Day 0 BF Evie

The next morning I woke with the dawn. Even when staying up late, something about being outside means you wake with the dawn. Jackson had shifted so he lay on his side and I lay on my back. He had one leg draped over both of mine and one arm possessively wrapped around my waist. His arm was still behind my neck. I smiled, drifting off again. I was a cuddler, but since Mom and I were on the outs and Mel wasn't much of a cuddler, that just left Brandon. Since I had been in avoidance mode with him, it had been a long while since I'd gotten any good cuddles. I wiggled a smidge closer to his torso and wrapped my arms around Jack's arm at my waist, relishing the closeness, and drifted off again, smiling.

I woke feeling as though I was being watched. I lay still and controlled my breathing, trying to see if I could sense what was going on. I wasn't in Jack's arms anymore. Alone. Had he left? If he had, it could be an enemy, one of those three kids from last night or maybe Death for real in the Cane fields? Suddenly filled with adrenaline and panicked I rushed to my feet and stood, running for the cane and not stopping until I was three rows in before turning and standing to see who was there.

Jack.

Crap.

He was sitting on his bike staring at me with that look on his face like he'd found another puzzle piece and was trying to figure out where this one fit in.

I slowly walked out of the cane, feeling really, really stupid. To give myself something to do I picked up a blanket and folded it, saying, "Thank you for staying with me last night. I slept well." I had too. No evil Red Witch dreams. I couldn't hardly remember the last time I'd slept so well. A full night of sleep was rare. Maybe once in two or three months. I folded the other blanket. Just green, growing plants last night, the dreams I dreamed when I was happy.

He studied me before telling me bruskly, "I've got to be goan."

And he'd waited to go until I woke…why? So he could protect me? Stare at me while I slept? Probably both. That was…I shook off the thought. He was obviously unhappy with me. So why had he bothered to stay? The full night of sleep made me feel so grateful towards him a lump grew in my throat, especially when it seemed so obvious he hadn't wanted to be here. Which meant it likely wouldn't be happening again. Damn it.

"Thanks for everything." I hugged the blankets. Why did this feel so final. So…wrong? "See you soon?"

"Ouais." He came closer, studying my face, looking for something, I didn't know what. Then he lifted my chin and gave me a kiss. Long, lingering. As though he was telling me something without words. Goodbye? For how long?

When he got on his bike I told him, "Jack?" I waited until he looked at me, then I asked, "Where will y'all keep safe tonight?" because I needed to know they would be safe for certain, not just vague assurances.

He stared at me for a long moment before he asked, "Why you wan to know?"

"I just…I need to know as many as possible are safe."

"We're planning a potluck at the local churches. We're advertising it as a fundraising Fais do-do, asking folks to stay until midnight if possible, especially if they have small kids. It's a big stone cathedral. There's a few stain glass windows, but they're narrow and my podna's figure they'll be easy enough to cover. They got storm shudders anyhow. We sent out the invite throughout our parish, asking folks to bring a few of the easiest to come by items on your list, water, propane for the cookout grills, gasoline, canned and boxed goods, seeds. We told them the church was collecting supplies for the poor."

"A few folks are bringing animals to the church voluntarily. A petting zoo sort of thing for family and friends that are visiting. Some others are coming on the down-low. Tee-bo, Lionell and a few others were charged to bring any livestock they knew of in the parish to the building, quietly keep the animals in the outer rooms. Lionell's good at…that sort of ting. The boys are also goan to be quietly sabotaging all the cars in the lot, try to keep all the folks with small children from leaving, even though they'll want to go home early."
My mouth dropped open in shock at all the thought he'd put into keeping those in his parish safe. I was in awe!

"He or the others get into any trouble over this, I gave them your number to call. I'll expect you to post bail."

He gave me a look that promised punishment if I didn't comply. "I will. I swear."

His grey eyes searched mine for a long moment. "Bail's expensive princess. You might have to part with both your earrings, your new necklace and more before all the boys are in the clear." He seemed to be testing me, but I didn't care. I was dead serious about this. He'd gone beyond the extra mile for me, believed in me when no one else had, and had put a plan into action to save as many people as possible. He could have every gem I owned if that was what it took.

"If that's what it takes, then that's fine." I told him, my blue eyes meeting his. "They'll have more than earned them before tomorrow's over. But tell them to make sure they're not so busy working that they don't forget to get inside the building when the storm clears and the lights begin."

Jack must have found what he was looking for, because he nodded once and shrugged on his jacket over his bare chest. Then he shoved on his helmet and took off.

I stared after him as he roared off through the fields, feeling bereft for some reason I couldn't even explain. When I couldn't see or hear him anymore, I turned around, one hand holding the blankets, the other hand splayed to touch the comforting cane stalks, and slowly walked back toward home.

I checked my phone as I crept into the house. 8:42 Mom didn't hear me come in, talking on the phone to some farmer about the drought. As I got undressed my phone fell out of my boot.

Phone.

Matthew.

Mom.

As I showered quickly I thought, Does Matthew's Mom even know what's going to happen? Can she comprehend what's going to happen through all his cryptic speech that the world is about to change forever?

I dressed quickly and grabbed my phone, pushing speed dial ten for Matthew. Rachael answered.

"Hi, Mrs. Dixon, this is Evie."

"Evie! Hi. Did you want to speak with Matthew?"

"I do, but I'll want to talk with you next if that's ok."

"Oh. Sure thing. Just a minute dear."

"Hi Empress. Are you prepared?"

I took a deep breath before I spilled. Though he knew the past, I was telling him this anyway. Heaven knew why. "I'm working on it but my mom isn't and I can't talk to her about this stuff and here's why. She had me committed this summer because of all the visions. She thought I was insane. So I haven't been able to tell her about any of this. I want to but I have to have credibility and I don't. Regardless, I'll get her, me and Mel in our cellar tonight."

"But I just wanted to ask you, does your Mom know what's going to happen tonight?"

"I warn. Prepare. Speak Louder. She can't hear. Can't listen. Muggle."

Okay. I'd ready Harry Potter. I took that to mean that she couldn't receive Matthew's visions and didn't get his lingo.

"I'd like to tell her for you in muggle speak. Is that alright?"

"Arcana means secrets."

"I know honey. But Matthew, it's the last day. What more can she do? I'm saving as many people as I can. I know your mom has people she cares about, things she would do if she knew what was coming. What if she knew how special you are? You told me when you first saw me that I didn't listen, so you'd speak louder. I started listening more carefully, and I talked to Jack, who helped me figure out some of your puzzles. Please, let me at least try and talk to your mom. I speak muggle. Maybe I can help her listen to you better in the days ahead?"

He was quiet for a moment and then he said, "Empress is Matthew's good friend. Thank you Evie."

"You've done so much for me Matthew. I just want to help you for once."

He said in a dazed voice, "This changes things. Many things."
Before I could ask what that was about I heard rustling and then his mom spoke. "Hi Evie, it's Rachael. What did you want to tell me?"

"First could I exchange some information real quick? I'd like to give you my address and get yours. I know you live near Huntsville, Alabama and I think I remember the street name…"

Rachael gave her the info Evie quickly wrote it on the back of Matthew's picture.

"Do you have a pen?"

"Um…Yes. Go ahead." Rachael wrote without comment until Evie told her she was in Sterling Louisiana.

"Louisiana? How do you know Matthew? I thought you said you were friends? That he'd asked you to call him several times."

"I'm about to tell you something Mrs. Dixon and it's going to be very hard for you to believe. Your son is very special. And when I say special, I mean that he's been talking to me, without using a phone. He's been speaking to me through visions. He started doing this as far back as last Christmas."

I took a deep breath and blew it out on a little laugh. "You have to understand, at first I thought at first that I was going crazy. Then a few days ago, Matthew appeared in one of the visions he sent and spoke to me. When he kept appearing, I finally asked Matthew if he was real, if he really existed. He showed me a vision of him standing in a yard at a barbecue. He was standing alone all by himself. The other kids wouldn't talk to him. He was wearing a shirt that said HUNTSVILLE SPACE CAMP and a rocket launched into the sky. I asked for his phone number. He showed a vision of the paperwork for the space camp and I memorized your number. That was the night I first called you."

"Evie…what you're saying…I'm sorry—

"I can prove it!" I interrupted. I'd take the migraine. Anything to prove it. "Write something down on paper. Matthew can send me a vision and show it to me. I'll read it off. I swear to you this is real and it's more important than you can know because I need to tell you something and you have to believe me so let me prove this to you." My voice was full of fire. I had to make her believe me!

My nose tingled and my room disappeared but I knew I was still holding my phone and sitting on my bed. Now it looked like I was in the living room of Matthew's house. Rachael Dixon had a cute southern place, quilts, china on the walls, rustic and antiques, lots of things that wouldn't look out of place in a Cracker Barrel. She was about the same age as my mom, brown hair that was shoulder length, dressed in a nice orange top with lace accents and jeans with brown boots, she sat on a blue couch, the phone on a wooden end table next to her, a pad of paper and pen on her lap. Matthew was standing in front of her, arms crossed, focused and assured, a fireplace, mantle and mirror behind him, pictures of him and Rachael together sitting on the mantle. Matthew had placed me sitting on the couch next to his mom.
"Hi Matthew." Matthew just nodded at the pad Rachael was writing on as she held the phone next to her ear.

"Rachael, as you're writing on your pad of paper, "This is the worst hoax ever three exclaimation points, sixteen thousand one hundred eighty four point seven seven seven you are sitting on a blue couch next to a wooden table with Matthew standing in front of you with his arms crossed…and he's looking rather smug at the moment…and your mouth is gaping open Oh, no, Mrs. Dixon no! Don't cry! Matthew! Hug your mother right now!"

Matthew gave me a confused look but walked forward and bent over a bit, awkwardly hugging his mom's shoulders.

Did he not know how this was supposed to be done? "Kneel down silly boy and give her a proper hug." He obeyed. "There you go. Rub her back a little."

Mrs. Dixon had her head buried in Matthew's neck and one hand on his head, but her other hand still pressed the phone to her ear. While she calmed down I commented on how cute Matthew was growing up. "Awww, look at you on that rocking horse! How old was he?"

"18 months."

There was another of him holding a Lightsaber in a brown robe with shaggy hair, just like a young Anakin. "You make such a cute Jedi Matthew!"
"That was Halloween. He was six." Matthew glared.
"What? You're adorable like that!"

He continued glaring and said. "Time is short."

"Yeah, you're right. Mrs. Dixon. I know this is huge and I can't imagine what is going through your mind so I'm just going to tell you what I know so far alright?" Rachael nodded into Matthew's neck.

"You just nodded." A sobbing laugh from Rachael.

"Evie, You have no idea how much it means to me that you're telling me this about my son.

I chuckled a bit. "Matthew has the ability to see the future and the present. Right Matthew?"

"And past."

"Right, past too. Ok! So then, Matthew has shown me that tonight there is going to be a major event. Tonight is the night of the full moon. There will be a thunderstorm, maybe rain. After that will come what will appear to be something like the Aurora Borealis or northern lights. People will be spellbound by the lights. Most who look at the lights will be turned to ash. Some will become … changed. Hideous creatures whose skin is wrinkled and they ooze and they crave blood, but in drought they crave water. What you need to do to be safe is to hide in a cellar or basement without windows until the lights are over."

"Once they're done, go out and raid for supplies. Matthew, will our cars work after?"

"Not until you fix them."

I don't know if phones will work after tonight, but I'll try and listen to you as well as I can, alright.

"Phones only work if safe with you. They'll work, but not call."

"Right. Move all electronics to the cellar pronto! You catch that Mrs. Dixon?"

"I did. Call me Rachael, Evie.

"Crap. And I can't call you on my phone right?"

"Not on phone, you call me, I hear you."

"Wait, what?"

"You call me, I hear you, we'll talk."

"Seriously?" When he nodded at her she grinned. "That's awesome! I'll still get to talk to you after the flash happens!"

He smiled at how happy she was at that. She'd have to put up with a migraine to talk with him, but whatever. Some things were worth it.

"Rachael, I just want you to know that Matthew talks to me a lot. And I can talk to him back. We're friends. I'll do anything for him and he'd do anything for me, right Matthew?"

"Empress is my only friend."

Rachael clarified,"So you're Empress and Evie?"
I answered, "That's right. See, I'm still learning about this myself, but as near as I can understand, this has something to do with the Tarot cards. Matthew is the Fool card and his power is seeing Past, Present, and Future. And I'm the Empress card with power over Plants. Each Major Arcana is a person with a Power. Some are bad cards and you need to avoid them at all costs, like the Lovers who will lead a huge army, El Diablo, who wants to eat people. It's strange and weird and I'm sorry it's so creepy. I have to admit I don't like it either."
I continued,"To sum up, Matthew is hard to understand, but he's brilliant and you have to learn to listen to him, and try to understand what he's trying to tell you because it will save your life. He's already saved mine. Sometimes it feels like he's speaking another language, but try as hard as you can to understand and be patient. Matthew's been so patient with me. Is there anything you want to ask or say while I'm here?"

Rachael sounded so dazed. "I wish I could think of something, but my mind is so jumbled up. What do we do after the Flash? After tomorrow?"

Matthew took that one, "It Begins at the End."

I asked, "What Begins Matthew?"

"Arcana, Foes, Obstacles, Allies, Battles, Arsenal. Prepare Empress."

Rachael asked, "What does that mean Evie?"

I was afraid of what it meant. Someone had tried to kill me with lightning bolts last night. I had grown thorn claws in a dream and in real life. I wanted to be nothing like the red witch. Death had threatened to pierce me with his sword.

My voice shook, "Um, for now, go to the stores and buy everything Matthew tells you to. Call any family or friends and warn them to do the same. Empty your bank account to do it. Tomorrow, go to the stores and take everything you can get your hands on that's left. Maybe look up a prepper list. Bullets, beans, trust Matthew with your life. That's the most important thing. And I'll be in contact with him through visions so if he tells you I'm coming or that you need to go somewhere to meet me then you can believe him.

"Evie, you've been an absolute Godsend."

"Rachael?"

"Yes Evie?"

"Before you go," My voice was shaking. Was I going to do this? 10:00am. We still had time to prep. Yep. Too late to send me back to CLC. "Could you talk to my mother? She thinks I'm…delusional. She had me committed this summer…because of all the visions Matthew sent me." I couldn't hold back the tears and it was obvious. "I need you to talk to my mom, help referee a shared vision with the four of us, something, anything, help prove to Mom I'm not crazy so we can be prepared too. Please."

Mom was downstairs, staring out the window at the cane fields, probably worried about the drought. She turned when I came in.
"Oh, hi Honey, I didn't see you come in. Did you have a good time at Mel's last night?"

"Yeah, I did." I sat down at the kitchen table and patted the place next to me, indicating I wanted her to sit. I put my phone on the table in the middle, just waiting. Mom walked over. "Mom, you remember how I told you that night that if I needed to tell you something, that I would?" My stomach literally trembled with anxiety. I hadn't known it could do that…
Mom's step faltered and her face became even more serious as she pulled out the chair and sat. "I remember. Do you have something you need to tell me Evangeline?"

"I do Mom. I continued taking my meds like I was supposed to, only, I had a vision after, and in this vision, there was a boy, and he talked to me. Then I had another vision and he showed up again. So I talked back to him and I asked him if he was real, if he had a name."

"Evie…If your visions are continuing then we need to talk to your doctors about your prescriptions-"
"No Mom, you need to ask yourself a question!" My eyes cut to hers and my tone was fierce and determined.

She looked at me shocked because when I'd had these visions last spring I'd been a scared little girl searching for answers I didn't have. I'd had no clue what to do then. Only I wasn't that scared little girl any more.

I had answers and I was giving them to her and she was going to hear me out! "And that question isn't do I need more medication? That question is 'What if you're wrong?' What if you're wrong about my visions being hallucinations and delusions. Because if you're wrong, then people are going to get hurt! We are going to get hurt!"

"All I'm asking for from you right now is thirty minutes or less of your time. If I can't convince you that I'm right in thirty minutes, then I won't bother you about this the rest of the day. On Monday morning you can call the doctors and we can discuss increasing my medication. Deal?"

I could see it on her face. She was shocked. But she was going to listen.

"All right Evangeline, you have my attention. Go on. What about this boy?"

"I asked him if he was real. If he really existed. He showed me a clip of a vision of himself at a barbecue…"

I told her how I'd figured out where he lived, how Matthew had shown me his number and called him that first night. How I'd called him everyday since. How he could see the present and the future. How I'd talked to his mother and told her that she needed to prepare for what was coming tonight. And then I showed Mom the two sketches of what was coming tonight. The northern lights and the chaos that would follow. Piles of ash and safety in the cellars.

"Evie…I know you believe all this honey…"

My phone rang.

Mom looked at it. I touched the call button and put it on speaker saying, "It's for you."

"Hello, this is Karen?" Mom's pretty blond head tilted to the side in confusion.

"You want to believe your daughter but you need proof right? I'm your proof. I'm Rachael Dixon and I'm Matthew's Mom. He told me I should call now. This is a good time I assume?"

Mom's mouth gaped open and I grinned. I was beginning to love Matthew. I'd claimed Mel as my sister long ago. First chance I got, I was going to stake claim on Matthew as a brother. I just had to figure out which one of us was older…He felt like the younger one for some reason.

Mom and Rachael had wanted to talk forever and granted they had a lot to talk about, but I reminded mom that it was a cell phone and they could talk in the car so they should do this so that we could begin our mad prepping errands pronto. We ran into bunches of teens in town, all grabbing similar items.

I called Mel once Mom and Rachael were done talking, confirming she'd pranked her parents and would be at my house that night. When she told me that a bunch of people had their phones stolen at the rager last night I couldn't believe it.

"What?!"

"Yeah! Good call putting ours in our boots like you said, otherwise we'd probably have lost ours too."

I knew I'd seen Lionell sneaking around the cars last night! And Jackson, was he distracting me just so Lionell could steal all the phones? He wasn't trying to get me to be his girlfriend after all! He was just making conversation, distracting me until Lionell finished and stupid stupid me had fallen for it! I couldn't believe I'd let that player kiss me and touch me and almost… I bit my lip hard wanting to cry. Well at least now I knew for sure whether he was a player or not. I wondered if he believed any of what I told him or if he was just playing along with the crazy girl, trying to get in her pants.
Had any of what he'd told me been true? About everyone meeting at the church? Or was that a lie? Damn him! This wasn't a game!

Well he'd know I wasn't crazy after tonight. He'd know. He'd thrown me away. And I'd never get to see him again. I'd been falling in love with him. I'd been played. Suckered. Never knew it would hurt this bad. I bit my lip harder and told myself the tears in my eyes were from that.

"Mel, I need you to come meet me. Mom and I are at the Costco here in Sterling. Can you come get me? I need you to take me over to Jackson's. I know who has our phones. Do you have my bag?"

"Yeah, sure, it's in my car."

"Good."

I had one final warning to give him from my sketchbook. He probably wouldn't believe it when I gave it to him, but after tonight was over, he'd pay attention, and then he remembered. Jackson Deveaux never forgot anything, even when he was justplaying.

—

I'd helped Mom grab a few last things from the store, load her car, then waited out front for Mel. Mom and I had been making trips to the store and back all day. We'd probably be doing the same for weeks after the flash, just without a car. I told Mom that Jackson needed to know something important that couldn't wait until tomorrow. It was still only 6pm. We still had time to go ream him out and pick up a few things before it got late. I reminded Mom not to go out much after dark, that I didn't know exactly when the storm would hit. I had two and a half hours to get back home. Plenty of time.

Mel and I drove to the Basin. I'd called Clotile and asked her if she knew where Jack was. She said he was at home! That just proved it to me further. He hadn't believed me. He was just playing me. I'd told her I had something urgent I needed to give to him in person and asked her for Jack's address. She'd actually given it to me. Imagine that. I asked her if there was a meeting at the church tonight. She'd sounded a bit colder then, and told me I should know the answer to that. Sounded like they were all sticking together, playing me.

"You've had better ideas." Mel muttered, squinting to see out of her bug splattered windshield. "Why aren't we calling the cops?"
"Why would we call all those people out to get caught in the flash?"

"Oh, right… TEOTWAWKI.. You said Jackson was the lookout, how do you know he'll have the phones?"

"I don't know he'll have all the phones, but I'm going to call him out on what he did. You remember I told you I didn't know if he wanted me as a girlfriend or if he wanted to play me? Well this showed he wanted to play me. So I'm calling him out on it. The whole thing was one big play, start to finish. He probably didn't even believe the drawings. Just playing along with the crazy girl." My voice had risen to shrieks now.

"Evie, honey, If that's what you think, then why are we even here?"

"Because he deserves to be called out on it! And I have one more warning to give him. It's important! I was clutching the Lover's drawing and tarot card. Why it was important for this juvenile delinquent player to have this warning I didn't know, but I'd shown him every other warning vision I'd had, and I'd told him I'd show him them all, so I was gong to do it and he was going to get it and then I'd never have to see him again.

Did they have Brandon's phone? Brandon never code locked his phone and he had countless pictures and vids of me. Were they laughing about me? At my pictures? About how Jackson had played me, spending the night with me, touching me? Did it mean nothing to him? Just another Doe-tag for him to brag to his friends about?

Why did he have to act as though he liked me? As though he wanted me to be his? Was it some sort of twisted revenge against the rich dad who hadn't wanted him? Play the rich girl and then drop her?

Once we came upon the new bridge, stretching over acres of swamp, my lips thinned. Without this line of dull gray cement, I'd never even have known Jackson Deveaux. Once we reached the end of the bridge, we were officially in a new parish. Cajun country. Bayou inlets and smaller drawbridges abounded. A pair of wildlife agents in their black trucks sat chatting on a shoulder.

Mel exhaled. "Why are you forcing me into the voice of reason role? You know that never works out for us."

"Yeah…"

I directed Mel to turn onto the dirt road that led to the Basin. After a few miles, she said, "We're not in Kansas anymore."

We saw shrimp boats, bayou shacks, and shipyards filled with rusted heaps. Statuetts of the Virgin Mary graced every other yard. I'd known how Catholic the Basin folk were, but even I was surprised.

We neared the end of the road, closing in on Jackson's address. There were fewer structures down here, but more palmettos, banana trees, cypress. Trash had collected all around the ditch lilies.

By the time the marsh was visible, we could see gators in the reeds. They were so thick, some of the smaller ones lay on top of the others. Yikes! Mel nervously adjusted her hands on the wheel, but she drove onward. The car crept deeper under a canopy of intertwined limbs and vines, like a ride going into a haunted tunnel.

When the road surrendered to a rutted trail, Jackson's home came into view – a shotgun house, long and narrow, with entrances on both ends. The clapboard framing was a mess of peeling paint. A couple of gator skins had been tacked over the worst spots.

Jackson's love of Robinson Crusoe rose to the forefront of my mind. They shared a lot in common it seemed. Making the best home they could, with the resources they had.

The roof was a rusted patchwork of mismatched tin sheets. In one section, a metal garbage can had been battered flat and hammered down.

This place was as far from proud Haven as possible. I thought I'd seen poor. I was mistaken.

"That's where he lives?" Mel shuddered. "It's horrid."

Suddenly I regretted her seeing this, as if I'd betrayed a secret of Jackson's. Would she understand this proud young man, how he'd struggled to catch and skin an alligator, using the skin to patch the frame of his home because he didn't have the money to buy other materials? Staring at his home I actually felt a strange sense ofpride at what Jack had accomplished.

Would I have been able to patch my roof or catch fresh meat? Nope. Yet I had no doubt that Jackson had.

Even though I was furious with him, angry to tears, I was still proud of him.

"Evie, my car'll get stuck if I drive any further."

"Just stay here, and I'll walk it. I'll be back."

"What if he's not even here?"

I pointed out his motorcycle, parked under an overhang beside the rickety front porch. "That's his."

When I opened the car door, she said, "Think about this."

I had. This entire situation had been so unnecessary. But Jackson had stolen from my friends and played me for a fool, probably believed I was crazy, and was planning to ride out the storm in this place where he'd end up dying. Time was running out! Remembering what was at stake I clutched the final drawing in my hand, slamming the car door and ventured forth. Yellow flies swarmed me, but I kept going, wending around tires, busted crab traps, cypress knees.

Closer to his house, there was no cut lawn, there wasn't even grass. In these parts, some folks who couldn't afford a lawn mower "swept" their yards, keeping them free of vegetation—and of snakes. His yard was a giant patch of hard-packed earth.

As I neared, I saw tools hanging from the porch roof. A machete and a saw clanked together in the growing breeze. It was beginning to grow dark. Clouds were gathering, like those on my wall at home, like those in the first drawing I'd shown to Jackson. Tonight was the night.

I crossed a dried-out depression in front of four wobbly-looking steps. The first stair bowed even under my weight. How did a boy as big as Jackson climb them?

There was no knocker on the unpainted plywood door, just a rusted lever to open it. The bottom was shredded in strips. From when animals had scratched to get in?

Screwing up my courage, my knuckles rapped the wood, my other hand clutching my last warning for Jackson against my chest. "Hello?"

The door groaned open wide.
"Jackson? Ms. Deveaux?" I called as I stepped inside. No one answered. The inside looked just as bad as the outside. The main living area was so cramped, the ceiling hanging so low I wondered if Jackson had to duck to walk around. Dangling from it was a single lightbulb, buzzing like a bee. The sole window had been boarded up. The door to a room in the back was closed, but I heard a TV blaring from inside.

On the left was a kitchenette. Six fish lay cleaned beside a sizzling pan. Some kind of game was chopped in chuncks, already breaded in cornmeal. Had Jack angled, trapped, or shot everything on that counter? Considering what he'd told me about Robinson Crusoe, I was betting, yes. That proud feeling flared up again but I stamped it down. I frowned at the room then at the stove.

Why leave the stove on? "Jackson, where are you?" I turned it off before the whole place caught on fire. Gas cost money too. I looked at the room a bit closer. Lining the wall to the right was a plaid couch, with cigarette burn holes pocking the arms. Frayed sheets had been spread over the sunken cushions.

His boots sat on the floor at the foot of the couch. This is where he sleeps?

My lips parted. He didn't even have his own room. My home had 22 rooms. Jackson was sleeping on the couch in the living room.

A Spanish for Beginners book lay on the floor, spine cracked and open in the middle with a well worn copy of Robinson Crusoe beside it. Well, he already spoke Cajun French and English. They said once you were bi-lingual that picking up a third language wouldn't be too difficult. Looking around the room, I wondered if he was heading to Texas or to South America somewhere. Even though he was only 17, still a boy with hopes and dreams, he was acting like a man. He was taking care of his home as best as he could, planning for his future. Was it a future somewhere far, far away from here?

My heart ached at his betrayal. Anger flared. Good. Maybe he should leave. up! Why had he done it? Stolen the phones? Did he need the money to travel away from here next year? He was only a Junior? There could be a thousand reasons someone this poor needed the money.

But how could he play me? Pretend to like me, just to get into my birthday party? To keep me from seeing Lionel? So why come back for me after? Because he was a player? Because he just wanted an easy lay? And he got mad when I didn't give it to him? I'd trusted him! Told him the deepest darkest secrets that I'd never even told Mel, and he just…played along with it to get into my pants? To score a doe tag with the rich cheerleader at the new school? Maybe to get revenge on someone like his Dad? I didn't know. At this point, I wasn't sure that I even wanted to know. I just wanted to throw the drawing at him, yell at him for deceiving me and get the hell out of here before the storm hit.

I nibbled my lip. I didn't see him, or the phones. Lionell probably had them. Oh well. The phones wouldn't work after tonight anyway.

Only one door left to try. I went to the connecting door and knocked on it. No answer. I pushed it open a crack and peeked in. A woman sprawled on a bed in a robe, almost indecent. It was hiked high up her leg, and gaping a bit at the top. A bottle of burbon lay open on the floor, almost empty. A plate of eggs and toast lay uneaten beside her. I was betting Jackson had cooked it for her earlier that day. Why hadn't she eaten? He had to get her out of here. There was no cellar in this place.

I knocked on the door, holding the door so it didn't open further, not looking, calling louder. "Jackson? Are you home? I need to talk to you."

Jackson's tall frame opened the door wide, stepping through and closed it behind him. "Evangeline, what are you…?" His accent was thick and angry. I stepped back. He crossed his arms.

"I needed to talk to you."

He looked around the room, as though seeing it through my eyes. He must have seem something in my expression he didn't like because his face reddened with embarrassment, before it blanked with rage. "You couldn't pick up a damn phone? You tell me why you're in my goddamned house!"

I could only gape at him. His rage was terrifying. His rage aimed at me was petrifying. I felt like I couldn't speak. Couldn't think.

Rain fell down and started to hit the roof. Punishing drops on a tin roof. The sound was nearly deafening. Most folks around here, around anywhere would be thrilled about this after the three month long drought we'd had this summer. This rain was different. It signaled our final hours before the end. I looked up, shocked out of my stupor with a new fear. I'd run out of time. "Jack, there's something I need to—"

We both turned when stomping sounds shook the house, as if someone was bounding up a back set of stairs. I was shocked when Jack dashed past me to the kitchen, grabbed the frying pan, yelled at me to "Go home Evie! You've seen enough. You doan want to see what'll happen if you stay." He was back through the door to the bedroom, slamming it shut behind him, only, the door bounced back a little so it was still cracked open…quite a lot actually.

And I hadn't delivered my message yet.

So I stayed.

A tall, sunburned man in wet overalls came into view. He was pacing beside the bed, yelling at Jack's mother, who was obviously not awake to hear him. Jackson was on the other side of the bed, pulling her robe closed. He shook her shoulder urgently saying, "Maman, reveille!"

She slurred something but didn't move. The way Jackson gazed at her face, so protectively…what didn't Jackson do for her. Why didn't she wake up?

When the drunk lumbered toward her, Jackson smacked the man's arm away with the frying pan.

Both began yelling in Cajun French. I knew the language, but not well enough to understand them as fast as they were talking. I though maybe, added with the gestures, Jackson was trying to kick him out, maybe saying never to return.

The man reached for Ms. Deveaux again. Jackson blocked with the pan once more. The two squared off at the foot of the bed again. The voices got louder and louder. They circled each other. Bellows of rage now.

Did that idiot not see that glint in Jackson's eyes? The one promising pain?

Instead of heeding that warning, the man clutched the neck of his bottle, ducking to grab the one on the floor as well. With surprising speed he busted them, one after the other on the windowsill before attacking Jackson with the jagged ends. Jackson warded off one blow with the pan, but caught the other with his forearm.

I saw bone before blood welled. I thrust the back of my hand against my mouth. Can't imagine that pain!

But Jackson? He merely smiled. An animal baring its teeth.

Finally the drunk clued in to the beast he'd enraged but it was too late. He backed away in fear. Jackson tossed the pan, apparently not needing it anymore, wanting to finish this with his bare hands. Blood spurted from the man's mouth as Jackson launched punch after punch. He was relentless. I desperately wanted to look away but my eyes were locked on him. His strength and brutality, the wildness in him, in his eyes….

The sounds of the rain on the roof, of the fists hitting flesh, his mother slurring drunkenly, and of the man's grunts as he took hit after hit were overwhelming.

Finally one last punch across the man's jaw sent him twirling on one foot, drooling blood and teeth as he hit the floor.

Jackson gave a heartless laugh, as he sneered, "Bagasse." -Cane pulp. Or beaten to a pulp.

Now that the man was defeated, Jackson's gaze swung in my direction. He stalked towards me. I wisely stepped back. Now that I'd seen the violence he could unleash, I felt this was a smart move. His arm was dripping blood.

"Bonne a rien! Good for nothing but getting yourself into trouble! Maybe now you'd like to tell me just why you're in my damn house!

"Did you help distract me at my party? So Lionell could steal all those phones?" My voice shook. He was wrath incarnate.

"You come to take me to task? Is that why you're here?" He stalked closer as my heart sank. He had played me. Just one thing left to do then.

"I brought you something." I shoved the drawing at him. He frowned and unfolded it. "I don't know if you'll believe me right now, but if you're alive after tonight, I'll have more credibility so it's a possibility." He frowned deeply at me, as though not sure what I was talking about. "The storm Jackson? The full moon? The northern lights are happening tonight. You've got who knows how long until it happens. I'm guessing half an hour to an hour. Maybe. You're out of time. We all are."

"So what's so important that you'd risk your life to come tell me? Why not wait until tomorrow?"

"Because it occurred to me that you've probably been playing me since day one. Pretending to believe the crazy girl's visions. I don't know why you'd do a sick thing like that and I don't care to. Maybe just to see if you could. If that's the case, you didn't believe me and you won't bother to get to safety tonight and you'd die and even if that's the case, I didn't want that to happen. If you live…you need to know this. I don't know why, but you do. This is one of the cards. It's the Lovers. They'll be the force behind the biggest army after the lights. If you see them, it's too late. They're spellcaster's. Hypnotizers. If you hear of their army, one absorbing everything, women, men, everything? Run. As fast and as far as you can."

I took a breath and backed away. His face was still angry, still furious. "That's it. You've got to go. Get on your bike. Go!" My voice broke but I made myself finish. "Don't come back!"

I ran from the house then, down the steps, across the swept yard and into Mel's car. "Go, go, go."

"Did you get the phones?"

"No, Lionell must have them."

Then I wondered, could Jackson even drive with his arm like that? I dialed Clotile. "Clotile? It's Evie. Jackson's hurt his arm bad. He's got to get to a cellar in half an hour and then a doctor shortly after that. I think his arm is cut to the bone. He might bleed out if he can't get it stitched."

"You know of a doc with a cellar office? Seriously? How far away? That'll work. Can you get to Jackson right now? Good. Thanks."

I looked at Mel. "I can't believe Clotile knows a doctor with a cellar office less than thirty minutes away."

Mel was staring out the window hard, wipers flicking madly at the pouring rain, "I can't believe we're out here risking our asses for a lying, no-good, player!"

"Let's just get to Haven Mel."

We pulled up the drive, dashing inside in the pouring rain. I started grabbing any electronics I saw, not knowing if I'd briefed mom that they'd be safe in the basement. I grabbed the small flat screen tv in the kitchen, telling Mel to grab the IPOD player. Next up I grabbed the microwave from the kitchen inset. Mel grabbed the DVD player. Mom came in from watching the weather channel. "Honey, what are you doing?"

We were huffing and puffing from running up and down stairs and carrying heavy stuff so I sputtered out, "Electronics will work…if they're in the cellar."

Mel was behind me and she finished. "Anything electronic gets fried if it's up here. Grab it and bring it down if you want to save it."

We grabbed computers next. Mel had hers in her overnight bag. I'd briefed her on the phone earlier. DVD and music books were brought down along with digital picture cards.

I talked everyone into a set of large speakers from the living room saying, "If we're the only ones left with working electronics and we throw a party, I think speakers would be a big plus." So we carted those down too.

When we came back upstairs we felt the winds pick up, blowing through the screened door. Though we'd gotten rain, the breeze felt hot and dry. Like a scarf out of the dryer rubbed against my cheek. When it blew harder and harder we looked at each other, each of us knowing, this was it.
The screen was divided between three harried-looking field reporters, the trio talking over each other. One of them was the guy who'd been all blasé while at ground zero for Katrina.

So why was he sweating profusely now? "Sightings of bizarre weather phenomena in the eastern states…get a shot over my left shoulder…just look at those lights, folks…is that the sun rising?

The second reporter looked like he hadn't blinked in a week. "Temperatures spiking…fires in the Northeast…there's no cause for panic," he said in a panicked voice. "Radiation spikes…reports of aurora borealis as far south as Brazil…"

The third guy's microphone shook in his trembling hand. "We've lost contact with our London, Moscow, and Hong Kong bureaus…all reporting similar events"—he pressed his ear com—"What's that…New York? DC?" he said, his voice scaling an octave higher. "M-my family's in Wash—"

One by one, the feeds cut out.

Blip.

Blip.

Blip.

We looked beyond the living room TV to the window beyond. Outside across the now-clear night sky, lights flickered.

Crimson and violet like Mardi Gras streamers.

I'd seen this very thing during Matthew's first visit. It was the aurora borealis. The northern lights in Louisiana.

They were utterly mesmerizing.
We all stood silent, watching.

I could hear the wind howling, the horses shrieking in the barn, their hooves battering their stalls.

They sounded terrified—

Don't look at the lights!

I wanted to. I could stare forever. I looked down. From the east, the cane rustled. A mass of fleeing animals burst from the fields. Raccoons, possums, nutria, even deer. So many snakes erupted from ditches that the front lawn looked like it shone and rippled.

A wave of rats roiled in flight. Birds choked the sky, tearing at each other or dive-bombing the ground. Feathers drifted in the winds.

The massive Haven oaks groaned then. They were moving,tightening their rain-soaked limbs around us. They spread a shield of green leaves over our home, as if readying to defend it.

My cane seemed stunned, standing rigid, even in that wind. As if shell-shocked.

Don't look at the lights! Safe in your cellars!

"Mom! Mel! Don't look at the lights! We need to go to the cellar!"

She blinked, rubbing her eyes as though coming out of a trance. "Evie, what is that noise?"

A roar was building in the night, the loudest, most harrowing sound I'd ever imagined.

Mom's demeanor grew icy cold. "Gran was right." She whispered. "Girls, let's get in the cellar. Now!"

The apocalypse…it was now.

I could feel the sky grow lighter, hotter as we ran. We made it in time, the door shutting behind us.

As we sat huddled at the bottom, the earth rocked with an explosive boom!