Chapter Two:

The Other One


I woke up from being heavily shaken out of unconsciousness, everybody's number one way for waking up.

"Evie! Get up, now! We need to talk!"

I rolled over and stared at her. "You better be either bleeding to death or dying because it's only nine o'clock on a Sunday and I don't wake up for less than a major injury."

"Just get up. We need to talk about Cal before I burst! I still can't believe he didn't kiss you, which is respectable but only since it was your first date ever." She sat down next to me on the bed and began to speak with her hands. Sometimes, she could really be a major drama queen.

"Yeah, well, it's not that big of a deal. Like you said, there's always tonight and—if not then—the night after. There's no rush. I'm not even sure he's ever going to ask me out again after the interrogation that he's going to get from my Aunt Fauna."

"Yes, but if he does stay to enjoy the ride then you know that it's meant to be."

There was a knock at my bedroom door. "Can I come in?" Ben was standing there in his pajama pants and a blue bathrobe covered in little yellow duckies. His strawberry blonde hair was all messy, some of it blocking his bluer than blue eyes.

I chuckled. "What are you wearing?"

"Tara said it was an emergency. Are you okay?"

"Ugh." I put my blankets over my head and closed my eyes, hoping they would both disappear.

"Evie has another date with Cal Moretti tonight and we need to go over a strategy. You need to help this time since my advice didn't seem to do any good last night." Tara filled him in on why she was annoying the heck out of me.

His voice got closer. "Did she ask for your help this time?"

"Does she need to?" Tara countered. "I can be very helpful when people actually listen."

"Yes, but they don't listen so what's the point?" He teased.

"Ouch! Now you have to either take that back and help her out or you can just leave and never speak to me again." I could only imagine the pondering look he had on his face. "Sit down, Benjamin!" She snapped.

He whistled. "Someone's riding the crazy train."

"You have no idea." I mumbled.

He laughed. "You gonna come out of there or do I have to talk to your Winnie the Pooh blanket?"

I sighed and uncovered my face. "If I listen to what you two have to say, can I go back to sleep?" I was hoping for a yes, but was met with the opposite answer.

"No," Tara replied. "We're not leaving until the moment he steps into the house and maybe even a little after that."

"Whoa, now. I've got plans with Molly"—his girlfriend—"this afternoon." Ben commented.

"Then we better think quickly, shouldn't we." That wasn't really a question.

Right away, I knew I was in for a world of torment from the wonder twins. Ben was actually pretty good at giving advice but neither of them was prepared for this. They never had to give me advice about guys before. This was definitely a new experience for all of us. "Alright, lay it on me." I said, with a hint of regret I might add.

Tara turned to Ben. "You first, so you can leave." She was still mad that he wasn't staying as long as she wanted him to.

His brow furrowed before he spoke. "I know that when Molly and I first started dating, it was sort of new for both of us. The more stuff we did together, the closer we got. All you need is to give both of you a chance to make this thing happen and you'll get there."

"How did you ask her to be your girlfriend?" I needed to be prepared, just in case he ever asked me.

He paused. "It's not romantic or anything, like you're probably thinking. I just walked up to her one day and asked her out. After a couple of dates, I asked her if she wanted to make our relationship official and when she said yes I gave her a bracelet. Everyone does it differently, though." He was right. It wasn't romantic but it was still sort of cute.

I took a deep breath and let it out in one large gust. "That's helpful."

"Never said it would be. Only trying to give it a shot. Let him make his move and be open with him and it will all be good." He got up and bent down to kiss my forehead like the big brother he has always been for me. "I really should get going but good luck with your date. I'm sure it'll be great."

"Thanks, Ben. See you tomorrow."

"Later." He left, closing the door behind him.

Tara crossed her legs beside me. "So, do you think he's going to ask you out tonight?"

"I don't know. I feel like I know a lot about him but there is still a lot I want to know before anything else happens."

"Like what?"

Look at her asking all the hard questions. "I don't know. I wish he would tell me more about himself in general. Knowing that his favorite color is green and he's a Virgo isn't really a lot to go on."

"He told you he likes to write. That's something."

"Yeah, but not anything useful. If we kiss, I want to know who I'm kissing and not have him ending up to be some psycho creeper boy with a hidden agenda."

She stared at me like I was crazy. "Do you have experience with psycho creeper boys with hidden agendas?" She asked, though she probably thought I was the psycho.

"No. I'm only saying that it's a possibility that could be eliminated with more talking and information."

"Well, you guys will be talking at dinner when your aunt asks him a billion questions."

I hadn't really thought about that. "Yeah, I guess."

"You guess that we have to find you something hot for tonight."

After going through my entire wardrobe at least a dozen times, we ended up going to her house so she could go through her clothes. Apparently, I didn't have anything that screamed "date me because I'm a hoe" and her closet was stalked full of it. Her walk in closet is arranged in five sections: shoes, accessories, cute outfits, hot outfits and outfits you wear when you're desperate. She pulled a slim black dress out of the "desperate" section and held it up to me. Then she had me put it on and twirl around in it until I was dizzy. Having won her approval, she found shoes and accessories to create the perfect ensemble for yet another date. I had a feeling that if Cal and I were going to continue to see each other that I would be in her closet picking out clothes more than anything else.

Twilight approached and Aunt Fauna and I were in the kitchen putting the last touches on our famous "lazy chicken" recipe. It consists of chicken marinated in noodle seasonings served with a side of plain noodles mixed with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. It's actually pretty good. Anyway, as we were putting everything into their serving dishes, the doorbell rang.

I wanted to warn the poor guys before they came in so I went and answered the door.

Cal and the man I assumed to be his uncle stood before me in their Sunday best. "Hey, Evie. I would like you to meet my Uncle Louis. Uncle Louis, this is Evie Richards."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Moretti." I greeted as we shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Evie. Please, feel free to call me Uncle Louis or just Louis. Mr. Moretti makes me sound too old." He nudged his nephew.

"Ah, yes." He brought a box from behind his back and presented it to me. "We brought your aunt a gift."

I smiled. "I'm sure she'll love it. Please, come in." I gestured my arm towards the general direction of Aunt Fauna.

When Louis came in and walked past me into the living room, Cal followed him in and gave me a hug, smiling as he released me. "It's good to see you again."

"I agree." He chuckled and I realized I had said something wrong. "I mean, I'm also glad to see you again."

He shifted the box to one arm and took my hand. "I know what you meant. It's just funny to hear your way of speaking." He stepped beside me all the way to the dining room where Louis was helping Aunt Fauna set the table.

The two of them were exchanging friendly banter all through dinner. Mostly they talked about the teenagers but they mixed in a little bit of their own personal dramas. Cal commented on the simplicity of the meal and complemented on how delicious he thought it was. Louis quickly agreed and grinned, slurping down some noodles. We laughed as part of it splashed him in the face and stuck to his nose. We were actually laughing a lot that night. Then we reached the sibling-deaths part and it tied up the end of all humoring conversation. Cal had told his uncle some of what he had learned about my parents but only the basics. He wanted more, or at least thought that this was somehow the best way to close the discussion. Aunt Fauna had no better way to keep it going than to return the question. There was crying. There was a bit of teary-eyed grinning as memories of the good times were shared. Overall, it ended in a disaster.

I wanted to die when the night was over and they decided to leave. It meant that I had no way to make it up to them. I didn't want Louis to feel that he had done anything wrong because he technically hadn't. Worst of all, I thought that this would end my chances to be with Cal. We couldn't be compatible because he no longer liked me and I couldn't bear to see his face without being disappointed in myself.

Monday at school I was determined to right the wrongs. As soon as I saw his face, I deflated like a pathetic little five-cent balloon. At lunch Tara nearly beat my insides out with a, "go get him now" speech. After school, I walked home to drop off my stuff before I got in my car and drove to the outskirts of town. The weird thing about a small town is everyone knows where everyone else lives.

The place was huge! They didn't call it a mansion for nothing. It had to be at least a century old, refurbished to have a slightly new look while still retaining the eighteenth century architecture. Moretti sounded like the last name of one of the founding fathers of Wolfcrest. That would explain the expensive house and the age of it all. It was colossal and somewhat bleak, as if the building itself was warding off unwanted visitors.

I pulled up the driveway to the sturdy front door. Before I could even knock, the door opened.

"Hello."

His smile was so intoxicating. "Hi."

He stared at me as if he expected me to talk. "And what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Oh, right. I came to apologize for last night. My aunt is really weird and I don't think—"

While I was racing through my words in a nervous babble, he looked suspiciously around the front yard and opened the door a little wider. "No, Uncle Louis and I had a great time last night. Won't you come in?"

I was a little confused by the gesture but I stepped in anyway.

He closed the door with swiftness behind me. Then he grabbed my arms gently from behind and pushed me to a room. "This is the living room. Why don't you have a seat while I go get something? I'll only be a moment." Before I could even sit down, he raced out of the room in a blur.

I figured I must have been really tired and was beginning to see things in fast forward. It wouldn't be hard to believe. If I was starting to talk fast out of nervousness, I could easily be doing the same with everything I see.

A second or two later, he was back. In his hand was a tiny wooden box. He sat beside me and passed the box to me. "I really wanted to give you something."

I opened it up. Inside it was a locket on a silver chain in the shape of an oval. On the front, a big, cursive "M" was etched into the metal.

"It's been an heirloom in my family for years. The Moretti men would give it to the woman that they loved more than anything else in the world; and I'd like you to wear it."

Love, I thought. I was only really going for "like" or even "seriously like." Could he really love me after knowing me for only a few days? You always hear about love at first sight but I didn't think it was real. I suppose this could have happened to me, too. Having never experienced love, I wouldn't know it apart from any other feeling.

"I would love to."

He took the locket out of its box and put it on for me. Even after he was done adjusting the clasp, he left his hand on my neck, once again searching through my soul with a glance. A moment passed and no one had moved. Then it happened. He leaned in and kissed me right on the lips! If I had known all it took to get to this stage of the game was to come straight to his house, I would have done it on Day One.

When we split apart, I felt like I couldn't breathe and yet my lungs were working great somehow. Both of us were smiling which led me to believe that we both liked the kiss. What usually happens now?

"I meant to ask you earlier, would you like to hang out with me and my friends at the grille? We're meeting around seven o'clock." More time together would be fantastic but I wasn't sure if I could put him through another "meet the family" dinner. Tara and Ben were the closest thing I had to family, after Aunt Fauna of course.

"That would be great."

"Great." I stood up and was about to walk to the door when he stopped me.

His hand was at my arm again. "Wait," He ordered, hesitating afterwards to stare at the décor. "Is it okay if I come over to your house now and go with you from there? The roads are supposed to be getting pretty rough out there and I wouldn't feel right about you going alone."

Aw, how sweet. He cares. "Sure, if you want. My aunt is home but she's been pretty chill about you visiting since last night." I removed his hand from my arm and took it in mine.

Hanging out at my house for a couple hours wasn't so bad after the kiss. We did our homework, occasionally helping each other out on questions that didn't make any sense. Actually, he did most of the helping. I knew little of anything he didn't learn at his old school. Boredom struck when we were finished an hour later. We ended up turning on the television. My aunt must have been watching it this morning because the news was on.

"Sheriff McMillan and deputies came across a car that ran into a tree off Route 91 just outside of Wolfcrest. So far, officials say that the couple that was found in the car had suffered serious injuries after losing control of their vehicle and running it off the road. The car then exploded and consumed the bodies found in the front seat. Their identities remain unknown but the authorities promise that all will be discovered in due time. All we can do now is sit and wait."

I wanted to cry. Too many accidents happen. Too many people die. As simple tears came to my eyes, forbidden to overflow, Cal embraced me with my head on his shoulder. When I apologized, he told me there was no reason for anyone to say they're sorry for crying. It was a human emotion that should be embraced, especially for someone who had lost as many people as we have. Our circumstances were so similar that it was hard to ignore. We needed each other. We were drawn to each other in ways that only destiny could design.

I cleared away my emotions as soon as I could finally stand it and sat up straight. As I looked down, I saw a burn where my necklace had touched his neck. "Oh my goodness. What happened?"

"It's nothing, see?"

I looked at where the burn had been; where it was no longer. "But I saw it. It doesn't make any—"

He stood up and interrupted me. "We should go. We're going to be late." He packed his books into his backpack and held out his hand.

"Are you okay?" It felt like something was wrong. I took his hand and he pulled me up from my perch then fled for the door.

Conversation was impossible when we got into the car. Nothing was said but only because there didn't seem to be anything to say. He loosened up when we got to the Grille. Cal clasped his hand to mine and led us through the front door with a smile on his face. He was going to tell me what was wrong, whether he liked it or not.

"Evie! Cal! Nice to see you!" Tara squealed from the table her and Ben were sitting at.

"If I knew this was a couples' thing, I would have brought Molly." Ben mumbled to her.

She elbowed him in the side. "Don't be rude." Then in a louder voice, she asked, "How are you guys doing?"

"Good…" I think she was just happy that Cal and I were still getting along after that terrible dinner with my aunt—she agreed that it had gone poorly. Why she was acting so weird at this moment was another thing entirely. I turned to my boyfriend—if you could even call him that—waiting for his answer.

"Splendid."

Ben chuckled. "You must not have turned on the news lately. A couple of idiots lost control of their SUV and rammed themselves into a redwood. Now, that takes skill.

I shook my head, shaking away any emotions that might have been glooming over me. "Actually, we saw it not too long ago."

Cal put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. Before he pulled away, he whispered in my ear saying, "It's going to be okay." I was right. We needed each other for comfort, even if we weren't going to be anything more than friends.

Tara couldn't help herself as she beamed at the two of us. It was almost as vibrant as the day she met her boyfriend Charlie Wright officially. Naturally, they'd known each other as names and simple faces but when they actually started talking, she was absolutely glowing.

The four of us ordered from our very nice waiter, a kid by the name of Lenny Bacardi from my Calculus class. We all seemed to be in a chicken and curly fries kind of a mood. Curly fries must have been created by God because they are simply heavenly. Somewhere during Ben and Cal's never-ending debate about who was going to win the Super Bowl this year, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to text my aunt. I patted my pockets down for my phone but came up short.

"I'll be right back. I just have to get my phone out of the car."

"Don't be too long." Tara sang as I got down from the tall booth seat.

Rolling my eyes, I trudged out of the door and made my way to my car. By now, the moon had surpassed the brightness of the sun and the streets were lit only by the occasional street lamp. As I walked over to the driver's side, the lights above me flickered. After a couple of seconds, they merely stopped working all together. Fog crept eerily down the road toward my car and I could swear I heard the pestering sound of a crow not too far off. The adrenaline was kicking in and I hurried to unlock my car and grab my phone from the dashboard. When I spun around, I nearly jolted out of control. Right before my eyes was a man with dark brown, almost black hair. It would be a lie if I said I didn't find him attractive but the fact was he was seriously creeping me out.

"Are you with Cal?" He asked, straight and to the point.

"Who wants to know?"

"Good, I found the right one. You understand; it would be embarrassing if I went through all this trouble and you weren't her."

"Her?"

He nodded. "Cal's little girlfriend. I already heard all about you, of course."

"Who are you?" I inquired again.

"I'm almost a little offended. Almost. Cal and I haven't really spoken a lot these past few years but he's still my baby brother." A devilish grin came across his lips. He held out his hand. "I'm Damon."

"Damon? Cal has a brother?"

He shook his head. "He really never spoke about me at all? Now I'm heartbroken." He stated cynically.

I shook his outstretched hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, then. If you'd like, we were eating and I'm sure you'd be welcome to our small party." I headed for the door.

Damon stopped me with his arm, placing his hand against my car to block my way. "I'd rather stay out here and talk for a while, if you don't mind. There are so many things that he won't tell me. Maybe you could shed some light on a few of them." He leaned in until his face was merely inches away from mine. "Right now, though, I think you want to kiss me." His pupils seemed to do a funny dance as I stared into them, half-filled with fear and adrenaline. Then he continued to lean in until our lips almost met.

Luckily, I was able to duck out of the way and run inside… well, to the door at least. Somehow he managed to get from the car to the front door of the restaurant in less than a second. I had to do a double-take. "How did you—?"

"Not important." He looked down at my necklace and saw the symbol that was engraved on it. "I see he's already managed to give you a gift. Finally! I thought he was going to be a mopey wreck forever." Then he peered over my shoulder. "Well, hello, brother."

"Damon. What are you doing here?" Cal questioned without expressing any emotion whatsoever.

"I'm trying to have a conversation with your girlfriend which you are rudely interrupting." Damon replied, his smile still upon his face.

Cal took my hand. "Why don't you go inside? I need to have a chat with my brother."

I wasn't sure what was really going on between Cal and Mr. Light-blue-eyes and I wanted to stay to see what I was missing. However, I knew he was serious when he told me to go inside. This was something else he was going to have to explain to me or else.

I went inside and sat down across from Tara and Ben. One had a worried look on her face. The other was zoning out and probably never realized I was there until the first said something.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Yup," I replied halfheartedly. "Everything is just dandy." I popped a curly fry in my mouth and stayed silent.

It seemed like forever before Cal came back inside, without Damon. He parked himself by me and continued to eat his meal as if nothing had happened. Agitation came off him in waves but never showed in his expression. He was good at hiding his emotions from others. Not me.

When everyone was done, we got our coats, Ben paid, and we stepped outside. We said our goodbyes with the knowledge that we would see each other in school the next day and left in our respective vehicles. Since he didn't have his own car, I had to drive Cal all the way back to his house. It was time to get some answers whether he liked the idea or not.

"Tell me about your brother." I didn't ask. This was an order.

"There's nothing to tell. Our stories are the same. He just chose to act on our experiences differently."

"I'm gonna need a little bit more than that." I clarified.

I could see him stare at my face from the corner of my eye. Silence, and then came my answers. "It started out when we were younger. There was this girl Damon had fallen in love with. It was right after our parents had died and he craved love as a necessity he had to have injected immediately before he shriveled away. Unfortunately, the girl did not love him in return. Instead she had fallen in love with me. Again, the affections were not met. After months had passed, she decided to take her own life because it was the only way she could see that would capture my attention. Damon was devastated and he couldn't believe what I had done. He promised me that night that he would make my life a living hell. He's been trying to make me miserable ever since." He appeared to be severely tortured by all of this. Was it seriously that bad?

"But you're brothers—"

"I know," he interjected. "But that doesn't mean anything to him anymore."

We continued along the winding roads until we reached his house. I unlocked the doors to let him out. "I'm glad you came tonight." I meant it, even if he wouldn't tell me everything right away. The fact that he told me anything at all meant that there was trust building between us and that was a step in the right direction.

"Thank you for inviting me. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"See you later."

He closed the door and jogged inside out of the rain that began to fall hard.

All the way to my house, I felt a strange feeling, similar to the one I had felt before I had seen Damon. I half expected him to be standing on the side of the road along the way or on the sidewalk as I got back into town towards my house. It never happened but the feeling remained.

After I pulled into the driveway and locked the doors, I opened the front door and quickly got inside. As I rotated to close the door, there he was again out of nowhere.

"How do you know where I live?" I inquired with frustration.

"Cal told me. He wanted me to check up on you. I wasn't supposed to tell you though." Damon shrugged. "It's probably better if you know, anyway."

Believing anything he said was hard. No matter how much he seemed to repel me, he was still Cal's brother and a place for him would always have to be there in my loving heart, no matter how small. "Would you like to come in for a moment or two?"

A grin fell upon his lips once more. "I would love to, Evie." Like Cal had before, Damon carefully took a step forward before he entered the house. Perhaps it was a family thing.

He followed me into the kitchen and sat down at the island counter, perfectly at ease.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" I opened my refrigerator to scavenge around. "I've got leftover pizza, chicken. Or I could make you something."

"You cook?"

I huffed. "You sound surprised."

He shook his head and pursed his lips. "Not at all; if anything, you seem to know your way around." I gave him a confused look and he clarified. "The kitchen, I mean."

"Right… So, do you need something?" My patience was wearing thin thanks to this guy. Even if he was attractive in any way, shape or form, he was still agitating the heck out of me.

"Well, giving my apologies for trying to kiss you. People tell me I'm kind of impulsive sometimes but that's no excuse for how I acted. On the other hand, giving my side of the story while I'm here wouldn't hurt. I figure you've talked to my brother about me." A glance at my face assured him that I had. "Just as I thought. You see, my brother has been known for lying back in the day to impress girls. From the looks of it, he probably told you that I'm an evil beyond a doubt, revenge-seeking psychopath with a hidden agenda. Maybe he added something about Guinevere."

"From the First Knight?" That was one of my favorite movies. It was the only movie I had ever seen where Richard Gere actually had a different hair color besides gray.

He glared at me. "Really? A movie reference?"

I shrugged. "It's the first thing that came to my mind. Now, who's Guinevere?"

Damon patted on the seat next to him but I preferred the seat on the other side of the table, as far away from him as was polite in this situation. "She was the girl I loved while my parents were alive. But it was a lot more complicated than brother rivalry. Guinn was killed." For an "evil" person, he looked dreadful; heartbroken.

"I'm sorry. It must have been really hard for you." I walked over to his side and patted his arm. Maybe all he needed was a gesture that showed him he was cared about.

"It's not something you can feel any other way about. We parted so suddenly. It was hard for me to bear." He put his hand over mine. "Thank you. It means a lot to hear such kindness from a stranger." Suddenly, he stood from his stool. "I should probably be going. I wouldn't want my brother to have an aneurism on my behalf."

"Do you need anything before you go?"

He reached the door and pivoted on his heels. "No, but thank you for everything, Evie. Cal will be pleased to know that you made it home safely." Poof—a second later he had disappeared before I had time to blink.

As I went up to my room for the night, I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something seemed off about Damon Moretti. While he was supposed to be this fiend of the Moretti family, there appeared to be more to him than that. He was without a doubt the strangest of them all—including their Uncle Louis who thought bringing up dead relatives in friendly conversation was a wise decision. No, Damon was different. A voice in the back of my mind warned me that something wasn't as it seemed. There was a performance that masked a secret I was not allowed to understand. What it was about, I was unsure of.

Cal was a whole different story. His behavior around his older brother was simply odd. I have heard of sibling rivalry but what they were doing was way off the charts. My boyfriend was acting cruel towards a man who was hurt emotionally. Damon was threatening his own brother's welfare over the loss of a close one. But who to believe? I wasn't a part of any of this so my information intake was bias and therefore inaccurate. Someone had to be telling the truth.

Out of options, I went next door to my Aunt's room. I knocked on the door and came in.

Aunt Fauna was sitting up against the headboard reading the latest supernatural chick book. I never understood why shed like that stuff. A guy who creeps on you while you're sleeping isn't exactly a match made in heaven.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked as I crossed the room to her side.

She peered up at me over her stylish reading glasses and pulled the covers away so I could sit beside her. "What is it, Evie? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah…"

She glared down at me in disbelief.

"Well, I could be better."

With her arm wrapped around me, she stroked my hair in comfort. "Tell me what's wrong, snow pea."

Fauna Richards wasn't my first choice but she was good at pretending she knew what she was talking about. "I don't understand what's happening to me. First the new kid in school asks me out and we have so much in common. Now, he's shutting me out."

She continued to stroke my hair as she spoke calmly and soothingly to me. "Nothing is wrong with you. If anything, there's something wrong with him. Why don't you give him a little space? When he realizes what he's missing, he'll come find you." This time, she was right. I wasn't going to get anywhere standing on his toes. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I looked up with a smile. "Thanks, Aunt Fauna. Is it alright if I sleep here tonight?"

Another glare. "You're lucky you're cute, kiddo." With that, she turned off the light and rested her head on her pillow. "Goodnight, snow pea."

"Goodnight." I snuggled into the blankets and fell fast asleep.

In the middle of the night, I heard a noise downstairs. Filled with the courage I needed, I tiptoed down the stairs into my living room.

Cal was pacing back and forth, rubbing the back of his neck. He heard me come in and spun around. "I came to apologize. I'm so sorry how I've been treating you. Let me make it up to you." He crossed the room to me and pressed his eager lips to mine. We made it to the couch in time for us to fall into one another's arms.

He was lying right on top of me and I couldn't believe what was happening. I turned to make sure my aunt wasn't awake. "Wait, what if she hears us?" I asked as he was at my neck. I looked back and I was shocked at what I saw.

Damon was the one on top of me, grinning his satanic grin. "She's fast asleep." He returned to kissing my lips, my jaw, and my neck. "She won't hear us."

I awoke two or three hours later, hyperventilating in fright. Had that really just happened? I looked around my aunt's room and—even though I could feel the dampness on my lips—decided no. It was all a dream.