Ravage

by Jeff Sampson

  Turning to meet Evan’s big eyes, I asked him, “Ready to go all stealthy and break into my house?”

  “I have no idea,” he said with a shrug. “But hey, first time for everything!”

  Living in the Pacific Northwest can come in handy when you need to sneak through a city without being seen.

  The whole place was once a giant rain forest, and luckily the people who built cities here more or less respected that and kept a lot of the forests intact. Especially in Skopamish.

  My trip home was a matter of darting between trees and bushes in the woods behind the Delgado house, and then making our way through some backyards to the next wooded area, all the while keeping one-hundred-percent alert for any sign of, well, anybody.

  Evan, for his part, zoned into his powered state with no issue. One moment he was the vulnerable young guy freaking out over fleeing his mother, the next he was a hyperfocused, superstealth badass, moving slick through the woods like he’d walked these overgrown paths hundreds of times.

  His movements were smooth and sharp at the same time, each twitch of his head or flick of his eyes or step of his foot a deliberate, practiced motion.

  “You sell yourself short,” I whispered to him as we darted through the woods that would lead me to my house. “You’re definitely ready for this.”

  “I am always prepared,” he said. His voice was flat, monotone. Robotic. There was more inflection in the computer voice on board the Enterprise.

  I was so surprised I almost ran face-first into a low-hanging branch. Instead, my hand shot out just in time to keep it from slamming into my face.

  “Evan?” I asked as he whooshed past me. “You okay?”

  He stopped, freezing in place. Then, his body slacking slightly, he turned to look at me. He offered a sheepish smile.

  “Uh, sorry,” he said. “Sometimes I get like that.”

  “It’s all right,” I said, ducking beneath the branch and coming to stand next to him. “Just, maybe let a little bit of normal Evan slip into Robot Evan. I’m afraid you might go all Terminator on us.”

  He laughed. “I promise I won’t. But I’ll try to be less…that.”

  Both of us more at ease, we continued on. Veering to the right, I led Evan to the edge of the tree line, where we crouched down. In front of us was a quiet, suburban street.

  And beyond that was my house.

  Everything looked quiet. The windows were all dark. There were no cars in the driveway. There was no one on the dark street at all.

  But I had to be careful.

  “Look everywhere,” I whispered to Evan. “If you see anyone at all, let me know.”

  “Okay.”

  We sat there for what must have been ten minutes, scanning the street in its entirety. I focused on windows in neighboring houses, thinking maybe someone could be watching there. Or in the trees, camouflaged.

  Nothing.

  Tepidly, I stood. They had sent the police after Spencer’s minivan. They had to be after us still. Could they have already come by the house and decided I wasn’t dumb enough to go there? Could I have gotten that lucky?

  Only one way to find out.

  Waving Evan forward, the two of us went full hybrid and ran across the street so fast that we would have been a blur to anyone watching. Just a flash of color that would mean nothing if they weren’t looking for it.

  Around the back of the house and I crouched down again, my eyes on the shed, the trees bordering the fence. Still no one that I could see.

  Crouch-walking, I went to the back door. I pulled my keys out of my pocket, unlocked it, and slowly pushed the door open.

  The room contained our washer and dryer, and beyond that was a hallway that ran by the kitchen, to the stairs. I stood slowly to my full height, then took one step into the house, then another. Floorboards creaked beneath my feet despite my hybrid prowess, and I gritted my teeth in frustration.

  Still nothing.

  Again waving for Evan to follow, I walked slowly down the hallway, stopping every few feet to look left and right and even above me, certain that there would be hired guards hiding in the shadows with more guns.

  The attack never came. Evan and I made our way through the hallway, up the stairs, and into my room. No one popped out at me. I even checked the other rooms on the second floor while Evan sat on my bed waiting for me.

  No one was home.

  Finally relaxing, I went back to my room and plopped myself down into my desk chair.

  “Looks like we’re safe for now,” I said to Evan as I dug through my desk drawer to find the thumb drive.

  “Awesome,” he said, then flung himself backward to lie on my bed. “Man, you’ve got a comfy bed. I wish I could just sleep.”

  Finding the drive, I pulled it out of the drawer and then stood from my desk chair. I opened my mouth to respond.

  Then, from outside my window, I heard the sound of a car pulling into my driveway.

  I ran to the window and pressed my face against the glass to try and get a look, but the vehicle was just out of view. Car doors slammed shut.

  I had no idea who it was. It could just be my stepmother back from visiting friends.

  Or it could be Mr. McKinney with a tranq gun.

  “Okay,” I said, stepping back and running my hand through my hair. “We can get out of this. You ever jump out of a two-story window?”

  Evan didn’t respond.

  “Evan?” I asked as I spun to face my bed.

  He sat there, staring at the corner by my closed bedroom door, mouth agape. I followed his gaze and stiffened in surprise.

  Megan was standing there, glaring at us.

  “Megan!”

  I blinked and shook my head. Was I really seeing her? How had I missed her after searching the whole house? There’s no way she could have been standing there the whole time without me seeing. No way she could have slipped through my door without me hearing.

  “Megan,” I said again, running to her side. “What are you doing here? Why are you in my room? Now is not a good time!”

  “Emily,” Evan whispered.

  Megan didn’t say anything. Like at school against the tree, her pale flesh was waxy, her body completely still. Only her gray eyes moved, slowly turning to look at me.

  Deep inside, a primal fear began to rise up through my legs, into my bowels, forcing its way into my throat to choke me. Even though I was mostly hybrid—supposedly my fearless, confident self—I began to shake in fear.

  “Megan?” I asked.

  “Emily,” Evan said louder. Bedsprings creaked as he jumped to his feet. “She just appeared there. She’s not human. She’s—”

  “Oh, shut up,” Megan said, her face coming alive and her lip curling into a snarl. Before I could react, her right hand shot up, her fingers pointed at Evan.

  I spun around to see Evan leap to the side as the air where he’d just stood shimmered like water in daylight. In a flash, the water burst into a boil. Icy heat emanated from the spot, making my skin tingle. In a moment, the weird distortion disappeared—leaving part of my carpet and bedspread in tatters.

  “What?” I managed to stammer out. Rounding to face Megan, I said again, “What?!”

  “Emily, you have to get out of here,” Evan said behind me. “You can’t hurt her.”

  I turned just in time to see Evan’s big eyes glow white. Next to him, a rip tore through the air, just like the portal I’d seen the shadowmen come through when they came to take Dalton. Only this portal had never existed in my room before. He’d somehow summoned it with his mind.

  “I can’t control this!” he shouted, his voice a distant echo. “I’ll come back to help you!”

  And though Evan seemed to be struggling to pull himself away from the rip in the air, the force of its pull was too much. Slipping sideways, he was sucked through.

  The distortion disappeared.

  I was alone with Megan. Or whatever it was that was pretending to be her.

  Spinnin
g and leaping back at the same time, I pointed my finger at Megan. “What are you?” I demanded. “What did you do to my friend?”

  Megan stepped forward, hands at her side. “It’s me, Emily,” she said. “Megan. Same friend you abandoned for”—she waved her hand at where Evan had just stood—“whoever the hell that was.”

  The back of knees met my mattress and I stopped walking backward.

  “You can’t be Megan,” I said. “Megan can’t teleport or make the air boil.”

  Megan shrugged. “To be clear, I’m not actually here. I’m in a car a street away and I’m sort of…projecting myself here? Something like that.”

  “That’s great,” I said. “But still: not a thing Megan can do.”

  “Let’s just say this is Megan…” She waved her hands, presenting herself. “Enhanced.”

  The image of Megan in front of me doubled and tripled up, going out of focus. She disappeared.

  And reappeared next to me, sitting on the edge of my bed, her legs in front of the tatters her power blast had made. She patted the bed next to her.

  “Sit,” she said.

  Not taking my eyes off of her, I slowly lowered myself to sit down. I still couldn’t shake the unearthly fear, the primal terror of the wrongness of it all. I knew it was coming from the wolf side of me. But the wolf side of me was only afraid of the shadowmen.

  Of course.

  “I didn’t save you, did I?” I whispered. “I thought I pulled you free of that shadowman, but he got inside you.”

  “She, actually,” Megan said. “But you did stop her. All that’s left of her in me is a shadow of herself. I mean, I can still hear her thoughts, and she can hear mine. And I can do things like…” She waved her hand. “You saw. But she didn’t come through completely like she had been waiting to do her entire life.”

  I reached forward to grab her hands, but my own hands went right through her. I yanked my arms back.

  “I told you,” Megan scolded. “I’m not really here.”

  “Megan, I can fix this,” I said. “I don’t know how, but I can fix this.”

  She gaped at me. “You think I want you to fix me? Look, Emily, I get it now. Why you left me. Once you…change…once you grow up…sometimes old friends aren’t good enough anymore. You need to branch out.” A smile spread across her face. An honest-to-God, genuine smile. “I’ll always remember our lives together, Em. I would never, ever forget all we’ve been through. I know you won’t, either. But it’s time to move on.”

  Was this why she was here? For some big breakup speech?

  I didn’t have time for this.

  Jumping to my feet, I walked away from her. “Megan, I’m sorry about everything. I’ve said it hundreds of times now, and I’m glad you finally get it. But I can’t stay here. I need to go. I have to—”

  A shimmer of air, and Megan was standing directly in front of me.

  “You have to go to BioZenith and destroy their labs,” she finished for me. “I know.”

  “You know?” I asked.

  Another smile. “I know. I’m sorry I messed with you, but you were right—I have been watching you. She told me it would be a good idea, and she was right.”

  My body tensed. She wasn’t just hearing the shadowman’s—woman’s—thoughts. Megan had been actively talking to her somehow.

  “And what does…she…want from me?” I asked.

  Megan shrugged. “Oh, she doesn’t care about that portal. That’s for the bad ones.” She took a step forward. “The only problem is, no one knows what will happen if you close it. Only you and those like you are able to activate and interact with the portals, so I need you to take me to the rift behind Dalton’s house before you attack. She’ll be waiting for me there.”

  Closing my eyes, I shook my head. This was too much, all at once—this wasn’t in the plan. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go.

  “Megan,” I said softly as I slowly opened my eyes. “I can’t do that.”

  Her smile fell and her lip trembled. “But you have to, Em. Only people like you can interact with the rifts. If you’re not there, she can’t come through. I can’t become whole!”

  “Whole?” I spat. “Megan, that thing wants to possess you!”

  “She wants to make me better!” she shouted, stomping her incorporeal foot on my floor. “I’ll finally not be such a screwup. I’ll finally be good enough. Why won’t you help me?”

  Raising my hands, I stepped back, away from where Megan’s projection clenched her fist and glared at me with rage-filled eyes.

  “You’re not you right now,” I said. “Once I stop BioZenith, maybe you’ll lose whatever connection you have to the other side, maybe—”

  “No!” Megan roared.

  She leaped forward, momentarily forgetting she wasn’t solid. She ran through me and stopped, confused.

  At that moment, my bedroom door burst open. Dawn rushed in, Deputy Jared in full uniform behind her.

  Dawn smiled at me, relieved. “There you are,” she said. “Em! We’ve been out looking for you. We were told you were missing.”

  Jared shook his head. “Emily, this has got to stop.” Looking at Megan breathing heavily behind me, he asked, “What’s going on in here?”

  The car downstairs had been them. I’d completely forgotten about it in my fear and surprise at seeing Megan.

  Before I could do or say anything, Megan turned to face the two intruders, anger distorting her features. She raised a hand, her fingers aimed at Dawn and Jared.

  18

  WHAT DID YOU DO?

  It all happened so quickly.

  One moment, Dawn was herself, staring at me with concern, oblivious to the insanity that had been happening in my room moments earlier.

  The next, her mouth opened into a horrified O as the air around her shimmered.

  And she screamed as the world boiled around her.

  Jared reached for her with both hands, instinctively trying to grab Dawn and pull her free from the distortion. But as soon as his hands went into the boiling mass, he wailed in agony.

  All I could do was shout at Megan. “Stop! Stop it!”

  Then it was over.

  The air returned to normal. Dawn collapsed to the burned and melted carpet beneath her. Jared stared at his hands, which flopped from his wrists unnaturally. They were pale, dead things.

  Dead.

  I dropped to my knees at the same time Jared did. Ignoring his own injured hands, he shook Dawn with the back of his wrists. I could only stare, numb.

  I wasn’t the wolf, or Nighttime Emily, or Daytime Emily, or the hybrid of all three. I was a shell with eyes that could not look away from my beautiful, kind stepsister lying motionless in front of me.

  Jared was shouting, but it was like hearing someone try to yell at me while I swam deep in a dark ocean. Just mumbles and vibrations, hints of sounds but nothing I could make out clearly.

  Swallowing down the bile that had risen in my throat, I looked up at Megan, or her apparition. Whatever the hell she was. She stood there still, her hand raised. Her jaw was slack, her eyes wide, disbelieving.

  I finally found words.

  “Megan,” I whispered over Jared’s desperate shouts of Dawn’s name. “Megan, what did you do?”

  Slowly, she lowered her arm. “I didn’t mean to,” she said, sounding young, afraid. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

  Forcing myself to my feet, I stepped in front of her. “What was that, Megan?” I asked, my voice trembling, shrill. “What did you do to her? Is she alive?”

  Her lips parted, her eyes darted between me and Dawn’s still form. Then, her mouth closed into a tight line and her eyes narrowed. She was back to wearing the waxy Megan mask.

  “Show me the rift, Emily,” she said, her voice flat, emotionless. “Take me there right now or else Jared will be next. And if even that doesn’t convince you, well, I guess I’ll need to go put a stop to your friends at BioZenith before they can ruin everything.�
��

  “Emily, what is she talking about?” Jared said, looking up at us from where he crouched on the floor next to Dawn.

  I sobbed and turned to face my window.

  “Wait, Emily,” Jared gasped. “She just breathed. It was shallow, but she breathed!”

  Gasping in relief, I spun around to see him getting to his feet.

  “We need to call an ambulance,” he said. “I’ll—”

  “No!” Megan shouted. I looked just in time to see her raise his hands at Jared. “If you try to call anyone, then you’re next. Got it?”

  “Megan, what is wrong with you!” Jared bellowed, angry for the first time that I’d ever seen. He stomped forward and reached out to grab Megan’s wrist—but his useless, floppy hand passed through Megan’s incorporeal arm.

  Jared almost didn’t seem to notice. Again he raised his hands to his face, his expression twisting in terror.

  I leaped forward and grabbed Jared by the shoulders. “Jared, Jared, listen to me. Listen, okay? Things are happening you won’t understand. So just do what I say for now.” Looking back over my shoulder at Megan, I said to Jared, “Megan can hurt us. So for now we’re going to do what she says.” Facing him once more, I pleaded at him with my eyes, silently begging him to go along. “Will you listen?”

  “Yeah,” Jared said quietly. “I’ll listen.”

  Behind me, Megan spoke. “Downstairs. Now. There will be a car parked at the curb out front. Get in it. And don’t try anything.”

  Glaring defiantly at Megan, I picked up Dawn’s limp form. Carrying her in both arms and with Jared following me, I walked purposefully and quickly down the stairs, through the living room, and into the foyer.

  The beats of my stepsister’s heart echoing through my palms were so slow, so distant, that I expected them to stop at any moment. Images of Dawn kept creeping into my thoughts the entire way, but I couldn’t think about her now, couldn’t think about how happy she’d been the last time I’d seen her, how she’d done her best to help mold me into a confident young woman, how—

  I couldn’t think about it.

  I opened the front door and, just as Megan had said, there was a gray four-door car waiting at the curb. Megan was in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead, eyes blank. In the driver’s seat was a visibly anxious Patrick.