Curse Carrier Book 1 Of The Curse Carriers Series

Chapter 15: Be Your Sister

Evalynn POV

Evalynn is sitting on her bed watching her mother root around in her closet. She kept muttering things like, "Maybe this one, no too short," and, "This needs to be packed away."

Evalynn looks around her white room. She really hated her wallpaper. It hadn't been redone since her parents bought the trailer fourteen years ago. It's just a nasty off white color with some type of speckled pattern in blue and green lines you wouldn't even see unless someone pointed it out to you. Her floor is slightly cluttered with a toy here and there. If she doesn't put them away soon her father will storm in and start yelling and throwing things again.

"Ah, here we go! Perfect!" Her mother says turning around with a dark blue velvet dress with long sleeves. The neckline is lower than most of her other dresses. For good reason to. It's not her dress.

"Mommy, that's sissy's dress." Evalynn speaks up.

Her mother looks at the dress confused, "What's it doing in your closet?"

Evalynn shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe daddy put it in the wrong place. I get a lot of sissy's clothes." She says softly.

Her mother sighs, "Oh, well, whatever. Just put it on. You'll look so grown up in a dress like this." She smiles and lays it out on the bed and finds a pair of tights. Her mother helps her put the light blue tights on then leaves for her to answer the phone. She slips the dress on over her head and lets it slide on. It feels too big. The knee length dress droops down to her calves and the low neckline barely covers her chest. It didn't didn't fit Naomi. She didn't know why her mother would think it would fit her.

"Teenagers wear stuff like this." She mutters pulling at the shoulders to make it fit. Her mother comes back in and frowns at Evalynn.

"That won't do." She says going back to the closet.

"There's a black dress with butterflies." Evalynn says pulling the dress off. That dress also used to be Naomi's. She didn't like dresses but she'll be mad if daddy gives me all her clothes. She thinks to herself.

The phone starts ringing again and her mother sighs annoyed. "Here, put this on." She throws another blue dress at her. It's a plain light blue sun dress. She had gotten it as a gift from her grandmother for Easter last year.

After getting dressed her mother brushed her hair and put it up in pig tails. She whined and cried as her mother pulled her hair. Her mother just snapped at her, "Stop whining! Why can't you be more like your big sister?" Evalynn wasn't sure how her sister had dealt with having her hair yanked into ponytails everyday.

When her mother was done she signed Evalynn's planner and gave her a school snack and went down the driveway to wait for the bus with her. Once she was safely on she sat down beside her cousin Anna. Anna is reading again and doesn't make any sign she noticed her. Once the house was far away Evalynn spoke to her cousin. "Anna, should I be more like sissy?"

Anna is silent for a moment then book marks and shuts her book. Anna is twelve years old and goes to the middle school. She's the wisest and oldest person Evalynn knows. "No." She says, "If you two were any more alike you'd be clones. You have enough similarities to your sister."

Evalynn looks at Anna surprised. "How are sissy and I alike?"

"Well, you're both stubborn. You're creative. Quiet, kind, and loyal." She says. "You two are also quite different and that's what makes you so interesting. Naomi didn't have any confidence and she wasn't very social. In comparison you're a little diva. You're good at making friends and starting a conversation. You're better at math than your sister and science to. She wasn't particularly good at anything beyond art."

"I think mommy wishes I was sissy." Evalynn whispers sadly.

Anna pauses in stunned silence. "I don't think she means that."

"Then why does she ask me to be more like her?" Evalynn's voice breaks.

Anna puts and arm around her shoulders and pulls her close. "This is a rough time for your parents. They don't mean to neglect you or ignore you. Aunt Vivian is just very sad right now." Anna explains. Anna comforts Evalynn and by the time she gets off the bus she's feeling much better.

When she gets home though her parents are gone. She tries the front door to find it locked. She looks at the door than the dooryard. Naomi was the one who knew where the house key was. No one had bothered telling Evalynn. She sits down on the front step and looks at the driveway. It's covered in a slippery layer of thick ice. The wind is cold and the sky is getting dark and cloudy. It will probably snow soon. She puts up her hood and tucks her head up to her ears in her jacket and then pulls her arms and sleeves inside her coat. There's no telling how long she'll have to wait this time. At least she remembered her new winter boots.

Evalynn hadn't minded her sister's absence at first. It wasn't like they were super close after all. Plus she was free to do whatever she wanted. Now though as hope of her sister ever being found alive was growing very thin her parents were giving into despair. No body had turned up and there had been no new sightings. It was like they were giving up on her. With the oldest gone now that made Evalynn the new oldest. Her parents expected her to take up her sister's mantle and make them proud. They wanted her to be outstanding in school and Sunday school. They wanted a child to proudly brag about.

Naomi had been the one for years that made her parents proud. She was obedient and quiet. She would sit still and listen to services like the grownups. She brought home the good all A's and B's report cards her parents were so proud of. Then she was gone. And Evalynn had to take her place. Now she had to be the good and obedient child. She was better at school so she had to get better grades than her sister.

"I'm not sissy." Evalynn sobs into her coat. "I'm not. I'm not."

It was almost dark when her parents finally got home. Evalynn was very very cold.