Free Second Nature by Elizabeth Sharp

was right. “How close is he?”
    “The most recent one we’ve found is
Jacksonville.”
    I nodded. After Jacksonville we bounced to
Atlanta, then Myrtle Beach, before we settling in Greensboro. He
wasn’t on our doorstep yet, but he was getting closer. After
Jacksonville, we ditched most the stuff from our old life including
our cars, so we should be harder to track. And we didn’t change our
name to Sterling until we got to North Carolina. So I prayed we had
some time, but I had no idea how much.
    “It gets worse.” Xander said.
    I closed my eyes. I wasn’t sure how much
more I could take. “How could it possibly get worse?”
    “The police in Jacksonville say he has an
accomplice now. They suspected it in Little Rock, but they’re
certain after Florida he has help.”
    My mind locked onto one thought, Evelyn. I
ran out of the room leaving my bewildered siblings to stare after
me. I tore up the stairs as fast as I could and grabbed my laptop
off the massive vanity that had been in my family for
generations—one of the few pieces of our old life we had kept.
    I quickly navigated to the social website we
used and opened a chat window. I stared at the blinking cursor for
a long time before I began to type.
    “Evey? Is everything okay there?”
    I stared at the empty box willing words to
appear, but none did. I tried on some other sites, but none of her
old accounts were active. Frustrated, I slammed the laptop shut and
dropped it beside me. I put my chin in my hand and debated calling
her, but Xander told me phones were easier to trace than the
internet so I refrained. I was still debating when the familiar
bing of a message sounded. I practically dove across the bed,
opening it to see Evelyn’s message.
    “What’s up, chica?”
    And just like that we settled into our
familiar patterns. I couldn’t hide a smile as I took a mini stroll
down memory lane, all the late night chats we used to have when she
was grounded. “Things are kind of bad, and I don’t know what to
do!” I typed. “I think your dad is killing people trying to track
us down.”
    My computer binged and a yellow frowny face
popped up. I sighed and waited a moment before real words appeared.
“I know he’s filled with hate, Lia. I’ve never felt anything like
it when his mind touched mine.”
    I sighed and nodded, then realized she
couldn’t see my nod, so I typed it out for her. “I’m scared. I
thought we’d put this all behind us.”
    “Be careful, Lia. I’ll do a ritual of
protection on you and your family. It should conceal you from him
for a little while longer.”
    “Thanks, Evey. I miss you.”
    “I miss you too.”
    We did cheesy cyber hugs and said goodbye
several times before I closed my computer and set it aside. Evelyn
might buy us some time, but we needed a plan and sooner rather than
later.

 

     
    XANDER PLANNED A day of fun to get my mind
off everything, so I let him drag me from one place to another. We
played two rounds of mini golf, driven several laps in go-carts and
bowled a frame before the synthetic shoes and socks broke my feet
out in a horrible rash. Still believing I hadn’t had enough “fun”
for one day, my brother insisted we go see a movie—some blood
drenched horror fest, no doubt. We were standing in line waiting
our turn to buy tickets when my world went into slow motion.
    Despite the fact that I could feel him
coming, it didn’t lessen my shock to see Nate walk out of the
theater, one arm lazily tossed over the shoulder of a brunette who
came up to his chin. He was laughing as she gazed up at him through
her lashes, clearly smitten. He’d never been good at masking his
emotions, either out of laziness or ignorance. But his amusement
and lust rolled over me like a noxious cloud and I couldn’t
breathe. As my distress built, I could feel him become aware of me.
He looked over and met my eyes for a long moment. I had no idea
what was on my face, but my guess would be pain and shock.