Watch Me Burn: The December People, Book Two (16 page)

He stayed silent while he listened to whoever spoke on the other line, his face a pale, frozen mask. He looked into Emmy’s eyes before he spoke. Emmy felt frozen too. She could feel the weight of the words without having to hear it.

“Okay,” Dad said, in a whispery croak. “I’m…I’m on my way.”

Dad put his phone back in his pocket.

“Is everything okay?” Emmy asked. “Is Mom okay?”

“Yeah…yeah,” Dad said. “That was her…the Expedition broke down again. I have to go pick her up.”

“Really? You sound like you’re lying.”

“I have to go now. It may…be a while…are you guys going to be okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” Emmy said.

Dad headed for the door. As he searched for the keys on the table by the door, he knocked some mail and other stuff off the table. As soon as he found the keys to the truck, he rushed out without another word.

Emmy looked at her feet. When he’d scattered the mail, Patrick’s keys had slid across the floor, right to her.

“Whoa,” Emmy said. “What just happened?”

“I’m going to say…magic. And it wasn’t subtle.”

“Did you do that?”

“I don’t think so.”

“I guess it could be a coincidence,” Emmy said.

“It’s never a coincidence.” Evangeline motioned toward their bedroom. “What about the guys?”

“It will take them a while to notice we’re gone,” Emmy said. “Probably like several weeks.”

Emmy didn’t talk much on the drive, and as expected, Evangeline didn’t either. Emmy figured magic was in play, but she had never seen it so aggressive or to the point. The magic liked Emmy and Evangeline going to the forest right now, and bent fate so that could happen. Emmy kept going back and forth in her head.
This is a bad idea. Imagine what Mom and Dad would say if they knew I blindly followed magic…but Dad was doing the same thing. No, I’m sure it’s fine. It could be a coincidence anyway. Mom brainwashed me against magic. I’m trying to save Julie, and that can’t be evil, right? But if it’s summer magic, then it’s against me.
She could talk too much even in silence.

Emmy didn’t want to voice any of her thoughts aloud, because she didn’t want to accidentally talk Evangeline out of coming. Maybe Evangeline wouldn’t realize how stupid it was until Emmy said something. However, Emmy doubted Evangeline had any of these same fears. On all accounts, Evangeline appeared to be the contemplative and reasonable one, and Emmy, the erratic, irrational one. Emmy could understand why people thought this, but she didn’t think it was true. Emmy knew she was the reasonable one…a terrifying thought. Unlike Emmy, Evangeline didn’t battle with magic. She wasn’t stuck between two worlds, and didn’t feel conflicted about who she was or whether she made the right choices. Evangeline didn’t read the Bible in secret, trying to find some explanation she had missed. She didn’t pray. At least not to any Christian God.

Evangeline was not stuck between two worlds at all. She lived 100% in the magical one—a place where following the whims of magic, regardless of consequences, was the reasonable thing to do. Emmy doubted if Evangeline understood any other option. Or, maybe Emmy was the one naïve enough to believe other options existed. In any case, despite all the quiet reading of paper books and good listening skills, Emmy suspected Evangeline didn’t have a rational bone in her body.

When they arrived at the fated gas station, they had plenty of light left in the day. Dark witches or not, Emmy thought the daylight would make the forest easier to handle. And having Evangeline by her side would make it much easier too. She had a good feeling about this. Everything had aligned in her favor now. This would work.

Emmy parked at the side of the gas station where Nathan had parked when Julie disappeared.

“This is where it happened,” Emmy explained. “She disappeared from this parking lot in the middle of the day. No one saw anything. And they’ve searched the forest up and down and haven’t found anything.”

“Well, the
Mundanes
and
summer
wizards haven’t found anything,” Evangeline said.

“Exactly.”

“But Nathan thinks she’s still here, close by?”

“Yes, he thinks he can feel her presence. He just can’t get to her.”

“That makes sense. You said her presence is strong, and Nathan would know it well. He’d be able to sense her. You’ve felt her presence before, too. Do you sense her nearby?”

“No. Although, I’m not sure I would be able to. Besides…do you feel that? That feeling coming from the forest? It feels like darkness, but not the good kind, you know what I mean?”

“Yes.”

“I guess we can look around a little bit. Maybe you’ll see…or feel…something I didn’t.”

“Okay.”

Evangeline wandered into the parking lot, examining the asphalt with peaceful contemplation, as if searching for shells at the beach. Emmy should have asked her to look more normal so they wouldn’t call attention to themselves, but such a request would confuse her, as no word for “normal” existed in her language.

Since they were acting strange anyway, Emmy went around the back of the gas station this time, a section she had avoided earlier since she couldn’t think of a normal reason to examine the area. She walked up and down the back wall, which appeared gray and dirty, and ordinary. While she looked at the wall, she felt the weight of the forest on her back, breathing on her. Emmy reminded herself she wasn’t afraid. Not of trees.

Emmy forced herself to turn and face the forest; she saw something glinting between the trees. The sun hit a piece of metal in a way she would have missed when the sun was lower in the sky. The bizarre sunlight glinting in between the trees filled her with a dread she could not explain.
That is not scary. That is not scary.
What could be scary about sunlight reflecting off of metal?

She walked toward the metal to investigate, a nearly impossible task. The fear threatened to paralyze her. Her throat became tight and she struggled to breathe. Her heart pummeled in her chest. She felt lightheaded at first, and then her head throbbed. But she kept walking toward the metal object. She had never felt anything so evil.

Her chest hurt now and her face dripped with both tears and sweat. She wiped away the moisture, half expecting blood. By the time she stood in front of the object, she felt as if she was at the bottom of the ocean. She couldn’t breathe and the pressure threatened to crush her bones. But it wasn’t cold and dark like the sea. It was hot and bright. Burning. She could barely open her eyes.

She covered her mouth to try and keep herself from vomiting, and forced her eyes to focus on whatever metal object lay before her. She kept blinking at it. She saw a mangled car bumper. By the level of rust, someone had tossed the bumper here years ago, from some long-past collision on the highway.

This object should not terrify her. It had been here too long to have anything to do with Julie’s disappearance. Nothing made any sense. This realization terrified her more. She hated things that didn’t make sense. And she hated feeling afraid. If she was afraid, there better be a damn good reason. She couldn’t take the fear anymore.

She turned and ran out of the forest at full speed. So fast, she tripped on a branch and scratched up her palms and knees yet again, but she hardly noticed the burning scrapes. She jumped up and kept running. The evil car bumper seemed to loom closer, following at her heels. She made it to the edge of the forest and had never been so happy to stand under the oppressive August sun. The forest still seemed to breathe it’s hot breath on her neck, so she pressed her back against the gas station so the forest couldn’t sneak up on her, and focused on breathing.

After a few minutes, she realized something was off. She had stood there drenched in sweat and hyperventilating loudly for at least two or three minutes, but no one came to check on her.

“Evangeline?”

The side of the parking lot was empty except for Patrick’s car. A different fear crept in now. A very real fear. One she could define.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic. She probably just went inside.
Reminding herself not to panic didn’t help much. Most people didn’t have to jump to the most terrible conclusion. They could think the more obvious thing could be true. But for dark wizards, the most terrible conclusion was almost always the right one.

Emmy practically flew around the pumps and into the store looking for her sister. She threw open the door to the station bathroom and darted up and down the aisles, ignoring the alarmed looks of the station attendants and patrons. Then she ran around the perimeter of the station calling for Evangeline. The reality creeping in…growing stronger and stronger…filling her with more and more dread.

With no sign of Evangeline anywhere around the station, she ran back into the forest. For some reason, the fear of losing her sister made the fear living in the forest less powerful, much less real.

“Evie!” She screeched the name with an intensity she didn’t know she was capable of. Her screech vibrated the air. She thought she could breathe fire if she wanted to, but didn’t know what good that would do anyone.

She kept running, deeper into the forest, with no idea which direction she ran. Whatever kept her out before, didn’t stop her now. Nothing could stop her now. Eventually, her lungs and legs failed her and she had to stop running. So she walked. And walked. And walked. She saw a clearing ahead and started running again, just to find herself running right back into the gas station parking lot. The forest had once again swallowed her and spit her right back out.

Furious, she ran back in, thrashing through the thick branches as if she hoped she could hurt them, but only getting her arms and legs covered in more scratches.

“Fuck you,” she yelled at nothing. “I’m right fucking here. Come on, take me too! Why won’t you take me too!?”

She threw a rock at a tree as hard as she could.

“Or are you too scared?” She held her hands out in welcome. “Come on, motherfucker! I’m right here!”

She sunk to her knees. Her sister was gone. And it was all her fault.

Emmy kept walking until the sun sunk low in the sky. She knew if she hadn’t found Evangeline yet, she wouldn’t. But she thought maybe she would fall into the same rabbit hole. Why not? Why Julie and Evangeline, and not her? If she could get the evil to take her too, she could follow Evangeline in. She could find her. She could bring her home.

But part of her knew that wouldn’t happen. She had walked through the forest several times, sometimes alone, at night, and nothing snatched her. Julie and Evangeline got within arms reach of the forest during the day, with someone else, and they vanished into thin air. If the darkness wanted her, it would have taken her.

Now, she just delayed the inevitable. As soon as she got in the car and left, it would be real. Official. She’d have to tell Dad. And Xavier. She’d have to tell them what she had done.