Natural Selection (14 page)

Finally at the tail end of January, my
mom allowed me some contact with the outside world and let me call
Evelyn. She reminded me I was still “recovering from mono” and
stood right next me to make sure I didn’t say anything
wrong.

Evelyn answered her phone after the
second ring. “Oh my God, Amelia, are you ok? Your mom says it was
touch and go. I thought we might lose you!”

I hate that expression. You don’t
“lose” someone, you know exactly where they are. They’re just no
longer animated. And Evelyn knew it. I wondered if she was testing
me or trying to convince someone on her end. “It’s been pretty
rough, but I’m really feeling better. I just get too tired to do
much of anything.” I hated lying to her, but I knew it was
important to keep my family safe. Besides, she still hadn’t shared
her secret either.

“
Can I come see
you?”

I shot my mom a hopeful look, but she
just shook her head. I sighed. “I’d love to see you Evey, but I
really don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t want you to get sick
too. We can talk over the phone and maybe instant message and
stuff.” Evelyn agreed and made all the right noises, but something
didn’t seem quite right about it. I knew I had to go see her and
figure it out myself.

That night, for the first
time in my life, I snuck out of the house. I told my family I was
going to bed. Turning my music on really loud, which wasn’t unusual
these days, I pretended to read my latest title,
The Sight
. I could kind
of relate to the way Ella felt. Once I was certain the coast was
clear, I crawled out my window to “Send the Pain Below” by
Chevelle. How appropriate. I lowered myself down off the roof and
dropped gracelessly onto my behind. Picking myself up, I dusted off
before running around the backside of the house.

Evelyn lived about two blocks away,
and I ran the whole way there. The light in her bedroom was on and
I thanked all that was holy her room was on the first floor. I
peered in the window and saw her sitting at her desk alone, the
only light in the room coming from a candle burning to either side
of her. She raised a large knife—or maybe it was a dagger, I don’t
really know the difference—and used it to cut open her palm,
dripping the blood onto something in front of her. I leaned
forward, trying to see what it was and thunked my head against the
window pane. Ducking back as she spun around, I pressed myself
against the side of the house before creeping away. As my feet hit
the sidewalk I started to run, but her voice stopped me.

“
Amelia, wait.” I was
terrified by the tone of her voice. She sounded tired and sad, and
I wondered what my friend was hiding. What I saw could only be some
sort of witchcraft ritual, and I wished harder than I had ever
wished for anything that she had nothing to do with the murders. I
felt a little afraid of her and that made me very sad. She jogged
toward me, and I noticed she’d come out her window, wearing nothing
but a yellow sweater against the elements. “I can explain. I know
it looks bad, but I promise it’s not.”

“
Is this what you’ve been
hiding, Evey? Are you a witch?”

She nodded, looking more dejected than
I’d ever seen in my life. “It goes way back on my dad’s side,” she
mumbled, not meeting my eyes. I didn’t understand why she was
ashamed. How many times had we sat around saying how cool it would
be to have magical powers? Now here we stood, and we both kind of
did. It was anything but cool. Was she ashamed that she had these
abilities? Or that she had hidden them from me? Or did she regret
what she had done with them?

“
What do you know about
me?” I asked, afraid of what she would answer.

“
My mom says you aren’t
human and that makes you dangerous, but I don’t believe it.
Honestly, Lia, you’re still my best friend. You have to believe
me!” She finally met my eyes and even in the dim light I could see
the truth shining behind her tears.

I nodded as I stepped forward and
hugged her. She clung to me like a drowning man to a piece of
driftwood. “I’m a gaia, an earth spirit,” I whispered in her ear.
“I’m harmless unless you happen to be a plant. And you're still my
best friend, too.”

She stepped back and looked me up and
down, noticing the changes in me. “I saw it at the mall but I can’t
believe the difference!” she gasped. She started to push back my
hood but I stopped her, glancing around anxiously. Her mouth
twisted a little, a look I recognized when she was admonishing
herself, and she stepped back.

“
Come over tomorrow. My
parents won’t be home, and I’ll make Xander and Sariah agree.
Please, Evey?” She looked secretively at her house, then nodded
slowly and I smiled. “Now get back inside. It’s freezing out
here!”

I watched her climb back in her window
before I turned away. I was almost home before I realized I hadn’t
asked her about the ritual she’d been performing. I’d just add it
to the list of things to talk about tomorrow.

I realized a flaw in my plan as soon
as I got back to the house. I’d never been what you’d call graceful
and gaining nearly a foot of height did nothing to help my dilemma.
My mouth twisted as I stared at the house for a long moment trying
to figure out how to get back in when the back door opened. Diving
into the bushes sounded like a really good idea, but it was too
late. I sighed in relief when I heard my brother ask, “Well, you
coming in or you want to wait until Mom and Dad discover you
slipped out?”

Have I mentioned my brother is
awesome?

XANDER DEMANDED AN explanation.
Apparently, he came to my room and offered to take me to St. Louis
over the weekend, where the chances of running into someone we knew
were slim to none. Discovering I was gone, he covered it with Mom
despite the anger I could see still burning in his eyes. I laughed
nervously when I realized for most people that was merely an
expression. With my brother, his eyes literally had blue flames
dancing across the irises. How had I never noticed that?

Trying to placate him, I told him
everything about my illicit visit, but it only made things worse.
He kept opening and closing his hands at his side, making tight
fists before relaxing them again. The only reason he didn’t yell at
me was fear of waking Mom and Dad and getting me in trouble. He
probably only worried about that because he could get caught in the
crossfire for covering for me—a decision he was clearly doubting
now.

“
I’m sorry, Xan, but I
can’t stand it. I feel like I’m being punished, only I
didn’t
do
anything
wrong. I can’t stand the sight of these walls. I miss my life. I
miss my friends. And I
know
Evelyn has something to do with what’s going on.
She’s supposed to come over tomorrow while Mom and Dad are at
Grandma’s.” The anger in his eyes grew hotter, the flames more
noticeable. “Evelyn’s a witch. I think she has something to do with
the murders.” It was the first time I gave voice to my suspicions
about Evelyn’s secret. I trusted her as my friend, but should I?
Tsar Nicholas trusted Rasputin and look where that got
him.

Xander shook his head, his jaw set.
“Do you have any idea how much danger you could be putting us all
in, Amelia?” It was never good when my brother used my whole name.
“If she’s as dangerous as you think she might be, how could you
invite her into our home? What if she takes advantage of your
trust?”

“
I’ve known her for too
long to stop trusting her overnight, Xander. I can’t just hate her
without hearing her out. And if she does have something to do with
it, I need to hear it from her.”

Xander sighed and studied me for a
long moment. I couldn’t begin to read the complex emotions running
across his face. Finally, he nodded and I sighed in relief knowing
that with him on my side we would work it out. But the stubborn set
of his jaw told me he wasn’t happy about my plan.

We decided to wait to talk to Sariah
until our parent’s left. As soon as they walked out the door,
Xander and I turned on Sariah. We sat at the kitchen island and
Sariah stood opposite us as we laid it all out for her. “We think
there is a hunter working in Lincoln. All the deaths we’ve been
seeing, we think they’re caused by someone after Otherworlders.” I
licked my lips and glanced at Xander, and he picked up the
tale.

“
We think they’re using
witchcraft to bind their victims, so they can’t defend themselves.”
Sariah nodded, chewing her lip thoughtfully. I could see her
wondering where we were headed with this, so I took over
again.

“
Back before Halloween,
Evelyn told me I ‘needed to do my research before charging off to
slay the beast.’ I had no idea what she was talking about at the
time. Now I know she’s a witch, and I think she killed all those
people.” It all came out in a gush, and I didn’t know if she
understood since the words blended together. But she must have
gotten enough because she released her lip and nodded.

“
So there are five
people—plus most likely that girl in Elkhart. And you think Evelyn,
the sweet, bubbly girl that has practically grown up in this house
with us, did it?”

A smile lifted the sides of my mouth.
Part of me was relieved someone else was struggling to imagine
Evelyn as a psychotic killer. But dark clouds gathered before I
could get too far into my mental parade. Evelyn had been different
this year. Was she still the same girl?

“
So what do we know?”
Sariah asked, breaking my train of thought.

“
We know they were all
Otherworlders, but they’re all over the map. So I doubt it’s a
vendetta killing. Crystal’s hands were bound, but we don’t know
about the others.” I tapped a finger to my lips, trying to fit the
puzzle pieces together in my head.

“
What about the stake to
the heart? What’s up with that?” Xander asked. We hadn’t come up
with anything before, and Sariah didn’t do much better. “And did
they all have that symbol?”

“
I don’t know,” Sariah
said, flashing a bright smile. “But I know a policeman with a thing
for busty brunettes who will tell me everything.” With that, my
sister suddenly went a little hazy, like a special effect from some
television show. When the mist cleared, I was looking at Megan Fox.
Not just a resemblance, but a dead ringer. Like the sweaty, tousled
hair heroine of Transformers kind of Megan.

“
Maybe a little more
subtle?” Xander said, holding his thumb and forefinger an inch
apart. Megan gave him a slightly twisted smile before she shifted,
becoming less polished and a little curvier. Her eyes a little
wider, her lips less full, and her cheekbones higher and more
pronounced she looked back at us. With a tilt of her head, she
waited for Xander’s nod of approval before heading out the door.
“Sariah!” he called. Turning, she looked back over her shoulder.
“Be careful.” She nodded and was gone.

With nothing to do, I paced restlessly
and waited, praying Evelyn would show. I wandered to the living
room to sit on the couch and stare out the window. When I became
too restless there, I moved to the kitchen and stared out a
different window. It seemed like forever, but was most likely it
was not more than twenty minutes before there was a timid knock at
the back door. Xander answered it, in case it was someone else, and
I waited nervously until he stepped aside letting Evelyn into the
kitchen. I got up and hugged her, as a million things that I wanted
to tell her ran through my mind. Finally, I backed up and said
simply, “Hey, Evey.”

She gave me a weak smile
and sat on the stool I just vacated. Goosebumps broke out on my arm
at the fear in her eyes. “I know we’ve been rocky all year, Lia. I
swear I didn’t want it to be this way. But things
have
changed between us,
and I know you know it too.”

“
I don’t understand,
Evelyn,” I said, cocking my head and pleading with my eyes. I tried
to push down the hurt at her brisk attitude, but I think some of it
showed because she softened a bit.

“
Look, you know I’m a
witch, but do you know anything about witches?” I shook my head and
was surprised to see Xander shaking his as well. “The craft isn’t
something you can learn—you either got it or you don’t. My father
can trace our ancestry all the way back to the Spanish
Inquisition.”