One of them, YA Urban fantasy A.D. Duling (Author of The Anna Kippling Series)

by A. D. Duling

  Evie climbed the stairs slowly up to her bedroom. Last night with the house empty, every sound seemed to stand out to her. She missed her mother a lot; even if most of the time she was always passed out. The point was she was there, but last night she wasn’t. All Evie could think about that night was where her mother was sleeping. She didn’t worry so much about her father, being angry at him made it easy not to.

  She knew he could handle himself anyway, not that she cared any less about him. Anger seemed to fill her these days, she was angry about a lot of things … what Jonas did to her, with Nathan and his group and how so vulnerable she felt. Now dying her hair blonde simply because Jonas wanted her too, playing slave to him to satisfy his need for control; that angered her the most. In fact it pissed her off, enough to develop a plan. A plan she was going to make sure that worked.

  She was going to save her parents and however she could as whatever she chose. She was not going to let anyone make her decisions anymore, or make her feel vulnerable. She was going to get her control back, even if it meant dying to do so. She had found her own solution. She was going to put an end to Jonas or anyone who tried to hurt her family or her, even if it one of them was Nathan. In the past few days, Evie had seen a vast change in her strength and she knew her speed definitely at least matched the others. She had always thought, these powers would only come to her after she shifted, but was grateful even if so, giving her a chance against them.

  She sat her bag down onto her bed and walked over to her laptop on her desk. If Jonas wanted her to learn how to kill a vampire, she would educate herself then, but she would also learn how to kill a werewolf. The hours flew by as she researched through the vast pages about these “mythical” creatures. It wasn’t until she felt the familiar pang in her stomach that she stopped. She reluctantly stood up and stretched her stiff body as she looked over at her clock; it was after eight already!

  How she lasted that long, surprised her. She went downstairs to the kitchen and dug into their freezer for an easy dinner. She found a bag of chicken nuggets and loaded the entire bag into the little pan to the toaster oven and popped them in. She went back up to her room and grabbed the bag with the hair dye out of her book bag and carried it to the bathroom. She stripped her clothes off and proceeded to apply the dye to her hair. After soaking every strand in it, she threw the bottles and gloves into the trash and put a shower cap on her head.

  She grabbed her mother’s robe and wrapped herself in it, avoiding touching the collar to her cap. She could smell her mother’s fragrance on it and missed her even more, again bringing the thought of where she was and where she was to sleep another night away from her daughter. Evie went back down to the kitchen and pulled her nuggets out, the pains had started to increase and she quickly popped a few in her mouth to satisfy them. She poured them onto a plate and carried it over to the table to eat her meal. She ate them quickly and went to the fridge to grab a soda, just as she opened the fridge door; she heard a loud crash come from her mother’s studio and went to the butcher block for a knife. Cautiously, she made her way down the hall towards the studio and peeked through the crack of the open door. She was unable to see much and kicked the door open with her foot to better look around. Everything appeared normal, but holding her knife out, Evie checked every corner to be sure.

  She found the source of the crash to be the painting her mother had been working on; it had somehow fallen off of the easel. She walked over and picked it up and placed it back on its perch. The eyes of the two wolves stared back at her; one pair of green and one pair of blue. She then noticed an easel next to it; it had not been here the last time she was in here. It was also holding a covered painting. Evie walked over to it and removed the sheet; underneath sat another completed painting, similar to the other, except there were now three wolves, two with the blue eyes and one with green.

  Who was the third wolf? She thought. What did this mean? Evie recovered it and noticed her mother’s desk, it was messy. Papers were lying all over it and the drawers to it were left open. A pair of keys hung from her father’s old file cabinet sitting behind it and she walked over to it.

  Last week she had helped her mother organize and clean the studio. So she knew this mess was new and wondered what it was her mother doing? And if so, what was she looking for? The file cabinet had not been opened since her father left, Evie couldn’t even get her mother to open it the day they were cleaning, but now keys were hanging from it.

  She pulled on the handle of the drawer and it opened with ease. It was still neat inside, so she assumed her mother had not gotten that far. What was inside that she had wanted? Evie wondered, something obviously important to bring her to finally unlock it… followed. She pulled the first stack of files out and carried them over to the desk. She sat into her mother’s chair and opened the top one and found old electric bills. She sat it aside and opened the next one; again old bills. She wished her parents had labeled the folders. Her head itched and she reached up to scratch it and remembered the dye.

  “Oh crap!” she blurted and ran upstairs to rinse it out.

  Fifteen minutes later she returned to her place behind the desk with her newly blonde hair wrapped in a towel and continued to go through the files. It wasn’t until the second stack she had grabbed, that things started to get interesting. She found her birth certificate, her parent’s marriage certificate and there was even a folder filled with Evie’s childhood artwork. Most of the files after that were old cases of her dad’s. Nothing unusual popped out at her as she glanced through them and when she finally looked through the last file she slammed it shut in frustration, feeling very disappointed. Her mother had obviously wanted something in there, but what? She looked back to the piles of discarded files and dreaded the thought of looking through them again.

  Suddenly she had an epiphany! A secret compartment…! She thought, remembering her old mystery books. Evie rolled herself over to the file cabinet and examined it. It was wooden with two drawers and made of solid wood, nothing of it was particle board. She slid down onto her knees and pulled the bottom drawer out. She flipped it over and examined every inch of it, but found nothing. She did the same to the top drawer and again found nothing. She looked inside the cabinet and could see nothing obvious; so she started tapping on the sides like they did on TV and listen for a hollow sound, but everything sounded hollow without the drawers in them. She gave up and looked for a notch or something that would indicate a secret compartment, but found nothing. The wood was smooth all around.

  “Come on!” she blurted out, exasperated. She stood up and plopped back down into the chair and pouted. With her arms crossed against her chest she stared at the file cabinet and its two drawers lying on the floor next to it. Maybe there was nothing… She thought. No… there had to be something! By the state of the room, she knew her mother was searching for something….and she knew the answer had to be in that file cabinet!

  She returned to the cabinet and looked over everything again, feeling everything and looking at everything and that was when she had found it. It was so obvious she couldn’t believe she had missed it before. Upon examination of each drawer separately, you wouldn’t notice it, but when Evie had placed the drawers back into the cabinet and stepped back, that was how she found it. The top drawer had a hinge on the bottom of it, it didn’t stand out too much and that was how she overlooked it. What brought it to her attention was when she stood back and looked at them both; she realized the other drawer didn’t have it. Evie pulled the drawer out and brought it over to the desk. She flipped it over and looked at the hinge; the space between it was very thin, a single gold button filled the space in the center. Evie grabbed the key and slid it in between the space and passed it over to the button, pressing it down and then she heard a click and the front popped open.

  She opened it and a manila envelope fell out. Evie picked it up and opened the top, inside she saw some newspaper clippings and some photos. She pulled them out and laid them do
wn on the desk. She pulled the chair over and sat down; she looked at the photos and found individual ones of a man, a boy and a girl that she did not recognize. She picked up a newspaper clipping and read the headline: TEEN GETS ATTACKED BY WILD ANIMAL!

  The picture underneath it, was a younger version of her Dad. The article spoke about him being attacked by an animal. The animal was described as an abnormally large wolf and the words sent chills down her spine. Her father was attacked by a werewolf… she thought and knew what that meant. She remembered the painting and knew who the third wolf was… her father. Did this mean her mother knew? Was this what she was looking for? And why, to show her..? The questions plagued her.

  There was something missing, she knew it. Her finding out her father was a werewolf was important, but why?

  Was her mother one too? She questioned herself but then thought if she had been, her mother would have painted another wolf in the painting. She knew there was something Nathan was hiding; even Jonas seemed to know about something she did not, but what..? She asked herself. Was there more to the connection than just that case? Evie unfolded the other newspaper clipping and read its headline: TEEN CAR CRASH, ONE DEAD.

  Below the article were three year book pictures; one again of her father and the other next to it a younger version of the man in the photo. The third was of a young woman. Evie read the article and it told about the woman dying on impact and the other two walking away with minor injuries. The man was named Ted Thatcher; it was his fiancée who died. Her father was the driver; all three were claimed to be drinking.

  She picked up Ted’s photo and flipped it over, finding his name written on the back, in her father’s handwriting. She picked up the picture of the girl and did the same; Sabrina Thatcher was written. Her heart skipped a beat and she quickly flipped the boy’s; Jonas Thatcher age ten: it wrote. The young boy was Jonas; he looked so different then, happier in the photo. Evie gathered the papers and quickly ran upstairs to her laptop and typed the name Ted Thatcher and a few links popped up. One was a newspaper article about Sabrina and her step-father. In one of the pictures staring back at her was the same picture of Ted from the envelope; Sabrina’s yearbook picture was next to it. Even in black and white, the girl’s eyes looked hollow, she looked broken and Evie’s heart went out to her. She noticed a link to the newspaper archives and clicked on it.

  The gears turned in her head, trying to put two and two together; she grabbed the newspaper article about her father’s attack and looked for a date: July 15, 1994. She grabbed the other paper and read its date: August 2, 1994, two weeks after the accident. Was Ted Thatcher also a werewolf? Was he the one who attacked her father? She thought, was that his revenge?

  Evie read the rest of the article about her dad’s attack, it told about him being severely wounded, needing many stiches and a blood transfusion. She remembered the scars on her father’s torso and back, which he had told her was a bear attack. Nathan spoke about others, was Jonas not the only one behind this? Was Ted Thatcher here as well?

  Chapter fourteen

  Preparations…

  “Nice hair.” His voice startled her and she turned around.

  He smiled, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He apologized to her.

  “What do you want Nathan?” she asked him.

  “I was just checking on you.” He replied, eyeing her bag.

  “I don’t need checking on.” She scowled at him and moved her bag behind her.

  “You can’t take them on alone.” He warned her.

  “You have no idea what I’m going to do.” She threatened him.

  He looked down to the bag behind her back, “What are you up to, Evie?” he asked her.

  She turned around and walked away from him out of the mall. She could hear his footsteps follow her out and across the parking lot. She ignored him, up until she was almost to her car and stopped. She turned around and looked at him, “Leave me alone, Nathan.” She hissed.

  “Can I at least give you a ride home?” he offered.

  “I already have a ride.” She told him.

  “Cass?” he assumed.

  She shook her head, “No, I drove here.”

  “You have a driver’s license?” he asked her, surprised.

  She crossed her arms and scowled, “I’m not an idiot Nathan! I just didn’t have a car!” she pointed out, feeling insulted.

  “Whose?” her inquired, intrusively.

  She turned around and walked away in answer. He continued to follow her up until she stopped at her mother’s SUV. She unlocked the doors and climbed in, he stood staring at her on the other side of the window. She started the car and rolled it down, “Should I wait for you to get into your car or can I drive home unescorted?” she snapped. He shook his head quietly and stepped back, she rolled her window up and shifted the gear into drive and drove off. In the rearview mirror, she watched him stand there; watching her drive away until she turned the bend and neither one could see the other anymore.

  When Evie pulled up into her driveway, thirty minutes later, she unhappily found his mustang already parked there, with him sitting inside of it. She exhaled in frustration and climbed out, quickly getting her house key ready. Just as she slid it into the lock, he climbed out of his car. She quickly unlocked the door, darted inside and slammed the door behind her. She dead bolted it and leaned against the door and listened. With her improved hearing, she heard Nathan’s footsteps walk up all the way from the car and stop in front of the door. She listened to his breathing, but he didn’t move.

  “Please let me in Evie.” He finally spoke, knowing she was there. She didn’t answer him. “I can help you Evie…you’re going to have to let someone help you...even though you think you can do this, you can’t.” He told her.

  Evie stood there on the other side of the door and battled her inner turmoil, she wanted so bad to lean on him, but she didn’t trust him. She didn’t know who she could trust anymore and was too afraid to try on him. It took great strength to turn herself around and walk away from the door, leaving him stranded on the other side.

  Evie sat her shopping bag down onto the counter and grabbed a small pot from one of the cabinets and filled it with cold water. She placed it on the counter next to one of the burners of the stove and ignited the burner. She then went back over to the counter and emptied the contents of her bag out onto it.

  She heard Nathan’s mustang start up outside and was relieved that he had given up; she waited until she heard him drive off, before she returned to her task. She returned to the stove with the crucible and mold she had purchased today and placed it on top of the lighted burner; she placed the mold next to it.

  She then went back to the counter and started separating the many pairs of earrings she had purchased, from their packaging and placed them neatly into a pile nearby.

  After the first ten, she had to stop because the tips of her fingers had started to burn as if on fire. The skin already red apparently irritated. She walked over to the sink and grabbed her mother’s pair of rubber gloves and put them on. If she was already having a reaction to the silver earrings now; not even fully changed, then Evie hoped the affect would be worse on the full blown werewolves she was going to battle. She had used her mother’s credit card to make today’s purchases and thought to use the earrings for easier melting and not to draw to much attention to herself, in case she was being followed, which Nathan proved that she was.

  After unhooking the last pair, Evie gathered the earrings into a bowl and carried them over to the stove. She sat the bowl down on the counter next to it and pulled out the large barbequing tongs her father used for grilling from a nearby drawer. She then went to the kitchen table and put on the canvas apron and goggles she had saved from chemistry class last year and returned to the stove. She poured the earrings into the crucible and waited for them melt. They melted quickly and she took the large tongs and carefully picked up the small crucible and held it over the mold. She tilted it
ever so slightly and watched the silvery liquid pour out. The silver cooled quickly and she tilted the mold and allowed the silver marble size ball she had created, fall into the cold water to completely cool it. Evie sat the mold back down and quickly poured another one.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Bring it on…

  The scream of the alarm woke her and Evie rolled over and pressed the off button. Slowly she crawled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Every inch of her body was soaked with perspiration and she had to peel her clothing off to get undressed. The cold shower did little to cool her down and did even less to wake her; it had been well after four am by the time she had gone to bed. And even though she had gotten her full eight hours, Evie still felt tired and worse, still had more to do. She dressed herself in the dark clothing she had picked out the night before and went downstairs to the kitchen to fill her complaining stomach. After making herself two sandwiches, Evie walked over to the center island and looked over her preparations.

  She had read up on everything concerning Werewolves and Vampires in the days before, about protection against them, weapons to use and even herbs to deter them. Getting ahold of most these items, she found to be very challenging if not impossible and did what she could, with what she did acquire. Of the werewolf deterrents she had read about, Evie found only two, rye and mistletoe, for the rye she had to get bread and hoped it still counted. For the Vampires she of course knew about the garlic and had no trouble getting that, as for the stakes and the holy water, she resorted to making the stakes with leftover wood from their shed out back and for the holy water, she blogged how to make it.

  Evie had felt very stupid as she did all these things, but a month ago the creatures she was about to face were supposed to be fictional, yet here she was. So now, even the stupid, silly things seemed possible and worth doing.