Disclaimer: I don't own the Grisha Trilogy and its characters – it belongs to Leigh Bardugo. I do not own the Shadow & Bone TV series, which was developed by Eric Heisserer for Netflix and based on Leigh Bardugo's books.
For the Darklina Halloween Fest 2023.
"Not bad, Starkova."
Alina twists her hands nervously, pleased by Zoya's (admittedly mild) praise but well aware it might be withdrawn if any part of this occasion becomes, in the other girl's words, "tragically uncool."
Tonight has to go well.
Alina has spent most of her life in a succession of group and foster homes, rarely settling anywhere long enough to make real friends.
Now, adopted by Andrei and Ana Keramsov, she finally has a stable home and time to build proper friendships.
Genya, Nina and Inej have all welcomed her into their group. The only one who is still a little aloof is Zoya, who clearly thinks Alina is something of a dull wet blanket.
And that is why the first sleepover Alina is hosting needs to be absolutely perfect.
It being almost Halloween, Zoya had – with a curl of her red lips – suggested a horror-themed sleepover.
"Unless you're too scared, that is," she had shot Alina a sweetly vicious smile, eyeing her regulation-length uniform skirt and practical Mary Janes with some derision.
Alina had assured Zoya that it would be an entirely terrifying night and she intends on living up to that promise, despite the fact that she is more of a fairy lights, pastel pink, stuffed bunny collection kind of girl.
So, she's got Halloween candy and three bottles of wine carefully swiped from Andrei's collection. She's put away her stuffed toys and overly girly decorations in favour of darker fabrics and dimmed lights. And, after much badgering (and then a spot of blackmail, when the nagging didn't work), her adoptive older brother Mal has provided copies of some of the scariest horror films – The Fold, Volcra, and The Black Heretic – and, best of all, an old-fashioned Ouija Board.
"How did you get a copy of this?" Nina asks, wide-eyed as she examines the The Black Heretic video tape.
"Mal got it for me."
Zoya nods in approval at the reminder of Alina's connection to a cool senior boy.
Truthfully, Mal doesn't pay much attention to Alina, treating her like an irritant most of the time and occasionally throwing some condescending affection her way to earn points with Andrei and Ana. The only reason he'd got the movies and Ouija Board for her was because she'd spotted him half-naked under the school bleachers with Eva Volkova and threatened to tell his hyper-sensitive, easily jealous cheerleader girlfriend Ruby about it.
Mal is also the one who's supposed to be supervising this sleepover since Andrei is on a business trip and Ana got called in to the hospital last-minute to cover after an outbreak of flu among the staff. As the final payment for her silence on the Eva incident, he's promised to stay in the basement den and leave them in peace.
"Is Mal around?" Zoya asks, tossing her glossy hair back and examining her flawless makeup in Alina's mirror, "we should say hi – it's, like, only polite."
"I think he's in the middle of something," Alina mumbles vaguely.
She knows Zoya has something of a crush on Mal, and that she's tenacious and beautiful enough to talk Mal into at least kissing her, if not more. But the star quarterback isn't about to leave his shoe-in for prom queen girlfriend for a sophomore, even one as pretty as Zoya, and Alina doesn't want to experience the mess that will result from her adoptive brother scorning her most vindictive friend.
"Whatever," Zoya shrugs like she doesn't care, "let's watch one of the movies downstairs."
They draw the curtains in the living room to block out the fading afternoon light and put on The Fold.
It's not terribly scary, truthfully, and Alina is pleased that she manages to stay calm even when some of the eerier sections creep her out.
They order pizza then, and drink one of the bottles of wine between them. Alina starts to relax – it's going well so far and everyone seems to be having fun.
Volcra is next. The pizza sits heavy in their stomachs and they all get a little queasy watching the sickening experimentation on screen that results in grotesque human-monster hybrids.
They take a break from the movies then, talking about school and boys until their stomachs are settled enough to enjoy some more wine and chocolate.
The Black Heretic is the final movie, based on the old legend of a man who could control shadows, and supposed to be terrifying.
Alina does scream at this one, but she doesn't feel too bad because all the other girls do too, even Zoya (although she categorically denies it).
"Saints, I'm going to have nightmares for weeks," Genya shivers as the credits roll.
Inej nods in silent agreement and Nina only shudders. Alina wipes away a few tears from the corners of her eyes and tries not to tremble.
"It was pretty scary, I guess," Zoya is all bravado, but she certainly looks paler than usual.
They retreat to Alina's room to change into their pyjamas, Alina trying not to feel childish in her modest blush-pink set when Zoya emerges from the bathroom in a short, silky, navy-blue nightdress.
"Now," Zoya announces, their de facto leader despite it being Alina's sleepover, "we'll use the Ouija Board."
While the other girls agree excitedly, dread sours Alina's mood as she retrieves it.
The Ouija Board was a prop meant to impress Zoya, but Alina had hoped they wouldn't actually use it.
She isn't terribly superstitious, but one of the few clear memories she has of her parents is of them tugging her away from the occult shop window she'd been looking in as a curious four-year-old, sternly warning her that the dead should be left to rest, not disturbed or disrespected.
"Ooh, who shall we try and contact?" asks Nina excitedly.
"The Black Heretic, obviously," Zoya grins.
Inej frowns, "he's just a story, Zo."
"A story based in fact, apparently. And it's perfect, because we just watched the movie, so we can ask him what's true and what isn't."
"Well, why doesn't Alina be the questioner?" Genya suggests, clearly trying to be generous even if it's the last thing Alina wants to do.
Zoya scoffs, "no offence, but Alina's a newbie to this. I've used a Ouija Board three times with my cousins and the spirits answered my questions twice."
"Zoya's right," Alina says quietly, suddenly cold enough to shiver despite the recent unseasonable warmth and wanting to stay as far away from the Ouija Board as possible, "she knows what to do."
Zoya, who enjoys being agreed with, favours Alina with a smile as all the girls except Alina place their fingers on the planchette.
"I'll record," Alina suggests, "you'll need someone to write the answers down, right?"
Thankfully, too eager to begin, none of the others challenge her reluctance to participate and Alina dutifully turns off all the lights except for one lone lamp and sits down with a notebook and pen at the ready.
"Is the Black Heretic here with us?" asks Zoya.
She huffs when the planchette remains still.
"You've got to be patient," Inej reminds her, "people say it can take time."
Zoya has to repeat the question three more times over the next five minutes before their hands slide over to Yes.
"Are all the legends true?" Zoya demands.
No response.
"Too vague?" Nina suggests.
"Did your shadows really swallow up Novokribirsk?" Zoya amends her question.
It's one of the main stories associated with the Black Heretic, that he was the cause of the otherwise unexplained destruction of what had been a bustling town six hundred years previously.
The response is so quick that it makes the girls yelp.
Yes.
The others chatter enthusiastically, but Alina is a little warier.
If this is real, and not just silly superstition, then they're communicating with the spirit of a dangerous, powerful and cruel being. It isn't something to be giggling and smiling about.
"What about your shadow monsters?" Zoya asks eagerly, "are they real?"
A brief pause.
Inej reads the letters to Alina as the planchette moves across the board.
N-I-C-H-E-V-O-Y-A
"Nichevo'ya," Alina spells out across the page, "the nothings."
"This is so cool," Zoya says, "I bet he'll tell us loads. Maybe we should ask –"
She stops talking as the planchette moves again, the girls jerked around as Inej shouts letters out to Alina so fast that it's only once the planchette stops that Alina can pay attention to what she's actually written.
H-E-L-L-O-A-L-I-N-A-I-V-E-B-E-E-N-W-A-I-T-I-N-G-A-L-O-N-G-T-I-M-E-F-O-R-Y-O-U
"Hello, Alina," she reads, "I've been waiting a long time for you."
Irritated, she glares at her friends, "stop messing around. If you're bored then we can just watch another movie."
They're all staring at her in shock, though. Even Zoya seems a little shaken.
"I didn't," Nina mutters.
"Not me," Inej says.
Genya shakes her head.
"Well, it wasn't me," Zoya hisses.
"One of you is lying," Alina insists a little desperately, "you have to be."
Zoya rolls her eyes, "it's easy enough – Black Heretic, tell me something about Alina that nobody else knows."
For a few moments, nothing happens, and Zoya smirks, "see, it's just –"
But then their fingers, still on the planchette, are dragged across the board, Inej reciting more letters.
A-L-E-X-E-I-S-O-L-L-I-G-H-T
"Alexei, Sol, Light," Alina whispers.
"Alina?" Genya looks concerned.
"Nononono," Alina scrambles backwards, eyeing the Ouija Board like it's her worst nightmare.
"Nobody knows," she insists, "nobody knows that."
"Nobody knows what?" Nina asks.
Alina puts her head in her hands and tries to shut out the world.
She probably looks like an absolute maniac but she can't bring herself to care because something is out there, communicating with them through the Ouija Board, and it knows Alina.
Her first friend, who had died in a car accident when she was five. The name of the imaginary puppy she'd had as a child. And her biggest secret, the power inside her that had come out only once when she was eight and which she had pushed down and tried to ignore ever since. Her parents had known the first two things, but they've been dead almost ten years. Alina has never told anyone about the light.
There are arms around her, worried murmurs. When Alina opens her eyes, they're all crowding around her, even Zoya looking concerned.
"There must be some logical explanation," Inej insists.
"That information isn't anywhere," Alina tells her hoarsely, "none of you can have known."
"It's late," says Genya, trying to look calm and not really succeeding, "the wine's gone to our heads and it's all got a bit … real. I say we leave the Ouija Board alone and go downstairs to watch You've Got Mail."
Nina, Inej and Zoya all voice their agreement, but Alina's eyes are drawn to the Ouija Board and the abandoned planchette.
The planchette that is still moving, even though no one is touching it.
"Look," she points a shaking finger at the board, and the rest of them gasp at the sight.
"We didn't end it," Zoya sounds panicked, out of control for the first time, "we're supposed to move the planchette to Goodbye or the spirits might … might come into our world properly."
As if summoned by Zoya's words, shadows start to crawl across the walls, rising higher and higher.
Genya and Nina both shriek as tendrils of shadow wrap around their arms and legs and drag them over to the other side of the room.
"What the fuck!" Zoya screeches as more shadows grab hold of her and Inej, "if this is some sort of prank, Starkova, then I swear to all the saints that I will end you."
Alina just shakes her head. This was all supposed to be some fun – she doesn't even believe in ghosts or evil spirits, really.
She tries to stand, legs shaking, but the shadows almost embrace her, keeping her still but not tossing her around the way they are her friends.
Struggling against the shadows that bind her, Alina doesn't realise what has happened until Genya lets out an ear-piercing scream.
There's a man in the middle of the room.
No, not a man, not quite.
He has the shape of one, but his form is like wisps of shadows, a body that is both there and not there.
The shadow man pays no attention to Zoya, Genya, Nina or Inej. Instead, he moves towards Alina, the shadows dissipating and then reassembling with each step until he is right in front of her.
Her back is against the wall, the shadows holding her tight, and when he leans down and brushes cool, insubstantial fingers across her face, Alina can only screw her eyes shut and try to pretend it's all just a bad dream.
"Time to for us to go, my Alina," he murmurs.
She shakes her head, pinches herself and then panics when she slowly opens her eyes and he's still there.
"Alina," he sighs like he's disappointed, and all the shadows writhe with his irritation, "I do not wish to force you, and I know you would be devastated if Keramzin became another Novokribirsk."
It's so matter-of-fact, the way he says it. As if the destruction of Novokribirsk was a small inconvenience rather than a deeply tragic and terrible event that is memorialised every year across Ravka.
"What do you want with me?" she asks, "I'm not … I'm not anything special."
"Oh, my Alina," the shadow man – the Black Heretic, her mind screams – stills and his form becomes solid enough that she can see a wide smile on his face, "you are the most special girl in the world. Solnyshko, my little sun."
"No … that wasn't … it wasn't real. The light was just … it's not me."
"Poor little thing," he coos, "no idea what you're capable of. But I'll show you, my Alina, I'll show you everything."
The shadows tighten around her wrists, and Alina gasps as she looks down at her hands beginning to glow.
There's no denying that the power is coming from within her, getting brighter and brighter as she begins to feel like she's about to explode.
Her mind goes hazy, the world around her fading away. All she can feel is her power, and all she can see is him.
When the Black Heretic offers her his hand, Alina doesn't even hesitate, can't think why she wouldn't go with him.
By the time Zoya regains enough control to knock the planchette over to Goodbye, it's far too late.
Alina and the spirit of the Black Heretic are already gone.
Search continues for missing Alina Starkova
The search continues for Alina Starkova, 15, adopted daughter of local businessman Andrei Keramsov and his wife Ana, who disappeared from her home three days ago during a sleepover with four school-friends.
Zoya Nazyalenskya, Genya Safina, Nina Zenik and Inej Ghafa remain in Keramzin Hospital being treated for shock. Miss Starkova's adoptive brother Malyen Oretsev, 18, was questioned by officers but later released without charge.
Officers are due to give a press conference later today, but sources say they have no current leads on the whereabouts of the missing teenager. Rumours of supernatural forces have been dismissed as hysterical nonsense and officers are …
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.