In Russellville, Alabama, it was the middle of spring. Flowers were beginning to bloom and animals were coming out of hibernation. Squirrels chased one another through tree branches and deer chewed on stray pieces of grass. Trees were growing new leaves, and birds were chirping songs, causing the silence of winter to fade.
Today, it was raining.
I stomped across the yard through water puddles and jogged up the porch steps. I opened the door without knocking and slammed it shut. Nothing had changed since I left. All of the furniture was still in the same place, and the walls were the same colors. As for any typical Saturday, music was blaring through the speakers of the radio in my room.
"Avril, turn that thing down! Your father will be home any minute and he's bringing company with him!" Mom hollered as she came out of the kitchen. She wiped her hands on a dishtowel. She was wearing her pink leopard printed apron, the one I got her for Mother's Day so many years ago, carrying the smell of fried chicken with her. She didn't look like she'd aged a bit. Her hair was a little longer, but I was sure that she had trimmed it a few times.
She saw me and stopped dead in her tracks. "Avril? Honey, why are you soaking wet? Your hair is dripping."
I ignored her and yelled, "Sophia! Get down here."
The music faded and one of the bedroom doors squeaked open. A girl appeared above the railing and it was like I was looking at my reflection, with the exception of our outfits and the fact that she didn't look like she'd ran a mile in the rain—I had been so upset that I accidentally teleported myself to some creepy gas station in town.
"Avril Summers?" she whispered. "Oh my gosh. I'm so glad you are safe. Are my brothers with you?"
Mom looked between us. Obviously, Trent's old strategy had worked; she couldn't tell us apart. "What are you talking about? Sophia? Avril? Oh my goodness! You mean to tell me that someone has been acting like you, dressing like you, living as you for who knows how long, and now you're really home? Young lady, just wait till your father gets here!"
"That's what I want to talk to you about. I know both of you have lied to me in the past. I figured it out."
"For Heaven's sake, Avril, we haven't lied to you about anything."
"Mom, I know Dad is a son of the devil."
Sophia joined me. It was creepy when I glanced left and saw myself. "I know, too, Mary."
"How—how—how did you—?"
"Because I've been with a son of the devil since I was fifteen. Mason is the devil's son, just like Dad. Not that you didn't know." There was an awkward silence between us. I continued. "Mason has brothers that we were with every day. I have been living with them for the past two years."
"What?"
"Yeah. I've even been to Hell with them to visit their dad. And now I have a son. I didn't even lose my virginity. He just...came. Well, he was a raven when he was inside of me, but now he is human, sort of, and he is in danger. We all are."
"What do you mean? I'm sorry, but you aren't explaining this very well."
I sighed heavily, exasperated. "Sheen McAllister is trying to kill Skylar because he is a cure for the outcasts. Somehow, he can make them human without having to kill anyone.. Sheen doesn't want that to happen, and he is going to kill me because I won't let him kill Skylar. Dad could help me stop him."
"That's where you're wrong, child."
I spun around and faced Sheen. I hadn't heard him come in. He must have read the confusion on my face because he said, "We came in through the back door." He walked past us and went in the living room. "Let's talk, shall we."
