Chapter IV
From The Shadow and Flame Exploded (p. 12)
Becky and Carrie sat in the office together. Becky held Carrie's hand; it was sweaty and trembling. Becky stroked her hand with her own gently whispering, "It's all right. Calm down, Car." She held her close to her small bosom and kissed the corner of her temple, stroking her hair with one hand.
"You let the push out, didn't?" Carrie whispered. "You set Chris on fire, didn't you?"
"I couldn't help it..." Becky said, near tears. "I tried...I would never mean to hurt anyone..."
"I know, Beck...I know you wouldn't."
Becky could hear Mr. Morton, the principal say to Miss Collins:
"Isn't she a little old...?"
"To have her period?"
"What I don't understand is how a girl through three years of high school could be unaware to the fact of menstruation."
"But I wonder why her mother never told her about it?"
"There's nothing wrong with beliefs."
"You see, Morty, the fact is, I know how they felt. I mean it was just her period for God's sake."
"What about her sister? Surely, she's had it before."
"She did at thirteen. Pretty young and savvy about it as well. Knows everything about all dirty things in general."
"What kind of dirty things in general?"
"She keeps a human anatomy book in her backpack and she knows the works of dirty words, slang, and all that. I'm amazed at her, being raised by a religious mother. It doesn't make sense how a religiously raised girl would know all these dirty facts."
"I'll send them home," He pressed on a button to the intercom and said, "Miss Finch, send Cassie and Betty Wright into the office,"
"It's Carrie and Becky White," said Miss Collins.
The girls walked into the office; Becky held her trembling hand.
"Come in, Cassie and Betty."
"Carrie and Becky," corrected Miss Collins.
"We're so sorry, Cassie," said Mr. Morton. "Miss Finch, please get me dismissal slips for Cassie and Betty."
She saw her sister staring at the ashtray on Mr. Morton's desk. She saw that it trembled a bit and a low buzz sound following.
"It's Carrie," she said, quietly.
Do you want to go to the infirmary? Lie down a while?"
Carrie shook her head. The ashtray shook again.
"Do you need a ride home? Could call you a taxi."
Carrie shook her head slowly.
"I'm sure they can walk," said Miss Collins. "It would do them good." To Carrie, she said, "And Carrie, you're dismissed from gym for a week, Carrie. You just go to study hall, OK?"
Carrie nodded.
"You take care of your sister, OK, Becky," she said to Becky.
"I will, ma'am," said Becky, quietly, still watching the ashtray tremble, which increased.
"We're all sorry that this incident, Cassie," said Mr. Morton.
"It's CARRIE!" screamed Carrie suddenly. Soon, Mr. Morton's ashtray flew in the air...the ashtray smashed, cigarettes and ashes scattered on the brown tile floor, causing Miss Collins to jump out of her seat. She knelt down to pick up the broken pieces.
Carrie grabbed her sister's hand and ran out the door.
Graffiti was scratched on a desk in Chamberlain Junior High School:
Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, but Carrie and Becky White eat shit
Below it, it said:
Roses are red, violets are blue, your Momma's a whore and so are you!
Becky walked her sister home down Ewen Avenue and crossed Carlin Street at the stoplight at the corner. She clutched onto Becky's hand tightly; she could feel her shaking violently. As the girls walked up the street, Becky could hear Carrie's voice speaking in her head:
[They all hate and they never stop! They never get tired of it!]
Becky looked at her sister.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing..." said Becky.
Soon, Carrie's voice came back to her head:
[Imagine Chris Hargensen all bloody and screaming for mercy with rats crawling all over her face. Good! That would be good! Crush her head in with a boulder. Crush all their heads in. And Becky would burn her pretty silken skin charred black...Good! Good!]
Carrie and Becky had tried to fit in. They defied Momma in every way they could by trying to erase that red plague circle that had been drawn around them that dominated the environment on Carlin Street and had walked up to Barker Street Grammar School with Bibles under their arms. But, they still could remember that day, the stares, and the sudden silence when the both of them got down on their knees before lunch in the school cafeteria—the laughter had begun on that day and echoed through the years. They never got down on their knees again in public.
At Christian Youth Camp, they tried to fit in...nothing seemed to work. All those torturous weeks of let's short sheet Carrie and Becky's beds and hide their underpants somewhere and put snakes in their shoes and duck Carrie again and again. Them slow pokes on bike trips, smelling sweaty and not able to catch up and catching poison ivy from urinating in the bushes (hey scratch-asses, your asses itch?).
Becky remembered the she had let the push out for the first time at Christian Youth Camp after ten years of swearing she wouldn't. Momma forbade Carrie and Becky to swim because she said it was a darkly sin committed by the Antichrists. Yet they did swim and they laughed while ducking Carrie again and again.
And Becky watched them duck her sister and laugh while she struggled... she tried very hard not to let the push out. She concentrated hard and began to push; it felt like pushing a large boulder after ten years of hibernation. Next, the lake began to bubble and then it was boiling hot. Everyone in that lake was scalded to death...only Carrie was spared. The camp nurse couldn't explain how the kids ended up with such horrible second-degree burns just from swimming in the lake. Becky remembered seeing how their skins was nearly destroyed from the boiling incident, how horrible their moans and groans of pain they were in...how she regretted it!
They also had tried to participate in camp activities, yet more practical jokes on ol' prayin' Carrie and Becky. When they crossed the line, Becky pushed back like when she pushed and ignited Freddy Jones' pants, giving him first-degree burns for putting shit in Carrie's bed. And another time she let it out and set Jeannie McGee's hair on fire after finding out that she had found a love letter written by Carrie to Bobby Flash and she had copied it and passed it around.
But after letting the push out, the aftermath was terrible: after, she would seek a solitary place and cry, knowing that her talent was uncontrollable and dangerous. People got hurt because of her stupid push! Maybe if they didn't tease Carrie, her push wouldn't come out...
Both were sent home a week early on the bus. Momma picked the girls up from the station, Carrie and Becky, both red eyed and weeping. Momma told the girls that they should treasure the memory of scourging and that the only hope of salvation was inside the red circle. "For strait is the gate," said Momma grimly in the taxi and at home, she sent the girls to the closet for six hours.
At school, they had tried to fit in. Nothing worked. First it was the peanut butter in Carrie's hair when she fell asleep then gum in Becky's hair (the deed done by Billy Preston, which Becky had scratched his eyes out), the outstretched legs to trip them, pinches, books knocked off the desk, Carrie missing the ball in gym class, Becky falling on her face at the dance in her sophomore year and losing a tooth, them running into the volley ball net; Becky wearing stockings with runs in them and Carrie with sweat stains under the arms of her blouses; even the time Chris calling her from the Beehive Restaurant, asking if pig shit was spelled C-A-R-R-I-E.
"Hey, Chris, you stupid, smelly pussy," said Becky on the telephone. "Smell that smoke? Your skirt's on fire."
And Becky, hearing those lovely screams as she burned, laughed.
"Next time, look before you sit your ass on a burning stove, hot ass!"
Momma had, of course, forbid the girls to shower with other girls, saying that God made Adam and Eve ashamed to be naked; Carrie had hidden her shower things in her school locker and showered anyway. Becky was completely deaf to Momma...she refused to let Momma and her angry God dominate her. She believed in the Marxist saying: "Religion is the opium of society."
"Car, you know what I'm going to do?" said Becky suddenly, interrupting their remembrance of those years of being mocked. "I'm gonna get my ears pierced and my wrists tattooed!"
"No!" screeched Carrie. "Momma will get angry!"
"Aw, fuck what that ol' prayin' fuckin' cunt says!"
[how dare she say such things about our mother!] Carrie hit Becky's face, gently but sternly.
"Don't say that about our mother!" she said, sternly.
Becky cupped her hand on her face. "You're right...I'm sorry."
"Beck, don't do it! Momma will beat you."
"I don't care what Momma does to me, Car."
Carrie didn't say anything because she knew her sister was too stubborn to bend to her pleas.
Tommy Erbter, age five, was biking up the other side of the street. He was small, intense looking boy on a twenty-inch Schwinn with bright training wheels. He saw Carrie and Becky, brightened, stuck his tongue out.
"Creepy Carrie! Scary Becky! You're both creepy and scary!" He laughed as he peddled away from them.
(you like fire, kid? like playing with fire? pretty when small but deadly...push, becky, push...)
She heard Carrie's voice in her head:
[fall off that bike kid push you off that bike and split your rotten head open]
Soon, the tires smoked a soft grey smoke...and the bike wobbled and suddenly fell over. Tommy screamed and the bike fell on top of him. He looked scared when he saw that the tires were smoking a soft grey smoke.
"You like fire, kid?" asked Becky, her eyes glittering nastily.
Tommy shook his head hard; there were tears in his frightened eyes.
"Well, lemme tell you something, you stupid shit. Never play with fire 'cause you never know when it'll light and burn your fuckin ass off, you rotten little fucker."
Becky saw Tommy's frightened face stare at her black glittering eyes; she saw he had turned pale and a dark spot between his legs on his pants and smelt urine...Tommy had wet his pants. She smiled, glad that she scared him.
"Diamond, opal, jade, I smell Tommy's lemonade..." she sang softly in a haunting tune. Tommy trembled in terror when he heard that haunting tune.
They left Tommy, lying there nursing his hurt knee and still frightened of scary Becky, Carrie looked at her sister.
"Did you see the stupid shit's face?" Becky laughed.
"You're crazy," Carrie laughed.
"Did you push him over?" Becky said quietly.
"Did you set his tires on fire?"
Becky and Carrie smiled.
Becky did get her ears pierced and her wrists tattooed. On her wrists were tattooed: CARRIE and BECKY, one on the right and one on the left. She moved her hair in front of her face, hiding her earrings.
Once she got home, she walked up the stairs, towards her room. But stopped when she saw door opened a crack and peeked in and saw her sister, staring in the mirror, in her underwear and bra. She could see her sister's pimply back and felt a surge of sympathy for Becky hardly had any pimples.
She watched as Carrie slipped off her heavy cotton bra and let it fall. Her breasts were milky white, upright, and smooth. The nipples were light coffee color. She ran her hands over them and a little shiver went through her.
[Evil, bad, evil...this is bad; this is evil...]
She ran her hands over her breasts again and tweaked one of her nipples. Becky could hear her voice, saying:
[I wanna tear these off! I wanna rip it off, crush it, kill it. Only Momma is good. Momma battled the Black Man and drove him out and vanquished him. She tore off her dirty pillows and is pure.]
She watched as she stared at her face and touched it.
[I hate my face, my stupid dull bovine face with pimples and vapid, glassy eyes. I wish I looked like Becky...she's prettier than me!]
Suddenly, Becky could've sworn she saw something happen to the mirror. The glass wobbled inward and out. Then, it did it again. Soon, the reflection split by a jagged, silvery crack. The mirror shattered and pieces of glass splashed at her feet. Becky jumped; causing the floorboard near their door creaked loudly. Carrie turned around and saw her sister, standing in the door. She covered her breasts with her shirt.
"Sorry!" Becky said, blushing. "I didn't mean to..."
"Don't be sorry," she said.
Becky sat on Carrie's bed and she buried her face into her small bosom; Becky could feel the tears soak through her heavy cotton blouse and her body tremble.
"Oh, Beck! I was so scared!" she sobbed.
"I know," she said softly.
"But, I'm glad you told me...what..." she wrinkled her face in disgust.
"What a period is?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"That's what I'm here for, Car. If you want to know anything, just ask me."
From Oglivie's Dictionary of Psychic Phenomenon
Telekinesis is the ability to move or cause changes in objects by force of the mind
Telepathy is communication between minds by some means other than the normal sensory channels; a common symptom of telepathy is hearing voices
Clairvoyance is the ability to be aware of objects, people, and events without use of the five senses
But one question remained: how was it that Becky could start fires? How did these fires start when she was angry or scared?
Pyrokinesis is the ability to ignite or cause to ignite fires by the force of the mind
From The Shadow and Flame Exploded (p. 12)
Becky and Carrie sat in the office together. Becky held Carrie's hand; it was sweaty and trembling. Becky stroked her hand with her own gently whispering, "It's all right. Calm down, Car." She held her close to her small bosom and kissed the corner of her temple, stroking her hair with one hand.
"You let the push out, didn't?" Carrie whispered. "You set Chris on fire, didn't you?"
"I couldn't help it..." Becky said, near tears. "I tried...I would never mean to hurt anyone..."
"I know, Beck...I know you wouldn't."
Becky could hear Mr. Morton, the principal say to Miss Collins:
"Isn't she a little old...?"
"To have her period?"
"What I don't understand is how a girl through three years of high school could be unaware to the fact of menstruation."
"But I wonder why her mother never told her about it?"
"There's nothing wrong with beliefs."
"You see, Morty, the fact is, I know how they felt. I mean it was just her period for God's sake."
"What about her sister? Surely, she's had it before."
"She did at thirteen. Pretty young and savvy about it as well. Knows everything about all dirty things in general."
"What kind of dirty things in general?"
"She keeps a human anatomy book in her backpack and she knows the works of dirty words, slang, and all that. I'm amazed at her, being raised by a religious mother. It doesn't make sense how a religiously raised girl would know all these dirty facts."
"I'll send them home," He pressed on a button to the intercom and said, "Miss Finch, send Cassie and Betty Wright into the office,"
"It's Carrie and Becky White," said Miss Collins.
The girls walked into the office; Becky held her trembling hand.
"Come in, Cassie and Betty."
"Carrie and Becky," corrected Miss Collins.
"We're so sorry, Cassie," said Mr. Morton. "Miss Finch, please get me dismissal slips for Cassie and Betty."
She saw her sister staring at the ashtray on Mr. Morton's desk. She saw that it trembled a bit and a low buzz sound following.
"It's Carrie," she said, quietly.
Do you want to go to the infirmary? Lie down a while?"
Carrie shook her head. The ashtray shook again.
"Do you need a ride home? Could call you a taxi."
Carrie shook her head slowly.
"I'm sure they can walk," said Miss Collins. "It would do them good." To Carrie, she said, "And Carrie, you're dismissed from gym for a week, Carrie. You just go to study hall, OK?"
Carrie nodded.
"You take care of your sister, OK, Becky," she said to Becky.
"I will, ma'am," said Becky, quietly, still watching the ashtray tremble, which increased.
"We're all sorry that this incident, Cassie," said Mr. Morton.
"It's CARRIE!" screamed Carrie suddenly. Soon, Mr. Morton's ashtray flew in the air...the ashtray smashed, cigarettes and ashes scattered on the brown tile floor, causing Miss Collins to jump out of her seat. She knelt down to pick up the broken pieces.
Carrie grabbed her sister's hand and ran out the door.
Graffiti was scratched on a desk in Chamberlain Junior High School:
Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, but Carrie and Becky White eat shit
Below it, it said:
Roses are red, violets are blue, your Momma's a whore and so are you!
Becky walked her sister home down Ewen Avenue and crossed Carlin Street at the stoplight at the corner. She clutched onto Becky's hand tightly; she could feel her shaking violently. As the girls walked up the street, Becky could hear Carrie's voice speaking in her head:
[They all hate and they never stop! They never get tired of it!]
Becky looked at her sister.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing..." said Becky.
Soon, Carrie's voice came back to her head:
[Imagine Chris Hargensen all bloody and screaming for mercy with rats crawling all over her face. Good! That would be good! Crush her head in with a boulder. Crush all their heads in. And Becky would burn her pretty silken skin charred black...Good! Good!]
Carrie and Becky had tried to fit in. They defied Momma in every way they could by trying to erase that red plague circle that had been drawn around them that dominated the environment on Carlin Street and had walked up to Barker Street Grammar School with Bibles under their arms. But, they still could remember that day, the stares, and the sudden silence when the both of them got down on their knees before lunch in the school cafeteria—the laughter had begun on that day and echoed through the years. They never got down on their knees again in public.
At Christian Youth Camp, they tried to fit in...nothing seemed to work. All those torturous weeks of let's short sheet Carrie and Becky's beds and hide their underpants somewhere and put snakes in their shoes and duck Carrie again and again. Them slow pokes on bike trips, smelling sweaty and not able to catch up and catching poison ivy from urinating in the bushes (hey scratch-asses, your asses itch?).
Becky remembered the she had let the push out for the first time at Christian Youth Camp after ten years of swearing she wouldn't. Momma forbade Carrie and Becky to swim because she said it was a darkly sin committed by the Antichrists. Yet they did swim and they laughed while ducking Carrie again and again.
And Becky watched them duck her sister and laugh while she struggled... she tried very hard not to let the push out. She concentrated hard and began to push; it felt like pushing a large boulder after ten years of hibernation. Next, the lake began to bubble and then it was boiling hot. Everyone in that lake was scalded to death...only Carrie was spared. The camp nurse couldn't explain how the kids ended up with such horrible second-degree burns just from swimming in the lake. Becky remembered seeing how their skins was nearly destroyed from the boiling incident, how horrible their moans and groans of pain they were in...how she regretted it!
They also had tried to participate in camp activities, yet more practical jokes on ol' prayin' Carrie and Becky. When they crossed the line, Becky pushed back like when she pushed and ignited Freddy Jones' pants, giving him first-degree burns for putting shit in Carrie's bed. And another time she let it out and set Jeannie McGee's hair on fire after finding out that she had found a love letter written by Carrie to Bobby Flash and she had copied it and passed it around.
But after letting the push out, the aftermath was terrible: after, she would seek a solitary place and cry, knowing that her talent was uncontrollable and dangerous. People got hurt because of her stupid push! Maybe if they didn't tease Carrie, her push wouldn't come out...
Both were sent home a week early on the bus. Momma picked the girls up from the station, Carrie and Becky, both red eyed and weeping. Momma told the girls that they should treasure the memory of scourging and that the only hope of salvation was inside the red circle. "For strait is the gate," said Momma grimly in the taxi and at home, she sent the girls to the closet for six hours.
At school, they had tried to fit in. Nothing worked. First it was the peanut butter in Carrie's hair when she fell asleep then gum in Becky's hair (the deed done by Billy Preston, which Becky had scratched his eyes out), the outstretched legs to trip them, pinches, books knocked off the desk, Carrie missing the ball in gym class, Becky falling on her face at the dance in her sophomore year and losing a tooth, them running into the volley ball net; Becky wearing stockings with runs in them and Carrie with sweat stains under the arms of her blouses; even the time Chris calling her from the Beehive Restaurant, asking if pig shit was spelled C-A-R-R-I-E.
"Hey, Chris, you stupid, smelly pussy," said Becky on the telephone. "Smell that smoke? Your skirt's on fire."
And Becky, hearing those lovely screams as she burned, laughed.
"Next time, look before you sit your ass on a burning stove, hot ass!"
Momma had, of course, forbid the girls to shower with other girls, saying that God made Adam and Eve ashamed to be naked; Carrie had hidden her shower things in her school locker and showered anyway. Becky was completely deaf to Momma...she refused to let Momma and her angry God dominate her. She believed in the Marxist saying: "Religion is the opium of society."
"Car, you know what I'm going to do?" said Becky suddenly, interrupting their remembrance of those years of being mocked. "I'm gonna get my ears pierced and my wrists tattooed!"
"No!" screeched Carrie. "Momma will get angry!"
"Aw, fuck what that ol' prayin' fuckin' cunt says!"
[how dare she say such things about our mother!] Carrie hit Becky's face, gently but sternly.
"Don't say that about our mother!" she said, sternly.
Becky cupped her hand on her face. "You're right...I'm sorry."
"Beck, don't do it! Momma will beat you."
"I don't care what Momma does to me, Car."
Carrie didn't say anything because she knew her sister was too stubborn to bend to her pleas.
Tommy Erbter, age five, was biking up the other side of the street. He was small, intense looking boy on a twenty-inch Schwinn with bright training wheels. He saw Carrie and Becky, brightened, stuck his tongue out.
"Creepy Carrie! Scary Becky! You're both creepy and scary!" He laughed as he peddled away from them.
(you like fire, kid? like playing with fire? pretty when small but deadly...push, becky, push...)
She heard Carrie's voice in her head:
[fall off that bike kid push you off that bike and split your rotten head open]
Soon, the tires smoked a soft grey smoke...and the bike wobbled and suddenly fell over. Tommy screamed and the bike fell on top of him. He looked scared when he saw that the tires were smoking a soft grey smoke.
"You like fire, kid?" asked Becky, her eyes glittering nastily.
Tommy shook his head hard; there were tears in his frightened eyes.
"Well, lemme tell you something, you stupid shit. Never play with fire 'cause you never know when it'll light and burn your fuckin ass off, you rotten little fucker."
Becky saw Tommy's frightened face stare at her black glittering eyes; she saw he had turned pale and a dark spot between his legs on his pants and smelt urine...Tommy had wet his pants. She smiled, glad that she scared him.
"Diamond, opal, jade, I smell Tommy's lemonade..." she sang softly in a haunting tune. Tommy trembled in terror when he heard that haunting tune.
They left Tommy, lying there nursing his hurt knee and still frightened of scary Becky, Carrie looked at her sister.
"Did you see the stupid shit's face?" Becky laughed.
"You're crazy," Carrie laughed.
"Did you push him over?" Becky said quietly.
"Did you set his tires on fire?"
Becky and Carrie smiled.
Becky did get her ears pierced and her wrists tattooed. On her wrists were tattooed: CARRIE and BECKY, one on the right and one on the left. She moved her hair in front of her face, hiding her earrings.
Once she got home, she walked up the stairs, towards her room. But stopped when she saw door opened a crack and peeked in and saw her sister, staring in the mirror, in her underwear and bra. She could see her sister's pimply back and felt a surge of sympathy for Becky hardly had any pimples.
She watched as Carrie slipped off her heavy cotton bra and let it fall. Her breasts were milky white, upright, and smooth. The nipples were light coffee color. She ran her hands over them and a little shiver went through her.
[Evil, bad, evil...this is bad; this is evil...]
She ran her hands over her breasts again and tweaked one of her nipples. Becky could hear her voice, saying:
[I wanna tear these off! I wanna rip it off, crush it, kill it. Only Momma is good. Momma battled the Black Man and drove him out and vanquished him. She tore off her dirty pillows and is pure.]
She watched as she stared at her face and touched it.
[I hate my face, my stupid dull bovine face with pimples and vapid, glassy eyes. I wish I looked like Becky...she's prettier than me!]
Suddenly, Becky could've sworn she saw something happen to the mirror. The glass wobbled inward and out. Then, it did it again. Soon, the reflection split by a jagged, silvery crack. The mirror shattered and pieces of glass splashed at her feet. Becky jumped; causing the floorboard near their door creaked loudly. Carrie turned around and saw her sister, standing in the door. She covered her breasts with her shirt.
"Sorry!" Becky said, blushing. "I didn't mean to..."
"Don't be sorry," she said.
Becky sat on Carrie's bed and she buried her face into her small bosom; Becky could feel the tears soak through her heavy cotton blouse and her body tremble.
"Oh, Beck! I was so scared!" she sobbed.
"I know," she said softly.
"But, I'm glad you told me...what..." she wrinkled her face in disgust.
"What a period is?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"That's what I'm here for, Car. If you want to know anything, just ask me."
From Oglivie's Dictionary of Psychic Phenomenon
Telekinesis is the ability to move or cause changes in objects by force of the mind
Telepathy is communication between minds by some means other than the normal sensory channels; a common symptom of telepathy is hearing voices
Clairvoyance is the ability to be aware of objects, people, and events without use of the five senses
But one question remained: how was it that Becky could start fires? How did these fires start when she was angry or scared?
Pyrokinesis is the ability to ignite or cause to ignite fires by the force of the mind