by Rachel Hera
“I can’t even be angry about that –they suit each other,” I plopped my head down into my hand, my elbow resting on the table. “Look at them! They’re cute… to the point where it’s kind of irritating.”
“I didn’t like Blake, but I’ll admit they’re good together,” Maegan finished her sandwich, stuffing her crusts into the bag she’d brought them in. “The only time I see him smile –or speak beyond the bare minimum –is when he’s with her.”
“Well, he comes off as kind of a jerk,” Chantelle said, peeling back the wrapper of her granola bar. “Jason, too, though not nearly as bad.”
“I wouldn’t mind becoming friendly with Jason,” Maegan lowered her voice.
“That makes two of us,” Kristy grinned.
Evelyn looked my way, spotting me instantly. She lifted a hand to wave, but I was still angry. Instead of waving back, I turned to the girls.
Kristy noticed this and said, “You’re going to forgive her eventually. Why not get it over and done with?”
“You know, a part of me realizes that. A larger part of me just wants to be mad,” I stabbed a crouton with my fork, splitting it into three pieces unintentionally. “But you’re right. Maybe I should stop by her work tomorrow. Maybe she’ll tell me what the scoop is.”
“Doesn’t she get sick of your puns?” Kristy asked.
I ditched my fork and used my fingers to pick up the crouton pieces. “Probably –I only have the one.”
* * *
English was just another period of no words exchanged with Evelyn. I really did hate it. Enough to put any petty jealousy behind me. We were getting closer to graduating, and Evelyn was definitely one of the people I wanted to keep in touch with long until I was old and senile.
I headed to my locker to get the books I needed for the next period. Evelyn and Blake headed in the same direction, following a few steps behind me. I acted as if I didn’t know as I fidgeted with my lock, but I heard Blake say he’d be right back, then disappeared into the bathroom. Evelyn idled outside.
Cole emerged from the stairwell. I glanced at him, then at Evelyn. He paused when he saw her, but a malicious grin spread across his face as he continued, planting himself in front of her.
“Where’re your bodyguards?” his words had a spiteful undertone. Evelyn just looked away from him, as though trying to pretend he wasn’t there at all. He continued when she didn’t answer. “Oh. I know. You’re wanting –”
“I want nothing from you,” Evelyn’s head whipped around. When kids glanced towards them, she lowered her voice, but I was close enough to hear. I looked down at the textbook I’d grabbed only to realize that I’d picked up the wrong one. I placed it back in my locker and grabbed the right one. “But I’d be happy if you turned around so I could shove my foot up your ass.”
“Feisty. You know I like that,” he leaned closer to her. Her jaw locked, but she didn’t tear her gaze away –as if it was a battle she needed to win.
Angry at her or not, I should step in. Cole pretty much topped everybody’s asshole list.
“Oh, screw off, Cole,” I said, slamming my locker shut. Almost simultaneously, Blake opened the washroom door.
“Until we meet again,” Cole reached out, grabbing a piece of Evelyn’s hair and letting it fall between his fingers, drawing his hand back before Blake could reach out and snap his wrist –which, by the look on his face, Blake was more than ready to do.
The three of us watched as Cole walked away, disappearing into a classroom halfway down the hall.
“Are you okay?” Blake asked Evelyn, his hand trailing down her arm to her hand.
“Just remind me to cut my hair,” she muttered, flipping it over her shoulder. She glanced at me. “Thanks, Maddie.”
“Yeah, well,” I shrugged as the bell rang. “See you later.”
I could have apologized. Not that I even had to say sorry. I could have smiled and said “you’re welcome” and everything would have been fixed.
But I chose to walk away. And I hated myself a little more.
Chapter 32: Evelyn
The moment I walked into work on Saturday, I was counting the minutes until Blake picked me up. Not because I wanted to see Blake –though I did –but because it meant that I’d be able to see my father shortly after. My mother, despite my grounding, was happy when I told her I had a ride. She and my father were going on a date tonight, breaking the promise of visiting me at work, but she’d assured me that they’d be home around eleven. I’d only realized that morning that it was Thanksgiving weekend. It made me wonder if that meant we wouldn’t see him at Christmas.
The other key-holder, Kathy, was scheduled from when we opened at eleven to five o’clock. Kathy was a college student, and definitely the charming older-sister type. She’d been working at the parlour only a little longer than I had.
It was around two, shortly after I walked in, when Olivia called in sick.
“Why am I not surprised?” I let out a breath when I set the phone down.
“Livi?” Kathy asked.
“Yeah. Do you think Sasha will want to give up her plans for the fair to come in today?” I picked up the phone, ready to dial her number.
“Doubt it. Might as well call, though. I can’t stay tonight. My family reunion thing is tonight. Barbecue at my aunt’s farm,” she sighed. “Also, my grandma’s birthday.”
I dialed Sasha, who predictably stood her ground against coming in when she’d booked the day off, and Greg, who refused with a little less grace. Finally, I called Harry to let him know that I’d be closing on my own.
“If any money’s missing from the register, you won’t get a bonus this year,” he warned me playfully.
“You don’t give us bonuses anyway,” I shook my head. “So if you think about it, it’s long overdue.”
“How’s it been today?”
“As slow as Wednesday. Three cheers for fair week… But I guess it just means that closing should be easy tonight,” I twirled the cord around my finger out of boredom. It was strange talking on a phone attached to a cord. We haven’t had one in a few years, since my sister angrily set the phone down, missing the hook and clipping it off the edge of the kitchen counter. Then we decided to move into the new age and buy a cordless.
“With you being a young lady, I’d prefer it if you invited Maddie to at least hang out with you while you closed,” he said.
“Blake will probably be here to pick me up by nine. I’m sure he’ll stand guard like a watchdog at the door and wait for me,” I told him, wincing as the words came out of my mouth. Already it was becoming a bad habit of making canine jokes –not that anyone except Jason and Blake scolded me for them.
“I guess that works,” he said almost reluctantly. “Call me if you have any problems.”
“You know I won’t,” I laughed.
“Then all I have to say is enjoy the long hours of solitude.”
“Have a good weekend,” I said. And we both hung up the phone. Turning to Kathy I said, “Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to have a normal boss?”
“I wouldn’t trade Harry for the world,” she replied. “He’s pretty great. All of us are pretty lucky.”
“I’d say so,” I stretched, looking out the window. My heart stopped beating as I froze. Was that Cole sitting across the street?
It didn’t take me long to feel stupid. What did it matter if he was across the street? I’d rather him be out there than taunting me from the other side of the counter. The thought crossed my mind, wondering if I should invite Blake to come earlier. Like, I don’t know, five o’clock, when Kathy went home? Although, it’d only make me feel even more pathetic in comparison to the past week as it was. Then again, what was a little feebleness when it came to my safety?
Marissa showed up carrying a large duffle bag as I was about to excuse myself to the back. Cole stood up, took the bag from her and the two of them walked off together. I released a breath of relief.
It was only afte
r they left that I realized I wouldn’t have been able to call Blake or Jason in early anyway –they would be off meeting Philip in Brantford. Yesterday, during spare, Blake had found a note in his locker. Although Blake said that Philip had suggested Waterford as the town they’d meet in the day before, he said he wasn’t too surprised it had changed. So they’d be meeting at seven at some diner tonight.
Kathy brought a notebook to the front around three o’clock, and we spent a solid hour playing tic-tac-toe and hangman… anything, really, to keep the clock ticking onwards at a decent pace.
At four o’clock, I saw Cole and Marissa pass by again. But, again, they didn’t come in. The street we faced was a busy one, so it wasn’t unusual for anyone to pass by multiple times in one night, especially teenagers who roamed the streets just itching for something to do.
I hated myself for the panic that ate away at me when I saw him.
I hated myself a little less when I imagined the sidewalk crumbling beneath him and him falling into the pits of hell. And if Marissa fell with him, well, so be it. This heart would not be broken by the loss of the two of them.
“I spy with my little eye,” Kathy hummed slightly as she stood at the window. “Something that is… blue.”
“Is it the sky?” I asked from behind the counter.
“Nope,” she flashed a smile at me.
“Was it the balloon that kid was holding?” I guessed.
“It was,” she looked surprised. “I thought it was going to be a hard one. Well. Your turn.”
“I spy with my little eye, something that is…” I moved around the counter to the window beside her. “Something that is green.”
“Is it that guy’s shirt?” she pointed, making a mark on the window. At least washing it would give me something to do later.
“No,” I said.
“What about that car?” she asked.
“Nah.”
“The… grass?”
“Would it be sad if I said yes?” I glanced at her.
“A little. You’re not very good at this today.”
Not that I was trying. You could only play “I Spy” for so long before it became painful. So we went back to playing hangman.
At four fifty-five, Kathy headed into the back to gather her things. By the time she came out, she was leaving almost exactly at five.
“I open tomorrow, right?” she asked, pulling the binder out from underneath the register and flipping through it.
“And I have the day off,” I grinned.
“Well, lucky you,” she smiled.
“Yeah, well, my dad’s home, so it really is coming at a good time,” I looked up as the door chimed and two customers come in. Kathy took that as her cue to leave, patting my shoulder as she walked by.
“Try to stay out of trouble,” were her parting words as the door dinged behind her.
By six, I’d had ten more customers, which was looking to be the rush of the evening.
By six thirty, it was dead.
And at seven, Cole and Marissa finally made their appearance.
Chapter 33: Blake
Jane’s Diner wasn’t a busy place by any means. It was in a more beat up part of Reidman –or at least, that was my assumption from the state of multiple front lawns, littered with junk and garbage. Metal fences, which had seen better days, were rusted over, gates hanging on just one hinge.
The Diner’s condition was only slightly better. Seats had lighter burns and holes in them, the table’s surfaces were peeling. The smell of grease and coffee was strong, coming from the small kitchen from behind the counter. Still, I imagined it was quite the place back in the day.
Heads turned when we entered at six forty-five, but unlike at the school, the patrons quickly reverted back to eating and doing crosswords.
“Let’s grab a booth,” Jason nodded to a place by the window.
Just as we sat down, Philip came in. He spotted us immediately, came over and cautiously took a seat beside Jason. My guess was that he wanted to be as far away from me as possible. I wondered if he knew I could still reach across the table and grab his throat.
The waitress came by, an older lady who looked exhausted despite the smile she had plastered on her face. She laid three menus down on the table, asking what we wanted to drink. Jason ordered a Coke, while I got an ice-tea. Philip got a cup of coffee.
“Pleasant evening,” Philip commented.
“We’re not here for small talk,” I said bluntly. “We want to know exactly what’s going on.”
“You wolves really don’t care for pleasantries, do you?” he sighed.
“We’d be a little more pleasant if you guys weren’t always so suspicious,” Jason interjected.
Another sigh. “So, what do you want to know?”
The waitress came back, setting our drinks on the table. She asked if we wanted anything to eat, but we just handed the menus back. We had no intentions of staying longer than we needed to.
“How about you tell us everything –starting from the reason you guys came to this area in the first place,” I tore the straw from its package, shoving it down between large ice-cubes until it hit the bottom of the glass. Jason did the same.
“The reason why we came,” Philip said slowly, reaching past Jason to grab a cream and sugar that sat in a small basket tucked against the wall. “Well, that’s one thing you guys have had right. It was for Evelyn.”
My hand clenched under the table.
He continued, not making eye-contact as he made his coffee. Two creams. One sugar. “About three and a half years ago, our Clan received a message from a spell-caster, saying that she’d come across a race of supernatural she’d never seen before. The Clan sent Cole, Marissa, and myself out of the Den and into the world of missions. Purely observational.”
“And Evelyn’s that supernatural?” Jason asked, the look on his face saying he didn’t believe him.
“I’ll get to that. What was I saying? Oh yeah, purely observational.”
“Since when did observation mean laying your hands on her?” I asked spitefully.
“That’s Cole and Marissa for you. They always take things a step too far. Always have, always will,” Philip looked at me. “They’re higher ranked than me, you know? I was only sent along on this mission because of Marissa. As children we were inseparable. But we’ve grown apart since we arrived in Eiden. If the mission was just starting this year, I doubt I’d even be here.
“Anyway,” he continued, stirring his coffee again after adding another sugar. “We were supposed to come here, get on good terms with Evelyn and observe her from up close. Cole, in all his pride, figured the best way to keep a close eye on her would be to keep her under his arm and, well, in his bed.”
I set my jaw, trying to stop myself from reaching out and slamming Philip’s head against the table.
“Three months into the mission, and Cole failed miserably. He made a move and Evelyn spilled her drink on him. That’s when he decided to take the enemy route. Marissa kind of just joined in. They took to knocking her down in the hallways, making her feel anxiety when walking around town at night, and over all just trying to mess with her physically and mentally, anything that could bring out her powers.”
“I take it you have nothing?” Jason said. “So what is she supposed to be? What if you’d had the wrong girl this entire time?”
“We don’t have the wrong girl,” Philip said firmly. “The witch that told us about Evelyn is still in town. Once Cole and Marissa started their, uh, mean streak, she’d tried to send us away. But a witch like Chantelle doesn’t have a lot of authority anywhere.”
Jason and I exchanged looks. Chantelle was one of Evelyn’s close friends. Part of me wondered how badly it would break Evelyn’s heart to know the reason why she’d been bullied the past three years was because of her. The reason she’d been attacked…
“So you guys stayed,” Jason said.
“We stayed,” he nodded. “We were given until the end
of our high school career to try to figure out if she was going to be a future threat. But, like I said, we’d been having troubles even figuring out whether she had any powers. And then you guys came, and Cole grew worried. I sent a message to the Den, and we received word that our time would be cut by a semester. Our new time limit was until January.”
“And Cole started frantically trying to put more pressure on her,” I stared at my nearly untouched drink. “You still haven’t told us what she is.”
“The thing is, I don’t think you want to know,” Philip said. “The one thing we have discerned is that she’s like a beacon for supernaturals. It’s why her close friends include a necromancer, half-demon and witch. Her boss is a vampire. Her old boyfriend was a vampire. Did you know that the only people that appear to hate her are only Cole and Marissa? No one else can say a bad thing about her.”
“So that’s a supernatural trait?” Jason asked.
“Not necessarily. But it’s odd, isn’t it? And all the supernaturals that have come to town have arrived only after she hit puberty. The half-demon was the first. The witch, the most recent before us foxes.”
“So what is she?”
“If she can attract supernaturals as friends –who’s to say she can’t attract supernaturals as potential lovers?” Philip said.
“You’re trying to tell me that because she is whatever it is that she is –that’s the reason she’s my mate?”
“Well, look at Jason and your other friends. My experience with werewolves is that they don’t open up to strangers so easily. But each and every one of you has received her with open arms.”
Including our Alpha –but I didn’t say that out loud.
“Tell me Jason, do you really feel nothing when you look at her?” Philip turned to my Pack brother.
Jason didn’t answer his question, just instead asked, “So what is she? A succubus?”
“No. We’ve run into succubi before,” he shifted to face me once again. “And Evelyn’s never really made a move for sex. She even kept Evan at an arm’s length for, like, ever.”
