by Jo Ho
Chapter 5
Eve sped through the corridors, her mind awhirl.
The visit at Juju’s hadn’t done what they’d hoped, in fact, they probably had more questions now than ever before. Who were those women, their ancestors? How did they tie into things if at all? And then there was Helena herself… What they did know, was that more research was required, specifically those four names they had been given. But that wouldn’t be happening until the end of the day.
After Juju, classes had taken over everyone’s lives, except for Eve who was free until later in the day. She was glad of the time alone. While she mostly liked the others — time would tell if her opinion would change — Cassie had obviously not forgiven her, no matter how hard she was pretending. She was actually a pretty decent actress, as she seemed to fool the others, but whenever they weren't looking, Eve could feel Cassie's eyes boring into the back of her head. It seemed Eve would have to eat humble pie and make a concentrated effort to apologize to her.
Right now though, she was just happy for a little downtime. Pushing open a door, Eve stepped out onto the green lawn. Bright sunlight spilled down from the sky as the welcoming sound of bubbling water washed over her. She was at the fountain in the little courtyard that was her favorite place in the college. The scent of roses from the hedge beside her wafted into her nose, filling them with their distinctive aroma. Sitting here amongst nature under the warmth of the sun seemed like a good way to kill time before her first class.
As Eve walked towards the fountain, leaves crunched underfoot. At this time of the morning, there was hardly anyone here. Just a small group of girls who sat behind the fountain opposite her. Paying them no attention, she found a nice spot and sat down, tilting her face to the sun. No sooner had her butt touched the grass then the four faces of the girls opposite turned to look at her, angered by the gall of this one student who would dare sit near them. With a sinking heart, Eve recognized the bitchy faces of her old crew. She should have known they might be here. It was while she was with them that they had discovered this place together.
Grace, who loved to dress in tacky clothes that revealed far too much of her, lowered the cup of coffee she was drinking. “I thought we got this place in the divorce,” she remarked.
"Of course you would feel entitled to the place that I found," Eve managed to reply back even though she wanted to hide away. The last thing she wanted was to engage with the Meantastic Four, but she knew they would become ten times worse if they thought they were winning. She’d seen it happen, time and time again.
“I’m surprised you’d even show your face around here,” said Carly who wore almost as much makeup as Eve, though she would deny it with her last dying breath.
“She knows everything that happened was her own fault. It’s why she’s gone for this dramatic change,” Maxine, a tall blonde smothered in fake tan said.
“You know you could just do us all a favor and disappear again,” another girl piped up airily. This was Yuna, an Asian girl who loved and thought far too much of herself. Eve had made the mistake of thinking they were real friends once until she realized that Yuna liked to put her down so she could feel better about herself. In fact, it had been Yuna who had spread the most lies about her last year, when Eve had been at her most vulnerable. Of all of them, she was the worst as she was the kind of girl who acted sweet and innocent when she was, in fact, the most deceitful. She had even tried to steal Eve’s boyfriend at one point. She hadn’t been interested in him, but she was jealous of Eve’s happiness and had tried to destroy that for her own ego.
Eve hated her. Eve hated them all.
Despite what people thought of her, she didn't like confrontation, yet here they were all apparently eager for some kind of fight. She could feel herself rapidly losing confidence as she always had when she was around them. Feeling small, her shoulders started hunching over. Eve had to force herself not to stare at the ground.
Until she remembered she wasn’t the helpless girl she once was. She had powers now, and they could be used on more than just demons…
Her head snapped up as she glared at their spiteful faces. Clenching her hands into fists, she sent her mind out probing for the others that she knew were all around her. Using her emotions, her fear and rage, Eve channeled her energy to send the call out.
It didn't take long.
The others heard her cry and came to do her bidding. Eve could feel them hurrying towards the four girls, who had no idea what was about to hit them. They sat on the grass in their miniskirts and tank tops, most of their flesh hanging out.
Flesh that could be hurt, Eve thought darkly to herself.
Yuna was saying something nasty when she suddenly felt movement across the top of her hand. She stopped talking mid-flow to look down. A row of ants an inch wide were crawling over her right hand and running up her arm. Yuna yelped and swiped her other hand at them, trying to knock them off, when with horror she realized that they were also climbing up her left arm. The other girls started, confused by her behavior, but then they saw the ants swarming on their own naked flesh and recoiled in horror. Eve’s eyes gleamed as she waited patiently, biding her time, enjoying the power this moment gave her. When enough of the ants had covered the girls, Eve gave the one-word silent command.
Bite.
Suddenly the air was filled with their cries as the ants bit into them. Screaming, tears mixing with the make-up that now ran down their faces, they darted towards the fountain, jumping inside. Huddling down, they tried to cover as much of their bodies with water as they could. Only when they were fully immersed did the drowning ants finally let go.
Grinning from ear to ear, Eve sauntered out of the area, listening to the sobs of the girls as they scratched at their bites.
Chapter 6
The house was on the other side of town.
It took two buses and one Metro for Tyler to make it to the area known as Fortnite Gardens, but she was finally there. Already, she could feel the morning’s energy beginning to seep away despite her excitement. Reaching into her bag, she fished out the water bottle containing her potion, gulping down half its contents without pausing for breath. The liquid barely made its way down her throat before she started feeling its magical effects.
The houses here were smaller than the ones they had grown up in. Although Cheryl fostered several children, she barely had enough bathrooms to cater for them all, so Ally had to share with one of the other girls. Luckily the two of them seemed to get along; at least that's what Ally always said when Tyler asked. Whether that was true was another matter entirely.
It wasn’t that Ally was a liar. She was uncommonly sensitive to other people's feelings, had been even as a young kid. Knowing how much stress she was already under, Ally wouldn't tell Tyler anything that might have her worry, including whether she got on with her fellow foster siblings. This was just another reason why Tyler loved her so much: how many almost-ten-year-olds would be selfless like this?
Tyler walked down the sidewalk, passing by a couple of houses that had seen better days. Weeds and grass grew wild in the unattended front yards. The front fence belonging to another house was missing a few panels. Though this wasn't a horrible neighborhood exactly, it certainly wasn't anywhere close to what they had grown up in… and that was a problem.
Though Ally had tried to fit in, and God knows no sensible person could ever hate her, Cheryl seemed to have a problem with the fact that Ally had grown up with money. Tyler could see it in the little snipes she took at them. As if they could help how they were raised. It certainly wasn’t that way now and Cheryl would never let them forget it. She had a habit of calling Ally “Princess” in a tone that implied everything but that always made Tyler rage when she heard it.
She approached the house now, trying to still her racing pulse. It wasn't just excitement, she knew, but one of the side-effects of her potion that made her so wired that she felt like she had drunk gallons of caffeine. She didn't need Cheryl to not
ice this about her today; although it was only a feeling, Tyler felt sure Cheryl was keeping a running log of her faults, and Tyler was nervous that they could be used against her when the time for her custody case eventually came.
Arriving at the front door Tyler rang the doorbell. Even before she could pull her finger away it flew open and Ally stood there beaming from cheek-to-cheek. Her kid sister was wearing her favorite denim skirt and a T-shirt with a lazy cat on it today. Her chestnut hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail and even the laces on her Converses were done up. She wrinkled her freckle-covered nose at her. "What took you so long?" she exclaimed as she threw herself at Tyler, wrapping her small arms around her as tightly as she could.
Tyler grinned, feeling the overwhelming love that she always felt whenever she was with Ally. Lowering her face, she spoke into the top of her head. "It's not like you live one block away. You know how many buses and trains I had to take just to get here?"
"At least you’re here, that's what counts!” Ally said, bouncing up and down with excitement. Steps sounded behind her, pounding into the carpet that had faded from years of abuse. A shadow fell over Ally as her foster mom appeared in the hallway. She was dressed in an A-line skirt and a flowery shirt. Tyler had to blink twice to make sure this was the same woman that she had seen before. Cheryl lived in worn leggings, so this was the first time Tyler had seen her looking remotely presentable. There was even the faint dusting of blue shadow on the lids of her eyes and her lips shone with the recent application of gloss. Of course, she looked as pinched as she usually did, but at least she had made an effort for someone today.
"Going on a date?" Tyler asked trying not to smirk. The six months Ally had been with her, Cheryl had had a revolving door of men, hoping to turn one into her husband, but none of them had been stupid enough to fall for her charms (or lack thereof). Cheryl would go on endless internet dates, looking through lonely hearts columns. It was actually pretty sad.
“That's not where I'm going today," Cheryl responded, a little too quickly for Tyler to believe her.
Tyler shrugged, not really caring either way. All she cared about was this stroke of good fortune that would give her a few hours of her sister's time. Cheryl glanced at the clock on the wall then fussed with her hair which Tyler could see had been stiffly back-combed at the roots to give it more height.
“I'm running late. Have her back here in three hours," Cheryl instructed as she grabbed her car keys from where they hung from a peg on the wall.
“Will do," Tyler responded as she reached for Ally’s hand. Ally picked up her battered pink bag with the fraying hems and broken zip as they started walking away. Remembering the cute bag Tyler had ordered for Ally’s birthday, she couldn’t wait until she could give her the present.
“Where are the rest of your foster clan?” Tyler asked, staring back at the now-silent house.
“A few of them went out. Alice is with her boyfriend.”
“The one Cheryl doesn’t know about?”
“Yep,” Ally replied, then changed the subject. “Where are we going?”
"Since we don't have too long, I figured we’d keep it easy today. What do you say we go hang out at your local library?"
Ally bounced up and down with excitement. “That’s like my favorite place!" she squeaked.
"I know, Bug," Tyler said laughing. “That’s why we’re going there.”
Moments later they were ensconced in a comfortable corner of the library. It was an intimidating building with Baroque details and filled with stone gargoyles that perched on the walls, which Tyler found pretty creepy. In typical Ally fashion, however, she loved it.
She had always loved to read, though her tastes had grown to darker fairytales now. This was a new obsession. Before, when their parents had still been alive, Ally had been like any other little girl. She had loved fluffy tales of pretty princesses and the handsome knights who saved them. When their parents died, she lost her love for those happy tales: however, though her interests had taken a darker turn, she hadn’t lost her love for the fantasy of fairytales. In recent weeks, Ally had developed a taste for stories with less happy endings; in particular, she loved Eastern European folktales.
Ally unzipped her bag and took out a pile of books that she gave to Tyler. Tyler gaped at them in surprise. “Are these books to be returned?"
"Yes. I knew we didn't have much time. I figured you'd be bringing me here and I packed my bag early, just in case,” Ally replied.
Tyler stroked her hair. “You knew we would come here?"
"No," she corrected mischievously. "I hoped we would come here, that's different."
Rolling her eyes, Tyler took Ally’s books to the front desk.
Alone, Ally turned to study the bookcase in front of her. Her head tilted sideways so she could read the titles of the books easier. As she started through the spines to see what took her fancy, she felt someone come up behind her. She didn’t know how she knew, but it did not feel like Tyler. Shielding her eyes from the lamp shining above her, Ally looked up to see a man. He was also examining the books on the shelf. Seeing her looking at him, he gave her a smile. “This place is pretty neat isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yes. I come here all the time. They have some cool books,” Ally replied. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but Tyler was only a short distance away. She wasn't exactly hidden, so she figured it would be okay to respond, especially as she didn't want to seem rude.
“I see you like dark fairytales?" he asked, looking surprised.
"Yeah. They're better than the normal ones.” Ali replied.
"My favorite is Baba Yaga. Have you read that story?" he asked as Ally’s eyes flew open with excitement.
"Oh my gosh that's my favorite! I love her! She has those weird houses that are on chicken legs. And she eats children. It's super cool.”
The guy, who seemed quite young, close to Tyler's age actually, pulled a heavy book from the shelf, handing it to her. "Well, if you love Baba Yaga, you’ll love these stories. I find them so amazing that I can't even sleep when I'm reading them."
Ally looked down at the book in her hands. The title of the book read ‘Dark Tales’ and was written in a raised font that stood up from the cover. There was a picture of a sinister forest on the cover with what looked like red flowers on the forest floor until Ally looked closer and saw that the flowers were actually drops of blood. It was a neat but eerie effect. Looking up, she went to thank him but there was only empty space in front of her. Surprised, she spun around in a circle looking for him but the guy had completely vanished. It was if it was as if he was never there.
“I leave you alone for two minutes and I see you’ve already found yourself another book,” came Tyler’s unsurprised voice. She studied Ally with barely concealed amusement.
“It wasn’t me. This man gave me the book. He said I’d like it,” Ally replied, still looking for him.
Frowning, Tyler turned around. “What man?”
“I don’t know,” Ally replied. “I don’t see him anymore. He just disappeared.”
Tyler felt a cold chill down her back.
Although this was a very public place, Tyler didn’t like that a strange man had just spoken to her sister without her being present. She liked it even less that he had disappeared before she could see who it was. Taking the book out of Ally’s hands, she shoved it back onto the shelf without even looking at it.
“You don’t need his recommendation, Bug. You can find your own books to read,” was all she said. As Ally shrugged off the incident, Tyler couldn’t help but feel weirded out. Her eyes scanned the room, hoping to catch sight of this man, but he never materialized.
Hidden in the shadows of a particularly hideous griffin, a hard smile spread across Michael’s face seeing how overprotective Tyler was with her sister. He watched as Tyler snatched the book from her sister's hands, putting it back onto the bookcase… as if that would do any good.
At least he knew
he had been right.
He was right to delve deeper into these girls’ lives. He now knew that in order to defeat them, he must go after their secrets.
He must go after all they hold dear.
Chapter 7
As classes wrapped up for the day, the girls found themselves back at Guardian Base.
All but Tyler, who was spending some much-needed Ally time. As before, Marley had led them into the giant warehouse. Luckily — or not, depending on how she looked at it — Christian had made an appearance, critically watching over her as she typed in the passcode. His presence caused her to get it wrong the first few times. When the door finally hissed open, she breathed out a sigh of relief, not wanting to hear any more snarky comments from him.
Eve made her way towards the computers immediately. She’d been looking forward to researching the four names given to them all day. They were nearing some answers, she could feel it in every fiber of her being. Her enthusiasm wasn’t shared by Marley though, who wasn’t as eager to dive into it all, knowing that they were effectively looking for a needle in a haystack.
“Marley, can you come over here?” Christian asked from across the room. He was standing by a brick wall with an expression she couldn’t quite place. Curious what he was up to, she joined him as requested.
“I need you to do exactly as I do,” he said as he raised his hand over his head… and waved at no-one.
Marley didn’t move. She stood, head tilted to one side, wondering if he was trolling her. “And why would I do that exactly?”
Sighing, his green eyes pinned her to the floor. “Will you just do it?”
Feeling ridiculous, Marley copied his exact movements.
Nothing happened.
Judging by the expression on Cassie's face, she was wondering whether Marley had finally lost it big time. She had half turned to Eve, her mouth open in a silent O, summoning up the courage to call her when Christian spoke again.