Evil Maybe

Chapter 14- Ree

Word of advice: don’t ever anger a mink. Or me. But that’s beside the point. Minks are strong, furry little beasts that can look cute and tear your eyes out at the same time. I learned that the hard way, at the ripe age of eight. I still have my eyes, of course, but there are scratches crisscrossing my hands that have never really gone away. They’ve faded, yes, and a lot of the time you can’t even seem them, but if I angle my hand just right you can see them clear as the moon on a dark night. Training a mink (especially a wild one) is hard. I barely managed it myself, which is saying something. And I don’t think I even managed to fully train him. I think he just sticks around because I feed him.

Apparently, the target didn’t know that. It made the unfortunate mistake of not running away in fear when Flash approached it, and my sidekick was now extremely offended. He squeaked indignantly and chattered away, probably saying a few words that Zeke would yell at him for had he been here.

When the target didn’t apologize and simply remained stationary, Flash decided he needed to teach it a lesson. He sank his pearly white teeth into the very middle and shook his head side to side. The target wobbled and fell to the ground. Flash glared at it once more and then scurried over to me. He curled around my ankles, looking as if he expected praise for defeating his mighty foe.

I pulled a piece of meat out of my pocket and threw it to him. It was gone almost immediately. I rolled my eyes and stalked over to the target. There were two puncture marks, but other than that it was fine. “You did a horrible job,” I informed Flash. He c****d his head, still looking proud of himself. I put my hand over the target and blasted it to smithereens with a flourish of my hand. “And that,” I said, “is how you destroy a target.”

If I expected Flash to be happy about my amazing skills, I was sadly disappointed. He simply turned around and lifted his tail at me.

I raised one eyebrow. “Excuse me? Is that sass I see?” He looked back at me and flashed his teeth. I snapped my fingers, sending electricity ripping up my arm. “I’ll show you how to properly destroy a target. And if you get it right, I’ll give you a whole mouse.”

Flash did not have an incredible amount of self control, and within minutes we were working side by side, me pummeling it with bolts of lightning and spurts of electricity while Flash whacked it with his tail and shredded it with his claws.

I really felt bad for the people who are responsible for supplying us with targets. We seem to go through a lot. The fragments of wood and cloth was now unrecognizable, and I was pretty sure Master James would think another wild animal had once again slipped through the surrounding force fields.

It was technically correct. Flash was a wild animal. And I kinda had smuggled him past the border. But I did get permission. Eventually. And I am a little bit like a wild animal. So, yes, that is my excuse for Master James. It was a wild animal. He can’t blame me for that, even though he tries to blame me for every thing that has ever been broken.

Which, by the way, is totally unfair. The teachers are always going on about how we should practice, and then the minute I actually start doing it they punish me.

It’s true, I have been working at my powers a lot more lately, but that’s also not my fault. Losing my ring scared me- it was the first time I realized how weak I was without it. And I can’t be weak. I can’t. I have to be able to shoot a lightning bolt whether I have it or not.

And with the war coming up, and the whole thing with the meeting yesterday, I have to be strong with or without my ring. The only problem is, I get tired more easily when I don’t have it, and all I’ve been doing is draining my energy, over and over and over.

“Come on, little dude. Time to go inside.”

Flash must have realized how tired I was, because he didn’t complain. He just scurried up my leg, hooking his tiny claws into the fabric of my leggings, and then up my back and onto my shoulder. I dug another mouse out of my bag and tossed it up to him. He caught it withing seconds- or in a flash, you could say- and I was forced to listen to the sounds of him digging in as we walked back to the house.

Jack and Zeke were out on a scouting mission, and Genevieve was out with dad, so no one was home when I got back. I flicked the light switch and threw my bag onto the table, then hung up my belt full of shurikens. Flash leaped off my shoulder and onto the floor, disappearing into the living room.

I sighed, not sure whether to go after him, but when he stuck his head back into the kitchen and waggled his ears, I knew he was fine. I trudged up the stairs, ready to go to my room and flop down.

Before I could reach it, though, I passed my parent’s study. I stopped in my tracks, staring at the door. My dad hasn’t been in here in forever. He says it reminds him too much of mom. It does- I can almost see her curled up in a chair, studying a report or typing on a computer.

But unlike my dad, I like the feeling that she could still be there, and after staring at the door for a few long seconds, I darted into my room, grabbedThe Complete Works of Shakespeare, and pushed the door of the study open with my shoulder.

The room was dark when I entered, so I set my book down and drew open the curtains shielding the window. Sunlight streamed through the glass, illuminating the room and casting the wooden desk in a warm glow.

“Plans,” I murmured to myself, laying a hand on one of the papers. It was covered with diagrams and notes. I probably should have looked at them to see if there was anything useful, but I didn’t want to think of the war at the moment. I looked at the other end of the desk, where more papers were piled up. There were also a few old photographs lying on top, mostly of my mom and dad.

I stepped to the side to get a better look at them, and as I moved, a breeze swept behind me, causing one of the photos to blow off the desk. It floated gently to the floor, and I put my hand out, catching it just before it landed.

At first I was confused. In the picture there were two smiling teenagers with their arms wrapped around each other. One of them was clearly my mom- jet black hair, tan skin, golden eyes. But the other girl I had never seen before, not even in passing. She had twinkling, jade green eyes and dark brown hair, along with a few freckles dotting her face. They looked normal together, like two friends just out for a stroll. It almost hurt to see her like that, so clearly happy, so clearly there.

I wasn’t sure what to make of the photo, or the strange girl I didn’t know existed. Despite that, it made me feel a little happy, seeing my mom smiling like that. And something about the stranger made me immediately trust her. Of course, if she was friends with my mom, I should trust her.

My mom was no longer here to see the picture, and I was sure my dad wouldn’t miss it, so I stashed it in my pocket for safekeeping.

With the photo tucked away, I climbed onto the plush green office chair by the desk and heaved The Complete Works of Shakespeare onto my lap. A torn paper was sticking out in the middle of the book, and I flipped to my place and set my bookmark aside. This was one of the only books I had willing looked at, but I didn’t think much as I started to read. I just drank in the words.

Two hours and many pages later, I was standing below Max Corriner’s window. I don’t remember exactly why. It might have been because I wanted to talk to someone who had read the book I just finished, or that I wanted to get a head start on my assignment. Or it might just have been I wanted to see him.

“Oh, stop looking at me like that.” I wrinkled my nose at Flash, who was sitting on my shoulder with a disapproving face. “You’re the one who wanted to come with me. Now, get ready, we’re going up.”

Sharp claws sunk into my skin, just short of drawing blood, but I could hardly feel it. I was too busy positioning myself under the window, making sure I hadn’t miscalculated the distance. My fingers were splayed and my palms were down, and for a second I closed my eyes, imagining a ball of electricity traveling through my chest, down my arms and into my my hands. I let it out, and I could see the sparks hitting the ground, propelling me up and up and up. For a few wonderful moments we were flying, no restrictions, just air all around, and I wished it would last forever- and then my feet hit solid ground once more.

The balcony shook from the impact, and I forced myself to stay still until it stopped. “You don’t look like you enjoyed that,” I said with a laughing smile to Flash, who had his eyes covered with his tail. He reprimanded me with an angry howl. The ground wobbled again, so I put a hand on the window ledge to steady myself, suddenly remembering the time when I had nearly fallen. “Let’s get away from here.” On this, Flash agreed with me.

I rapped sharply on the window, trying to peer through the foggy glass. “You wait out here a minute,” I told Flash, who jumped off my shoulder. “I want to say hi to him before I introduce you. If he’s home. Please, please be home,” I muttered. In almost no time at all, the window was flung open. A rush of warm air greeted me, and for a moment that was all I cared about. Then Max’s smiling face appeared in my line of vision, and that was the only thing that mattered.

My heart fluttered in my chest, but I forced it to stop. It annoyed me. “Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Hey,” he said back. We stared at each other, not moving. Then he laughed, and I remembered what a nice sound it was. He reached out an arm and tugged me through the window. I landed on the floor, and I realized I was laughing as well.

“What are you doing here?” He grinned and held out a hand. I took it, and he pulled me up and into his chest. Max was almost a head taller then me, so he could easily rest his chin on my head.

“I finished Shakespeare.” I pushed him gently away and stepped back so I could see him properly.

He looked almost exactly the same as the last time I had seen him, except maybe his eyes looked a little sadder, his smile a little heavier. But I couldn’t help but notice he looked a bit happier every time he looked at me.

“You did? Did you like it? I bet you did. I told you you’d like it,” he blabbered, a silly grin on his face. I chuckled and balanced on the edge of the bed, sinking into the mattress. Max sat down on the other side.

“Yes, it was wonderful. Which is weird. I don’t usually read.” I frowned, once again wondering why I had decided to pick the book up in the first place.

“Well, you just need to find the right book. And now you did.” He said it with easy confidence, something I didn’t associate with him. I looked up at him, surprised. “I suppose I did.”

“What’s your favorite line?” He asked eagerly, hands fluttering.

“Oh, I don’t know. And I’m not that good at memorizing lines. But I did like this one- ‘Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.’” I smiled ruefully. “Madness is kinda my thing. You should see my room.”

Max burst out laughing. “If you get to see my room, it’t only fair that I get to see yours. And if it’s anything like you, I’m sure it’ll be terrifying.”

“Hey!” I glared at him, an for a split second he looked worried, as if afraid he had gone too far.

“I am terrifying!” I said with exaggerated boldness, then launched myself at him. But, unfortunately, he was now one of the people who could detect sarcasm in my voice, and he didn’t run away in terror. He simply let me barrel into him. I wasn’t exactly used to people doing that, so we both went crashing into the floor.

Max probably would have been fine, except I had forgotten one thing- Flash. Flash was used to helping me in combat, and usually when I attacked something that meant “Here is the enemy. Go kill him now.”

That was indeed what my furry friend tried to do. He came soaring through the window like some sort of super mink and landed with claws outstretched on Max’s face. He howled in pain, but Flash simply hissed in his face.

“Flash!” I shouted. There was no trace of panic in my voice, although I felt it in every bone in my body. I was still on the floor, so I crawled over to Max on hands and knees. “Get. Off.” I said sternly. “He. Is. Good.”

Flash c****d his head at me, an expression that told me he thought I was strange, then whacked Max in the face with his tail and hopped down.

“Go sit down by the window,” I said to him, shaking a finger.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Max asked dazedly. He sounded almost betrayed.

“No, of course not. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it a long time ago,” I reassured him.

“Well that’s comforting,” he muttered. “What does your ferret have against me, anyway?”

“First off, Flash is a mink, not a ferret. And second, it’s not personal. He’s just used to attacking people.”

“So he’s like you, then?” Max tried to stand, and he staggered when he saw the blood dripping onto his hands. I would have hit him, but the scratch marks on his cheeks looked painful enough.

“I am going to ignore that. Sit down. I’ll go get you a paper towel.”

Before I could get anywhere his hand shot out, curling around my arm. “Don’t do that. My brother’s home. He might see you.”

This should have worried me, but by now I was so used to Max that my mind naturally assumed anyone related to him wasn’t a threat. “If you’re sure you’re not going to bleed to death.” I shook him off and poked one of the cuts. He yelped and jumped away from way. “You can’t just poke a wound!”

“Of course I can. I was just testing what your reaction was. Don’t worry, you passed. There’s no permanent damage.” I barely managed to keep a straight face.

“Oh yes, because I was so worried.” Max rolled his eyes. I gasped. “What that... sarcasm? From little gear brain? Oh, how you are changing!” I balanced on the tips of my toes and patted his head. A blush crept up his cheeks, turning his skin a reddish pink. I smirked- he was still the Max I knew. “There’s hope for you yet,” I promised him, arranging my features so I looked reassuring.

He didn’t look reassured, but he did stick out his tongue a bit and move to sit down. When he shifted, we both realized something was sticking to the bottom of his foot. He groaned and hopped on one leg, flailing his arms in a desperate attempt to grab the little paper.

He managed to pluck it off with his left hand and stumbled onto the bed. I was thinking it might have been something important, so I came up from behind him to look at it.

Turns out, it was important. Just not in the way I was thinking. It was the picture of my mother and her friend. “Oh, that’s mine. It must have fallen out of my pocket.” I reached to grab it, but Max moved it out of my reach. I grabbed for it again, but he just held it away. “Max, seriously. Give it back.” I was getting frustrated now. It was a piece of my mother, and I was not letting anyone have it.

“Ree? Why do you have a picture of my mother?” His voice was so quiet and sad I almost didn’t hear.

“Your- what?” I snatched the photo back, and this time he didn’t try to stop me. “That’s your mother?” I pointed to the girl with brown hair. Max nodded numbly. I felt my head spin with this unexpected development. “Oh. Well, that’s weird, because this is my mother.” I rested a finger on her, forgetting about smudge marks.

“Your mother. That’s your mother. And she’s hugging my mother.” His mouth had dropped open in shock, and he was hugging his knees to his chest while he rocked back and forth. Then- “What’s that? Written on the back?”

I frowned and flipped it over to see what he was talking about. There, on the bottom left hand corner, was two words. Friends forever. The first word was written in my mother’s quick scrawl, and the second word was smaller, neater. I read the words aloud, and we both looked up at each other at the same time. “They were friends. Like us, Max. They were like us.”

“Friends forever?” He grinned. It sounded like he was making fun of me, so I threw the picture at him. It fluttered through the air, and he caught it in his outstretched hand. His carefree face turned sadder when he looked at the image again. Then he turned to me hesitantly. “May I... may I keep this? I don’t have a lot of pictures of my mom. My family wasn’t big on that whole thing.”

I stared at my feet reluctantly. I wanted as much of my mother as possible, and this was perfect. If it wasn’t Max, I probably would’ve said no, but he looked so hopeful, so happy looking at his own mother that I couldn’t. He deserved his mother too. “Yes. Yes, of course. Keep it.”

He beamed so hard he almost looked like Caroline Pasquesi. “Thank you!” He hugged it for a second before placing it carefully on his nightstand alongside a notebook, family photograph and an mp3 player. The way he had it arranged, it looked like they were all things that mattered an enormous amount to him.

I’ve never really been one for privacy, so I strode across the creaky wooden floor to stand next to him and examine his little museum. The first thing I looked at was his notebook, which was perhaps one of the worst ideas I’ve ever had. I mean, I’m sure I’ve had worse, but, looking back, this ranks pretty high in the list of stupid things I’ve done.

Anyway, it was flipped open to a beautifully drawn picture of a smiling girl, and I bent down to look at it more closely. Large braces decorated her teeth, and her hair looked impossibly frizzy, although I’m not sure if that was actually how she looked like or just how she was drawn.

She didn’t look anything like Max, so I didn’t think she was his sister, but I didn’t know who else he would draw. Max was completely absorbed in finding a perfect spot for my picture, so he hadn’t seen me snooping, and I had to nudge his shoulder to get his attention.

“Hmm?”

“Who’s that?” I tapped the paper, and his eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s Lucy.” His voice was warm and he said her name with such ease I almost felt bitter. An ugly feeling that seemed suspiciously like jealousy bubbled in my chest, freezing my insides and making my eyes narrow. It was stupid, I know. Of course he had other friends. I did too. But no matter how hard I pushed it down, tried to make it go away, the feeling remained.

Something must have shown in my expression, because Max put a hand on my arm, his face taut with concern. “Are you alright?” He asked earnestly. I turned away. “I’m fine. Just fine.” My voice was sour.

“What’s wrong, Ree? You look upset,” he insisted. I whirled around to face him, unfairly furious.

“Yes, I’m upset. Why do you think? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because here you are, drawing some girl and looking like you’re in love with her, while I’m trying not to be upset because I LIKE YOU!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. Then the realization of what I just said reached me, and, limb by limb, I froze. No. I did not just say that.

While I was silently having a heart attack, Max looked like he had been underground for years and was just now seeing sunlight. His face was completely open, and I could see the pure joy and happiness radiating from him. He grinned from ear to ear, probably because he really only heard the end of my speech.

Before I had the chance to do anything, the doorknob jiggled.

“Norman,” Max whispered urgently. “Hide!” He pushed me away. Wild with the panic of being discovered, I dove behind his dresser, pressing myself against the wall. For some reason I wasn’t carrying my shurikens, and I didn’t trust myself to not accidentally zap something important. Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry, because Flash decided to stop being a good, silent spectator and sprang from his spot by the window directly onto the face of the teenager standing in the doorway. I could hear him screaming bloody murder from my hiding spot, and I couldn’t help but stick part of my head above the block of wood to see him clawing at the creature attached to him.

“AHH! GET THIS FERRET OFF ME!” He hollered, shaking his head back in forth in an attempt to shake Flash off.

“Actually, I think it’s a mink,” Max piped up helpfully.

“I- DON’T-CARE!” Norman shrieked, his hair erupting in flames. My little protector didn’t really like fire, so he detached himself from the flailing boy and scampered out the door.

“Max! How did a rodent get in the house?! You know what, never mind. Catch it!” He raced down the hallway after Flash, Max close behind him. I darted out of my hiding place to watch, mentally cheering for my mink, who was leading Norman on a wild chase. Because of his small body, he was able to turn quickly and skid in the opposite direction, leaving his opponent to crash into walls and trip over everything in his path.

“Get over here you little demon!” Max’s muscled brother roared, catching himself just before he toppled down the stairs. Just like any sane creature, Flash did not listen. Instead he dashed back into the room and scurried onto my shoulder. Max, pretending to help his brother to his feet and blocking his view of me at the same time, bought me enough time to throw open the window and wiggle through.

I jumped off the metal balcony without a second thought, rolling to absorb the impact of my lithe body hitting the concrete and bruising only a couple of ribs in the process. Not even stopping to catch my breath, I sprinted down the narrow alley, pumping my arms, wanting to get as far away as possible. As I rounded the corner, I thought I heard someone shout, “I like you, too!” And then I was gone.