Vanessa stood nervously before the elevator. She had just moved to Vancouver from a small town in Saskatchewan a little less than a year ago and her relatively new group of friends had been repeatedly telling her over the last few weeks that they had a ritual whenever someone turned twenty. They wouldn't give any details, only laughed mischievously. Tonight was her twentieth birthday, and even though she had her reservations, she was arriving at her friend Stacey's apartment that evening at 7:30 as directed.

As she waited for the elevator, nervously chewing her full bottom lip, she caught sight of herself in one of the mirrors decorating the lobby....