3. Evangeline

3

EVANGELINE

" D o you think we need any more stones?" I ask, crouching low to the ground and picking up jagged scraps.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see Renee shoving the last of the wood into her bag.

"And have you seen any ores around here?"

"Nope. And nope," Renee replies easily, swinging her full bag over her shoulder. "Come on. Let's keep it moving. The quicker we are, the faster we get back home."

Pushing myself up to my feet, I grab my bag and hurry after Renee.

I admire her stamina. Her bag is nearly overflowing, so much more inside it than I have in mine. As if that isn't enough, she then flings it over her shoulder as if she's carrying feathers.

"I think we're almost done," I say through my pants, jogging to keep up with her strides. "I don't know how much more I can put in my bag."

"Fine. Let's just check one more spot here and we can make our way back."

I nod. We walk down the snowy trail into an area swarmed by large, needle-leaved trees. They extend high above our heads, their tops poking into the cloudy skies above.

In my peripheral vision, I see Renee picking some dark blue flowers off a bush. Meanwhile, I'm too transfixed by the surroundings to remember the task at hand.

Despite our earlier argument, Renee has since relaxed around me. Her guard isn't up, so the tension between us has noticeably dissipated.

In response, I let down my defenses, too.

I hope I'm not making the wrong choice.

"Renee, you remember what the elders used to say lurked in these woods?" I ask, my voice amusingly ominous. "What they used to warn us ate unsuspecting humans like us who invoked their name?"

She shrugs, mindlessly picking flowers off the bush and sticking them into her bag. "Sure I have. Doesn't mean I believe any of that."

"Really?" I ask, raising a brow at her. "You're not scared? Despite all those warnings… despite all the bedtime stories?"

"No, because that's fiction, Evangeline."

I hum.

"I know plenty of folks who wouldn't agree with you. Lily told me about the exact ritual used to summon the monsters…"

Renee scoffs, scowling at me. "Stop it! I told you I don't believe in that shit."

"You say you don't believe in it, but you're looking awfully scared," I reply with a teasing glint to my words.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I take a few steps amongst the trees until I'm surrounded by the towering trunks.

"I wonder why they wanted to summon monsters in the first place," I mumble. "Do you think the monsters promised them power? Do you think they were gatherers like us?"

From here, I can hear her let out a long huff. The tip of her nose shines red, as do her cheeks. She's taking a while to gather these flowers, which bores me out of my mind.

I rise and fall on the ball of my feet, patience wearing thin.

Nothing's ever happened to anybody. So what's the harm?

Working from memory, I start reciting the words that are supposed to summon a monster from out of the woods. The words are from a language that isn't my own, so I'm pretty sure I'm butchering the words as I go along. I raise my arms up as if beckoning the gods to bring me a monster who will erupt out of the ground within seconds.

But somewhere along the way, I feel a strange force overpowering me, stimulating my memory even beyond what I remember. It's as though the winds themselves are speaking to me.

I want to laugh. I know this is a ridiculous superstition. And I'm going to prove that all those sleepless nights were for nothing.

"What are you doing?" Renee asks. When I glance at her, she frowns deeply. "Stop it!"

My arms fall to my sides limply. "What? It's not real. And I'm bored."

"What if you…" Renee grits her teeth, bunching the flowers in her hand with a fist. "Evangeline, this isn't funny."

Smiling, I end the ritual with two snaps of my fingers.

"Oooo," I say spookily. "Do you think we're goners now?"

The urban legend is that it's supposed to complete the ritual, sealing it in place.

I laugh but feel a strange sense of foreboding creeping over me, as though expecting a haunting roar from an otherworldly creature to deafen my laughter.

Seconds pass.

Nothing happens.

This is what we were supposed to be afraid of? This is what I was taught to fear my entire childhood?

"Welp, guess we can confirm it," I say, more chipper than I feel. "The elders were lying to us to keep us out of the forests. And now we're wiser for it."

I look back at her face, dreading the reaction it might have. I'm surprised to see dread in her features.

"You're not scared, are you? I thought it was ‘fiction.'"

"Of course, I'm not scared! But…" Renee's eyes flicker around our surroundings, as if she, too, is waiting for a monster to attack us by surprise. "The council has rules against that for a reason, Evangeline. What's the matter with you?"

"Look around us, Renee!" I gesture towards the emptiness around us. Nothing is here, besides snow and ice and stone. "There's nobody here! No humans, no monsters, nothing! I was only joking."

"...Well, it's not funny," she snaps, glaring at me before she turns away. She jams the crumpled blue flowers into her bag and starts stomping away towards the path we took to get here. "You're really stupid."

"Hold on! Wait." I rush through the snow, nearly stumbling over my feet to catch up. "Wait, wait, wait. Don't leave me alone out here. How am I supposed to survive by myself?"

"Oh, shut up, Evangeline."

"You don't seriously think I summoned something back there, do you?" I ask, placing a hand on her shoulder that she quickly shrugs away. "I told you that it was a joke! And I'm pretty sure I didn't even do the ritual right. I messed up the words."

"It's stupid! Why would you mess with that stuff in the first place? What if you did summon something? What if we get attacked? Or…" Renee sighs, shaking her head. "I don't care if you want to put yourself in harm's way, but don't start risking my life over your stupidity."

An astonished breath escapes my lips. She's serious about this. No hint of sarcasm or joking in her words at all.

During the ritual, I have to admit that a shiver coursed down my spine. The foreboding lingered in the air, now that I think about it, but that could have also been the iciness in the air.

But what if I was really messing with some forces that I truly don't understand? Something beyond my control? Like magic?

A weak grin spreads along my lips. "You don't seriously think that I'm strong enough to summon a monster. Do you?"

Renee rolls her eyes. "That's not the point. Any idiot with a brain can dance around in a circle and recite a few words, but it's the intent behind it that's dangerous. You went into that ritual with the intention of summoning something."

"No, I wanted to reassure you that it wasn't real. And you were right! It's not real. You should be happy about that."

She mumbles things under her breath again, which makes me want to let out a groan. She's back to being mad at me, back to believing that I'm worse than the dirt stuck to her shoes. I don't know what it's going to take to make Renee happy again, but I think I've screwed up my chances for the day.

"Look, I'm sorry," I say. "I didn't think it was going to affect you this badly. I really didn't."

"Well, it did!" she snaps, wiping away at her eyes. I'm somewhat stunned by her emotional response. "Fuck off. I've worked too hard to survive. I don't need this shit right now…"

"Renee."

"Stop," she says, holding out a hand. "Just stop talking. You talk way too much for your own good. When are you going to learn to be quiet?"

Her voice wavers as she speaks. I blink slowly, deciding to leave her alone for the time being. Our boots crunch through the snow as we make the long trudge back to the settlement.

"I wanted to make you laugh," I admit quietly, keeping my eyes on my feet. "I thought we'd be able to make jokes about the ritual and just laugh it off together. I'm sorry."

"Evangeline," she says, clearly exasperated. "I'm tired, okay? I didn't eat this morning, I gave my rations away to Margaret. I hardly slept. I'm freezing my ass off out here and now I have a headache. I'm not in the mood to talk about this anymore."

"No, I get it. I understand," I reply, nodding. Still, it kind of hurts to get so brutally rejected from continuing a conversation. "But I'm sorry. I hope you know that."

Renee hums, nodding slightly. Then she starts leading the way as she usually does, moving quickly through the snow and leaving me behind with her quick strides. This time, I don't try to hurry after her. I stay at my own pace.

Eventually, I stop to catch my breath. I turn around to glance at the snow-carved path we're leaving behind. My eyes drift to the spot in the middle of the forest where I did the ritual.

There's nothing that can come out of this, right? Those were just rumors.

"Right," I whisper, furrowing my eyebrows together. "Just dumb rumors."

Gazing at Renee, she's already leaving me behind. She's way ahead of me, not even looking back at me anymore. Thankfully, we're close enough to the settlement and I can figure my way back from here, even if she leaves me alone completely.

Within the settlement, I've always found it difficult to make friends. I try to do the best that I can, sparking up conversations and trying to make people feel good. But for some reason or another, there are some people who want nothing to do with me.

Renee might just be one of them, and there's nothing I can do about that.

"What a good start to the day," I mumble, moving my feet through the snow. My stomach grumbles, so I appease myself by thinking of the warm meats and stew that await me back within the settlement gates.