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“What are you doing?”
    â€œYou missed it, Amanda,” Victoria replied. She smiled, and the candlelight flickered eerily in her eyes. “We called up the evil spirit. It’s here!”

Chapter 8

THE EVIL APPEARS
    â€œH uh? No!” Amanda gasped.
    â€œYes,” Victoria insisted. “Can’t you feel it? Can’t you tell it’s here?”
    Amanda’s knees felt shaky. Her heart pounded. “You shouldn’t have done it!”
    Keesha laughed. “We didn’t.”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œRelax, Amanda,” Natalie told her. “Victoria was just joking. We didn’t call up any evil spirit.”
    Amanda sagged against the door frame in relief.
    â€œWe’re about to call it, though,” Victoria said.
    Amanda tensed up again.
    â€œWe were just waiting for you,” Janine explained. She gestured at the black candles, making the flames waver wildly. “How do you like the atmosphere?”
    â€œYou shouldn’t be playing this game!” Amanda cried.
    â€œIt’s not a game,” Keesha protested. “Tell her, Janine.”
    â€œYou remember those papers in the bottom of the box?” Janine asked. “Well, they were pages that had been torn out of a book. A really old book, I think, because the paper’s real thin and crinkly and rusty colored. Anyway, it gave instructions on how to call up the Evil.”
    â€œRight. You sit in a circle,” Keesha said. “And you light one black candle for every person there.” She pointed to an empty chair with a candle in front of it. “That’s yours, Amanda.”
    â€œCome on, Amanda.” Victoria patted the empty chair between her and Natalie. “Sit down so we can get started.”
    â€œNo!” Amanda shouted.
    The others stared at her, startled.
    â€œYou think this whole thing is a joke, but it’s not,” Amanda told them. “It’s really dangerous.”
    Victoria and Keesha laughed. Janine snickered. Even Natalie smiled. “Come on, Amanda,” Keesha said. “You don’t really think anything is going to happen, do you? It’s just a goof.”
    â€œIt’s not!” Amanda protested sharply. “I asked Adele about Corky Corcoran. And you know what she told me? Everything that Corky wrote really happened! Her sister Bobbi died. Bobbi was scalded to death in the locker-room shower. And she wasn’t the only one. Other people died, too. The Evil possessed some of the cheerleaders—took over their minds. And they killed without even knowing it!”
    â€œWell, that won’t happen this time,” Janine assured her. “Corky’s letter told us how to kill the Evil, remember? It has to be drowned.”
    â€œSee, Amanda?” Keesha grinned. “All we have to do is tie it to a cement block and toss it in the lake.”
    â€œThis isn’t funny,” Amanda said. “Don’t you get it? If we call the spirit up, it might possess one of us. One of us might start killing!”
    â€œGet a grip, Amanda,” Janine told her. “You’re practically hysterical.”
    â€œI can’t help it!” Amanda took a deep breath and forced herself to speak more calmly. “We shouldn’t mess around with this.”
    Keesha rolled her eyes. Natalie and Victoria exchanged a skeptical glance.
    â€œDon’t be such a baby,” Janine moaned. “It’s just for fun—nothing is going to happen.”
    The others nodded.
    â€œHow can you be sure nothing will happen?” Amanda asked.
    â€œBecause none of this spirit stuff is for real.” Natalie gathered up her dark hair and began twisting it into a long braid. “It’s like playing with the Ouija board.”
    Amanda stared at her. I’m surprised Natalie wants to go along with anything Janine suggested, she thought. But at least they’re not fighting.
    â€œCome on, Amanda,” Victoria