Eva Krasner (runawayearth) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-08-30 22:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | #solo, 2009-07-25, eva |
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Who: Eva Krasner and her sister Margo (NPC)
Where: Bradley's cottage, via phonelines
When: Morning
With all the business going on with vampires and everything else gone to hell in Scarlet Oak, there was no question of Eva going out of the cottage alone. To be honest, she wasn't even sad at the prospect, there were plenty of things she could do around the house - Bradley's entire film collection for starters, even hanging out in the garden in spite of the rain. She'd encountered a demon already and still had the injuries to show for it, and she didn't need to know what happened when one met a vampire, even a nice one. She didn't think they could all be bad, not by a long shot, but for today it was better not to push her luck.
Still, Bradley was gone out for the morning it seemed, and Eva found the note he'd left for her about breakfast later. The prospect of it made her smile, so instead of making something to eat, she simply grabbed a banana and a cup of coffee and took a seat at the kitchen table to read the paper. Olivia joined her, curled under the table, Eva's uninjured foot rubbing against the German shepherd's fur absentmindedly.
It took a moment for her to realize her cell phone was going off, as she'd left it on silent and it was buzzing instead of blasting her ringtone throughout the empty house. She nearly went to answer it out of habit, and then froze when she saw the number displayed there.
A Florida number. Her mother's house.
Eva's heart nearly skipped a beat. Bridget had not called her since she left the house, calling her "a hippie witch" just like her father and telling her she was no longer welcome there. She didn't believe her mother could be so cold as to think she could cut Eva out of her life completely, but it wasn't like Eva was going to hang around and wait for her mother to figure this out. If what Bradley said was true, then Bridget had held this anti-elemental grudge for quite some time, and she didn't see that changing any other time soon.
Still, she hadn't left because she wanted to, it wasn't like she'd been given a choice. And she was decidedly not the cold-hearted bitch her mother was, for sure. If Bridget wanted to talk, then Eva would listen. Olivia stirred underneath her, raising her head as if to ask what was wrong, but Eva waved her off. Right now, she needed to see what Bridget wanted, and with that thought in mind, she answered the phone.
"Eva, is that you?"
The tiny voice that greeted her wasn't the one she expected, and Eva gave a deep sigh. "Margo," she said, genuine smile coming to her face. Regardless of how she felt about either of her stepfathers, she was rather close with her half-siblings. Considering Bridget's lack of parenting skills, in a lot of ways Eva was like a second mother to them - Derek and the twins, Margo and Michael. It didn't matter how old she was when they were born, maybe it was the elemental in her, but she never minded taking care of them, even when it shouldn't have been her responsibility. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, the boys are being icky and they keep digging up worms and bringing them into the house to show me." Margo, at 9 years old, was very much the girly-girl of the family, taking after their mother. At least she hadn't gotten the snobbish side of Bridget yet.
There was a remembered pang of hurt at the thought that her siblings were allowed to play around outside when Bridget had never let her do so when she was their age. "You know they only do that because they know it makes you flinch," she said, shaking her head. Typical boys, typical Saturday morning for them. "Mom's letting them bring that in the house?"
"Mommy's not here."
Eva raised an eyebrow at that. "Edward with you, then?" She might not be the biggest fan of either of her stepfathers, but at least Edward tried to be the dad he was supposed to be.
She could hear Margo's breathing on the other end of the line. "No, he's not either. They went out to a really fancy breakfast. Mommy said they'd be back soon."
"Margo," and Eva wasn't the kind of person who got angry very often, but she had to be sure of what was going on first, "who's watching you?"
"Derek is supposed to be. But he's out playing and there's nobody in the house right now."
Derek was only 12. In retrospect, he was around the same age Eva had been when she'd first started watching her much-younger siblings, if not a little older. Bridget had not been the best mother for her, no. She'd been forced to handle a lot more responsibility than any child her age could be asked to do. But Derek wasn't anywhere near the grounded individual Eva had been at that age - too young, too reckless, and she feared someone would get hurt. How in the hell could her mother be so stupid, or so selfish? Eva had to take a few deep breaths, ones that pulled her bandages around her ribs and actually hurt, before answering her little sister. "You know who to call if anything serious happens, don't you?" God forbid someone fell and broke an arm or a leg or something, neither Derek nor the twins would know how to handle that.
"I could call Mommy, but I don't want to bother her." Margo was quiet for a moment on the other end of the line. "Eva, when are you coming home?"
If Eva thought she hurt before, hearing her baby sister say those words to her was nothing in comparison. She'd rather have taken the demon all over again if it meant Margo didn't have to ask her that. There was a lump in her throat that she couldn't swallow away, and it took her a moment to answer. "Mom doesn't want me to come home, she made that pretty clear," she told the girl softly. It would hurt to say that out loud, but Margo deserved to know.
"She said you were evil and we shouldn't think about you anymore."
"I'm not, sweetheart. You know that."
"I know, but - I miss you. You can't be bad. And your puppy was so nice!"
Eva looked down at Olivia, who was thankfully staying silent through all of this. She didn't know if the dog could hear Margo through the phone, but she knew everything Eva was thinking at this point. "She is," she agreed. "And I miss you too - and Michael, and Derek. But I'm staying with my dad now. Like how you go stay with your dad on the weekends, but I'm going to be here all the time." Hopefully, Bradley hadn't made mention of sending her back to Florida and to be honest, Eva was hoping he never would.
"Mommy said your daddy is evil too. That he's one of the bad guys."
"She's wrong, Margo. I wouldn't be here if that was the case." It occurred to her then that the only reason Margo was calling her now was because no one could stop her from doing so, and there was a part of Eva that smiled at the tiny little rebellious streak in the girl. Maybe she'd turn out okay after all, even with Bridget's influence. "And I will always be here for you, no matter what happens. I promise. Okay? You can call me whenever."
"You won't tell Mommy, will you?"
"Of course not." That would require Bridget to talk to her, and that still hadn't happened. The fact that Eva could be so completely cut off was something she was still getting used to. And the fact that she still hadn't told anyone in Florida about her encounter with a demon wasn't something to talk about, either. Margo was a little girl and she deserved to live her life as such. She wouldn't do to her sister what her mother had done to her.
There were a few banging noises on the other end of the phone, and Margo's voice was suddenly rushed. "The boys are back, I have to go - I love you!"
"I love you, too." And before the words were finished leaving her lips, the line went dead.
Eva sat at the table staring at the phone. Olivia rested her head in her lap, nudging her with her nose. Are you okay? Are your siblings okay? They were so cute when I saw them before! It was all Eva could do to pat the dog on the head and murmur, "Not now, Olivia, okay? I need a few minutes."
A few hours was more like it. But how could she explain how this felt to anyone else? Her mother was doing the same thing to her siblings that she'd done to her, and she wasn't ready for it. And they deserved so much better than that - the right to grow up as normal, happy children. They weren't ready for this, and Eva hadn't been either, but she'd made herself adapt to it, grow up so fast. Derek didn't have that ability, and from Margo's voice, she wasn't ready either.
Bradley would be back soon, but Eva wasn't paying attention to the time. Instead she just sat in the kitchen and stared, knowing it wasn't going to do her any good to be angry in Michigan when her siblings were fending for themselves in Florida.