Where Loyalty Truly Lies- Chapter 6: Ignorance
"Help?! With what?! Evie, you better not. This guy can be a lunatic! A rapist! A serial killer!" Sarah burst out. Evangeline speared Sarah with a glare.
"That is so rude." She whispered.
Sarah looked back like she did nothing wrong. "What? It's the truth."
The girls looked back at the boy.
"Help with what?" Evangeline asked in a nicer tone of voice.
The boy looked around like someone was watching him.
"I…can't say."
Sarah snorted.
"Well, you definitely can't go now."
Obviously, Evangeline knew that she shouldn't, for lack of information. But…something about him looked so desperate. And Evangeline couldn't help it.
"Okay, I'll help you out."
Sarah's blonde head whipped around fast.
"What?! No, you're not! I'm telling your parents!" She ran back inside the restaurant.
"Quickly, you have to leave. My parents will keep an eye on me all night if they knew what was going on. I'll come see you when it calms down later tonight."
The boy nodded and left. Not one second later, Naveen came out of the restaurant with Sarah.
"Where is he?" Sarah shouted.
Naveen crossed his arms. "Yes, where is this 'creepy guy'?"
Evangeline suppressed a smile. Clearly, that was a Sarah-dub.
She decided to play the innocent card.
"There was no one here, Daddy."
Naveen looked skeptical, but shrugged and went inside, leaving behind a spluttering Sarah.
"I-I can't believe you did that! If you get into some kind of trouble, don't come crying to me." With that being said, she stormed inside.
"I wasn't planning on it." Evangeline said to herself.
She thought about her current situation. It wasn't smart, she knew that. So why? Why did she decide to help him? He just looked so desperate. That look he was giving her earlier was so intense…
"Still mad?"
Evangeline jumped.
Looking back, she saw Willy. She would talk to him, but she knew that the boy was still watching her. Instead, she held her arms out, and he ran into them.
"Guess not." Willy said, more to himself, as he made himself comfortable. After a few more minutes, Willy fell asleep.
"Evangeline, it's time to come inside," Tiana yelled over the jazz that was blaring out of the door.
Evangeline looked down at the soundly sleeping bobcat.
"I guess I can bring him inside." She picked Willy up without disturbing his sleep and walked in the door Tiana was holding open.
Sarah intentionally avoided her for the rest of the evening, until it was time for her and her parents to leave.
"Look, I didn't mean it. I want to know if you're in trouble and I want to help you. I know I can't stop you from doing what you want to do. Just please, be careful." The two friends embraced and Sarah left.
After the evening was winding down, Tiana's mother, Eudora, offered Ralphie, the King and Queen a place to stay, and they gratefully accepted. With the majority of the guests gone, Evangeline could finally slip out without being noticed.
"Okay," she said loud enough for the boy to hear, but quiet enough to where her parents wouldn't. He came out a second later.
"Thanks for this."
"No problem, but what, if I may ask, do you need help with?"
The boy looked physically shaken.
"I need something that only you can do."
"Excuse me?"
The boy rolled his eyes. "Look, I know you're into that voodoo stuff."
Evangeline swallowed hard. "H-how?"
"I knew that there was something weird about you when I first met you last night. So I followed you and your little brother into the swamp. I'm not going to out you or anything, I just need to see-," he cut himself off for a moment, then continued, "I just need to check something."
"Are those tears? Wow, he really is desperate." Evangeline thought.
"I guess there's no harm in helping people. All right, so what do you need me to do?"
"I just need to make sure you really are the one to help me, so you need to follow me."
Evangeline's eyes widened slightly. "O-oh," her gaze slid back to the restaurant. "There's no way we could do this here?"
Even before the boy shook his head, Evangeline knew the answer.
"Okay, hold on a minute." Evangeline took a necklace out of the recesses of her dress and put it on. Just before she was about to tuck it under the collar of her dress, the boy grabbed it and nearly yanked it off her neck. He pulled two necklaces identical to hers from the pocket of his jacket.
"Where did you get this?" he demanded.
"I- someone gave it to me."
His facial expression looked as if he just remembered something. He muttered something under his breath.
"Who?! Who gave it to you?!"
Suddenly, something clicked.
"You knew Mae and Nellie didn't you?"
His eyes widened comically, but Evangeline knew that whatever was happening wasn't funny. The boy backed away from her and turned his back to her.
"How do you know who they are?" It sounded like he was trying to keep his voice level.
"My voodoo teacher told me."
"Voodoo? How did your teacher know Mae and Nellie?"
"They were her old students."
"Voodoo, are you sure?"
"Yes, and if you don't mind my asking, what is your connection to Mae and Nellie?"
He laughed harshly. "You mean 'was', they're dead now. Nellie was Mae's best friend, my godmother, and Mae was my mother."
A/N: So how was it? Not bad, I hope. I know the ending isn't any new information because you should already know this, but because this is in Evangeline's perspective, it's a dropped bomb. As a Christmas present for me, do you guys mind reviewing? I don't really care if it's only for one of the chapters; it's the best gift I can get today.