previously chosen Marla as their target, and used their own power to knock Clarissa’s drink on her? Then pushed her over and are now trying to convince Marla she was responsible? But that still doesn’t explain would they know Marla wanted Clarissa would fall… I don’t know]
We jump forward to the final minutes of the History debate now, held inside the auditorium for the two senior honours history classes, and Marla thinks Kenny is winning as he’s giving his final speech. It doesn’t help that she doesn’t seem to have many supporters in the crowd; Josh Maxwell and Mickey Myers aren’t even paying attention, cracking jokes to each other, and Clarissa, Trisha, Jennifer and Josie seem to be whispering and laughing at Marla. Marla tells herself to forget about the girls since they’re all losers, especially Josie! she doesn’t really know why she hates Josie so much, she’s just always rubbed Marla the wrong way. That’s why when Marla’s dad hired Josie for a job over the summer, Marla decided she wanted the job instead. Poor Marla’s getting flustered and finding it hard to concentrate on Kenny’s words, and as she gazes out across the dark auditorium, she spots Roxanne and Elena standing by the double doors. Her throat starts to tingle, so she takes a sip of water as Kenny wraps up his speech. Mr. Bartleby, one of the history teachers, reintroduces Marla for her final counterpoint, but when she opens her mouth to speak, nothing comes out. As she continues trying to talk, a weird gasp escapes her throat followed by a loud burp that makes the auditorium explode with laughter. Marla, still unable to talk, gazes helplessly at the laughing faces, noticing that Roxanne and Elena are the only ones not laughing. Something in Marla’s throat grows thicker, tighter, and soon she can’t even breathe!
No-one seems to take notice of Marla practically dying on stage, and Mr. Bartleby declares Kenny the winner. [It’s pretty strange that the girl clearly can’t breathe and not even the teacher cares. Does everyone hate her?] The students cheer and head towards the exit, and Elena and Roxanne glance back at Marla one last time before slipping out the door. Marla’s throat instantly relaxes and her voice comes back, much to her relief. Kenny approaches and asks if she’s OK, and she says she isn’t sure what happened. She wonders if Elena and Roxanne had used the power they mentioned, but then realises that’s stupid; her nerves got the best of her and she messed up. Kenny offers to walk her to her next class, telling her better luck next time, but Marla angrily tells him she doesn’t need his help and he only won by default. As she leaves, he declares they’ll see who scores higher on the French test. Kenny’s great with languages, but French is Marla’s worst subject.
It’s time for French now, and Mr. Leroux hands everyone their graded exams. Based on the reactions of her classmates, it seems Josh unexpectedly passed while Phoebe Yamura, Will Reynolds and Dana Palmer scored poorly. From where she’s sitting, Marla can see Kenny’s score of 97, while her own exam shows a score of 85. It’s a B when she needs an A! First the debate and now this, how will she ever explain it to her overbearing and overachieving mother if Kenny Klein gets valedictorian? Kenny sneaks a look at her score and seems sympathetic, and Marla wishes the day would end. But it’s only getting worse, because the speaker on the wall crackles, ready for an announcement, and to her horror, her big burp at the debate plays. As everyone bursts into laughter around her, Marla grabs her books and flees the room, wondering who would do this to her. She heads to the AV room to catch whoever tape-recorded the debate, and as she turns a corner, she crashes into Elena and Roxanne.
She tells them to get out of her way and forges ahead, finally reaching the AV room, but the door won’t budge; someone must be blocking it! She kicks it open to find Josie, Jennifer and Trisha at the console desk, with Josie holding the tape recorder to the microphone. The smiles vanish from their faces as soon as they spot her, and Marla notices Clarissa behind the door, rubbing her head. [OK, maybe Clarissa did spill her drink on Marla on purpose] Marla says she should have known these losers were behind it, and Josie declares it revenge for stealing her job over the summer — ‘”You thought it was so funny, right? Now look who’s laughing. Everybody!”‘ [Mean girl behaviour and I kind of feel bad for Marla, but she is an asshole and she did have it coming] Marla insists the joke is actually on the four of them; Marla’s the one who’s getting out of this town to go to Harvard or Yale or Brown, and will get exactly what she wants in life while these four will be stuck in Shadyside playing dumb jokes on each other. [Savage!] They’ll all be sorry they did this, and when Josie rolls her eyes and asks if it’s a threat, Marla narrows her eyes at all four of them and tells them it’s a promise. [I hope this means someone’s gonna die!]
During study hall, Marla’s unable to focus so instead of studying, she writes a list titled ‘PEOPLE I HATE’:
1. KENNY KLEIN (for competing so hard to snatch the valedictorian title away from me—and then pretending to be my friend).
2. JOSIE MAXWELL (for tape-recording my most embarrassing moment).
3. CLARISSIA TURNER (for being a general, obnoxious pain—and spilling iced tea on my best blouse).
4 and 5. JENNIFER FEAR and TRISHA CONRAD (for helping Josie and Clarissa make a fool out of me).
6. MATTY WINGER (for being an annoying geek twenty-four hours a day).
7 and 8. DANA PALMER and PHOEBE YAMURA (for ditching me at Josh’s party last week).
9. CLARK DICKSON (for being weird).
The list continues until everyone who’s ever bothered her is on it, which is half of Shadyside High, including teachers and other staff members. The bell rings, and Marla crumples the list and shoves it in her backpack. Normally she doesn’t do petty stuff like this, but today hasn’t been normal, and it felt good to get that out of her system!
When Marla arrives home after school, she’s immediately swarmed by her mother, who can tell something’s wrong. [Marla’s father is never mentioned in the book, which is unusual because Stine usually mentions absent parents!] Marla struggles to say anything, and her Mum asks if it’s about the debate. Marla nods, and Mum supposes that you can’t win them all. Mum then asks about the French test, demanding to see it, and Marla reaches into her bag and hands her the folded up test. She closes her eyes, bracing for a scolding, but to her surprise Mum tells her she’s too hard on herself — ‘A ninety-eight is hardly the end of the world.”‘ Confused, Marla grabs the test back and reads the score, which definitely says 98 now. Maybe with everything that had happened today, she’d somehow read it wrong in class. Mum’s proud of her progress in French, but there’s still a lot of work to do before she’s valedictorian, so she forces Marla upstairs to study.
As Marla is arriving at school the next day, Mr. Leroux approaches her in the parking lot and congratulates her on the 98 she got on her exam. [So did Elena and Roxanne change the past? Or just altered the score and the memories of everyone who saw the original score? What exactly is their power?] As she heads into the school building Marla’s hopeful that today won’t be as bad as yesterday, but an instant silence falls over the crowded hallway as everyone turns towards her. She wonders what they’re staring at, knowing it’s not her outfit; the yellow knit dress clings to her body in all the right places! Then everyone begins to laugh, and Josie pushes her way through the crowd: ‘”Real mature, Marla,” she said flatly. “You’re on my hate list, too!”‘ Josie storms off, and Marla approaches the bulletin board across the lobby where a small crowd has gathered. To her horror, pinned to the board is the crumpled list of people she hates. [Oop]
Marla rummages through her bag where she’d originally put the list, but it’s not there; the list on the board is definitely the one she’d written. She quickly snatches it and storms to her locker, where she’s confronted by Clark Dickson, who asks if he’s really that weird that she hates him. Marla tells him to leave her alone, then rushes down the hall yelling at everyone to leave her alone. She heads to the locker room to change for gym, where Trisha, Josie, Jennifer and Clarissa mock her. Marla realises that Josie’s in her theatre class and could have rummaged through her bag yesterday and stolen the list while she’d been working on her scene. Mrs. White, the gym teacher, comes to collect the girls, but Marla stays behind, noticing the padlock on Josie’s gym locker is unlocked. Alone in the locker room, she takes Josie’s baggy black jeans and black leotard and sneaks her way out the back door of the school. She walks along the outside of the school until she arrives at the cafeteria Dumpsters, where she quickly deposits Josie’s clothes. They land on a cardboard box, which isn’t good enough for Marla because she wants them ruined by all the gunk in there! She has to lean in quite far to reach the clothes… and then she feels someone push her with amazing force, and she topples into the Dumpster, the lid slamming shut behind her.
Covered in slime and rotting food, she’s unable to lift the lid so resorts to screaming for help. Luckily for her, Mickey Meyers and Matty Winger come past and free her. Marla doesn’t bother to thank them and storms back to the locker room. After a shower, she finds Elena and Roxanne in the locker room. As Marla gets dressed, they mention the bad day she’s having sucks and how everyone is being so obnoxious to her. Especially Josie, who must really have it out for her! They ask what she plans to do about it, but after her Dumpster diving, Marla doesn’t think it’s worth doing anything anymore. The girls explain she can get whatever she wants and easily deal with enemies using the power. Marla doesn’t believe in magic or voodoo and the like because it defies the laws of physics, chemistry and biology, but Roxanne points out she had an 85 on her French test until they’d stepped in — ‘”Now your mother, Mr. Leroux and even Kenny Klein are convinced that you got a ninety-eight.”‘ They explain that they’d called on the power to fix her score, and that same power will give Marla everything she wants. Straight As without needing to study, great clothes, no more bad hair days, even valedictorian! Marla points out that even if she and Kenny score 100 on every test until graduation, he’ll still be valedictorian because he’s ahead of her right now. But the girls say getting Kenny out of the way is simple, and they can take care of him as soon as she joins them. ‘”Don’t you think it would feel good to finally have your mother approve of everything you do?”‘ questions Elena, and Marla agrees but silently wonders how Elena knows about her home life. [Do these girls choose a target and then make bad things happen to her until she agrees to join them?] Marla still doesn’t think the power is real, but what if it is? It’ll be nice to be able to relax a little and not have to worry about being the best tall the time. ‘After all, things couldn’t get much worse than they already were.’ [Don’t be so sure, Marla!]
Marla wants to know what she has to do to join, and Elena tells her to think of it as an exclusive club. The girls like to think of themselves as students of the Dark Arts, ‘”Ancient practices…as old as the earth itself.”‘ It’s a long-forgotten science that helps them tap into the earth’s power and the power can be used for good or evil, but it’s weak if used by one person alone; it reaches it’s full potential when used by a circle of three:
“That’s why we need you, Marla,” Elena crooned softly. “You’ve been blessed with the power, too.” She leaned back against a locker and sighed. “We used to have a third member in our circle,” she said wistfully. “But then one day she—”
Roxanne glared at Elena, as if telling her to be quiet.
“She had an accident, ” Elena finished her sentence.
[RIP, Melanie. This is giving ‘The Craft’ vibes. Did Melanie go to Shadyside High? Wouldn’t Marla have heard about the death?] Marla’s still unsure about joining, but with a little extra coaxing from the girls she agrees, and Elena and Roxanne tell her to meet them in the Fear Street Woods at midnight.
That night, Marla finds Elena and Roxanne chanting in the middle of a small grassy field in front of a semicircle of towering black candles. They’re dressed in black robes and tall, pointed hoods, and in the centre of light is a table covered with a red velvet cloth with a silver bowl on it. Marla’s just in time because they’re about to add the final ingredients to the Summoning Elixir. There’s a dark, rancid-smelling liquid in the bowl, and Roxanne explains they’ll be summoning the Dark Ones. Marla slips on the robe Elena hands her, and the girls form a triangle around the alter. Then Roxanne closes her eyes and tilts her head back before opening her mouth wide, a deep, animal growl rising from her chest, then some strange, garbled words that Marla can’t decipher. Elena opens the red satin pouch she holds out in front of her, dropping the ingredients into the bowl; a lock of hair, a fingernail clipping, a smooth oval stone, and a photograph, but it’s too dark to tell who’s in it. The liquid bubbles furiously as Roxanne calls out for the spirits of the earth and the world to answer her call and open the darkness. Elena joins in, the wind howling around the girls. Marla just stands there, utterly fascinated by what she’s witnessing, until the ground starts to shake. Trees begin to sway and rocks tumble across the ground, so there’s nowhere to take shelter. Overwhelmed by panic and fear, Marla begins to run, ignoring the girls’ calls for her to come back, to stay inside the crescent. Then a wide crack opens up in front of her, and she tumbles down into the darkness.
Marla plunges into the bottomless pit until she’s suddenly jolted to a stop. Glancing up, she spots Elena leaning over the side of the pit, her fingers held straight out. Roxanne joins her and does the same thing with her hands. Together, they chant in a language Marla doesn’t recognise, and Marla begins to rise. Marla floats over the edge of the pit and collapses to the ground inside the crescent of candles. The girls help her to her feet and now that she realises the power is very real, Marla goes with them to the edge of the pit. There, Marla repeats a few words after Roxanne to ‘”summon thee!”‘ and a coil of tree roots along the edge of the pit slowly unravels itself, extending right up to Marla’s face, a piece of yellow parchment dangling from the end of the root. [This stuff is spooky! I love it] Written on the parchment is a series of odd letters, again a language Marla doesn’t recognise. The girls explain it is Marla’s pact and will unlock all her powers once she signs it. The only words Marla can read is her full name, so she questions how she’s supposed to sign something she doesn’t understand. The girls tell her it’s a lost language and sometimes you just have to have trust in what you know. Marla still isn’t convinced and wants to know what the pact means — what are the terms? What does she get? What does she have to give in return? Roxanne explains the pact forms her connection with the power, pointing into the pit. It’s the kind of power that will make her successful at college, that will make her number one at Shadyside High. Roxanne reminds her she only has two months of school left to prove she’s the best, and she can’t afford to make any wrong moves; the power will make that easy, and she’ll have everything she’s worked so hard for, everything she’s ever dreamed of. All she has to do is sign the pact. Marla suddenly hears a twig snap behind her and spins around, just in time to see Elena diving towards her, holding a knife!
Marla thinks they’re going to kill her if she doesn’t sign, but Roxanne laughs and explains that the she needs to sign the pact in blood. Marla hesitates, but Elena urges her to think about everyone she wants to get back at; Josie, Clarissa, Kenny, etc. Roxanne chimes in, telling her to think about being number one for the rest of her life; valedictorian will only be the beginning! With all that encouragement, Marla takes the knife and slices a smooth line into her palm. The knife slips from her hands, it’s sharp, bloody tip stabbing the ground, and Marla starts to feel dizzy. Roxanne grabs the parchment and snaps off the end of the tree root, handing it to Marla. Marla dips the tip into the blood in her palm and signs the parchment after a single moment of hesitation. Shrieking with delight, the girls order her to toss the tree root into the pit, and the earth rumbles again as the root falls down into the pit. The earth continues to rumble, the wind blows harder and faster, trees rocking back and forth, and out of the dark hole appears a strange red light before a powerful blast of flames explodes from the pit, showering Marla with sparks. Thick black smoke rises into the air, lightning flashes overhead and thunder cracks. A bolt of lightning then reaches down from the sky, and Marla covers her face and screams as it shoots over her.
Marla jolts upright in bed as her alarm clock blares. She realises, slightly disappointed, that last night’s adventure had only been a dream. But that disappointment quickly gives way to excitement when she finds the parchment in her bed, still signed with her blood, and notices the small scar on her palm. Feeling quite powerful, she hurries to the mirror to study her reflection and is pleased at what she sees; glowing skin, sparkling eyes, fuller, more lustrous hair. She looks great, and she smiles wickedly with the knowledge of having the power.
Roxanne and Elena are waiting at Marla’s locker when she arrives at school and immediately ask how she feels. Marla is super chirpy and energetic and feels like getting some revenge. She pulls out her hate list and the girls examine it, wondering who to target first — there’s so many options! Roxanne thinks Josie is too easy a target to start with, so they’ll take care of her later, and even though she was the one who brought up revenge a few moments ago, Marla now decides they need to slow down — ‘”This is all still new to me. I need a little time to get used to it. Besides, I’ve got calculus now.”‘ [You’ve just been granted endless power and you’re thinking about math? Marla, please] Roxanne agrees they can discuss it later, and reminds Marla she has the power to do anything she wants now.
Marla has an amazing day at school; an A on her English essay, the principal told her he’s nominating her to be president of the Shadyside High National Honor Society, [Isn’t it a bit late in the school year for that? Or does that role mean something outside of school too? We don’t have honor societies in Australia, so I have no idea what this actually means] and a 99 on her calculus exam! She doesn’t even mind that Kenny got 100 on the exam! She’s a few minutes late to French, which would normally make her frantic, but now that she’s got the power, she doesn’t care. Mr. Leroux doesn’t seem to mind either, quickly turning back to Kenny to continue their conversation. Mr. Leroux speaks fluent French to Kenny, the only one who can follow every word when he speaks that fast; Marla reckons it’s his way of putting the class down, reminding them of how much they don’t know. Kenny eats it up every time, but Marla thinks Mr. Leroux is more obnoxious, since he starts it every time. Marla concentrates on the teacher’s thin lips and flashing teeth, willing him to shut up. At first nothing happens, but then her hands get warm and begin to tingle, and Mr Leroux splutters as a tooth falls from his mouth. And then another one! Mr. Leroux tells the class he’ll be right back and flees the room as Marla smiles to herself.
After class, Roxanne and Elena are waiting at her locker, having already heard the news about Mr. Leroux. They want to know who’s next and suggest Clarissa, Trisha and Jennifer, who are walking by; Marla can take care of all three at once! Marla doesn’t want to rush, though and would rather plan the perfect revenge for each of them. Clarissa, Trisha and Jennifer stop to tell Marla the good news, waving a white envelope around; Trisha got her accepted into Brown! Marla can’t believe she’s heard from them already, considering her mum called Brown a few days ago and was told the letters won’t be sent out for another two weeks. Trisha admits that her dad has a friend on the board who pulled some strings, and when Marla presses further, she reveals her dad will be donating a new student union to the campus. Marla’s pissed off, knowing that this donation is the only reason Trisha could get accepted to Brown since her grades aren’t good enough, and congratulates her through gritted teeth. The trio of girls continues on down the hall, letting everyone know the good news, and Elena suggests it’s time Trisha’s luck changes. Marla agrees, but rejects their offer to pool their powers together; she can handle this on her own. Marla waits patiently as she summons the power, feeling it course through her body as she concentrating on Trisha, who’s arrived at her locker. As she bends down to grab her gym bag, Marla releases the power, and Trisha’s tiny skirt rips neatly down the back, the two perfect halves falling to the floor. Trisha screams and tries to cover up her bear-printed underpants, and our trio of Dark Arts students laugh and laugh.
Roxanne and Elena compliment Marla on her use of the power and want to know who’s next. Roxanne thinks it’s the perfect chance to get Josie, who’s heading for the glass doors at the front of the school. She leads Marla and Elena past Josie and out the doors, and Marla points out that Josie looks upset. Elena giggles that she’ll look a lot worse soon, and she and Roxanne urge Marla to use the power to push Josie through the glass doors. They remind a shocked Marla of the tape-recorder incident and suggest Josie’s probably planning an encore for graduation, so Marla needs to get her before she gets Marla:
A sickening wave of terror rushed through Marla’s body.
“B-but—push her through a glass door?” she stammered. “That’s… dangerous.”
Elena shrugged. “So is crossing the street.”
“It’s cruel!” Marla cried.
“True,” Roxanne agreed.
“It…it…” Marla fumbled for the words. “It could kill her!”
Roxanne and Elena stared back at her blankly.
“So what?” they asked.
[I kind of want a whole series about Roxanne and Elena, they’re great villains!] Marla can’t believe what she’s hearing and definitely doesn’t want to kill Josie, so she instructs the girls to meet her after school so they can come up with a plan. She then hurries off to go to her next class, passing Josie, who I guess has just been leaning against the doorway this whole time. Josie glares at Marla and asks if she’s stolen anyone else’s clothes today, but Marla ignores her and hurries down the hall. Marla starts trembling as she thinks about the pact and her new power; she refuses to use it to kill Josie, because she’s not a murderer. And Roxanne and Elena aren’t murders either, are they? [Yes] She shakes off the chill running down her back and decides to look on the bright side; she has the power, she feels terrific, and she looks great!
She suddenly gets the urge to check herself out again and makes a detour to the bathroom. Studying her reflection, she notices something different about her eyes; they’re darker, sharper. There’s definitely something wicked in them that wasn’t there before. Her hands suddenly begin to tingle, which is strange because she’s not using the power, and then she hears an ambulance outside the school. Curious, Marla hurries to the hallway and follows the other students scrambling to the lobby; apparently there’s been an accident, and someone’s hurt real bad! Finally Marla reaches the lobby and immediately sees shattered glass doors. Then she spots Josie Maxwell covered in blood, being carried out on a stretcher. [This all happened in the space of what, like, a minute or two? Since when are Shadyside emergency services so quick?]
Roxanne and and Elena appear and ask how it feels to have blood on her hands, and when Marla denies having anything to do with it, they question why her hands are tingling. Marla realises her hands are still tingling and asks if Josie is dead. Roxanne and Elena simply shrug, and Marla approaches the stretcher because she absolutely has to know. Splinters of class cover Josie’s body and she’s drenched in blood, but luckily she’s still breathing! Marla begs her not to die, and a dazed Josie moans that she was pushed, but there was nobody there — ‘”Maybe it was the evil spirit,” Josie murmured. “The evil spirit from the Doom Spell…”‘ [Are we even going to see that evil spirit again? At this point I don’t think the Doom spell has had anything to do with the events of the Senior series. It’s just seemed like a normal year in Shadyside lol] Marla assumes she’s talking crazy from the shock, and while her hands are no longer tingling, she knows the power is what sent Josie through the doors.
Marla quickly realises the gravity of the situation and scolds herself for signing a pact she didn’t really understand. Glancing at Roxanne and Elena, she realises they somehow used her power without her to hurt someone. Who will it be next time? She decides she’ll need to break the pact and confronts Roxanne and Elena. With amusement, they admit to using Marla’s power without her, explaining the Dark Forces are fed and strengthened by her hatred for Josie, so they simply tapped into it. They fondly reminisce about Josie smashing through the glass, but Marla wipes the smile off their faces when she tells them she can’t do this anymore. She doesn’t want any part in hurting people, and won’t be involved in this further. She quits the circle and no longer wants the power. The girls inform her that she can’t just quit; she accept the power of the Dark Forces when she joined the circle and willingly signed the pact in blood, which means she’s bound to it forever.
Marla knows there has to be a way to break the pact and runs home before the girls can argue further. She lies to her mother about feeling unwell and hurries to her room to study the parchment that has the pact on it, wishing she could understand the language. Flopping onto her bed, she gasps as she notices thick, black letters appearing on the ceiling and the walls until they’re completely covered in the strange, ancient words of the pact. Then they change from black to red and drip like blood down the white walls before eventually bursting into flames as Marla watches on in horror. The room fills with thick black smoke, forcing Marla to fling the window open and lean outside for air. The crackling of the fire soon stops, and when Marla glances back, her room is back to normal. She decides it had all been a sign from the Dark Forces, telling her she can’t break the pact. Her left hand is throbbing, and she stares bitterly at the pale wound on her palm. The throbbing intensifies, and , Marla watches in terror as the skin splits open, as if the scar is being sliced all over again.
Marla’s exhausted in French class the next day and the substitute, Ms. Claire, fails to control the class. We learn that Mr. Leroux is having dental surgery today and should be back in time for finals, if all goes well. As Marla packs up her stuff after class, Kenny asks Marla if she’s ready for finals. Marla casually replies she’s not worried, and Kenny offers his assistance if she decides she needs any help. To his surprise, she might take him up on the offer, since she’s been too stressed out lately to study. As she heads to her next class, Marla bumps into Clarissa and asks how Josie’s doing. Clarissa is sure Marla doesn’t really care, but Marla insists she does, and she wouldn’t wish such a terrible accident on anyone! Clarissa relaxes a bit and tells her despite the large amount of cuts all over Josie’s body, they were all minor, so she’ll probably be back in school next week.
Marla continues down the hall and finds Roxanne and Elena waiting at her locker. They lead her into an empty classroom and ask if she’s reconsidered her stance on the pact. Marla agrees that it seems she has no choice, but complains that it was a huge mistake to sign the pact. Elena assures her she’ll learn to enjoy it, and Roxanne explains that now that she’s part of the Dark Forces, she has to do what the Dark Ones want, and they want blood. Marla received the power in blood, so she has to pay the Dark Ones back in blood:
Marla glanced nervously across the empty classroom. All the desks and chairs began to spin.
“Blood is life!” Roxanne shrieked.
“Blood is the power!” Elena cried out.
“Blood feeds the earth!” they chanted in unison. “Blood is the nourishment of the Dark Ones!”
[They’re a bit loud considering it’s the middle of the school day lol. What if someone glances into the room and sees all the chairs spinning?] Marla still isn’t sure exactly what they’re telling her, so Roxanne clarifies that as payment for her power, someone must die — ‘”If you don’t kill someone by the next full moon, then you’ll have to die yourself.”‘ The girls know Marla can do it, especially if she wants to be valedictorian. She’s always been ambitious, and now all she has to do is one little thing — kill the one person standing in her way, Kenny Klein. [Honestly, it’s still a pretty good deal to me. She could kill anyone and it would fulfil the pact, so it’s not like she has to kill Kenny. If it were me, I’d go find someone who’s on their deathbed. That way, the deal is complete and I still have the power. But then Roxanne and Elena have already proven to be a problem, so maybe I could just kill them!]
Marla can’t believe what they’re saying, but Roxanne and Elena don’t think it’s that big a deal; Kenny is number one on her hate list, after all. Unlike me if I were in this situation, Marla refuses to kill anyone, and she won’t be changing her mind. [Did you not hear them say it’s kill or be killed, Marla?] Roxanne and Elena simply exchange a glance and head for the door. Confused, Marla asks where they’re going, and the girls tell her to stay away from them. It’s too dangerous to be near her now, since the Dark Forces will definitely kill her if she refuses to kill someone else. They don’t know when or where it will happen, but they don’t want to be around when it comes. Marla asks how they know this, and they tell her it happened to Melanie, a fellow junior and the third in their circle. But Melanie refused to kill, and ‘”We never did find Melanie’s head.”‘ [So did they not play a part in her death? Maybe the Dark Forces just made it seem like they were there in the mirror to mess with her]
In gym class, Marla can’t stop worrying about what the girls said. Will the Dark Forces really come to kill her? As she does jumping jacks, there’s sharp pain in her stomach every time she lifts her arms, like her insides are being ripped out. Next it’s time for rope climbing, and the teacher, Mrs. White, wants to see if Marla can beat her record. Marla’s reluctant, wondering if an “accidental” fall is how the Dark Forces will kill her, but starts climbing the rope anyway. As she nears the top, it suddenly turns into a hissing cobra, and Marla loses her grip and falls to the floor.
Marla wakes up in the nurse’s office, and Ms. Kramer tells her not to move yet. After shining a light in Marla’s eyes, Ms. Kramer tells her she doesn’t seem to have a concussion, and there’s no internal bleeding, so she’s just a little banged and bruised. [How does a school nurse check for internal bleeding?] She’s lucky the crash mat broke her fall! Ms. Kramer suddenly notices two scratches on Marla’s neck and suggests she’d scratched herself during the fall, but Marla secretly wonders if they’re actually fang marks from the cobra, remembering the words of the pact appearing on her bedroom walls and her palm wound reopening. [Except now the book is saying the wound is on her wrist, which is not the case. Also, these illusions are confusing… What happened in her bedroom wasn’t real, but the wound did reopen. And the cobra wasn’t real, but she may have bite marks on her neck?] She distracts herself from the thought that the Dark Forces are everywhere by watching Ms. Kramer [Who’s name suddenly changes to Ms. Newman for a sentence, lol] pull out some first aid stuff to treat the scratches. As she’s tending to the wounds, though, the nurse’s demeanour suddenly changes and she raises a pair of steel scissors over her head, and Marla realises the Dark Forces have taken over. In an ugly, inhuman voice, Ms. Kramer roars, ‘”Kill…or…die!”‘ Luckily, Mrs. White bursts into the room to check on the patient, and Ms. Kramer drops the scissors, suddenly seeming back to normal. Marla says she feels better already and quickly hurries out of the room because there’s no way she’s staying in there. Remembering the nurse’s words, Marla realises she really doesn’t have a choice; she has to kill if she doesn’t want to die.
That evening, Marla visits Kenny’s house, feeling super anxious about what she has to do. He answers the door looking sleepy, and she offers to come back another time. He explains he’d fallen asleep in front of the TV but is glad she’s woken him up, because he’s supposed to be studying French. Marla nervously tells him that’s why she’s here; maybe they can study together. Kenny’s face lights up and he eagerly invites her in, explaining his parents are working late so he’s got the place to himself. In the living room, Kenny stats reviewing his French notes, and Marla realises he’s actually really cute! She was just too busy competing with him to notice before. It makes killing Kenny all the more difficult. As ‘Kill…or die’ echoes in her brain, Kenny starts blabbing about the French exam, but Marla isn’t listening. Instead, she focuses on his throat, imagining invisible hands crushing his windpipe, squeezing the air out of him. Intensifying her focus, she no longer feels remorse or sympathy, or even fear — the need to end Kenny’s life has taken over. [I don’t know why she’s so set on killing Kenny when no one has told her that he’s who absolutely needs to die. She just needs to kill someone. You’re a smart girl, Marla, figure it out!]
Her hands start to tingle, but Kenny manages to break her focus by asking about her neck; he’d heard about the accident in gym class. Marla tells him she’s fine and probably doesn’t need the bandage anymore, and Kenny moves closer to take it off for her. [OK, he clearly has a crush] Marla can feel his warm breath on her neck as he starts pulling the bandage off, and then her hands begin to tingle again, but this time they feel red hot! And Kenny starts to choke as the power strangles him. He motions desperately for Marla to help him, but she just sits in silence, watching and waiting. A heavy numbness has settled over her, and she feels nothing. Then Kenny starts to shake violently:
Marla felt a surge of power rush through her body like a bolt of lightning.
“Kill him!” A voice in her brain ordered.
“Yes,” Marla murmured, in a low, dead voice she didn’t recognize. “Yes, I will obey.”
And then, without realizing it, without even thinking, Marla began to chant: “Blood is life. Blood is the power. Blood feeds the earth. Blood is the nourishment of the Dark Ones!”
Kill him! the voice instructed. Kill him now!
Like a wild animal, she threw herself on top of Kenny. “Blood is the life!”
Kill him! Kill him!
“Blood is the power…” Marla grabbed Kenny by the throat. “Blood feeds the earth…”
KILLLLLLLLL HIMMMMMMMMM!
“Blood is the nourishment of the Dark Ones!” Marla cried at the top of her lungs.
As Marla’s grip tightens around Kenny’s neck, something snaps in her mind, and the numbness lifts. The voice disappears, and Marla feels herself returning. She quickly releases Kenny, who falls back against the sofa, gasping for air. He demands to know why she just tried to kill him, and Marla spills the beans on the Dark Forces, Roxanne and Elena, and the pact she stupidly signed in blood. She pulls out the parchment to show Kenny, who also doesn’t recognise the words. He can tell how serious Marla is, though, so he doesn’t need any convincing to believe what she’s saying. He asks why she signed it, and she laments about trying to live up to her mother’s success, but always feeling like a failure. Then everyone at school started making fun of her, and she wanted revenge, but she never thought it would go this far. She apologises to Kenny for wanting to hurt him, and he gracefully forgives her, much to her surprise. Conveniently, there’s some old books on witchcraft in the house since his dad used to study it, and he hopes that they’ll be able to find something useful in there; maybe there’s a loophole they can exploit, or maybe Roxanne and Elena had been lying about what the pact means.
After an hour of skimming the books, the pair decides that Roxanne and Elena lied about Marla needing to kill someone, because they can’t find any record a person needing to kill after signing the pact. Kenny suggests Roxanne and Elena are more powerful with Marla in the circle, so they’re probably willing to do anything to keep her there. Marla realises that all the incidents she thought was the work of the Dark Forces must have actually been Roxanne and Elena manipulating her, and she quickly runs out of the house, ignoring Kenny’s protests that they should read more. [Yeah, I would 100% be doing more research, an hour is not enough when your own life is on the line]
At midnight, Marla heads to the clearing in the Fear Street Woods and finds Roxanne and Elena chanting over a bonfire. She confronts them about their lies, but the girls insists killing someone is in the pact, although they admit they can’t read it because of the lost language. Marla reveals she read through several books on the ancient Dark Arts, and she knows she doesn’t owe them or the Dark Forces anything. Roxanne grins wickedly as she tells Marla if that’s the case, they don’t need her around any longer; ‘”Now we have to kill you.”‘
Roxanne and Elena join hands and start chanting, and Marla feels a heat wash over her body. Her power isn’t strong enough to battle the girls off, and the heat rises until Marla seems to be boiling alive. In agony, she begs them to stop, blurting out she’d rather freeze to death than this, and the girls stop chanting. After a wicked glance at each other, they join hands and start chanting again, and this time Marla’s body temperature plummets until she’s frozen solid. Marla can hear the girls mocking her, but she can’t argue back, and her mind slowly starts to fade and die…
An unspecified amount of time later, Kenny arrives and pushes Marla closer to the bonfire to thaw her out. [So Roxanne and Elena just left her there, frozen? Wouldn’t she melt eventually on her own? I guess they probably thought she’d be dead by the time she’d defrost] Marla’s alive, and Kenny explains that he followed her when she ran out of his house [This timeline is not making sense. When she went to his house, it was only just getting dark. It was midnight when she confronted the girls. So what were both of them doing in the hours between those two events?] because he can’t stand the thought of something happening to her. [Well you better help her kill someone, because I’m 80% sure it really is part of the pact] They end up kissing, and his warm lips help heat the rest of her body. Marla has no idea what to do about Roxanne and Elena, and Kenny tells her that now that they think she’s dead, they can use it to their advantage, and he has a plan.
Marla doesn’t show her face at school the next morning, instead hiding in a storage closet. After home room, she watches through the air vents in the door as Kenny stops Roxanne and Elena in the hallway and tells them he knows all about the pact Marla signed. They tell him Marla’s history, which is exactly what he wants talk to them about; he wants to join the circle. Roxanne tells him to get a life and they start walking away, but Kenny announces he has the power, which stops them in their tracks. They want proof, which is Marla’s cue. She concentrates on Roxanne’s bag, sending it flying into the air and smashing into a locker before falling to the floor. The girls are impressed and also shocked that he has the power — ‘”You’re a real find!”‘ [OK, so the power is something they have before signing the pact? And the pact just makes it stronger or something? I’m confused] They instruct him to meet them in the clearing in the middle of the Fear Street Woods at midnight, then disappear down the hall.
Shortly before 12am, Marla and Kenny are huddled in the bushes, watching as Roxanne and Elena prepare the Summoning Elixir. When the crack in the earth opens, the plan is for Marla to push Elena into the pit, while Kenny will shove Roxanne in. [Couldn’t they use the power to just float out if it though?] At midnight, Kenny confidently approaches the girls, who immediately mock how stupid he is considering he’s the senior brain. They knew Marla was hiding in the storage closet this morning because they could feel her power. They have plans for Kenny, and it’s not to make him part of the circle; he’ll be a blood sacrifice, which will ‘”increases our power like you wouldn’t believe!”‘ Since Marla wasn’t ambitious enough to kill him, Roxanne will have that pleasure, and Marla watches in horror as Elena grips his arm while Roxanne pulls the ceremonial knife from her robes and aims it at Kenny’s chest.
Marla focuses the power on heating up the knife in Roxanne’s hand until she drops it, giving Kenny the chance to shove Elena to the ground and flee. Roxanne starts to chant, though, and soon Kenny’s pinned to the ground by tree roots. Elena climb to her feet, and Marla realise she’s standing on the spot where the earth opened up the night she signed the pact. Marla tries to remember the words to open up the pit, but Roxanne finds her and soon, tree roots and branches are holding Marla in place. Roxanne plans to cut out Marla’s heart and eat it to take her power, but before she can start stabbing, Marla remembers the words and starts chanting. The ground shakes and Roxanne stumbles backwards, falling over a rock. The branches and roots holding Marla loosen, and she quickly runs to Kenny as he pulls himself free. They hear a scream and look up just in time to see the ground open up beneath Elena, flames shooting up as she’s swallowed by the crevice.
Marla and Kenny briefly celebrate before Roxanne appears, hovering above them. She’s pissed that they killed her best friend, and now it’s time for revenge! Kenny orders Marla to run and shoves her towards the woods while he hurries to the centre of the clearing. Roxanne decides to follow Kenny, who grabs a thick branch from a pile of dead wood near the pit and dips it into the flames. As Roxanne dives at him, he thrusts the burning branch into her face, setting her robe and hair alight. She collapses to the ground, shrieking, which soon gives way to laughter. Marla and Kenny watch in horror as she tears the charred hood and burnt hair from her head, her exposed scalp smoking and bubbling. Marla is once again pinned in place by some tree roots as Roxanne approaches with the knife. Marla tries to use her power, but it seems exhausted, so she can’t do anything but watch helplessly. Luckily for her, Kenny tackles Roxanne to the ground, and the knife flies out of her hand, landing at Marla’s feet. She quickly cuts herself free from the roots and watches as Roxanne heaves Kenny dangerously close to the pit. Desperate to save him, Marla’s hands start to tingle as a burst of power surges through her. Roxanne moves towards her, deciding to kill her first before torturing Kenny, but Elena’s voice drifts out of the pit, begging Roxanne to help her. Roxanne races to the edge of the pit, and we learn that Marla was just playing a little trick, using her power to make Elena’s voice come from the flaming crack in the earth. Acting fast, Marla rushes up behind the burned girl and shoves her into the bottomless pit.
Marla and Kenny rejoice, although she doesn’t feel that great because she’s just killed two people. Kenny assures her that they were murderers and needed to be stopped, and they exit the clearing hand in hand as the pit closes behind them after a final explosion of fire lights up the sky.
Marla’s in a very cheerful mood as she arrives at school the next day and calls a truce with Matty and Mickey — ‘”Getting in each other’s faces is getting kind of old, right?”‘ [I don’t think we’ve seen them in each other’s faces at all, but OK] Clarissa then approaches, explaining she’d told Josie how worried Marla was about her. She’s not sure if Josie believed it, But Clarissa thinks she was genuine, and Marla even apologises for being so obnoxious to her all the time. Clarissa apologises too, and actually invites Marla to get pizza with her and the girls after school. Marla accepts the offer and Clarissa heads off to catch up with Trisha and Jennifer. Josie appears next, almost fully healed, and thanks Marla for the flowers she sent her while she was in hospital. As the first bell rings, Marla hurries towards her homeroom, happy that everything seems to be looking up.
After history class, Marla waits on the front steps of the school for Kenny, who’d told her to meet him here last night. She hasn’t seen him all day, and they only have a few minutes before they have to head to French for the exam. She can’t believe the biggest disaster in her life had lead to romance, with Kenny even giving her his class ring last night. [That was quick] Kenny finally appears, a look of fear on his face. He tells Marla that he did some more reading about the pact when he got home and the book ends as he tells her what he’s discovered; if you use your powers to kill another of your kind, someone else who practices the Dark Arts, ‘”Then you die—exactly twelve hours later.”‘ [And you didn’t think to tell her sooner? Like, call her or something? Or meet her at the start of the school day?! Also, what a dumb rule? That means that someone like Marla, who only killed in self defence and to prevent further evil, now gets punished?]
Marla’s mouth dropped open. A tiny cry escaped her throat.
Then a cold silence seemed to fall over the world.
Kenny was saying something to her. But Marla couldn’t hear him.
She could only hear the pounding of her heart.
And then the rumbling of the ground.
“No! No—please—!” She gasped, staggering back.
The steps of the school trembled.
“No! Please!”
With a deafening grinding sound, the concrete steps split open.
“Please, no—!”
The ground split open.
“Noooo!”
Marla reached for Kenny.
Too late.
A swarm of thick, black roots reached up from the pit, snapping like claws.
They grabbed Marla around the waist.
And dragged her down.
[Ok, LOVE this ending. Might be my favourite ending in a very long time. Very ‘Drag Me To Hell’. Poor Marla, though, I really thought she’d win. This rule in the pact is a bit confusing though, because it really seems like Roxanne and Elena played a part in Melanie’s death, which means they should have been killed before Marla ever got involved, right? They couldn’t read the pact so it makes sense they didn’t know about this rule, especially since they tried to kill Marla several times using their powers. Marla technically didn’t even kill them with her powers, though, she just used her powers to her advantage to be able to kill them. I guess opening the crack did kill Elena, but she should have moved! And that was a summoning spell anyway. But then they did intend to use the summoning spell for murder. I don’t know, I’m probably overthinking it. I want see the aftermath in the next book, but I don’t think we will. How will Marla’s disappearance be explained?]
Final thoughts
This was a pretty good read with an interesting plot, especially for fans of witchcraft. Of course, there are some pretty big issues, like what I just said about how the pact works. It’s very confusing. The power itself is also super confusing, because what even is it? It seems like people have the power before ever signing a pact, so does that mean the pact isn’t needed at all? It just strengthens the power? And if Marla had the power already, how come she never realised previously that she was able to manifest things so easily? And how did Roxanne and Elena know Marla had the power? I feel like it makes more sense that Marla didn’t until she signed the pact, and the girls were just manipulating her into thinking she had the power because they really needed a third.
I wish Marla had taken advantage of the power before realising the horror of what she’d signed, because she didn’t really get much chance to enjoy herself with it. I did like her character though, she’s a huge bitch but she’d softened up by the end of the book, so it’s kind of sad how her story ends. Oh well, at least we have another senior death to add to the tally!
Speaking of deaths, the circumstances around Melanie’s are unclear. Like, were Roxanne and Elena involved, or was that just the Dark Forces manipulating what Melanie was seeing? And if Melanie was a Shadyside High gal, why didn’t Marla know about her recent death? I suppose when 2045609 students die or go missing each year you can’t keep track of them all, but still! Or maybe Melanie, Roxanne and Elena all went to a different school, and the latter 2 transferred to Shadyside High after Melanie’s death to find a new recruit. I feel like that makes sense, because they really did just appear out of nowhere, and we never saw Roxanne or Melanie with anyone else. Did they have any other friends? Did they have family? Will anyone notice they’ve gone missing? I would have loved to know more about Roxanne and Elena because they were pretty great villains! I feel like this book could have benefited from being a Super Chiller so Stine could fit more in.
Another aspect I enjoyed was the blossoming romance between Marla and Kenny; it was very unfortunate that she always perceived his kindness as attempted sabotage when he really was just being nice. Then as soon as she stopped being blinded by ambition, she died! I wonder how long Kenny’s been crushing on her, considering he was dating Jade for a while before she was murdered. But I blame Marla’s death on Kenny; he knew she had until midday to live, why the hell did he wait until right before midday to tell her???! He found out the night before. Wouldn’t you call, or rush over to her house, or find her first thing in the morning if you were that concerned? Oh well.
We’re almost at graduation day, and there’s still too many seniors alive for my liking, so I’m praying we get more deaths.
For this book, though, 142 girls being shoved through glass doors via the power out of 196!
