Natural Selection (11 page)

“
What?” she asked, when she
noticed my scrutiny. She screwed the lid back on the bottle and
held her nails out to admire them.

“
Just trying to figure out
how you do that. Every time I try, I wind up painting my cuticles,
my knuckles and a couple of other random spots too.”

Evelyn laughed and shook her head,
coming back to sit on the floor by me. She grabbed my hand and
began painting my nails a beautiful shade of blue my mom had bought
for me at her organic makeup store.

I decided this was the best chance I
was going to get to broach the subject, so I dove in headfirst. “I
don’t like having secrets, Evey.” I looked down, picking at my
jeans with my free hand. “It’s killing me. Nothing can be so big it
can come between us, right?” I asked hopefully, raising my eyes to
look at her. Her mouth was twisted up into a grin, but it didn’t
touch her eyes. She switched hands without meeting my eyes.
Refusing to let myself stop, I plowed on. “I tried to tell you the
other day, but I let myself get deterred. I found something out,
and it’s big. I need to share it with my best friend.” Tears filled
my eyes as I raised my head and willed her to look me in the eye.
When she finished my other hand and finally looked at me, the
expression on her face was so conflicted. Mostly what I saw could
only be described as self-loathing.

“
Trust me, Lia, when I tell
you not to tell me. It’s better for us both if you
don’t."

I was hurt, and I couldn’t keep it off
my face. Without saying a word, I stood up and walked out of the
room, but she chased after me. She stopped me at the head of the
stairs and spun me around to face her.

“
I swear I’m protecting
you, Lia. The more I know, the harder it is to keep them from
seeing.” She clapped her hands to her mouth, and the horror in her
eyes made my breath catch. She spun around and ran to my room,
gathering her books and shoving them into her backpack in a
whirlwind of flying paper. She grabbed her duffel bag off the bed,
pounded down the stairs and out the door. I ran behind her through
it all—hurt, confused and afraid for my friend. The stark reality
felt like a slap in the face. Evelyn knew more than what she was
saying, and whatever she knew scared her. For the first time, I
considered there might be more to this than I thought. I stared at
the empty doorway and contemplated how I could help her—if I even
could.

I WANDERED INTO the kitchen and
slumped onto a stool at the counter, putting my chin in my hand and
staring blankly at the wall. My life was a mess, and I had no idea
what to do about it. Evelyn was obviously in some kind of trouble,
and it was something she didn’t think I could help her with. I
couldn’t shake whatever bug had me feeling so miserable all the
time with no real symptoms. My family was still somewhat of a
mystery to me, and I was having trouble getting a handle on who I
was. And of course Nate seemed disgusted by me, while I just kept
feeling a stronger and stronger connection with him.

Suddenly alarm bells went off in my
head, and I sat up straighter. Strange connection… I’d always felt
a strange connection with Crystal, too. I’d never really questioned
it because it had been that way my entire life. I thought back to
my conversation with Xander about how I would know an Otherworlder
when I met them. He’d said I would “feel a sense of connection”
with them. There had been a deep mutual connection with Mariah,
too. What if all the victims were part of the Otherworld? What if
one of the hunters my mom told me about were killing people because
they weren’t human? My mind spun as I remembered Xander telling me
Jessica was a water sprite or something like that. I concentrated
on Crystal, on the connection with her, and I was shocked to
realize I knew things I hadn't been aware of about her. She felt
animalistic and had a certain duality about her. The more I
concentrated, the more I recognized her. A shifter of some sort?
Interesting. I did the same with Mariah and felt a certain
commonality with her, one I didn’t understand because I knew she
wasn’t Gaia. I didn’t feel about her like I did about Nate. She was
in the same family tree, just a faraway branch.

Fear made my belly feel heavy and
suddenly our big house felt very empty. I walked out the back door
and sat on the porch steps. The boys were playing basketball in the
driveway and I silently watched them. Nate was wearing a wife
beater and basketball shorts, and I definitely enjoyed the show.
The guy was all hard muscle and smooth lines. Positively lickable
if you ask me, which no one was. I sighed, wishing he would look at
me, just once. Not that I could blame him for not noticing the
ten-year-old body I was trapped in until at least next
summer.

Feeling unusually melancholy, I walked
down the steps. I had no idea what I was doing as I stepped into
the grass and slid off my shoes. In that moment, the grass on the
soles of my feet felt better than every hot bath I’d ever taken. I
fell to my knees, running my fingers through the blades like it was
hair. I couldn’t help the moan that slid out of my throat. I rolled
over onto my back, pressing my arms and legs against the ground,
and sighed. For the first time in a week, I actually felt good. Not
just not bad, but good. Closing my eyes, I wondered if that was the
secret to staying healthy. Mom said I could draw strength, but
maybe I needed a certain amount of contact to stay
healthy?

I suddenly became aware of the silence
and realized the guys were staring at me. I flushed and thought
about what I must look like, rolling around on the ground and
moaning. My cheeks flamed with heat as I opened my eyes and saw
them both gaping at me from the driveway. Xander had the ball
tucked under his left arm and his mouth hanging open; Nate had his
head cocked to the side. As I wondered if it was possible to die of
embarrassment, Nate turned and said something to my brother before
he stalked off. Xander looked helplessly between the two of us
before bouncing the ball into the backyard and stalking towards me
his eyes on fire with anger.

I yelped and jumped to my feet and
started to run for the back door, but his voice stopped me as my
feet hit the stone steps.

“
Lia!” he snapped at me in
a very hard voice.

I turned, tears of confusion and
embarrassment shining, but I refused to let them fall. I would not
cry because somebody yelled at me. No matter who it was. I raised
my chin and met his eyes defiantly.

“
You know you’re killing
him, right?” he asked.

My brow furrowed for a moment before
they widened and fell on Nate as he rounded the corner to Keokuk.
Then I looked at my brother more confused than ever. I let all the
pain and confusion I was feeling shine in my eyes as I met
his.

I watched the fires die down, and he
sighed. I was completely unprepared when he wrapped me in his arms
and hugged me tight. In my entire life, I think my brother hugged
me only twice before, once when I graduated eighth grade and after
the conversation about what he was. Xander was my rock—the one
person in the world I could trust with my troubles. I didn’t
realize how much the tension and weirdness between Nate and me were
affecting him.

When he stepped back he seemed more
normal, but there was still something in his eyes, like he wanted
to tell me something but for some reason he couldn’t. I swallowed
and tried to smile.

“
Listen, Xan, I promise I’m
trying to stop, I swear. I don’t want him to think I’m the pathetic
little sister crushing on him, but when he’s around I just feel a
strange pull towards him.” I glanced around to make sure no one was
around and pitched my voice low just in case. “I think it’s because
he’s the only Gaia I know that I’m not related to. That’s my
current theory, anyway.”

Shock crossed Xander’s
expression and he looked around. Then he grabbed my arm and yanked
me up the steps and into the house. He released me a little
violently, and I staggered into the counter, but his face didn’t
soften. “Don’t
ever
talk about that outside this house, Amelia Rylee!” He shouted
at me. I shrank back. I’d never heard my brother raise his voice in
my life!

“
I made sure no one was
around,” I muttered, sitting on a stool and glaring at him sullenly
through my lashes. “You think I’m not an idiot?” I felt some heat
creeping into my voice, but I didn’t let myself dwell on it. “I
know there’s a hunter working here in Lincoln. I’m not stupid, and
I’d appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like I am!”

Xander deflated and looked at me with
his head ever so slightly cocked. “There’s a hunter in Lincoln? Who
told you that?”

“
I put it together myself,”
I said with a shrug. “All the people killed are Otherworlders. Both
Mariah and Crystal had come sort of witchcraft symbol, and I’m
willing to bet the lady in Decatur did too.”

Xander was nodding, the light in his
eyes letting me know he was making the connections as well. “Do you
think you could draw the symbol for me?”

“
Crystal was laying on the
one there, so I didn’t get a good look at it, but what I saw looked
different. I remember the one from the pictures the police showed
me, but I don’t think I should recreate it. I’m too similar to
Mariah. She was something like me, Xan. Not Gaia, but close, and I
think the symbol has power over me too.”

Xander nodded absently, and he tugged
his ear as he thought. “What if you draw it in parts, then tell me
how it was put together?” he asked. I nodded, since it seemed
safe.

We rummaged in the junk drawer until
we found the pad for taking phone messages. Tossing it on the
counter, I began to sketch out the W on a stick thing at the center
of the symbol. As soon as he saw it, he took the pen from me,
adding the hexagram and the shallow peaks, even the inverted
triangles. I nodded, my eyes about the size of saucers.

“
This symbol on its own has
no power, Lia. According to traditional beliefs, it’s the symbol of
nymphs, but it’s actually more than that. It’s the symbol of all
Nature spirits, including Gaia. Was it by chance inside a six
pointed star with four triangle symbols, an ankh on top and
h-looking symbol on the bottom?” I mutely nodded, too stunned and
scared to speak. “The four triangles represent the four elements,
the ankh life and the scythe, like what the grim reaper carries, is
death.” I nodded again and his mouth twisted. “In witchcraft, it’s
a symbol of protection, but when combined with the nymph symbol it
would confine a nature spirit, rendering her powers
useless.”

“
So whoever killed these
people used this symbol to keep them from fighting back? But would
they have to stand still while the symbol was drawn or could you
trick them into walking into it?”

Xander just shrugged with a sad
expression on his face. I thought of Crystal’s final moments,
trapped and unable to defend herself as someone drove a foot of
wood into her chest. It made me wonder.

“
What about the stake?
Crystal was a shifter, but she was killed with a wooden
stake.”

“
I’ve never heard that one.
Maybe they’ve seen one too many horror movies?” he suggested with a
grin. “Seriously, wooden stakes aren’t necessary to kill anything.
Either you kill an Otherworlder like you and Mom and Dad any old
way. Or for someone like me and Sariah, you have to remove our
heads. So the stake isn’t necessary. It’s some weird tick of the
killer. Maybe he fancies himself as Van Helsing?” He said with a
grin.

We traded silly theories for a bit
longer, each more ridiculous than the last, but really didn’t come
up with anything else. I wondered if there were victims we didn’t
know about yet. And I couldn’t help but wonder what would have
happened if Mariah’s parents had been home. Would there be three
victims now or would it have saved her life?What would happen if
the hunters came after us? I glanced at my brother, and my heart
ached at the thought of the very real danger we all could be in.
Xander’s anger didn’t seem so condescending all of a
sudden.

I began feeling sick after dinner, so
I went to bed, hoping to sleep off the feverish feeling. I had no
idea the night I was in for.