Chapter 12

Kayley sobbed on her bed. Everything was wrong.

All she wanted was to dance like she used to—instead, everyone she cared about was getting hurt. And she couldn’t deny it anymore; she didn’t like who she was becoming.

She had no friends anymore, she thought, and no peace of mind. Everything had gone wrong from the moment she had read about the shoes.

She didn’t even care anymore if she had the fairy godmother part. All she wanted was for those she loved to be safe.

She decided to skip breakfast and classes and do some more research on the shoes. She tried to remember where she put the book she’d discovered in the back room of the library and finally found it under her bed.

Should she try to find another book that would help? Now that her friends had been hurt, Kayley didn’t trust the first book at all. When she picked it up, it felt heavy. Even evil, if evil had a feeling. She could swear even her mood darkened. Why did she ever start reading the book in the first place?

She walked out of her room and headed straight into the library, back into the dusty old shelves, through the twist and turns that had led her to the dark corner once before.

Even during the day, the little space was completely creepy. The frail shaft of light that shined through the corner’s one high window only exposed a solar system of dust particles.

She stuck the book on the first dusty shelf she saw, shivering as she looked at the darkened space so hidden from the rest of the library. She couldn’t even believe she had been back there once, and she sure wasn’t going to do it again.

A voice startled her. “Can I help you?”

It was Geraldine, the librarian. Kayley had always liked Geraldine—about twenty years younger than most other teachers in the school, she always had some fun fashion thing going on. Today, her glasses sported skulls on the sides. She worked only part-time, so Kayley was surprised to see her on school grounds so early in the morning.

“Um … ,” she stammered, hoping Geraldine hadn’t seen her put the book back on the shelf.

“This area isn’t for you,” the librarian said. “No one, if you ask me, needs to ever go back here.”

Kayley saw Geraldine shiver.

Then Kayley had an idea. “Is there a book about the legends of this building? Superstitions?”

Geraldine looked at her closely. “Are you wondering about the shoes?”

Kayley nodded and swallowed. “How did you know?” she asked, hoping she sounded nonchalant.

Geraldine chuckled. “It’s a popular topic around here lately.”

She squinted at Kayley. “I’ll go ahead and tell you the current legend. But I hope you won’t go spreading this nonsense around. I trust you to take it for the folderol it is.”

Kayley didn’t know what folderol was, but she was anxious to hear the legend. She nodded her head.

“OK.” Geraldine’s eyes twinkled. “Legend had it the shoes belonged to Headmaster Quincy’s wife.”

Kayley nodded impatiently. She knew this part.

“Well, the headmaster had terrible luck toward the end of his life. His wife was an amazing dancer, but she was killed onstage. Quincy was so taken with grief, he became convinced the shoes were to blame. To save the school—in his mind, anyway—he slept every night with the shoes by his bedside to make sure he alone would bear the bad luck. He nearly lost his fortune and everyone dear to him. Desperate, he took a glass case and locked the shoes inside.

“And legend has it, his luck turned around. He recovered his fortune and saved the school from closing. Supposedly, the case contained the bad luck of the shoes and kept them from infecting the grounds. In his will, the headmaster demanded that the shoes stay within the academy walls; the shoes can only be destroyed if the school is destroyed. The poor man was so delusional. He thought burning the shoes would send horrible luck out into the world. So Dario Quincy Academy keeps the shoes to this day! Or until a few days ago, anyway.”

Kayley was taken aback. That wasn’t the story she had read at all. But how had her dancing improved?

“How do you know all of this?” she asked.

Geraldine winked at her. “Well, when you get the academy’s librarian job, you also become the keeper of its secrets.” And then she walked away, leaving Kayley alone with her thoughts.

If what Geraldine said was true, she needed to get those shoes back in the case. And she would do it tonight.

She didn’t care anymore if she danced well or not—it was time to do the right thing. It was time to take care of the people she loved instead of herself.

All throughout afternoon practice, Kayley was distracted. Madeleine had been promoted to the role of Cinderella, taking Ophelia’s place. And Kayley was back in the fairy godmother spot.

It didn’t feel good.

Although she danced well, her mind was elsewhere, thinking ahead to nighttime, when she could put the shoes back.

When it was Madeleine’s turn to do her solo, Kayley’s knees shook up and down. She started to chew on her fingernails.

As Madeleine did her piqué turns, Kayley noticed an antique light fixture swinging above the dance floor. And with horror, she saw a bolt pop out, then another.

Without thinking, she rushed away from the wall and pushed Madeleine out from underneath the fixture. The light crashed down in front of her. Madeleine lay on the floor, legs in split position, fallen but unhurt.

Madame Puant gasped. “Oh my word. Madeleine, Kayley, are you all right?”

They both nodded. The entire class began talking hysterically. Madame looked almost panicked, her eyes wild. “Class dismissed. No practice tomorrow. This place has become dangerous! Patrick, will you please call Bert?”

Kayley walked over to Madeleine and put her shaking hand on Madeleine’s shoulder. “Are you OK?”

Madeleine, also shaking, nodded. “You saved my life,” she said in wonder. Kayley felt tears behind her eyes.

“Can you come with me for a second?”

Madeleine’s eyes got wide and she nodded.

Kayley pulled her into the hallway and waited until everyone was gone. Tears streamed down Kayley’s face.

“It’s my fault everyone is getting hurt.”

Madeleine shook her head in bewilderment.

“Madeleine, I’m the one who took the shoes.”