Evie's Knight (37 page)

A thick darkness crept over the empty neighborhood street, the stars and moon somehow hiding in the cloudless sky. Excitement for her weekend getaway had been replaced with an ominous threat looming in the chill that prickled her skin. The eerily empty streets made it hard to feel at ease. Where was everyone?

Even the music blaring from the car radio felt off. The distant voice in the background sounded like the moaning of a young girl in pain. Desperate to end the horrid sound, Evie pressed the knob and let the silence of the night take over. 

The brakes gave out a long squeak beneath her foot as she slowed to a stop at the sign. Though the car had already locked automatically, Evie pressed the lever, eyeing the locks on the driver and passenger side doors.

The phone had to have enough juice by now, she decided, securing it in her hand. If she left if plugged in while they spoke, it’d be fine.

“Hi,” Evie said when Calvin picked up the line.

“Hey, Baby.” She could almost hear the smile on his face. That was all she needed–the sound of Calvin’s voice. The deep, warm tenor lent a calming wave that soothed every nerve in her body in an instant.

“Ready for a hot and sunny weekend in Arizona?” she asked, feeling better already.

“You’re early,” he pointed out, spoiling the mood.

Evie cringed. “Well, my house was feeling … oppressive. I wanted to get out of there.”

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m on my way out to your place. It’d be better for me to leave my car there anyway so my dad doesn’t see it at the station. He thinks I’m driving. I should’ve just said Fiona was–”

“So you’re in Roy?” he interrupted, his voice tense.

“Yeah, I just left.”

“I don’t like the idea of you driving out here by yourself, Evie.”

She knew exactly what he meant, but countered back just the same. “Why not? No one’s doing fireworks yet. We’re in the clear for another week, at least.”

“Still,” he said firmly. “You should have called me before you left. I would’ve followed you out here if I would have known.”

Evie didn’t bother arguing further, but there was no way she’d be bringing up the flowers now; it would really set him off. “I’m going to be there in a few minutes. You can just talk to me on the way.”

No response came.

“Are you guys almost ready?” she asked.

“Yep. Parker and Fiona just ran for some Red Bulls. You and I are going to take the first shift. They’ll trade us halfway through.”

“Sounds good.” The tension in the air dissipated with her next, slowly released breath. “I picked up a real juicy tabloid at the market,” she said. “Hopefully it can keep our interest.”

“A tabloid?” He sounded wary. 

“Yeah. It looks exciting. It says that we have alien babies being born daily, right here in America. You should see the pictures on the cover.” She glanced over at the magazine on the passenger seat.

And that’s when it happened.

She felt the impact before hearing the awful, heavy sound–a loud thud on the hood of her car. Her foot hit the brake, forcing the pedal straight to the floor as the car screeched to a halt.

A large body bounced off the hood and flew into the empty street ahead. The headlights of her car illuminated parts of him as he tumbled over the street’s surface: Brief flashes of a pale green shirt. Faded pockets in light denim. A thick mat of dark brown hair. The man rolled to a stop just outside the headlight’s reach.

“Evie? What the hell was that?” She’d dropped the phone, and Calvin’s voice was distant, but still clear.

The horrifying answer came to her mind–she’d just hit a man, maybe killed him. “Please let him live,” she prayed frantically, paralyzed behind the wheel. She stared ahead at the silhouette of his body lying motionless on the blacktop.

“Evie, answer me! What’s going on?”

Her eyes didn’t leave the sight of him as she patted the floorboard beneath her, searching for the phone. The smooth edge met with her fingers, and she clenched it in her hand.

“Calvin…” His name spilled from her lips before the receiver reached her ear. “I just hit a man.” A forceful breath pushed its way through her lungs. “With my car. I wasn’t watching and he just appeared out of nowhere.” Her breaths came faster, her voice panicked and pleading.

“Please don’t let him die,” she chanted, putting the car in park  and prying her foot off the brake. The tips of her fingers went numb as massive volumes of air forced their way in and out of her lungs. She put a shaky hand on the door handle. “Call 911. I’m going to check on him.”

“No Evie, don’t. It could be a trap. Stay in the car and
do not
hang up the phone. Listen Evie, if that’s Jocelyn’s pawn–”

“It’s not Jocelyn’s pawn,” she said breathlessly.

“You don’t know that. And if it is, the police won’t be able to stop him from taking you. Nobody will. He’ll take you, and we have to be there to follow.”

“Calvin, would you stop it? I just hit the man with my car. He might be dead because of me. We have to call someone.”

“We will, Evie. I swear we will. Just tell me where you are.”

“I’m on 4400.”

“How far east are you, Evie? Hurry and tell me. We’ve got to move quickly.”

“I’m uh, just west of Main Street,” she blurted, “next to the park.”

“Okay, don’t move Evie. I mean it. You need to wait for Parker. I know he’ll be able to teleport to you. Once he’s there you guys can call the police. For now, wait in the car, lock your doors, and stay on the phone. I’ll come right back to you.”

The line fell silent, and suddenly she was afraid. But it was a different kind of fear that gripped her now. It wasn’t simply the fear for this man’s life, for what she may have done. No, she realized, double-checking the locks. She was afraid for herself. Scared of who this man was, what he might do.

But why? The person lying motionless in the darkness ahead, the poor injured man she may have killed was nothing to fear. He was a victim. While focusing on the lump in the fray of the light, Evie saw a hand, illuminated now as if he were reaching toward her. She hadn’t noticed it before.

Was he moving? She watched closer–barely blinking–and saw his fingers twitch. He was alive. And he needed help. Evie knew CPR and had to help him if she could. She was obligated by law, wasn’t she? And what about morally? What was the matter with her that she could sit and watch this man suffer?

She couldn’t. Her eyes kept focused on the man while she pulled the plug on the charger. She put the phone on speaker mode next and began spinning it in her palm with the push and pull of her fingers. The other hand clutched the cool metal latch of her door.

Calvin was being crazy. She couldn’t let this man just lay there, alone. This was somebody’s son. Maybe someone’s husband or father. He could be dying because of her.

The thought caused her to push open the door in an urgent rush.

She stepped out with a little less enthusiasm.

And walked toward the man with slow, hesitant steps, studying the lifeless form every inch of the way.

The night was too still. This was major–life altering–yet the atmosphere around her didn’t seem to show evidence of it. No one to witness, assist, or even care. Only the two of them; strangers brought together in a cruel twist of fate. She let her eyes scan over his tall and bulky frame. The light from her car just grazed the tip of his shoulder, and though his face was turned toward her, it lay in the shadows–just beneath the headlight’s beam.

Who was this man? Was it possible he was trying to trap her, like Calvin suspected? Was his mind possessed by the devious works of Jocelyn Blanch?

She neared him, cautiously, leaving a few feet of distance between them. As she leaned down, Evie noticed a shallow movement in his back. It swelled, ever so slightly, and then dropped. She let out a gust of air, relieved, then held her own breath as his back rose and fell again. Gently. Slowly.

He was alive. It was enough for now–to know he was breathing. Evie turned away to head back to her car when she heard something.

“Help me,” the strained voice came, breaking into the silence.

Her blood turned to ice as she froze in place, standing just a few feet away from the victim. She turned toward him once more, keeping the short space between them. Her eyes were adjusting now and she could almost see the details in his face. His mouth hung open; he was pulling short, labored breaths through it.

“Please, I can’t move my legs.” His weak, pleading voice was muffled, the words distorted due to the pavement pressed against his face.

She clenched her eyes shut. He was paralyzed and afraid, wondering why she hadn’t said anything. Surely he wanted to know if help was on the way.

A furnace of fiery guilt roared inside her as Evie imagined walking back to the car and locking herself inside to wait for Parker. She couldn’t do it. She should just call 911. Call Calvin back afterward. At least get help on the way.

She looked down at the phone just as Calvin came back on the line.

“Evie, are you there?” His voice came through the speaker in a rush.

“Yes, I’m here.” She hoped he’d think she was still in her car.

“I’m on my way out there now, and so are Parker and Fiona. Parker’s already trying to teleport to your location. I’m sure he’ll be there any minute. Just hang tight, Evie.”

She nodded, still staring at the helpless form on the ground.

“Crap, that’s Parker again. Wait just a sec and I’ll see what he needs.”

As soon as the line went quiet, a frightening moan sounded from the wounded man. She was heartless, letting this guy suffer, doing nothing to help or comfort. Without letting herself get any closer, Evie leaned over to talk to him.

“It’s okay, Sir. Medical help is on the way.” She could barely get the words out through her own jagged breath, and her voice sounded anything but soothing.

The man said nothing. Maybe he’d passed out. Maybe he was gasping for his last breaths, dying and in need of assistance.

She had to call 911. She’d waited long enough.

Evie pulled the phone up, hovering her shaking fingers over the keys, and heard a distant popping sound in the sky. A loud and thunderous boom bounced down the narrow street and rumbled along the pavement beneath her. Cheers and hollers echoed in the distance. She inched her head, turning toward the park in time to see a splash of red and blue light up the sky in a blazing display.

Fireworks.
The sight of the colorful sparks sent a frenzied fear through her entire body. In a crazed panic, Evie tried to force herself to respond. She pictured darting toward the idling car in lightning speed, away from the man as quickly as her legs would carry her. But just as momentum kicked in beneath her heels, strong hands clenched both sides of her unzipped jacket, yanked her forward and seized her in place where she hovered helplessly above him. The jolt knocked the phone from her fingers; it hit the pavement just inches away from her feet.

Frantic energy oozed from the man’s body. A strange, frenzied current, chillingly dark and corrupt.

A terrified cry tore from her throat as she fought to free herself. Pulling against the man’s superior strength, Evie tried to wrestle her way out of the sleeves but she didn’t stand a chance; the man was twice her size.

As quickly as the impulse came, she bit into the clenched fist closest to her mouth. Coarse hairs from his hand grazed her lips as she sunk her teeth in, piercing through his salty flesh until she tasted blood.

With a throaty groan he jerked his hand away, releasing his grip on her jacket. It was just enough for Evie to yank her right arm out of the sleeve. She quickly spun her way out of the other sleeve and bolted.

As she pressed each foot off the pavement, invisible glue seemed to hold them back. Even when his fingers clenched around her ankle, strong and angry, the movements felt delayed.

Yanking her leg with a mighty jerk, the man on the ground sent her crashing onto the graveled street top. The pain from the impact was there, but distant. A slight sting spread over her cheek where the tiny rocks must’ve cut through the skin. A dull ache pulsed throughout her chest. Yet all of it was secondary. And though the fall alone had knocked the wind from her completely, the urge to curl up in pain hadn’t come. Fear exceeded all else. Fear at the man’s sheer size and strength. Fear that he’d take her before Parker was near, before the men could follow.

As she struggled to pull herself free, Evie remembered the phone on the ground.  Was she really hearing Calvin’s voice through the distant speaker, or was she only imagining it?

Though she hadn’t fully regained her breath, Evie cried out to him in labored attempts, kicking at the man on the ground behind her, hoping to cause enough pain that he’d let go of her leg.

“Hurry, Calvin,” she screamed as she struggled. An inner part of her system tried to shut down. Like in her dreams: there’d been times when a nightmare had become more than she could take, and she’d been able to pull herself out–wake up and come back to reality. Her mind was seeking a similar escape–a way out. But this was no dream. This was her reality, and she had to stay in it and fight.

The sound of Calvin’s pained voice sent a strong surge of conviction to her very core. She couldn’t let this man take her away yet. She had to do everything she could to prolong this part, buy time until they got there. Calvin and Parker needed to follow them to the next location–it was the only way they could save her–and Evie would make sure that happened.

With a shrill scream, she kicked at the man more fiercely with her free leg, making contact with his head and face. One kick finally made him curse, and he loosened his grip on her ankle. She used her renewed strength to scrape mercilessly at his fingers with the sole of her other shoe and managed to kick herself free.

Desperately then she leapt to her feet and ran without hindrance. She sensed a spark of freedom as the lights of red, white, and blue reflected off her car windshield just a few more yards away. It felt as if her heart was in her head; she could hear it, feel it, pulsing in her ears and through the crown of her head.