by Amy Meredith
The thing might barely even be on, but it still gave off a hum that sent tingles through Eve’s fingers.
Luke looked over at Jess. ‘What do you think, kung-fu chick? One or two karate chops to take it down?’ The fence was about three metres high, made of wire mesh and metal bars.
Jess stuck her tongue out at him, then turned and started climbing. Eve followed her. When she reached the top, Eve hung onto the metal bar, swung her body over and let herself hang from her arms. It had seemed like a good plan at the time. But when she twisted her head and looked over her shoulder, the ground seemed a lot further away than she expected. She wasn’t used to jumping off pyramids of people the way her cheerleader best friend was.
‘You can do it, Evie!’ Jess called softly.
Well, she was going to, whether she could or not. Her upper-body strength wasn’t all that good, and her arms were already starting to ache. Eve took a deep breath, then let go. She stumbled when she landed, but managed to stay on her feet. A few seconds later, Luke dropped down onto the ground beside her.
‘I could see the guard house from the top of the fence. But it looked dark – he’s probably down with the plague,’ he said, nodding towards the far side of the plant, where a drive led into the small parking lot. ‘Still, we should try and get in on the side that doesn’t have a guard house, just to be safe.’
‘Nice work. You clearly picked up some skills from all those Hardy Boys books. We saw them in your room, you know,’ Eve added to Luke, then winked at Jess.
‘Don’t knock my boys. Although, just so you know, I don’t read them any more,’ Luke said as they circled around to the side of the big building farthest from the parking lot. He made a ‘down’ motion with one hand when they got close to a row of windows.
Eve crouch-walked over to the nearest one and peered inside. ‘No demon in there,’ she told Jess and Luke. They stayed low as they headed for the door, just in case.
‘Now what?’ Jess asked after she gave the knob an experimental twist and found it locked. ‘I haven’t gotten to the kung-fu lesson about breaking through doors.’
‘Lucky for us, this door takes credit cards,’ Luke said. ‘Guess they aren’t that worried about security if you can trip the lock that way. Do you think there’s an alarm?’
Eve snorted. ‘They won’t even pay for a weed wacker,’ she said, kicking at one of the dandelions that sprouted up from between the cracks in the pavement. ‘They’re definitely not paying for an alarm service.’
‘Does the credit card thing even work? It does sound like something that would only work in those books you never read any more,’ Jess said.
‘OK, who has a card they don’t care if I mess up?’ Luke asked.
Eve and Jess looked at each other. ‘Why don’t you mess up one of yours?’ Eve finally asked.
Luke laughed. ‘Cause, unlike you two princesses, I don’t have one.’
‘I’m not giving the AmEx,’ Eve said.
‘Me neither,’ Jess answered. ‘Who knows if my parents would ever get me another one. They’re always threatening to take it away.’
‘But they never will. You know that.’ Eve looked over at Luke. ‘Really, they always give Jess everything. They just complain about it first.’
‘Still not risking it,’ Jess insisted.
Eve took her wallet out of her bag and studied the row of cards. ‘I haven’t used the Bloomie’s card in a while.’
She started to pull it free, but Jess grabbed her wrist. ‘No, no, no!’ Jess exclaimed. ‘We’re going to go into the city a ton this summer. And what’s the city without Bloomingdales?’
‘You’re right. Hmmm.’ Eve studied her cards again. Jess had her wallet out now, and was frowning at her own array.
Luke gave a long, exaggerated sigh. ‘Forget it. I think I still have my old library card from Santa Cruz.’ He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. Eve loved how the wallet had worn a white rectangle in the cloth of his jeans.
Luke slid the card between the door jamb and the door, then gave the card a little wiggle. Nothing. He wiggled it a little harder. Eve heard the plastic crack. She and Jess were right to be worried about their cards! One more jiggle. But the door wouldn’t budge. ‘Maybe you and Jess were right about the card thing,’ Luke admitted.
Then the door swung open. Jess stood on the inside grinning at them. ‘Unlocked window, round the corner.’
‘You shouldn’t have gone in by yourself. What if the demon had been waiting for you?’ Eve’s heart rate increased, thinking about Jess being snatched up by Amunnic.
The smile slid from Jess’s face and her eyes went wide. ‘You’re right.’
Now I’ve terrified her, Eve thought. Good job. ‘It’s OK. We’re together now. We need to be careful in there, and not just because Amunnic could be inside,’ she said softly. ‘This plant isn’t on full power, but there’s something being produced. I can feel it. And we’ve all seen what electricity can do.’ She flexed her fingers, and she could tell that Luke and Jess were picturing lightning bolts flying out.
Cautiously Eve stepped through the doorway. The large room only had a few fluorescent lights on, their soft electric buzz the only sound. Eve looked around at the large metal tubes with wheels corkscrewing around them – turbines, she remembered from that school field trip – and the catwalk that ran across half the room. The amount of dust on both made the inside of her nose itch, but she didn’t catch a whiff of wood-smoke. That was good.
No. Actually it wasn’t. They needed Amunnic to be there. They needed to end this before anyone else got sick. They needed to end this while Leo, Briony and Rose were still alive.
OK, look for demony hiding places, she instructed herself. She didn’t see many places Amunnic could be. Most of the huge space was empty. But there were two rounded, igloo-like things on the other side of the big pipes. They seemed worth checking out.
Eve pointed at them, and Luke and Jess nodded. She started across the cement floor, glad that she was wearing flats so the sound of high heels wouldn’t give her away. A shiver ran through her body as she circled around the biggest tube, and she hesitated.
‘What?’ Jess whispered. ‘Do you see something?’
Eve shook her head. She wasn’t sure. She just had this feeling … She shivered again, and all the fine hairs on her arms and the back of her neck rose. A ferocious static-filled roar suddenly filled her ears, and she gasped.
‘Must be one of the turbines,’ Luke said loudly.
‘You can hear it too?’ Eve felt a rush of relief. For a moment she’d thought it was something only she was experiencing, the way she could see the words on the portal when no one else could.
‘There’s nothing inside those things, and they’re the only place to hide. Let’s get out of here,’ Jess called. ‘My ears are about to explode.’
But Eve couldn’t move. It felt as if the sound of the turbine was coming from inside her. Her bones shook with it. Even her teeth felt like they were vibrating. Heat flooded her body, the way it did when she was fighting a demon. Her power was churning along with the turbine. Building and building.
She curled her hands into fists. She couldn’t let the power out. It was too strong, stronger than it had ever been. If it escaped, she wasn’t sure what would happen. She might hurt her friends. But it wanted out. It was pushing at her, fighting her.
Eve squeezed her fists tighter, until her nails dug into her palms. She screwed her eyes shut, using all her concentration to control the raw energy coursing through her.
It was too much. It was an electric hurricane. An electric tidal wave. So much bigger than she was. Impossible to control or contain. Eve let out a yell. She opened her eyes, opened her fingers. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen.
Her skin rippled. Then sparks began to fly off her. Not just from her fingers, from as much of her body as she could see. In an instant, she was surrounded by a bright whirlwind of them, some white, some red, some yellow, with a f
ew glowing blue and green.
‘What’s happening?’ Jess screamed.
Eve couldn’t speak, couldn’t attempt to explain. It was exhilarating. She knew it should be terrifying too, but the part of her that would be terrified was slipping away. Her self was slipping away.
She was becoming something else, becoming light and heat. Becoming pure energy. Becoming one with—
The turbine cut off abruptly. The lights went out. The room fell into darkness, except for the sparks spinning around Eve. They flared in unison, then went out. Or had they gone in? It felt like her body had reabsorbed them. She felt like a live wire, hot and ready.
‘Are you … are you OK?’ Luke reached a hand towards her, then pulled it back quickly, as if he’d been shocked.
‘Yeah,’ Eve said. ‘Actually, I’m great. I’m amazing. I’m … God, I can’t even describe it!’
‘We should leave, in case somebody comes in here trying to get the power back on. I could see inside those igloo-y things. They were empty. Amunnic isn’t here. Or Leo and the others.’ Jess’s voice was calm, but she didn’t seem to be able to stop staring at Eve. She led the way to the door, Luke right behind her.
Eve followed, but there was something strange. She felt light on her feet. As if the earth had less gravity, as if she was as close to flying as to walking.
‘Look. It’s not just the plant that lost power,’ Luke said when he stepped outside. ‘The whole town’s out.’
He was right. Blackness stretched out in front of them as far as the eye could see. Eve blinked, trying to adjust to the darkness. The stars suddenly looked brighter, and almost as if there were more of them than usual. There wasn’t a single light on anywhere in Deepdene.
‘Did I—? Could I have done that?’ Eve asked.
‘Why?’ Luke’s voice was sharp with fear. ‘What happened in there?’
‘I don’t know. I felt like all this energy surged into me.’
‘Wow. Really? You think you caused the blackout?’ Jess asked.
‘There were about a million sparks coming from you,’ Luke said slowly. ‘I think you might be right. Maybe it’s because you were so close to the turbine. All the electricity it was generating was drawn to you.’
They both stared at her, wide-eyed.
‘Evie. Are you OK, truly?’ Jess asked in a whisper.
‘Like I said, I feel awesome. I almost pity Amunnic if we find him tonight,’ Eve replied. ‘Almost.’
‘You’d kick his demon butt in about two seconds,’ Jess agreed, eyes still locked on Eve. Eve could tell that she was trying to sound like her normal cheerful self. But there was a current of worry underneath the words.
‘It’s getting really close to curfew,’ Luke said. ‘We gotta go.’
‘But what about the demon?’ Eve asked. ‘We didn’t find him.’
‘My parents were very clear about the curfew,’ Jess said nervously. ‘They told me it’s non-negotiable.’
‘We’ll have to search for him tomorrow. During daylight. Leo, Briony and Rose are running out of time,’ Eve said. She didn’t want to go home. She wanted to find Amunnic and kill him. But they had no choice.
After they climbed back over the fence and got a little bit away from the plant, Jess took out her cellphone to help them see, and Eve added the intense beam of her LED light. As they walked through town, soft candlelight shone through some of the windows.
‘Eve and I will walk you home, Jess. I don’t think any of us should be alone right now.’
‘Fine by me.’ Jess was answering Luke, but still looking at Eve.
Luke checked his watch. ‘We might be just a couple of minutes late. Not more than that.’
‘I won’t get in trouble for a couple of minutes. Peter has all the clocks in our house set about fifteen minutes slow,’ Jess said. ‘That’s because he’s always late for curfew – his personal one, not the town one – and he decided he could scam our parents.’
‘The boy’s an evil genius.’
As they walked, Eve noticed that Jess still kept gazing at her. She’d look away for a few seconds, but she always ended up doing it again. ‘You do realize you’re staring?’ Eve said finally. ‘You’re looking at me like I’m a monster or something.’
‘Sorry. But you’re wrong. I wasn’t thinking you were a monster,’ Jess said. ‘Back at the plant, with all those sparks flying around you, it was like you’d turned into a goddess or something.’
‘Well, don’t worry. I’m not planning to make you worship me,’ Eve answered.
‘That’s good. I don’t think my dad would approve,’ Luke said. ‘Thou shalt have no other god but me, and all that.’
‘All these houses, and Amunnic could look like any person in any one of them,’ Jess commented.
‘But he can’t change Rose, Briony or Leo’s appearance. If – when – we find them, we’ll find him too,’ Luke reminded her.
They fell silent until they reached Jess’s house. ‘Just one minute after curfew,’ Luke told her.
‘You two hurry home,’ Jess urged, then turned and ran up to the house. They waited until she slipped inside.
‘At least it only takes a few minutes to get home from here. And my parents, thankfully, are over at the clinic again,’ Eve said as they started down the street. With every house she passed, she kept thinking about what Jess had said. ‘The ability to change appearances, that really does give Amunnic a huge advantage. I mean, you could be him right now, and I wouldn’t even know. You could be about to start feeding on my blood.’
‘No, you’d know. You’d know because Amunnic would only look like me on the outside. You’d be able to tell the inside wasn’t right.’ Luke reached out and took her hand. Was he being friendly? More than friendly? Right now, Eve didn’t care. Every one of her senses felt like it had been kicked up a notch since she’d taken in all that power, and Luke’s skin felt amazing against her own.
‘You’re right. I’d know.’ Eve heard a soft crackling, crunching sound. She tightened her fingers around Luke’s. ‘Did you hear that?’ she whispered.
He shook his head. The sound came again, from somewhere closer. ‘Not that time either?’
‘Nope.’ Luke looked up and down the block. ‘I don’t see anything, either.’
Eve switched off her light. ‘Someone’s coming,’ she whispered. She pulled Luke over to the weeping willow tree in the Waiteses’ front yard, and into the cave created by its low branches. She put her finger to her lips, and waited for the next sound.
Ker-rack. Yes, the sounds were definitely getting closer. But Eve’s senses were so hyped up. Maybe what she was hearing was a mile away.
Maybe it wasn’t, though. Maybe Amunnic had tracked them. Maybe that’s what she was hearing.
Her whole body tensed as she heard the sound again. Louder.
I hope it is him, she thought. Jess was right. Tonight, I could kick Amunnic’s ass before he even knows what’s hit him. She let go of Luke’s hand and tapped her fingers lightly against her thighs, readying herself to snap into action and let some lightning bolts fly.
Ker-rack. The sound was almost painfully loud now.
‘Cop,’ Luke said into her ear. ‘Cop eating peanuts, I think,’ he added.
Eve turned her head. She could see the police officer pacing the street as clearly as if it was noon instead of nine o’clock at night. ‘Cop cop? Or Amunnic cop,’ she whispered back. She shifted her weight, and sent one of the tree’s long, leafy branches trembling.
The cop jerked his head in their direction. Eve was sure he’d seen her. It had felt like he was looking her straight in the eye. But he didn’t approach, he turned and hurried off in the opposite direction.
Eve pulled in a breath, and she swore she could feel each of the little air sacs in her lungs expanding. How long would her senses stay this way? she wondered. Then another thought hit her. Would she be able to juice up any time she wanted to? Well, anytime she wanted to and there was a massive turbine around?<
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It was possible. And who knew what else was possible. Her great-great-great-grandmother had written in her journal that she was still discovering new things she could do with her powers as the Deepdene Witch. So far, Eve had been finding out new things all the time herself. Like the way she’d created that seal over the portal.
Eve and Luke held themselves motionless a few moments more, watching through the branches as the cop, or whatever it had truly been, turned the corner.
They waited a little longer, then left their hiding place. They didn’t return to the sidewalk. Instead they cut across lawns and gardens, keeping to the shadows, until they reached Eve’s house. The phone was ringing as they went inside. Eve hurried to the kitchen and grabbed it.
‘Just wanted to make sure you’re home. I didn’t think you’d forget about the new curfew, but I wanted to be sure,’ her mother said.
‘Nope, didn’t forget.’ Didn’t keep curfew, she thought, but definitely didn’t forget.
‘The clinic has a back-up generator, which we just got working, but I guess you and Luke are stuck in the dark,’ her mom continued.
‘Yeah, but we’re OK. We have lots of candles.’ In fact, Luke had already found some and was lighting them.
‘I guess you’ll have to eat something cold. Try to get in something nutritious before you hit the ice cream before it melts, OK?’
‘We will, Mom. See you when you get home.’ Eve said goodbye, then hung up. ‘You hungry?’ she asked Luke.
‘Demon-hunting and cop – or whatever – evading always gives me an appetite,’ he answered.
Eve opened the freezer. ‘Ice cream?’ she suggested.
Luke looked over her shoulder. ‘Is that lasagne? I love lasagne.’
‘That is one frozen solid block of lasagne. I could get you an ice pick if you want. Or …’ Eve smiled. She really didn’t know everything she could do with her power, especially when she was juiced. She took the lasagne out of the freezer and pulled off the cling film covering it.
‘The ice cream’s probably a better idea,’ Luke said. ‘Even thawing it would take for ever.’