The Evensong (2 page)

“Have you really sent out an application?” I asked lowly, deliberately packaging his items slowly.

“Yeah, two of them, actually,” he replied, fishing out a few crumpled dollars from his pocket.

“And you really want to go?”

He laughed, putting the change in front of me. “Yeah, I do. Who wants to stay here forever? Come on, admit it: you want to get out someday.”

“Not now, not when I’m twenty,” I mumbled.

Omar would be going into school as one of the older freshmen. He’d procrastinated for a few years before deciding it was what he really wanted. Personally, I worried about how he would react to living in a big city, always being around people. It was more than likely that he would never find anyone like us, and that just sounded lonely to me. Maybe it was selfish of me to want him to stay; I’d known him the longest of anyone else in the house, besides Rene.

“You’ll want it,” he said, taking the bag from me. “Believe me.”

“And you’ll want to come home a week after being out there,” I replied, giving him his change. “Believe me.”

He laughed again and turned to leave, saying he’d see me later. I could bug him all day about why he shouldn’t go to school; I’d miss him a lot.

Meryl emerged from the back with Lisa in tow as a man approached the front with a bottle of cheap wine.

“Hey, Harold,” Meryl said, striking up a conversation as I rang up the wine. I put the bottle on the opposite side of the register, preparing to put it in a bag when I hit it with my arm. It sent the bottle falling straight down towards the floor. I reached out to grab it, and on instinct, used my will against it. The bottle froze a few inches from the floor, hung in midair. I grit my teeth, knowing I wasn’t supposed to do this in public. I relaxed my hand a little and the bottle fell against the floor, shattering and splattering red wine everywhere.

“I’m sorry, I’m too spastic,” I apologized, looking up at Meryl. Judging by her look, she had seen what I tried to do. Though she knew what me and the others of our house could do, she knew we weren’t supposed to do it in public.

“Lisa, will you get this?” she called absently, giving me another warning look. “I’ll grab another bottle, Harold.”

I apologized again, taking his money and quickly returning the change. Lisa rolled the mop and pail up next to me, avoiding my eyes as she scowled at the floor. I thought it was stupid that I couldn’t use my ability for the little things. I could have saved Lisa the work, and saved us a bottle. I could have just said I caught it in time . . .

Outside, thunder rumbled ominously, and I felt a slight pang behind my eyes.

“Oh great, come on,” I mumbled, trying to get a good look at the sky.

“What? I’m cleaning up
your
mess,” Lisa snapped, glaring at me.

“Oh—no, I was talking to myself. I don’t want it to rain,” I replied, taking a slight step away from her. She scoffed and went back to mopping. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t like me. Maybe she wanted the cashier job—I don’t know—I would have let her do it if she really wanted to.

Another clap of thunder sounded, and a car came screeching into the parking lot. Meryl was still talking to the man with the wine, and Lisa was just walking away, the mop water tinted purple. My head gave another throb of pain, and this time it didn’t fade away. I pressed my fingers into my temple, hoping it wouldn’t come on.

The car came to an abrupt halt just outside our door, and the thunder clapped again, this time bringing rain with it. I clenched my teeth as my head throbbed, and I felt nauseous. It was like the night before, just worse because I was standing up and in the light.

“People are just driving crazier and crazier these days,” Meryl said as she watched the parked car outside the shop. “Hm. They must be checking the hours.”

I just leaned against the wall, holding my head as the rain pounded against the roof. I grasped the counter with one hand, balancing myself. Things were tilting slightly, and I felt like I was about to vomit.

“Riley? Riley are you okay?”

I felt Meryl’s hand on my shoulder, and I shook my head. “No—no, it’s just like last night.”

“Why don’t you go home, sweetie. Can you drive okay?”

I barely nodded, reaching under the counter for my keys. I felt so sick; I didn’t even remember to take off my apron. As I stumbled out the door past Lisa, I heard her mumble, “Faker.”

THE
HOUSE
OF
WITCHES

Driving home was mostly a blur, as was stumbling through the house and collapsing on the couch. I just lay there and kept my head under a pillow, the sound of the rain pounding like nails against the roof.

“You don’t look so good.” Alysana’s pretty, clear voice came through the noise of the rain. I just nodded faintly, shielding my eyes from the single light on the table.

“Do you want some tea?” she asked, moving the pillow away from my ear. I pulled it closer, groaning.

“No, I feel like I’m going to throw up,” I replied. I heard her walk away as another set of footsteps came down the stairs. Judging by the high, kissy-kissy voice, it was Hank calling for his cats.

“Sukisuki,” he keened, his voice carrying. “You’re home early. Mouse missed you.”

A slight weight landed on my leg; Hank had dropped Mouse, his newest kitten, on me. Mouse was usually adorable, but at this moment, nothing was anywhere near that.

“Hank, leave her alone for a second.” Rene’s voice came through the din, and I was relieved. She would know what to do.

“Riley, hon, Meryl called a few minutes ago. Are you okay?” Rene asked, sitting on the couch next to me. I let her pull the pillow away, but I kept my eyes closed.

“This is the
same
thing that happened last night,” I said, frustrated. “It starts when it’s raining.”

“Alysana’s making you something,” Rene said, her hand on my head. “I know you don’t feel well, but you have to at least drink some tea.”

I nodded wordlessly, positioning the pillow under my head. Someone had switched off the light, so the room was cast in dark gray. This, I could take.

Rene left to convince Hank to clean the litter boxes, and I waited until Alysana came back holding a steaming cup in her hands.

“Here, it will help, I swear,” she said, crouching in front of me. Her eyes were an intense bright blue, standing out in the darkness of the room.

I sighed, the burst of oxygen momentarily fighting off the nausea. “What is it?”

“Some bay, beebalm, a little bit of cinnamon—it might not taste spectacular, but it should help,” she replied, tucking her dark hair behind her ear.

“There’s got to be more in here, I can smell it,” I replied.

She sighed. “Yes, there is, but just drink it, okay?”

I nodded and took a hesitant sip, ignoring the odd tastes under the citrus and cinnamon. Just the first sip soothed my stomach, so I eagerly drank the rest, hoping for relief. It didn’t seem to help the headache much, but I could deal with that a little better.

“God, you’ve got a gift, Aly,” I said, almost finished.

She laughed and stood, going back into the kitchen, calling back, “I know.”

I spent the next five minutes just lying still trying to quiet the storm. I knew I didn’t have that power, only Elementals did, but I still tried anyway.
Stop rain, quit for a while, slow down, stop raining, please stop.
Of course there was no difference, but just lying still made me feel a little better. It was so much better that I didn’t ask Hunter to leave the room when he slumped in the armchair next to the couch and turned on the TV.

We were wrapped up in
A Haunting
on Discovery when Omar came through the front door, hair soaked from the rain, which was still going strong. Thankfully my headache was just a dull throb now, nowhere near as painful as it had been before.

“All this rain is crap, I can’t handle this much water,” Omar was saying to Rene as he walked into the kitchen. They talked about work and applications, and then Rene lowered her voice, probably mentioning something about me. I ignored it at first, but then Omar’s face appeared over the couch, looking down at me.

“Feeling better, faker?” he asked.

“Who are you, Lisa?” I replied, looking back at the TV. He laughed and came around the couch, nudging my legs aside so he could sit down. I stretched my legs right back over his lap, huddling deeper into the couch for warmth.

“What’s on?” he asked.

“Shh! It’s the best part,” Hunter snapped quietly.

“Oh.”

I tried not to laugh, folding my arms over my chest for further warmth. In the kitchen, Rene and Alysana were making dinner, chatting over the stove and Alysana’s small collection of potted herbs on the sill of the kitchen window. Hank and Justine were in the kitchen too, apparently doing homework before the meal.

“I wish the rain would stop,” I said when the show had ended.

“Are you still feeling sick?” Omar asked.

“Not really sick anymore, I just have the headache. I’m afraid to get up, it will probably be worse.”

“I’ll float you up to your room,” Omar suggested.

“No—I already feel weird, that will make it worse.”

Omar laughed and asked Hunter for the remote. With a casual wave of his hand, Hunter sent the remote across the room towards Omar.

“What’s for dinner?” I asked as he flipped channels.

“Chicken and rice. Nothing special,” he said. Even if it was ‘nothing special’ to him, I was still anxious for it; I hadn’t eaten most of the day.

When Rene called us all to the kitchen, I rose slowly, the throb in my head increasing a little. I took my usual seat between Omar and Alysana, serving up as the others filtered in.

“Here’s a new one,” Rene said, pulling out a liter of soda from the fridge. “I didn’t have time for tea, and I had a craving.”

The liter was passed down our side of the table first, and Omar filled my cup for me. I drank a little, thinking the caffeine might help my headache.

It took a few minutes for everyone to flock to the table. The noise of the silverware and small talk filled the room, almost drowning out the sound of the rain. It was comforting to be there, sitting with the family I knew. It was just slightly different. Rene served as the mother figure to all of us, and I thought of most of the younger ones as siblings. That included Hank and Justine, who were both only thirteen. Justine was the newest addition, having been with us for hardly a year. I’d known Omar and Alysana the longest, but both of them were my best friends, further reasons why I didn’t want Omar to leave.

Rene tapped her knife against her glass, gaining everyone’s immediate attention. She smiled slightly and laced her fingers together on the table.

“So. News for the night,” she started, looking at each of us in turn. “Everyone should remember that Hunter’s birthday is in a week.”

Hank hollered and Hunter pumped a weak fist into the air. “Woo-hoo. The big 2-1.”

“That’s right. Cold beers all around,” Rene said. “Except for you two.”

Hank and Justine seemed a little put off, but I knew Rene would probably change her mind one way or the other. She’d make them something else in exchange.

“And Omar has sent out two applications to college,” Rene went on. She beamed at him while I shrunk back in my seat. “And I just found out this evening that Alysana will be looking into colleges as well.”

I looked at Alysana, shocked. She was smiling sheepishly, staring down at her plate. She’d never told me anything or mentioned any interest in leaving. Everyone seemed to be shipping themselves away; would I be left alone with Hunter until I was twenty-one? Or older?

Rene went on with a few more announcements, but I wasn’t really listening anymore. Alysana seemed so comfortable here with everyone. She had her plants and her garden, a good job, friends . . . and she was giving that up for what? A strange city, being lonely and isolated? I didn’t get it.

After eating a slice of one of Meryl’s cakes, I stood and washed my dishes before heading up to my room. I didn’t wait for Alysana to finish eating; in fact, I hoped she would take a while longer.

My room was still cold from the storm, which had changed to a light drizzle. Mouse was perched on my bed, ears erect, and she meowed loudly as I closed the door behind me. I lay down on the bed, facing the window on the left wall. Beyond it was nothing but the dark sky covered with clouds. I wondered if it was raining all over town. By morning, the air would smell of the swamps; a deep, rich smell of moisture and water plants. I decided I would call in sick and take a day to just go to the swamps. Alysana never wanted to join me since she thought the place was disgusting. Omar would be at work, and I thought a trip alone would be nice. I needed some time to clear my head.

Someone knocked twice on my door and opened it a little before I could answer. Alysana peered inside, and I didn’t say anything, concentrating on petting Mouse.

“Hey,” she said quietly, stepping inside. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything . . . I didn’t really decide on it till today. I was looking at the brochures Omar was getting, and it just looked so nice.”