The Lost Boys ~ The Mate

~ CHAPTER ONE ~ PAGE ONE ~

          Eve Emerson had arrived in California, more specifically Santa Carla, earlier than she had expected.  Growing restless and exhausted by the far too many catcalls, Eve decided to call a cab.  When the long drive ended, she found herself staring at her grandfather's house.  The young woman had asked the cab driver for the time.  The overweight and balding man told her that it was just after eight in the evening.  As Eve had started to walk up to the house with her luggage dragging behind her, she heard the driver say, "So long, sugar tits."  Eve suppressed the urge to yell something back at him and continued to walk.  After all, for all she knew, here in the "Murder Capital of the World," he could be a murderer.

          Eve figured her mother and the family must have already left to go pick her up.  With the family's beaten-up Land Rover missing, she knew that was the likely answer.  Eve began rummaging around the front porch looking for the secret key her grandfather always kept.  After jumping and cursing several times when a renegade spider scattered towards her, she found it.  Eve made a mental note to have her brothers search the property and the house for more spiders later.  The young girl slid the key into the lock and turned it slowly.  Knowing her grandfather's hobby for taxidermy, Eve kept in mind that a jumpscare could happen at any time.  Breathing in deeply, she carefully opened the door.  The door itself did nothing to help the girl's nerves as it creaked and groaned.  Reaching around the door frame, Eve flipped on the light switch.  Once the house lit up, she relaxed and entered.  Closing the door behind herself, Eve took her luggage to the stairs and sat them there.  Many of her grandfather's taxidermies were practically in every room she entered, making her jump.  Grumbling to herself that there were no witnesses of her scares, she resigned to keep them secret.  Eve glanced up at the wall clock and wondered when her family would be back.  After the divorce, Eve had been stuck at her father's house.  She was forbidden to see her siblings and mother.  It was only through phone calls that their relationship was kept intact.  A great deal of resentment had grown between herself and her father.  On the day Eve left for the bus station, there had been a fight.

          "You're ungrateful you know that?" Mr. Anderson yelled.

          "Ya know? I'm not surprised that things didn't work between you and mom!  She didn't even take your last name or even give it to Michael, Sam, or I!" Eve yelled as she rushed around making certain that she had everything.

          "Your mother was a gold digger!" Mr. Anderson yelled back.

          "Fuck you!" Eve yelled after stopping dead in her tracks.

          "What...did...you...say?" Eve's father asked.

          Getting in her father's face, Eve repeated herself, "Fuck you."

          Eve watched as her father's eyes began twitching.  After that, everything was a blur.  Eve found herself on the ground curled up in a ball.  His sudden rage subsided; Eve's father stood up and told his daughter to shower before she left.  Eve did as she was told, then left shortly thereafter.

          Eve shook her head and rubbed her arms.  She told herself she wasn't there anymore and that things would be different.  She reinforced the decision to tell no one about the fight with intense determination.  As Eve drifted through the house, she looked at the old family photos. Anxiety made her careful not to look at the ones containing her father.  Deciding she needed music, she turned on the stereo in the living room.  Warrant's "Heaven" played loudly, making Eve dance in the living room.  Suddenly Eve's stomach growled, bringing her to a dead halt.  "Alright, quit cussing at me I'll feed you," Eve yelled at her stomach.  Wandering into the kitchen, Eve began to search for something she liked.