Crazy Files

by Yvi Valentin

  “So you decided to switch sides?” I asked, unconvinced.

  “I figured if I came to help you, you would be willing to have me around.”

  “Evan you know I’m with Andy. There’s never going to be anything between us.”

  “Can’t we at least be friends?” Evan desperately asked.

  “I don’t trust you! None of us do!” I yelled.

  “Then let me prove myself!” Evan shouted.

  “Fine!” Andy shouted. “You want to know what we’re planning!? We’re trying to stop the apocalypse!”

  “I already figured that much,” Evan replied.

  “You have to earn the details,” Brian snapped.

  “I understand,” Evan said. “What do I have to do to earn your trust?”

  “We’ll let you know,” Andy answered.

  “It’s been a long day. We should get some rest,” I suggested.

  We all got ready for bed. I had so many thoughts running through my mind. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to sleep as long as Evan was around.

  “Are you alright?” Andy asked as we got into bed.

  “No, can any of us really be okay while Evan is here?” I whispered.

  “No, I don’t trust him.”

  “Me either, something seems off about everything.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean…Lucifer is in a hurry to destroy the world and when I was there, he was rushing me into training, for what I don’t know. It just seems odd that he wouldn’t be trying to bring me back right away.”

  “That is weird.” Andy was deep in thought.

  “What should we do about him?”

  “I think we should give him some false information and see what he does with it.”

  “What kind of information?”

  “We could give him a bogus mission and follow him to see if he’s in contact with Lucifer or anyone else,” Andy explained.

  “We could give him a fake hankie and tell him to put it in a secure location. We’ll follow him and see what he does with it. It’ll be a great way to see if we can trust him and put the real thing somewhere else.”

  “That’s a great idea. Soon enough we’ll know if we can trust Evan.”

  Chapter 23

  “Good morning,” Evan said. “I’m making breakfast for everyone.” I didn’t expect to wake up to this and had no clue how to react.

  “That was nice of you,” I replied cautiously.

  “I just wanted to show my appreciation for you guys letting me stay here.”

  “Well thanks.” I grabbed a muffin. I sniffed it wondering if I could really trust anything Evan gave me and took a bite. “Wow this is really good. What kind is it?”

  “Banana nut, I’m glad you like it,” Evan smiled.

  “What do we have here?” Andy asked as he walked into the kitchen.

  I handed one to Andy. “Muffins, they’re really good.”

  “There’s eggs and bacon too if you guys want any,” Evan added.

  “You really didn’t have to do this,” I said.

  “Hey, Brian finally sent me that picture of us from our trip to Colorado,” Andy mentioned while showing me his phone. I looked and saw a message:

  I told Brian and Jen the plan.

  They’re on board. We’ll start today.

  I wanted to keep up the charade. “Aww I love it.”

  “So,” Evan started, “what’s the plan for today?”

  “We were planning on taking an artifact to a secure location until we need it again,” Andy answered. “But I’m still a little shaky from yesterday and I’m not sure it would be a good idea to do it in this condition.”

  “But we have to get it out of here now,” I argued. “It’s too dangerous to keep it with us.”

  “Why can’t you take it?” Evan asked.

  “Because I’ll be worried about Andy and it’s too important to be distracted,” I lied.

  “What about Brian and Jen?”

  “They want to visit their families. After everything that’s been going on, we all need a break.”

  “That’s understandable,” Evan agreed.

  “Maybe you can do it Evan,” Andy suggested.

  “You’re going to trust me with something this important?” Evan’s jaw dropped and I pretended to be just as shocked.

  “Andy you can’t be serious,” I whispered trying to keep up appearances.

  “We’ve got to give him a chance sometime,” Andy shrugged. “Why not start now?”

  “With something this important!?” I yelled.

  “Please, just give me the chance to prove myself,” Evan pleaded.

  “Fine, but if you betray us you’re done,” I threatened.

  “I won’t, I promise,” Evan said.

  “Alright, let’s get ready then,” Andy suggested.

  “Where do we start?” Evan asked.

  Andy brought over a container that looked exactly like the one we kept the real handkerchief in. He put it down on the counter in front of Evan. “This is what we’re keeping the artifact in. Don’t open it and definitely don’t lose it.”

  “Alright, where am I taking it?” Evan asked.

  “Here’s the address to a bank.” Andy handed him a piece of paper. “There’s a safety deposit box in there. Follow the instructions on that paper exactly how it’s written.”

  “Should I go now?” Evan asked.

  “Yeah, we need to get it someplace safe as soon as possible,” I explained.

  “Just give me a sec to get ready and I’ll be on my way,” Evan said.

  “Alright but make it quick,” Andy demanded.

  We watched his every move to make sure he wasn’t trying to contact anyone on the outside. All he did was change his clothes and get a backpack out to put the container in. We were stunned by the fact that he hadn’t made a single call or anything during that time. I thought he anticipated us watching him like a predator stalking its prey. If that was the case, he was probably waiting to leave the building before he contacted anyone.

  Evan studied the paper with the false instructions. “I’m ready to go.”

  “Alright, Evan,” Andy began. “We’re trusting you on this one.”

  “You don’t know how much this means to me,” Evan thanked as he headed towards the door.

  “Don’t do anything to ruin it,” I warned as I closed the door behind him.

  “Alright, let’s get out of here,” Andy said.

  “We can’t just walk out of the door right behind him, Andy.”

  “Then what do you suggest?”

  “We could fly out of our bedroom window,” I suggested. “It’ll help us get in quickly without Evan noticing us.”

  “Good idea, let’s go before Evan gets too far away.” We flew out the window and hid out of Evan’s sight. “Do you trust him?”

  “Not even slightly,” I answered. “Who do you think he’ll end up talking to?”

  “It could be anyone from Gina to Lucifer. I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

  We continued following Evan, waiting for him to do something to prove we were right not to trust him. For a while everything seemed fine. He hadn’t made any phone calls and didn’t seem to be followed by anyone besides us. Evan was no more than a block away from the bank when we noticed an angry and sick man rushing towards him.

  “Is that?” I began.

  “Pestilence,” Andy finished.

  “How did he find us?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Do you think Evan’s helping him?”

  “It could have been his plan all along.”

  We kept an eye on both Evan and the horseman. It didn’t seem as if Evan had any idea he was being followed by Pestilence. It didn’t take long for the horseman to make his presence known. He tried to grab the backpack where Evan held the fake handkerchief. Evan tried to fight him off, eventually looked around to make sure he wasn’t being watched and threw a ball of electricity at him. He must
have gotten the idea from me. I was shocked to see it did nothing to the horseman.

  “That doesn’t look like Evan’s helping him,” I pointed out. “We have to help him.”

  “It could just be a show for us. We don’t know that he doesn’t know we’re following him.”

  “What do we do? Just let him fight Pestilence on his own?” I was worried it wasn’t just an act. Maybe we could trust Evan, maybe he really needed our help, but there was still part of me that wondered if he was just playing us.

  “He could be putting on a show for us,” Andy repeated.

  “What if he’s not? Are we really just going to stand here and watch?”

  “Evan doesn’t have the real snot rag so if Pestilence gets what he has, it won’t be a setback.”

  “But eventually he’ll find out it’s a fake and come back for the real one.”

  “We knew that was going to happen anyway.”

  I watched Evan break free from the horseman and run towards us. He was clutching the backpack tight, unwilling to let go of it for anything. “He’s coming this way; we either hide or help him.”

  “We have to hide,” Andy started. “We need to see what he’s going to do.”

  “We can’t let him lead Pestilence all the way back to our place!” I yelled.

  “We’ll never know if we can trust him if we jump in too soon.”

  I sighed. “You’re right.”

  We hid but kept an eye on Evan and Pestilence. Pestilence chased Evan and I wasn’t sure where Evan was running to. Eventually, Evan threw his backpack to the side and kept running. Pestilence stopped to grab the backpack and walked in the opposite direction looking pleased with himself.

  “Now we know we can’t trust Evan,” Andy whispered as he tried to stay off of the horseman’s radar.

  Once Pestilence passed, we continued following Evan. He was heading towards our apartment. When he got close enough to the building, Andy and I flew back into our bedroom. We wiped the sweat off our faces and tried to make it seem like we had been in the room the entire time. Moments later, Evan knocked on the door to the apartment. We opened the door to find him with the container in his hands. Neither of us expected the outcome.

  “I ran into some trouble on the way,” Evan started. “It wasn’t safe for me to go into the bank.”

  “What happened?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “This guy tried to take this away.” Evan handed me the container. “I managed to take it out of my backpack and threw it to the side hoping the man would go for it and leave me alone. I was lucky it worked.”

  Andy peeked into the container to see if the fake handkerchief was in there. He subtly nodded to let me know it was. I figured it might be alright to trust Evan, but part of me still believed it was all an act.

  “You tried,” I said sympathetically.

  “I really did. Do you know who would have wanted the artifact?”

  “I have an idea, but I’m not sure,” Andy lied. “But I do know one thing, if he was trying really hard to get this, once he realizes he doesn’t have it, he’ll be back.”

  “What are we going to do?” Evan asked.

  “There’s no use worrying about it until something happens,” Andy answered.

  “Are you serious, Andy!?” I yelled. “We can’t just wait around for something to happen. We have to get out of here!”

  “We’ll be more vulnerable when we’re on the move,” Andy explained. “We should stay here unless we absolutely have to leave.”

  “Alright,” I sighed.

  “So what do we do now?” Evan asked.

  “We have to wait for Brian and Jen to get back. We’ll figure something out together,” Andy answered. “Until then we can just relax.”

  Evan yawned. “Cool, I am kind of tired after all that running.”

  “We’ve got time, you should take a nap,” I suggested.

  “Good idea,” Evan agreed as he lied down on the couch.

  “What do you think?” I asked as Andy and I walked into the kitchen.

  “I think he’s telling the truth,” Andy whispered.

  “Do you think he’s just acting?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “Andy,” I said as something occurred to me. “What if Evan is communicating with Lucifer through his dreams? We did the exact same thing when I was over there.”

  “I didn’t even think about that.”

  “Is there any way you can look into his dream without being noticed?”

  “No, I’ve tried looking into dreams before and it’s never worked for me.”

  “How will we know if we can trust him?” I asked defeated. I thought about our options. Nothing seemed plausible until I remembered a conversation with Michael. “Do you think I could control him into telling us the truth?”

  “No, he always has a shield up against it, remember?”

  “Yeah, but Michael said I should be able to break down the shields.”

  “If you do manage to break down his shield, you’ll only have a small window to control him before he puts it back up.”

  “I know, but if I do manage to control him, do you think I’ll be able to get the truth out of him?”

  “I don’t see why not.” Andy’s excitement built and so did mine. If I was able to pull this off, it could save us a lot of time and effort.

  “I’ll start when he wakes up. I’m not sure how to deal with him while he’s sleeping.”

  “Good plan.”

  We sat around waiting for Evan to wake up so we could put the plan into action. I hated waiting for things to happen. Part of me wanted to wake him up and do my thing, but I knew it wouldn’t end well that way.

  “So how did you get this place set up so fast?” I quietly asked as I made sure Evan was still asleep.

  “I set it up a while ago,” Andy answered. “I knew you always wanted to come here and wanted to surprise you.”

  “But why did it look like it had already been lived in when we got here with Evan?”

  “I lived here for a while after Evan erased your memory.”

  “Oh, that makes sense.” I heard footsteps and realized it was Evan coming into the kitchen. “Hey, did you sleep well?”

  “Yeah, it was just what I needed,” Evan replied. “Brian and Jen still aren’t back?”

  “No. I don’t expect them back anytime soon.” Andy gave me a look that told me to try breaking down Evan’s shield. “So…what was it like working for Lucifer?” He was trying to distract Evan for me.

  I focused on Evan’s shield. In seconds I was able to see it. It never happened to me before, but I wasn’t complaining because it made my job easier. It looked like a beautiful pale yellow bubble surrounded him. All I had to do was make it pop. I focused on breaking down the shield. It looked as if a ball of white light shot out of my head and hit the bubble. Only it didn’t pop. The part where the light hit started disintegrating. I hoped Evan wouldn’t notice what I was doing. I repeated the process until I saw a swirling stream of light come out of Evan’s head to repair the shield.

  I knew I had to work faster if I was going to successfully break down his shield and gain control. I was glad to know I was able to break down a shield at all. Armed with the confidence I needed, I went back to work and started going faster. The bubble was disintegrating with speed but Evan quickly repaired it when there was a knock at the door.

  “Are you expecting anyone?” Andy asked.

  “No, Brian and Jen both have a key so it’s not either of them.” I went over to the door and looked through the peephole to see who was standing on the other side of the door. “It’s Gina,” I whispered as I walked back into the kitchen.

  “You led her here didn’t you?” Andy asked while trying to keep his voice down.

  “I didn’t, I don’t know how she found me or what she’s doing here,” Evan defended himself.

  “Why should we believe you?” Andy asked. “You could have told her to come here when you
were supposed to be taking the artifact to the bank.”

  “I didn’t, I swear, you have to believe me,” Evan pleaded.

  Gina knocked on the door again. “I know you’re in there.”

  “Go answer the door Evan,” Andy ordered.

  “Find out what she wants and get rid of her as fast as possible,” I demanded.

  Andy and I rushed into our room as Evan answered the door. “Gina, what are you doing here?”

  “I had to find you,” Gina said in distress.

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Lucifer needs you to come back.”

  “You know I’m not coming back.”

  “Why not?” Gina asked. She sounded like she was about to cry.

  Andy and I were pressed against the door trying to hear everything. I hoped we wouldn’t be found out, but part of me thought Evan would find a way to let Gina know we were listening in. We couldn’t see him so he could have written something down or done anything to let her know about me and Andy.

  “I sold my soul to the devil because I wanted love. It hasn’t gotten me anywhere and I’m done with it, it’s time to start doing something good for a change,” Evan explained.

  “You can’t just leave, he’ll find you and either force you to work for him again or kill you.” The panic could be heard in her voice. It was painfully obvious she didn’t want anything to happen to the one she loved.

  “Lucifer doesn’t have the ability to control people. He can’t force me to do anything.”

  “You’re not scared of what he’s capable of? He is the devil.”

  “Sure, defying him can be scary, but I started out being a good person and I don’t want to keep doing damage just because my heart is broken.”

  “Do you think he’s telling the truth?” I whispered.

  “Sounds like it, but I still don’t trust him,” Andy answered.

  “Why do you think Gina is really here?”

  “Lucifer probably sent her.”

  “Is there someone else in here?” Gina asked.

  “No, why?” Evan answered.

  “I thought I heard something.”

  “You must be hearing things.” Evan paused for a moment. “So tell me why you’re really here.”