Shadows (5 page)

‘I thought you said he called you shallow,’ Jess answered.

‘That too. Sort of. He didn’t actually use either of those words. But they were definitely implied.’ Eve dropped down on the overstuffed couch, and the TV crackled and then flicked on.

‘Sweet! Eve found the remote with her butt,’ Peter said. ‘We’ve been looking for it for two days.’

Eve felt the cushions underneath her. No remote. ‘I didn’t sit on it,’ she said. She stood up to double-check. No remote.

‘Then how did you turn the TV on?’ Peter asked.

‘I thought
you
did that,’ Eve said.

But from the way Jess and Peter were both staring at her, it was clear that neither of them had turned it on.

‘You know, my iPod seized up this morning when you grabbed my arm at the corner,’ Jess said.

Eve frowned. ‘Things like that keep happening to me lately,’ she admitted.

‘Well, you’ve always been klutzy,’ Jess told her.

‘Yes, but this isn’t just clumsiness; now it’s like I’ve become electromagnetized or something. I was on the computer yesterday, and it completely crashed, like there was a power surge. I have to use my dad’s spare laptop until we get it fixed.’

‘How would a person get electromagnetized?’ Jess asked. ‘What does that even mean?’

‘What about stuff like light bulbs?’ Peter asked, perching himself on the arm of the couch.

‘I’ve had to replace the light bulb in my desk lamp twice this week. And the ceiling lamp once,’ Eve said.

‘And you were standing next to the fridge when the light went out,’ Jess added.

‘Huh.’ Peter didn’t say anything more, but something in his tone made Eve’s stomach do a slow roll.

‘“Huh” what?’ Jess asked.

‘Remember that show we were watching on the Discovery Channel over the weekend?’ Peter asked.

Jess’s blue eyes widened, and she slowly sat down on the couch. ‘It can’t be.’

‘Can too,’ Peter said. They both turned and looked at Eve. Her stomach gave another flop.

‘Evie, don’t freak,’ Jess said.

‘The lights blowing, the TV going on by itself, the computer shorting—’ Peter said.

‘And Eve is completely klutzy lately,’ Jess interrupted. ‘Way more than usual. It’s like stuff falls on the floor if she even glances at it.’

She and Peter fell silent. Which wasn’t typical for either of them.

‘What?’ Eve burst out. ‘What, WHAT, WHAT?’

‘Wooo-wooo-wooo,’ Peter sang in an eerie tone.

Jess smacked him on the arm. ‘It’s not funny. If it’s what we think it is, it’s not at all funny. It’s scary. And not movie scary.
Scary
scary.’

‘Will someone please tell me what’s going on?’ Eve begged. Although a part of her – a big part – didn’t really want to know.

‘Just try to stay calm,’ Peter said. ‘But I think … I’m pretty sure—’

‘Eve,’ Jess cut in. ‘You have a poltergeist.’

‘Do you like the navy better in matte or high gloss?’ Jess asked. ‘I did one hand in each.’ She waved her fingers at Eve, who sat across from her on the bed.

‘Um, they’re both cute,’ Eve answered without raising her eyes from Jess’s laptop.

‘But one isn’t shiny and one is ultra-shiny. So even if they’re both cute, they’re absolutely different. How can you act like they’re interchangeable?’ Jess leaned over and walked her fingers down the computer screen.

‘Sorry, Jess. I’m freaked. Everything I’ve been reading makes it sound like you and Peter are right. Poltergeists are mischievous spirits that are drawn to girls our age. They’re supposed to cause all the stuff that’s been happening around me – malfunctioning electronics, blown lights, doors slamming without being touched,’ Eve answered, typing in a slightly different Google search. ‘What I find out right now
could change my life.’ She took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

‘What nail polish I wear tomorrow could change
my
life … somehow.’

Eve forced herself to study her friend’s nails. ‘Matte. Definitely. It’s cooler, hipper and just more chic.’ It was true. The flat navy-blue polish on Jess’s left hand looked awesome. Off-the-catwalk awesome.

Jess grinned. ‘You feel better now, don’t you?’

Actually, yeah, she did. A little. Eve narrowed her eyes at Jess. ‘You already knew the matte was better.’

‘Of course.’ Jess grabbed a nail-polish remover wipe and started rubbing off the high-def polish on her right hand. ‘I just thought you could use a little brain break. You’ve been Googling poltergeists for an hour.’

‘You’re right.’ Eve sighed.

‘Aren’t I always?’ Jess asked teasingly. But her blue eyes were solemn.

Eve pushed the laptop aside and flopped back on the bed, letting her head hang off the edge. Blood-flow to the brain was supposed to improve thinking power. ‘Vile smell. I just read that sometimes poltergeists bring a vile smell. And since a poltergeist is an invisible spirit, everyone would think the vile smell was coming from me!’

Jess lay back next to her and hung her head off the edge of the bed too. ‘I promise I won’t let you smell vile. I’ll take a whiff every day, and if there’s a reek, we’ll try everything in Sephora, the Body Shop and L’Occitane in every possible combination to counteract the poltergeist stench. We’ll start our own lab in the spare room.’

‘You’re a good friend,’ Eve said. ‘Of course, you’d get to keep whatever products didn’t work.’

‘Of course,’ Jess agreed. ‘You didn’t think I’d turned into a nice person, did you?’

Eve laughed – laughed so hard she had to sit up to keep from choking. ‘I’m lucky to have a friend as evil as you are,’ she answered, her face tingling from the upside-down time. She pulled the laptop back in front of her, and clicked the next Google result for ‘poltergeist’. The truth was that she didn’t really want to know more. Every new detail raised her freak-out level another notch. But it was safer to be informed – or at least she hoped so.

‘Anyway, I think if you were going to stink, you would have already started.’ Jess sat up, her blonde hair rumpled. ‘After all, the other stuff has already happened. The slamming, and the lights, and the malfunctioning electronics.’

‘Well, listen to what this article says. You’re going to love it.’ Eve sucked in a deep breath and started to read: ‘
Poltergeists most often target pre-teen or teen girls who have psychological problems. The poltergeists seem to draw energy from the extreme emotions of these pubescent girls
.’

‘You did get pretty emotional over what Luke said today,’ Jess commented.

‘Yeah, but that’s completely normal,’ Eve pointed out. ‘He was extremely annoying.’ She scrolled further down the article, but before she could read any more, a crackling pop erupted from the laptop. Then the screen went dark.

‘I’ve been wanting that new cherry-coloured Mac anyway,’ Jess said before Eve could open her mouth to apologize.

‘I killed it. I’m sorry,’ Eve said. She stared at the dark screen. ‘Wasn’t I just saying that I was completely normal?’

Jess started to giggle. Hard.

‘I’m completely normal,’ Eve insisted, but she couldn’t stop herself from giggling either. She and Jess needed to come up with a word for laughing while almost crying while probably losing your mind.

‘It’s so wrong that I have a poltergeist picking on
me,’ Eve burst out, laughing so hard that her ribs ached. She tilted her head back and yelled, ‘You’ve got the wrong girl! I’m completely normal!’

‘Poltergeist, you there?’ Eve whispered. She nodded towards Belinda, who was staring, eyes big and blank, at the frozen yogurt machine in the cafeteria. ‘You see that? Now that’s the girl for you.’

‘Do you think she’s on breath-mints again?’ Jess joked.

Last year Belinda had bought two Tic-Tacs, thinking they were some kind of upper. She and Phillip McGee, the guy who sold them to her, both got three-day suspensions, even though what they’d been buying and selling was basically sugar pills.

‘Or maybe she’s just in a trance, thinking about The Luke,’ Jess added as they sat down at the table that had already become theirs, after only a few weeks of school. Katy Emory and Rose Makishimia were already in their usual places opposite them. Jenna Barton would probably show up soon. Eve shot another glance at Belinda. She was serving herself a vanilla yogurt, looking like a regular human.

‘What was that about Luke?’ Rose asked.

‘She needs to know, otherwise her stalker journal
will be incomplete,’ Katy said, voice serious, eyes sparkling with humour.

Rose started to protest, then just shrugged. ‘What can I say? He’s adorable.’

‘Rose, I just got this great new concealer,’ Jess said, looking at Rose’s face. She pulled the tube out of her purse and flicked it across the table at their friend.

‘Very subtle, Jess,’ Katy commented.

‘It’s OK,’ Rose answered. ‘I know I look like fresh hell. Sadly I’m already wearing a ton of concealer.’ She gave a jaw-breaking yawn, and rolled the tube back to Jess. ‘I’ve been having nightmares constantly.’

Eve leaned closer, listening intently. She could tell Jess had her ears set on high alert too. Megan had been having nightmares before her mom took her to the hospital. Before she completely lost it.

‘Is it always the same one?’ Katy asked. ‘Whenever I have a nightmare it’s about a little man with a big mallet chasing me.’

‘Not exactly the same one,’ Rose answered. ‘But there are always shadows in the dreams. Shadows that are alive. Not connected to anything, I mean. And right before I wake up, there’s always a demon attacking me. It’s trying to suck out my soul. I don’t even know how
I know that, but I do. You know how in dreams you just know things?’

Jess, Eve and Katy all nodded.

Rose rubbed her face with her fingers – hard enough to leave red streaks on her pale skin. ‘I’m afraid to go to sleep now,’ she admitted. ‘I keep the TV on all night.’

Eve tried to think of something reassuring to say. Nothing came to mind.

But Rose seemed to realize that she was bumming them out, because she sat up a little straighter and put a smile on her face. ‘You should see all the stuff I’ve ordered from infomercials, though. The operators standing by – they give me someone to talk to.’ She gave a forced laugh that sent a shiver through Eve.

‘Did you get the Split-Ender?’ Jess exclaimed. Her voice was bright, but Eve could hear the worry underneath.

‘If you did, I want to borrow it,’ Katy added.

‘Yep. With the bonus Ultra Salon Hair—’ Rose jerked her head to the left, then stared. Just stared at nothing.

‘What, Rose?’ Eve asked, twisting round in her seat to check out what had caught Rose’s attention.

‘Hair … Um … Restoration … Capsules,’ Rose said slowly, still staring.

Eve and Jess exchanged a look – one of those looks that contained a whole conversation. This conversation? Eve’s eyes:
OMG, what’s wrong with her?
Jess’s eyes:
OMG, I have no idea, but it’s creepy
.

‘No, I meant what are you looking at?’ Eve told Rose.

Rose shook her head. ‘Um, since I don’t sleep any more, I kind of dream when I’m awake. I thought I saw one of those shadows forming over there. I could see its arms.’

‘There’s nothing there,’ Katy said, resting her hand on Rose’s.

‘I know. I know there was never anything.’ Rose didn’t sound sure. She kept shooting glances out of the window next to their table. Then she stood up. ‘There’s something … I need to go check on something.’

‘Rose, maybe you should sit down for another minute,’ Jess said, and Eve realized that Rose had started to sway slightly.

‘Yeah, Rose, sit dow—’

Eve and Jess both leaped to their feet as Rose’s knees buckled. They managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

Jess’s eyes locked with Eve’s. ‘Nurse?’ she asked.

‘Definitely,’ Eve agreed.

Katy stood up to help. ‘It’s OK. We’ve got her,’ Eve
told her. ‘We’ll be back in a little.’ Katy reluctantly returned to her seat.

With Eve holding Rose’s right arm and Jess her left, the three of them managed to half walk, half stagger their way to the nurse’s office. The nurse, Ms Jeffer, dropped her Diet Coke when she saw them. That’s how bad Rose looked.

Ms Jeffer had Eve and Jess help Rose over to the closest cot. Eve eased her head down onto the pillow.

‘How’re you feeling, Rosebud?’ Jess asked.

Rose didn’t answer. Her eyes fluttered, then closed.

Is she so exhausted she just fell asleep?
Eve wondered.
How long before one of her nightmares starts?
Eve wrapped her arms tight around herself.
How long before a demon comes to suck out Rose’s soul?

Eve quickly walked from the nurse’s office to the closest bathroom. Jess was going to stay with Rose until her mom arrived to pick her up. Eve would have stayed too, but a light had already blown out in the nurse’s office. She wasn’t sure what her friendly neighbourhood poltergeist would do next.

At least the bathroom was empty. Eve headed to the mirror, braced her hands on the sink below it, and stared at her face. ‘Don’t even think about it.’ She
wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or her poltergeist.

Her poltergeist.

Suddenly Eve felt queasy. She opened her purse and pulled out a lipstick.
Just what I need
, she thought as she took off the cap and rolled open the tube.
Something normal, like lipstick
. The colour alone – cashmere pink – made her feel a little happier.

Her cell rang before she could apply a fresh coat. Holding the lipstick in one hand, Eve fished out her iPhone with the other. It was her mother.

‘Hi, Mom,’ she said.

‘I only have a minute, but I was hoping to catch you at lunch while you have your phone,’ her mother said in a rush.

‘Catch me you did!’ Eve replied.

‘I wanted to make sure you’re going to sign up for either the French club or Junior Achievers.’

This is what she was calling about? This was so important that they couldn’t wait and talk about it at home? Eve felt an eye-roll coming on.

‘Mom, I told you before that I’m going to join something. I know I have to start thinking about college applications now that I’m in high school. And I also know extracurricular activities are really important to
admissions boards,’ Eve answered. Although before she could even begin to think about clubs or college, she had to, oh, find a way to get rid of her tiny poltergeist problem.