Kane & Evette

08) EVETTE

I was fairly certain this bedroom wasn't a guest bedroom. The bed was unmade and clothes were strewn about. The walls were a charcoal gray and bare save for the rear wall had a cork board.

I slowly approached the cork board, my curiosity piqued. A collage of photos covered the board. They were all of the wilderness across the mountain. Most of them were evergreen trees.

My name was derived from evergreen. My dad was a nature fanatic. We would never take vacations to tourist destinations when I was younger. Instead, we would roadtrip to obscure nature destinations across the country.

My dad met my mom at a Christmas tree farm. My mom's family had owned the farm for generations. My parents met when they were both fifteen. No one thought it would last, but it did. It lasted all the way through high school, college, and having me. What it couldn't withstand was my mother's unexpected death.

The doctors still don't know what caused it. She went to bed perfectly fine and never woke up. My dad found her body cold to the touch in their bed. He couldn't comprehend how he could sleep through his wife dying right beside him.

I touched the photograph farthest to the left. The light shining on the trees made them look green and gold all at once.

My dad tried to keep the Christmas tree farm up and running, but after my mom's death, my grandparents were determined to sell it. They couldn't stand to stay in town after their only child's passing. They sold the farm and moved to the west coast. I was five when this happened.

I was named Evette because of where my parents met. My father was hiding behind an evergreen tree, eager to scare his little brother, when he scared a pretty girl instead. My mom.

I ran my fingers along the rest of the photographs taking in every detail. My father would love these. I reached for my cell phone before realizing I had dropped it early.

I remembered why I came in here in the first place. I needed to call Annie and make sure she was okay. I searched the room for a phone before locating an old fashioned landline on the dresser. I dialled Annie's number, thankful it's remained the same all these years, and waited for her familiar voice.

Instead, the lights went out.

My stomach dropped along with the phone. I recognized the familiar sound of plastic clatter as the phone hit the hardwood. What I wasn't familiar with was the darkness that enshrouded me.

After my mom's sudden, unexplainable death, I refused to sleep without a night light. Even at eighteen, I refused to sleep in absolute darkness. I was terrified that whatever got my mother in her sleep would get me, too. That same fear was creeping back in now.

"K-Kane," I stuttered, feeling around for the nearest wall. My fingers swept along smooth wallpaper. I pressed my back to it and slid to the ground, my hands never leaving the wall until my butt touched cold hardwood. Only then did I wrap my arms around my knees, hugging for dear life. "Kane."

I couldn't believe I was pleading for Kane to come save me. I had reached a whole new level of insanity. I had met Kane today and already put way too much trust in him. I was willing to protect him in the woods from the hunters. Now, I was willing to let him save me from my biggest fear. The dark.

"Kane!" I screamed, burying my head in my knees. "Kane! Kane!" I was shrieking now.

"Mom, I'm scared," I mumbled under my breath as tears soaked my sweater beneath my coat.

The door swung completely open, hitting the wall behind it with a bang. I was startled out of my cocoon as arms scooped under my legs and back. I was pulled close to a chest as my savior left the room with me securely in their embrace.