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Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Her parents were gone. Gone for the night. They asked Evitan if she wanted to go to dinner with them and skip the candy giving all together. Evitan declined. She wanted to see the faces of the children light up when they saw the full sized chocolate bars and the little whiskers she painted on her face with some eyeliner. It was nothing fancy or creative but it made her happy. Tonight will be a good night, she promised herself. Just her candy, door bell noises, and foot steps down the street. The first good night after a year.

She sat on the porch with the candy bowl in her hand. The wind outside was getting slightly stronger. She was sure her hoodie was enough to keep her warm. It wasn't winter yet, she figured. The most she can do before engulfing herself in a heavy jacket was enjoy her sweaters while they lasted through autumn.

The sounds of giggling rang through her ears. She turned to Celestial and began speaking.

"Don't you miss being so little?" She sighed and rested back against the chair.

"I miss everything," Celestial said, picking at her fingernails. "It was nice not knowing that your parents could die any moment. I prefer it that way too."

Evitan couldn't agree more. She could hardly remember anything from her childhood except the moments of bliss and innocence.

"Trick-or-treat!" Spiderman said, a wide smile spreading across his face.

Evitan felt like crying. She didn't know why. Maybe it was the candy that made him so happy to the point where it made her jealous. She wanted a good day. "Take as much as you want."

His eyes lit up. If it was possible, she swears there was hearts forming in his pupil. She watched as he selected two. Sheepishly, he turned away and began running back to his parents giggling.

"Happy Halloween!" the two of them said. Evitan began laughing, so did Celestial. She looked at the kid one last time and saw the look on his parents' face. They were puzzled, almost as if they witnessed her passing on illegal substances to their child.

She thought it was strange. It made no sense to her as for why they would judge someone who offered a child free candy. She understood the kidnapping stories and the stereotypes that come out of it, but Evitan hardly wanted to run. She'd much prefer lounging on the couch and eating a container of ice cream.

Evitan sat there for a couple more hours with Celestial. She had been waiting to hear her stories from Norway and the Philippines but there was no mention about it. There was one thing Celestial did want to talk about though.

"Hey, about Vixen, what did she talk to you about?"

Evitan's body tensed. She held the bottle of water still in front of her mouth. "What? Did you talk to her? Did she tell you about it?"

"No," Celestial sat on the table. "I saw her holding the door for you and figured she'd talk to you."

"But you still left me?"

"Oh my God, Ev. We've been away forever, I just wanted to catch up with someone." She laid back onto the table. "What did she want to talk to you about?"

Evitan shrugged. "The thing from two years ago."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

Evitan watched Celestial sit up, looking directly into her face. Her eyes were narrowed. It was weird having Celestial this close to her face. It's been so long since they've been with each other so frequently the feeling was foreign. Almost like something wasn't right. Almost.

"So, you're telling me—" She began waving her hands around. "—that Vixen only wanted to talk about what happened not one, but two years ago?"

Evitan smacked her head against the table. "Jesus Christ, you know I can't remember things from a year ago."

"Not even a year and a half ago? You don't remember what happened a year and a half ago, but you remember what happened two years ago? With Vixen?" Celestial's voice began to rise. It scared her. Evitan wanted her parents to come back. She didn't know how to control people when they were in any other mood other than happy. Fake or not.

"No," she said nervously. "Will you please drop the subject?"

Celestial screamed. "Evitan. For the love of my sanity, how the hell do you not remember what happened a year and a half ago? Was it not important to you?"

Evitan dropped her gaze and began to stand up. "Nobody ever told me what happened. I just hoped it was a good day." She watched the car lights shine through the window of her home. She decided it would be best to let her parents think she went to bed content.

"You should leave." She turned around to give one final goodbye to Celestial. But Celestial was already gone.

Once she was in her room, she sat down in front of her mirror. Lights off. The only source of light she had were the flickering orange colors from the decorations her neighbors had up. She was scared. She still hadn't grown accustomed to the dark.

She wished she could start her life over again. Her relationship with Celestial over again. Why couldn't she remember what happened? If it's so important to Celestial, why couldn't she bring it back after all this time?

"Ev, we're back." she heard her mother creak open the door slowly. "Ev?" The lights turned on, Evitan saw her face full on. Everything was in full view. The ugly scar running down her collar bone, the cat whiskers she had drawn streaked with vertical slashes.

She continued to sit there, her hands in her lap and staring back at her reflection. She wanted to know why can't remember. She wanted to know the source of her parents' pain.

"Mom," Evitan didn't avert her vision. "What happened to me a year and a half ago?"

Both her parents stepped into her room. It was silent. Not a single word was said between the three of them for a while. It was just Evitan and her parents in a forbidden conversation.

"Do you remember the accident we told you about?" her mother put her hand on her shoulder. She lowered herself next to her. "Your brain got damaged. There was a whole case opened but whoever hit you covered any evidence. I'm sorry, this isn't very helpful. It's just--"

After that, Evitan zoned out. She lost all of her ability to listen to them talk. It didn't satisfy her. There was no explanation as to why she had forgotten the last year. The only events that Celestial wishes she would remember couldn't be remembered.

She wished for a good night. She promised herself nothing would ruin it. It's Halloween. Except, it's the first Halloween after a year. The first Halloween she didn't spend with her best friend chewing on candy and throwing the bad ones into plants.