Betrayal (6 page)

‘Definitely, even though we didn’t understand what he actually said,’ Eve agreed. ‘You don’t think … Do you think he was angry enough to kill the cat? He could have thought he was Jess’s. Pumpkin wanders over here a lot.’ She was relieved that there was an explanation other than a demon in their town. But the idea that Simon could have done something so violent was almost as frightening.

Luke sighed. ‘I don’t know. It’s something to think about,’ he said. ‘But there are the squirrels too. And I’m really starting to wonder what happened to those missing pets your mom told us about.’

‘I don’t understand it,’ Mr Meredith said when he returned with a towel. ‘Just this morning, I was golfing with a friend, and he said he’d seen a dead dog in the middle of the road when he was driving back into town last night. He mentioned it because the dog hadn’t been hit by a car. He said it looked like its throat had been cut with a knife.’

That night Eve sat propped up in her bed, wearing the Santa Cruz T-shirt Luke had given her. She loved sleeping in it; it was so oversized and comfy. And it still had a little of that yummy Luke smell.

She clicked the remote, but nothing on the TV could hold her attention. Her mind was doing some channel-surfing of its own, flashing images – all of them unpleasant. Dead squirrel, dead squirrel, dead kitty, Jess’s scared face, blood on the lawn, and Eve herself, standing paralysed in the woods, her entire body coated with ice. Not that that’s exactly what had happened, but that’s what her brain was showing, probably because that’s what it had felt like to Eve. She’d felt like she was encased in ice.

You’re fine
, Eve told herself. And she was. There were still no after-effects from that moment in the woods.

Still, maybe she’d stop by the power plant in the morning before she met up with Jess. A smile tugged at her lips as an idea occurred to her. There was no reason for her to wait until tomorrow. She could juice up a little right now, right here.

She reached over and slipped her hand under the shade of the lamp on her bedside table. The light bulb went out with a soft pop, and Eve felt a corresponding pop inside her, a little pop of new power.

Nice. But more would be nicer. Especially with the possibility that a demon was in Deepdene.

Eve scrambled to the edge of her bed, leaned forward, and pressed both hands against the large screen of her TV. With a crackle, it went out, and Eve instantly felt that power joining the hot core inside her.

She glanced around the room. What else?

She realized she’d been kind of destructive. All she’d been thinking about was the power. She didn’t want to ruin her computer or her CD player or anything else. But why not go right to the source?

Would it even work? Eve didn’t know. But she slid off the bed and sat cross-legged in front of one of the power outlets. Gently she pressed two fingers against the slots for a plug. She couldn’t stop herself from giggling as the hot electric sizzle zipped up her fingers and zigzagged through her entire body.

‘If you’re out there, demon-breath, bring it on,’ she whispered. Right before the overhead light went out.

‘Why is the power out again?’ her mother exclaimed. ‘This seems to happen every week!’

‘Maybe someone ran their car into an electric pylon,’ Eve heard her dad suggest.

‘I’ll go get the candles,’ Eve called to them. Not that she really needed them. If she wanted to, she was pretty sure she could light up the whole town.

‘I hope they still have that dress at Cynthia Rowley,’ Jess said on Sunday.

‘If they don’t, it’s not meant to be,’ Eve told her. ‘We must trust the prom gods.’ She and Jess were walking down Main Street. Neither of the guys were available for shopping that afternoon, so they’d decided to make the jaunt to East Hampton to check on the possibly perfect prom dress Jess had seen.

‘Are you sure you want to go through the woods after what happened yesterday?’ Jess asked. ‘You felt pretty sick, and those squirrels are probably still there. We could just hop on the train.’

‘No, I’m up for walking. That
was
pretty bizarre yesterday, but I feel fine now,’ Eve assured her. ‘In fact, I felt better almost right away, and whatever it was never came back.’ She spotted something white and floaty out of the corner of her eye and whirled towards it. A soft ‘oooh’ escaped her lips as she took in the phenomenally gorgeous dress in the window of the Dolce & Gabbana boutique. Strapless, form-fitting until the knees, where it flared into a cascade of chiffon layers that went to the floor with just a few ruffles. Romantic, classy, a little bit princess, and just so, so Eve. ‘Dibbies!’ she cried, pointing to it.

Eve and Jess had created the
dibbies
system years ago. It made shopping together much more fun and much less stressful, because there were always things they both liked and both wanted, but it’s not like they could buy matching clothes. That would be ridiculous. So they each got to call ‘dibbies’ on three items per shopping trip. Calling ‘dibbies’ meant the caller had first shot at whatever the item was – in this case the most insanely beautiful dress Eve had ever seen. She could already imagine the besotted expression on Luke’s face when he saw her in it.

Jess didn’t say anything, which was seriously unusual for Jess. Eve glanced over and saw her best friend staring at the dress with lust and longing all over her face. ‘You were too slow, missy. You need some dibbies practice,’ Eve teased her. ‘I can’t wait to try it on! What do you think for shoes? Maybe a nude high-heeled sandal.’ She opened the door of the boutique and stepped inside, holding it open for Jess. ‘Nothing that takes attention away from the dress, I don’t think.’

But Jess was still standing in the same spot. She hadn’t moved even an inch towards the door. It was like she’d grown roots.

‘Come on. Maybe you’ll find something in here too,’ Eve said. They’d obviously gotten a bunch of new stuff in – like the gorgeous dress. If it had been there before, Eve would have noticed it. It pulled her like a magnet.

‘Eve … we’re shopping for
my
prom dress. Why are you calling dibbies?’ Jess asked, her tone just a little whiny, which wasn’t like her.

‘Well, we’re mainly shopping for you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to buy anything, does it?’ Eve asked. ‘You wouldn’t torture me like that.’

Jess still didn’t move to the door Eve was holding open. ‘Of course not. You can shop, but …’ She hesitated, then looked at the dress again.

Eve got it. ‘You like it too, right?’

‘Love it,’ Jess answered. ‘Love it, love it, love it.’

This was exactly the situation dibbies had been created for. With dibbies there was no fighting, no tears. Whoever called it first got first chance to buy. That was law. ‘I’m sure we’ll see tons of great dresses. If not today, then when we make our big shopping expedition to the city.’ They were going to wait and go to Manhattan when the boys could go with them.

‘It’s a prom dress, though,’ Jess said. ‘And you’re not going to the prom. You don’t even have anyplace to wear it.’

Eve felt a pang – a full pang, not just a panglet. What Jess had said really stung. Didn’t she understand how hard it was to see her going off to the prom when they’d always planned on double dating?

‘I was thinking I’d wear it to the HEART charity event,’ Eve said, trying to hide her hurt.

‘You can’t wear a gown on the beach,’ Jess protested. ‘You’d ruin it.’

Eve felt a little stunned. Dibbies was law. But being a true best friend was even more important, she told herself. Jess was clearly smitten with the dress, and she did have the absolute perfect place to wear it. Dibbies or no, Eve wasn’t going to try to take the dress away. Eve smiled. It was a little hard to make her lips turn up, but only a little. ‘Dibbies withdrawn. That might just be The Dress,’ she told Jess. ‘Can you see it with the pendant you liked?’

Jess finally walked through the door, and Eve let it swing closed behind them. ‘It would be perfect,’ Jess replied. ‘Better than perfect.’

‘Go grab it and try it on before some other prom girl spots it,’ Eve advised her.

‘I will.’ Jess rushed towards the sales assistant, and disappeared into a changing room a few moments later.

Eve walked to the nearest rack and began flipping through what turned out to be bathing suits. Truly, a girl could never have too many bathing suits, especially with a pool in the backyard and the beach a few blocks away. But none of the bright little slips of cloth grabbed her attention. She kept thinking about how she’d look in the dress Jess was trying on right that second as she clicked though the hangers faster and faster.

She heard a hiss, a crackle, then sparks jumped off the rack. ‘What—’ the assistant exclaimed.

Eve jerked her hand away from the hangers quickly. ‘You should get someone to look at that,’ she cried. ‘It gave me a shock.’

‘I will,’ the woman assured her. She shook her head. ‘I’ve never seen anything like that.’

Eve moved away, on to another rack, this one of sheer, summery dresses. She looked at them, but didn’t trust herself to touch the hangers. Her power had come out so fast, so unexpectedly. She couldn’t risk that happening again. She didn’t—

‘Opinion?’ Jess called softly, pulling Eve away from her thoughts.

Eve turned and faced her. ‘Gorgeous,’ she said, with absolute honesty. The dress clung and flowed in all the right places, the neckline showing off just the right amount of cleavage. ‘Fairy princess meets prom queen.’ She pulled her iPhone out of her bag. ‘Let me get a picture. Do you think you’ll wear your hair up for the prom?’

‘Probably,’ Jess answered. She quickly twisted her hair into a knot on the top of her head and Eve took several pics.

‘You’re sure it’s OK if I decide to get it? You did call it,’ Jess said.

‘Of course I’m sure,’ Eve told her. ‘It’s the Senior Prom we’re talking about.’

Jess rushed over and gave her a hard hug. ‘Thanks. You’re the best.’ She started back towards the dressing room.

I’m the best
, Eve told herself.

Why didn’t that make her feel better?

‘Tell me if you see anything dead, especially dead and squishy,’ Jess said as they walked through the woods on their way to East Hampton. She’d been giving Eve the same instruction almost every fifteen metres the entire time, and Eve was relieved that they were almost there. ‘I don’t want to have to throw away these shoes too. I thought about buying a pair of Crocs just for walking through the woods, but even the possibility of slimy ickiness could not get me into plastic shoes.’

‘Still no dead squishiness. Or slimy ickiness,’ Eve replied. ‘No squirrels, nothing.’

‘I’m so glad they let me put the dress on hold,’ Jess said. She still wanted to take another look at the possibly extremely gorgeous dress she’d seen in East Hampton, even though when she’d tried on the Dolce & Gabbana gown it had looked as if it had been made with her body in mind.

I’m not sure she really loves, loves, loves the dress, at least not the way I do
, Eve thought,
or she would have bought it on the spot
.

‘I know, that’s great!’ she said out loud, pushing down her sadness. She was going to be happy for her friend. That’s all there was to it. ‘So what’s this Cynthia Rowley dress like? Or should I not know, so I can give you my gut first impression?’

‘It’s white, with grey rosettes under the bust and then just one circle of them around the dress further down, at an angle. Grey isn’t a colour I’d usually think of for prom, but there’s just a little bit of it.’

‘Sounds sophisticated, and I bet the pink pendant would look really good with it,’ Eve said.

‘Are you OK?’ Jess asked.

‘Mmm-hmm. Why?’ Eve replied.

‘You’re walking slowly,’ Jess pointed out. ‘It’s like you suddenly stepped into a pool of quicksand.’

It was true. Eve hadn’t noticed right away, but her feet felt heavier. As she continued walking, they got heavier and heavier with each step. She began panting with the effort, but the air was so cold it was like the oxygen had frozen and wasn’t available to her body. She shivered.

‘Eve!’ Jess cried. ‘It’s happening again. You’re all goose-bumpy.’

Eve didn’t have enough breath to answer. She took one more step, then her knees buckled and she landed hard on the ground.
Air
– she had to have
air
. She braced both hands in front of her and fought to fill her lungs. They wouldn’t expand.

Black dots began swarming in front of her eyes, multiplying until they filled most of her field of vision. She could hear herself wheezing, but it sounded so far away.

Something jerked on her shoulders, and dragged her backwards about a metre. Her lungs allowed air in again, and Eve felt as if she were thawing from the inside out. She blinked rapidly, and the woods reappeared around her. She tilted her head, and saw Jess above her, pulling her across the ground.

‘It’s OK,’ Eve gasped. ‘You can stop.’

Jess let go of Eve’s shoulders and dropped down on the ground next to her. ‘Are you positive?’ she exclaimed.

Eve nodded. ‘Just let me rest a sec.’ She took long, slow breaths and focused on the hot ball of power inside her until she felt completely normal – normal and
warm
– again, then she pushed herself to her feet.