Prologue II
Her left shoulder hurt like hell.
Jolts of pain like little sparks of lightning had been rolling down her back from that spot for the last few weeks. This occurred once or twice within the last year, having happened for as far back as she could remember really, and she was still lost on the reason.
On one such occasion when she was griping about it, her mother had off-handedly blamed the birthmark on said shoulder. But she doubted that, thinking her mother just had to be joking.
How could an arrow-shaped mark be the cause of that blasted pain, anyway?
She shouldered the duffel bag containing her clothes, shoving away the minor affliction like she had been doing, affording a smile to the other woman who was making sure she had everything for her trip.
"You're sure you really want to do this?" The brunette asked as she looked at her, brushing locks from her cheek as a small breeze tugged at their hair, her brow furrowing the slightest, "I can always reschedule my trip, Eve…" She started to offer.
Slightly shaking her head, the other brunette smiled wider in assurance and puffed, "Honestly, Janie, I'll be fine! I know what to do if anything happens, all right? Don't start fretting, least of all over me." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and added when she started to rebut, "I won't screw it up, I promise. Now go on, you'll miss your flight if you continue to doubt my impeccable capability."
Jane Foster also puffed when the other woman tilted her head knowingly. "Just… don't destroy the place while I'm gone." She chuckled, at a loss much to her chagrin, embracing her. "You're a lifesaver, Eve. I'll call as soon as I reach London."
Both women shared a smile before she turned to enter the cab and closed the door, adding a small wave to her old friend.
Evelyn Davies waved back and watched the yellow car shortly speed away and on to Phoenix, exhaling briefly and retreating to the 'headquarters'.
Unless one considered the Bachelor's she had in Physics and the Master's in European History, she was average for a woman in her mid-twenties. She had made a career of taking temp jobs if only to pay for the flat she rented when finishing college, and even then she only accepted aid from her parents to pay off the tuition. Most of her time that wasn't devoted to whichever stint she held down was free for all intents and purposes, thus explaining why she had left London for the 'dust-particle-sized' town of Puente Antiguo, New Mexico to house-sit for her old friend.
"Jet-lag getting you again?" Her designated assistant, Darcy, wondered when seeing her make a beeline for the refrigerator in search of a cold compress.
Evelyn successfully found the ice pack and took a clean dish towel from the nearby counter to wrap the pack in. "No, just an old archery injury flare up…" She sighed slightly in relief when the dull throbbing was sated with the cold, looking at her assistant as she had located the yogurt in the refrigerator. "One lab experiment gets shot to hell, not literally, and she can't trust me with her equipment." She lamented.
Her fellow brunette located a spoon and scoffed amusedly, "She brought it up like once or twice since you were going to come down… wasn't that in high school?" She asked.
"Ninth grade AP Chemistry, yes." She nodded wisely, sitting in the nearby kitchen chair. "It was ten years ago for God's sake." She added, holding the pack to her shoulder and exhaling.
Hopefully this wasn't going to be another incident.
}o{
What had seemed to be a quiet night turned into such a blur… Frankly, she wasn't sure how the tides had changed so suddenly.
Keeping her sharp eyes on the anomaly's tail that at last connected with the desert less than a mile away, she steered the van in said direction with the speedometer's dial leaning past fifty miles. "Hang on to something!" She warned her companions.
Her fellow brunette –and back-seat driver for the last half-hour— clung to the headrest of the front passenger, "You're gonna crash into whatever the hell that was!" She remarked.
The large utility van came to a skidding halt only yards away from where the anomaly had hit the dry ground, the brakes shrilly protesting to the burst of speed, while the trio shortly vacated the vehicle.
Brown boots momentarily stopping when her green eyes first found the circle with archaic runes burned into the grass, she looked from the design to the one who had caused it only to find it was a man. "Blimey…" She muttered in disbelief at seeing him sprawled there, rushing to his side when seeing him unconscious, dropping to her knees at his left. "Don't be dead… Come on, wake up." She urged as she heard her companions approaching them.
}o{
(Odd as this sounds, let's go back-track a bit to see how this started…)
basically i'm going to bounce back and forth between both characters' POV for another few chapters, and then it'll (hopefully) be smooth sailing after that. so if you're still with me, stay tuned!
