Evie Awakened

Chapter 1: Visions

Evie groaned and looked blearily at her phone. It was far too early to be awake, but this alarm woke her up immediately. It was Housesitting Day! Today marked the beginning of a full month of independence, away from her parents and free of roommates. Every summer since middle school, Evie had jumped at the chance to take care of her neighbor Jasmine's gorgeous home.

This year, Jasmine would be traveling longer than usual, leaving her house (and her pool, hot tub, home theater, plush guest rooms, and fully-stocked international snack pantry) in Evie's hands for thirty-three glorious days. Add in that the college senior had not taken any new tutoring sessions until the last week of June, and she was looking at nearly three weeks of uninterrupted vacation in a luxurious mansion.

Evie turned off her alarm and got to her feet. Full of anxious energy, she quickly made the bed and began her morning stretches. By the time she had finished the routine, she was breathing deeply and felt a bit calmer. Grinning, Evie pulled her vibrant copper hair into a messy bun, shrugged on a hoodie, and picked up her overnight bag to head downstairs.

As she reached for the handle of her bedroom door, Evie felt a sudden chill. She paused, gasping as a vague image appeared in her mind. There were two people searching for her, one slender with long, green hair, and the other tall and bulky, dressed in bright colors. It was too blurry to focus on any other details. At the same time, Evie felt an odd pull in her chest, like a hook behind her sternum.

She turned toward the window, drawn westward by an invisible force. Her legs trembled, then moved on their own, taking two ungainly steps. She tried to turn back around, but her legs were out of her control. Her arms hung unresponsive at her sides, and while she could still breathe and move her head, she couldn't shout for help. Panic bubbled in her gut. What was happening, and what was she going to do when she reached her second-story window?

Terror rising, Evie took a shaky breath, seeking her calm center. Her right leg took a bigger step, and she breathed out. Her left leg shuffled forward, and she took another deep breath. She imagined keeping her muscles still as she held the breath in her lungs, then relinquished control on the exhale. Her right leg moved again, but shorter this time. Inhale, hold, exhale, and her left leg moved less than an inch.

On the next exhale, Evie tried turning both feet inward. It wasn't much, but her ankles bent awkwardly. Her right leg jerked forward, and she stumbled as most of her weight came down on the edge of her heel. She fell, knocking her forehead against the windowsill. Fortunately, pain shocked her out of the bizarre episode, and she groaned in relief. Unfortunately, most of her muscles were in agony and she had developed a pounding headache. Eyes squeezed shut against the first feeble light of day, Evie huddled into a ball on the floor and tried not to cry.

After a few minutes, the throbbing in her head began to fade. She flinched at the unexpected sound of the coffee grinder in the kitchen directly below her bedroom. She felt like the flu had kicked her down several flights of stairs, but maybe coffee would help. Gently, Evie stretched and opened her eyes. She stood, bracing herself against the wall, and picked up her overnight bag again. Wincing at the weight of the duffel, she opened the door and hobbled downstairs.

Sore and distracted, Evie failed to skip the creaky bottom step, and her father called out softly from the kitchen, "Good morning, Evelyn. The coffee needs another minute."

Evie dropped her bag at the base of the stairs and crossed the living room to the kitchen, mumbling a "morning" in response.

Roger Zeller stood at the stove, working a large griddle. Satisfied with the state of the bacon and hashbrowns, he set down the spatula and turned to face his daughter. "I know it's early, but--good lord, Evelyn, what the hell happened? Are you alright?" He looked up at the scrape on her forehead, concern written across his blunt face.

Evie pulled the much shorter man into a hug, then groaned in protest when he squeezed. He pulled back in alarm and Evie gave him what she hoped was a reassuring closed-mouth smile. She had realized, while lying miserably on her bedroom floor, her parents would not let her go to Jasmine's house if they thought she was having some kind of breakdown.

"I'm fine, Dad. I was kinda out of it while I did my morning yoga and tripped over my bag. I didn't sleep well again last night." The last part was true, at least.

Roger frowned and scrubbed at his curly hair, its color identical to Evie's but for the dusting of grey at his temples. She turned away, avoiding the intensity of his gaze. Evie had yet to completely abandon her childhood belief that he could actually see it when she lied. She busied herself with the coffee pot, pouring a mug for herself and her dad.

"More nightmares?" Roger asked as he accepted the brew. He added a splash of creamer.

Evie nodded. She leaned back against the counter, sipping her black coffee. "I still can't remember anything but the feeling that someone is looking for me and it would be bad if he found me." She took another sip and suddenly realized the Creeper, as she had taken to thinking of her nightmare pursuer, was the same as in this morning's vision. "It's a man--a large man in a suit and hat." She shuddered and gripped her mug tightly.

"I admit we're ranging a bit out of my field, Evelyn, but might this man represent some larger idea? Perhaps you are feeling overwhelmed by graduation?" Roger turned back to the stove and began flipping bacon. "Or perhaps this is a manifestation of your anxiety about choosing a career path? You know, your mother has an opening at her office..." he trailed off with a sheepish glance over his shoulder.

Evie snorted, her worry over the Creeper temporarily forgotten. "No, Dad, I don't think my nightmares are a Psych 101 case study on anxiety. And can we please not talk about Mom's internship right now? It's barely five AM, let me at least eat breakfast." She paused, her sluggish brain finally waking up. "Speaking of, does Mom know you're cooking bacon? I thought we were a low-sodium house for the summer." Evie smirked, a plan forming in her mind as she watched her father's shoulders tense.

Roger cleared his throat, clearly collecting himself before answering. "I thought a family breakfast would be a nice surprise. You've been busy tutoring thus far, and now you will be housesitting. Mom has taken so many volunteer shifts at the emergency clinic. Even with all of us in the same home for the summer, it seems we three can't find time to be together. I have an early appointment anyway, so family breakfast made sense." He hunched over the burners, now refusing to meet his daughter's gaze.

"You didn't answer the question, Dad. Does Mom know you're cooking bacon?" Evie crossed the kitchen to stand next to Roger and began cracking eggs into a mixing bowl. She wasn't concerned about his health--the results from his last physical were excellent--her mom was just a worrier. But this rebellion against the anti-sodium regime presented an opportunity. She gave her dad a sly look and decided to gamble. "What's it worth to you to say breakfast was my idea? How about we don't talk about the internship until this weekend? I want at least one week of real vacation." She let him stew for a few seconds, then pressed, "Your call, Dad. But don't take too long, she's home!"

Evie's lips rose in a small, sweet smile, unfazed by her father's glare. The hard look in his green eyes did nothing to dim the mischievous sparkle in her own. She pulled a whisk from a drawer and started beating the eggs, schooling her face to a neutral expression at the sound of the front door.

Outmaneuvered, Roger grunted. He rubbed the back of his neck, then gave Evie a reluctant nod and turned toward the doorway as his wife entered the room. He leaned against the stove, and Evie thought he might have pulled off a casual air if not for a loud pop that splattered hot grease on his arm. "Ow shi--." Roger cleared his throat and lowered the heat of the burners. "Hello, Christie. Ah, how was your run?" He wiped his arm with a dish towel and gave her a sheepish grin.

Christie Stafford stood in the doorway of the kitchen, looking between the griddle and her husband, hazel eyes full of suspicion. Her short brunette ponytail whipped around as Evie swooped in to distract her with a hug. The curvy woman rocked back, hugging her daughter back for stability more than anything else.

"Morning, Mom. You should have gotten me up to go running with you!" She playfully poked Christie in the side, drawing her attention away from Roger and the guilt plain on his face. Based on her mom's look of surprise, it was working.

"Evelyn! You haven't gotten out of bed before I leave for work once this summer. Why're you awake now?" Christie asked, seeming a bit more shocked than Evie would have expected. She was usually up before eight for a tutoring appointment; compared to most college students, she was an early riser.

"It's Housesitting Day, remember? I have to meet Jasmine at six. Dad was nice enough to cook breakfast before I head over, but I would have loved to get a little bonding time with you, too. At least let me help you stretch while Dad finishes cooking. Come on, I bet you didn't cool down properly." Evie gently pushed her mom back into the living room and winked at Roger before following.

Evie quickly rolled out mats and led her mom through a series of poses, occasionally reaching out to adjust the older woman's posture. The familiar routine helped settle her mind. The panic she had felt upstairs had faded, and teasing her parents had helped with the lingering unease of her recurring nightmares. The Creeper wasn't real, and she had just had some sort of weird, prolonged muscle spasm in all of her limbs. That happened to otherwise perfectly healthy twenty-one-year-olds, right? Evie controlled her breathing and focused on the day ahead, doing her best not to dwell on bad dreams. Housesitting!

Within a few minutes, Christie was also breathing deeply and evenly, and she relaxed into savasana. "Okay, Evelyn. I've stretched, I'm resting. Now explain to me why you asked your father to go against his doctor's orders." So much for distraction.

Evie shoved aside her jumbled thoughts to focus on an argument her mom would buy. She spoke in a low voice that would not carry into the kitchen. "First off, doctor's suggestion--singular--not orders. I didn't expect Dad to be awake before I left. I thought I might catch you between your run and work, and I was just going to stretch, make coffee, and watch the sun rise in Jasmine's garden.

"Anyway, Dad said it would be nice if we all had breakfast together. You were disappointed we skipped family dinner last weekend, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make up for it, and Dad gets to feel like he's taking care of his darling wife and daughter. Plus, if we cook up the bacon now, I can smuggle the leftovers over to Jasmine's so they're out of the house. Really, it's almost like we're tricking him into doing what you want." Evie propped herself up on an elbow, giving her mom the same innocent smile she had used earlier.

Everything she had said was true, and should satisfy both her parents. She put on a mock-serious expression and added, "Besides, he seems nervous about whatever it is he's doing today, and he can have a treat every once in a while. Go easy on the poor guy, I won't always be here to protect him." She stood and extended a hand toward her mom.

Christie sighed and rolled her eyes. She took Evie's hand and got to her feet. "Fine, I suppose there are worse things than my husband and daughter conspiring to cook a family meal."

Evie gave her mom a lopsided grin and ducked into the kitchen. "I love you, too, Mom, and you're welcome." She thought she might be pushing her luck a bit, but Christie just rolled her eyes again and put away the mats while Evie set the table. Roger plated the bacon and veggie scramble, hash browns, and toast just as both women took their seats. He gave his wife a quick kiss, then sat with a contended sigh.

Evie was already several bites in before her parents picked up their forks. "Thanks, Dad, super tasty." She inhaled another mouthful. Roger chuckled and Christie shook her head, watching their daughter demolish her meal, then dug into their own plates. About halfway through her serving, Evie finally slowed down. "Dad, seriously, breakfast was a really nice surprise, but this is way too early to be awake--"

"Some of us are up at this time every day," Christie interjected. On top of her more-than-full-time veterinary practice, she had been helping cover a friend's leave at the local emergency clinic, mostly taking shifts before her own office opened. It was actually unusual for her not to have departed by now.

"Alright,mostof us woke up earlier than usual, and we're enjoying family time, but what are you doing today? Aren't you working remotely for the summer? I thought your first meeting on Mondays was at like ten o'clock."

Roger was a professor of philosophy at the University of Denver, specializing in metaphysics. His class schedule was reasonably consistent during the regular school year, but it seemed like summer term was different every year. He shrugged. "I think I had mentioned Carol Wong at CU is hosting a conference on paranormal research this week? Well, one of her headline sessions is a panel on extrasensory perception and mental suggestion that supposedly includes a live, verified demonstration.

"The panel was originally scheduled as the closing event, late Thursday morning into the afternoon, but last night she called me in a bit of a tizzy. The demo subjects changed their availability at the last minute and her preferred skeptic couldn't fly out in time. She asked me to step in as a replacement."

Evie tilted her head, confused. "Why would Professor Wong want you on the panel? Didn't you send one of her PhD candidates back to her in tears last year?"

A slight blush colored Roger's cheeks as he answered, defensive. "That is not entirely fair. The young man was struggling with his dissertation and I pointed out several weaknesses in his arguments, thinking he may use my feedback to sharpen the focus of his research. As I understand it, there were other events unfolding in his personal life which were none of my business and unrelated to the constructive feedback I offered."

Christie chuckled, patting her husband's arm. "Roger, honey, you tore apart a year of research in less than five minutes. I'm sure you were every bit the kind and supportive teacher you always are, but you made the kid cry."

"Yeah, Dad, you went full Bulldog." Evie growled cartoonishly and chomped a strip of bacon, and noticed a playful gleam in her mom's eye as well.

Building on her daughter's teasing, Christie leaned forward. "Is that why Carol really called? She could have gotten anyone, but she wanted to see The Bulldog take down another fraud. Wanted my man to be the one on stage, ripping her life's work to shreds, knowing there's nothing she can do about it." Christie's light tone became husky. "I bet she gets so hot watching you. Knowing once you dig in you won't stop. This little charlatan will be begging by the end, and Carol will be, too. She's going to try pulling you into an empty room the first chance she gets, even though she knows you would never. She's wanted you since we were in college, but you're all mine and it drives her wild." Roger blushed harder, sputtering under the sudden intensity of his wife's smoldering gaze.

Not entirely shocked by Christie's horny turn, but also wanting to be elsewhere for the inevitable outcome, Evie shoveled the last of her eggs and toast into her mouth and carried her plate to the sink. "Okay lovebirds, don't mind me, just leaving." Torn between happiness her parents were still madly in love with each other and exasperation at their inability to keep their hands to themselves, Evie picked up her bag and dashed toward the front door.

For the second time that morning, she paused as she reached for the door handle. A pleasant shiver traveled down her spine. Dawn had broken, and as always, Evie physically felt the promise of a new day. Accompanying the familiar jolt of energy, she saw the visions from earlier, but in sharper detail. Her bag hit the floor with a heavy thud and Evie caught herself on the wall. An image of the Creeper swam in her sight, looming behind the green-haired woman. He was unsettling, but Evelyn knew from something in her stance that, of the pair, she was the deadlier predator.

"Evelyn, what's--sweetheart, are you alright? Did you fall again? Are you ill?" Roger had leaned out of the kitchen to check on her and hurried over when he saw her, pale and shaken.

From the sound of clattering dishes, Christie was tidying up after breakfast, so she was unlikely to overhear. Evie still dropped her voice to a whisper. "Don't go to this panel thing, Dad. It's at CU, right? The Creeper is west of here, him and his friend, but not that far. They have to be in Boulder. Stay away from them. Stay home, get Mom to call in sick for once and don't leave the house." She was pale, shivering.

Roger pulled his daughter into a tight hug, not knowing what else to do. "Sweetheart, everything is fine. I'm going to an academic conference for a few hours. Danger and excitement are not on the agenda." Taking a deep breath, Evie pulled herself together enough to glare at her dad, and he raised a hand to mollify her. "Okay, Evelyn, I trust you. What am I looking out for?"

Although skeptical by both professional responsibility and personal inclination, Roger had long since proven he would listen to his daughter's occasional bizarre warnings. He would insist there was some microscopic detail she had seized on, intuiting a nonobvious but correct conclusion. Whether that was actually true or not--whether Evie's subconscious operated on the same level as a great literary detective or she simply possessed some sensory ability Roger could not explain--was irrelevant at that moment. All that mattered to her was he listened.

She took another steadying breath, letting it out slowly before answering, listing details quickly as they came to mind. "The man from my nightmares is in Boulder. Avoid his eyes if you can, but absolutely do not make skin contact with him. He's tall and broad, and he wears brightly colored suits. Blue today, maybe indigo? And a hat, like Sinatra." Focusing on the specifics was helping. Evie could feel her heart rate slowing. She wiped her clammy forehead and pushed on. "I call him the Creeper, but he's not as bad as his companion, the green-haired woman. Her eyes are muddy and full of hate. Don't let her taste your sweat."

Evie shivered once more, willing Roger to take her warning seriously. He studied her, processing. He closed his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and summarized, "I should not participate in today's panel because two people there are looking for you and mean you harm. Presumably, they will use me to find you?" Evie nodded. "If I do still choose to attend, I should avoid a green-haired woman and large man in an indigo suit and fedora. No handshakes and try to avoid eye contact with the man, don't let the woman lick me. Anything else?"

Evie ignored the smirk playing at the corner of his mouth and closed her eyes as well, concentrating. She tried conjuring the image of the Creeper and his companion, and it was like a low-quality video began playing in her mind. "The woman may try to kiss you. Don't let her. And it's a trilby today; don't call it a fedora."