Evelyn coughed as wind blew dirt and dust from the road into her face. With her premonition in mind, she marched on. The side of the road was in mid-construction, making it even more treacherous to walk along than if it had simply been left alone.
There were construction materials laying about, trenches for future utilities, and concrete curbs that stuck out of the ground much higher than usual, compared to the height Evelyn was used to seeing in the city with paved streets.
As she navigated all of that, she also tripped over stones and rocks that had been cast to the side by passing cars on the dirt road. With her next step, Evelyn heard a crunch as her balance was thrown off.
The oracle groaned when she looked down and saw that her heel had broken off the back of her shoe. That’s what she got for wearing stilettos on the walk out of the city. She had had no problems navigating the terrain earlier that morning, but now she was cursed with bad luck, thanks to Lady Luck herself.
Evelyn bent over to see if there was any saving her shoe. Just as her attention focused to her feet, she heard a passing car blare its horn at her. She looked up in time to see it heading right toward her. She jumped off of the street and stumbled into the brush that was still overgrown in the building lot off of Cherry Street.
When she finally roused herself from the bush, a cloud of dirt and dust was left in the wake of the passing car.
She got up, hearing the familiar sound of fabric tearing as her dress snagged on the branches from the brush. She reached up and picked a couple of twigs out of her short hair and cast them aside. Then, with a heavy sigh, she continued her walk up Cherry toward Arlington.
Come hell or high water, she was going to make it to Frankie and Levi to warn them about her vision. No amount of bad luck would stop her of that.
It wasn’t much longer before she felt a tingle from an itch on her arms. Then on the back of her neck. Then on her shoulder. Soon, most of her upper body seemed to be itchy.
Must’ve been something poisonous in the brush, she surmised. Just add that to the pile of bad luck.
Evelyn was relieved when she saw the turn for Arlington Road up in the distance. It wouldn’t be much longer before her trek was over. She just needed to focus and keep her eyes open for anything else that could accidentally—or intentionally—take her out before she got there. Not only was she fighting against time, but she was also fighting against Lady Luck’s magic as well.
You brought this on yourself.
The thought struck her so suddenly and seemed to come out of nowhere that Evelyn quickly brushed it aside in her mind. Or at least she tried.
What are you going to do when you actually reach the guys? You’re never much help anyway.
The negative thoughts continued to swirl in her mind. She knew it was the effects of Lady Luck’s magic taking hold of her, but at the present moment, it was getting hard to see past that. She wasn’t feeling like herself. She felt like a failure.
You’re always in the way.
She shook her head. Focused on moving forward. One step at a time. If she could make it to the guys, then she could—
You’re pathetic.
Tears began to spill from Evelyn’s eyes, but she pressed on. Whether she knew those words were the result of magic or not, they were still ever-present in her mind. And no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise, there was a small part of her that thought that Lady Luck couldn’t simply create these feelings of insecurity. They had always existed and had come from somewhere deep inside of Evelyn herself. Maybe from a place that she had simply been denying all along. Maybe the thoughts were simply the truth.
Maybe the world would be better off without me.