Chapter #14Target: Eva Garner by: Seuzz   You suppose there is some small chance that whatever happens might rebound to the benefit of the person you're going to grab, so you insist that Eva—the most wronged of your victims—be the one. You also insist on the being the one to grab her.
* * * * *
It's clear, when she comes to the front door, that she's been crying hard for a long time. But she is glad to see you. "Oh, Jeremy," she says, and without any further word tightly hugs your long, lean torso. You hug her back.
There is some small blossoming affection between Eva and Jeremy—thanks to your improvised interventions—so she's willing to go off with you when you suggest a drive. "This isn't your car," she frowns as you lead her out to your truck, and you cover the fact that you're not in Jeremy's vehicle by telling her that it is in the shop and that this is your aunt and uncle's.
Mention of "aunt" sets her to blubbering all over again. Drib by drab the story comes out as you drive off:
Everyone is pissed at her. It's not that they think she stole anything. It's her money that disappeared from the checking account. It's that they think either she's trying to trick someone into giving her $500 to replace the money that was "stolen" or that she's just pretending in order to get some attention. And the harder she insists that it wasn't her who took the money, or met and talked to Scott and Mindy the more pissed off people get. By now her own sister and brother aren't speaking to her; her dad just glowers when she appears; and her mother looks very tired. Aunt Meg isn't talking to anyone, but she knows that Aunt Meg is also insisting it was Eva who showed up with a deposit slip and took the money. Today, finally, her mother insisted that the entire family go see a counselor, who of course took their side, and took Eva aside to tell her that she needed to confess. She feels like she's going crazy.
You tell her that you believe her, but you also admit you're totally at a loss to explain what is going on. By this time you've arrived at the clubhouse; it's well past eight o'clock, and it is totally dark, but you can see Caleb's car nearby, which means he was real quick at the graveyard getting the dirt. But you're not in a hurry—you are feeling increasingly reluctant to go through with the plan—so you put your arm around her and lean in to nuzzle her. She nuzzles back and strokes your chest. "You feel so good," she murmurs. "You smell so good, too. I like it when you come out of PE and you haven't showered. I like sitting behind you then, in Goretsky's class."
You're getting excited by this point, and are pleased that she doesn't fight when you squeeze her breast. Instead, she gives a sharp little moan and grips the side of your hip. You shift sideways and pull her onto your lap. She tries straddling you, then gives up and lunges at your face. You have to grip the bottom of the seat to keep from falling into the floorboards, and your hand touches the mask that is tucked under there. You push it further under the seat to concentrate on her.
And then a cell phone chirps. She breaks off. "That's mine," she says.
"Ignore it, it's just someone you don't want to talk to. Like your sister."
In the dark you see her wince, but she still takes it out and looks at the ID. She frowns. "It's your cell phone."
Swiftly, you reach down and pull out the mask with one hand, and with the other hand brace the back of her head as you smash it against her face. She shrieks and then sags. The mask glows, then sinks into her. It's the mask of her own face, and for the next few minutes she will be comatose while it sucks up her new memories.
During that time you struggle out of the cab of your truck and carry her down the steps; Caleb opens the door when you kick at it. Except for the dim light of a muffled lamp, it is completely dark.
"All set up?" you hiss.
He nods. You set Eva down in the middle of the sigil, which is already covered in magic mix and a tuft of your hair. Caleb quickly covers her with the cemetery dirt. You've just finished when the mask reappears on her face. You lift it off, and calculate that you've only a quarter minute before she comes to.
Even in the very dim light you can see that Caleb is pale as he pours a scoop of fuel over Eva and tosses in a match. You really hope that this doesn't set anything on fire.
There is bright flash, and the aurora appears. But instead of dying down to a low flame, it swells and blooms, and a swift, searing heat whips off it. "Oh, Christ!" someone shouts, and you turn to see your own golem, staring in horror at what is happening. As you gape at it and it gapes past you, the light vanishes, leaving only afterimages to play in the dark.
Caleb is as blind as you, but he finds the lamp first and brings it up near the table. He raises a shutter, and beam gleams down on the thing that you have made.
* * * * *
"Oh Jesus! Oh Jesus Oh Jesus Oh Jesus Oh Jesus Oh Jesus Oh Jesus Oh Jesus," you repeat until even you feel yourself becoming hysterical.
Caleb grabs and shakes you. "Will you control yourself! Someone will hear you, and then we will be in trouble."
"And we're not in trouble now?" Your voice is a squeak.
"I don't think so," he says. He turns the lamp back toward the table. "All it's done is turn her into a golem."
"That's all?! Turned her into a golem?" You start to giggle uncontrollably, interrupted by equally uncontrollable hiccups.
"Well, I don't think it's killed her," Caleb says. "Look, she's breathing."
Slowly you master yourself and lean in over the figure. It looks just like Eva, it's even still wearing her unchanged clothes, but her skin and hair and even her open eyes are the color of cold granite. When you touch her, she is yielding, but like stiff clay, not like flesh. But Caleb is right: she is still breathing.
You put your head down close to your knees and take a deep breath. "Good. Then maybe we can reverse it."
"Maybe we can," he agrees. "But until then—" He drops the book onto her chest, and the next page easily turns. In the dim light you trace the words. Even in Latin they are familiar, and you do a quick comparison: It's the same continuation as with the first golem spell. That means ...
Caleb picks the Eva mask up off the floor, where you had dropped it and gives it a quick once-over for damage. Then, with a glance at you, he drops it onto the new golem's face. It vanishes, and every trace of grayness in her skin is replaced with color. She is still for a moment, and then she opens her eyes and takes a deep breath. You're not sure what to hope for: the appearance of the real Eva, even though it will spell certain doom, or—
"Where's Jeremy?" she asks, and sits up. She looks at Caleb, and at your own golem (lurking nearby), and at you, and—
"Oh," she says with a strong note of disappointment. "I get it. Very clever. Well, now that you've got two of us—" she indicates your first golem "—like, what are you going to do with us?"
* * * * *
She doesn't turn and wave from her front step after you and Caleb drop her off, even though you sit in the truck and watch her go. Caleb said you should put on the Jeremy mask and walk her to her door, but you'd demurred. The whole thing was too weird.
He turns to you afterward, and his laugh is ragged, possibly from relief, possibly from excitement, possibly from both. "Well, we've got our own fake Eva Garner. How cool is that?"
"I still want to reverse the spell," you say.
"But you also know there's only one way to do that, right?"
"Yeah," you glumly reply. "Keep doing spells until we unlock an antidote. If there is one."
"And until then— Oh, man, think of the possibilities!" he exults.
But the possibilities seem murkier the next day at school, when you discover that the fake Eva can be just as snotty as the real one. Snottier, even. When you were dating Lisa she was at least polite, and even after the break up she seemed to go out of her way to be gentle and to talk to you (in a cool and distant kind of way) when you tried. Now, since the switch, she just seems pissed off.
"Could be overcompensation," Caleb speculates at lunch. "She gave you the money, right?"
You nod. To test out her "obedience" you'd cornered her after second period and demanded half of her cash. She'd made a face but handed it over. "Maybe that's why she's being so vicious."
"Well, tell her to come by the clubhouse after school," he says. "We need to talk about the next step."
"The next step is making the next spell so we can maybe reverse this disaster. And why does she need to be there?"
"So she can tell us who she can get close to."
You give him a puzzled look, and then the penny drops. "Jesus, you're planning on making more duplicates!"
"Copies, not golems," he says hurriedly. "I didn't get a chance to play with her boobs from the inside. If she can get us a copy of her sister—"
"Fucking pervert."
He gives you a hooded glance. "You know, you have a duplicate of your own you can send to school. And instead of hiding out in that greasy old basement, you could come to school too."
Yes, you've thought about it, but you haven't said anything. Caleb says it for you.
"After school, how about you go home as Eva. See how the other half lives."
* Non-canonical: "Let the golem continue playing the part."   | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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