Usually the second night in a strange place is easier than the first, but this place felt worse than it had the night before. As I lay in bed staring out through the window at the black sky, I was sure I was never going to sleep again, because if I did, I might dream of Eve’s fingers.
“This is so screwed up,” Lorena said from the bed next to mine.
“Yep.” I waited anxiously for Earbud Guy to cut in and tell me to change the conversation, but he was silent.
“This is a test of some sort.” Persephone was lying flat on the bed to my left, looking up at the ceiling. The kids at the other end of the room were whispering urgently to each other, probably having the same conversation as us.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’s faked somehow. To test how we respond.”
“I promise you, she’s not fake.” I’d touched her. I would know.
“Been to the movies lately?” Persephone asked. “You can create incredibly lifelike effects if you have the money.”
Could she be fake? Could Eve be a guy inside a costume, the spines remote control? That was hard to imagine. But what explanation for Eve wasn’t far-fetched?
“She has to be an alien,” I said. “Either from another planet or pulled from an alternate dimension.” I’d read and watched enough science fiction to recognize an alien when I saw one.
“And they decided the thing to do was put the alien in a classroom with a bunch of seventh graders and teach her how to shake hands properly.” Persephone’s voice dripped sarcasm. “That makes perfect sense. I’m telling you, we’re the subjects in this experiment.”
“It’s not an experiment.” Lorena was still sitting on the edge of her bed in her sweats. “I don’t think she’s an alien, though.”
Persephone sat up on her elbows. “There’s a third possibility? Okay. What do you think she is?”
“Whatever name you want to give her, she’s not something you can explain with science.” Lorena hesitated, like she wanted to say more, but was afraid we’d laugh.
“Like what?” I prodded.
“Can’t you recognize a supernatural being when you see one? Someone was screwing around with ancient knowledge they didn’t understand—probably the government—and Eve is the result.”
Persephone squeezed her eyes shut. “Please tell me you’re not suggesting Eve is some sort of demon.”
I looked to Lorena. I had never believed in the supernatural, but after walking into that classroom this morning and seeing Eve, I was open to rethinking my beliefs.
“Just look at her,” Lorena said, “I’m telling you, she was summoned.”
Persephone made a sound in the back of her throat. “Once again, if the government caught a demon, would they put it in with a bunch of seventh graders and teach it the proper way to greet strangers? How does that make sense?”
She had a point.
“None of this makes sense,” Lorena half whispered, half shouted. “But that is not a man in a costume.”
“I promise you, it is,” Persephone said.
There was a knock on the open door. Ms. Spain stepped into our room, still dressed in a dark gray business suit with her hair pulled back. She looked over her shoulder. “Come on, it’s okay.”
Eve appeared in the doorway, wearing green and white striped silk pajamas.
“Here you go.” Ms. Spain patted the empty bed, the one closest to the door.
My vision went totally black for a moment as my thumping heart went into overdrive. A small, terrified sound escaped one of the kids’ lips as Eve stepped into the room and stood facing the bed.
“Is there anything you need?” Ms. Spain asked Eve.
Eve didn’t answer.
“Well, I’ll let you get some sleep.” Ms. Spain turned to the rest of us. “Good night, everyone.”
No. Just, no. They wouldn’t leave us alone all night in the dark with this thing, would they? I exchanged a panicked look with Lorena. When I glanced at Persephone, she just shrugged. I guess if it really was a guy in a suit, there was nothing to worry about.
Eve sat on the edge of her bed, the springs creaking loudly. Lucian McQue was gaping, wide-eyed, from his spot three beds away from her, his blanket pulled up to his nose. Drew, the kid who’d been crying in class, had retreated completely under his blanket. Alyssa, the girl sleeping closest to Eve, had her eyes squeezed shut, pretending she was sleeping. That wasn’t a bad idea. I closed my eyes, as far from sleep as I’d ever been in my life.
At the other end of the room, the springs in Eve’s bed creaked some more as she lay down.
I wanted to go home, right now. I wanted to be in my own bed, alone in my own room, in my house on Mason Drive.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Lorena whispered.
I glanced at Eve, her huge body filling the whole bed.
“Just go,” I said uncertainly.
Lorena didn’t move. I couldn’t blame her—she’d have to walk past Eve. When I was a kid, I always felt like a hand or something might dart out from under the bed and grab my ankle when I got up to go to the bathroom in the dark. Here, the monster wasn’t under the bed, it was in the bed.
Still, Lorena couldn’t hold it all night. “I shook her hand. It’s okay.”
Lorena swung back the blankets and sat up. She sat there for a long time before finally standing and padding toward the door.
As she approached Eve’s bed, Eve hissed. Even in the semi-darkness I could see her harden in silhouette, the barbs popping up on her skin like weaponized goose bumps.
Lorena squealed and raced back to her bed, yanking the blankets over her head.
How could we possibly sleep with a monster in the room? How could we even close our eyes? I lay staring at the stucco ceiling, wishing I was home in my own comfy bed.
From the other side of the long room, Eve let out a soft foghorn rumble—a strange, otherworldly sound that rose and fell. It took me a moment to notice the words mixed in with those sounds. “Don’t come near me . . . hurt you . . . I can. I can hurt you bad . . .”
I rolled to face the window, pulling the blanket over my head, hoping it really was just a man in a suit. And hoping just as hard that Lorena was wrong, that this was not a demon sleeping in the room with us.