Mind's Echo

Eva

Eva sat with her back against the wall and watched Shelly with wary eyes. What is happening here?

She turned to look at Quincy, who was standing silent and observant. He looked down at her. When their eyes met, she grimaced.

"Quincy?" she whispered, a million questions in her voice.

Suddenly, a jabbing pain shot behind her right eye and out to her right temple. Her hand flew to her head, the heel of her palm pressing into her temple. She squeezed her eyes shut and moaned in pain.

She'd had headaches before. In fact, she was prone to very bad headaches, migraines, even, but this ... this was bad. She rubbed at her eye, and then at her temple. She pressed her lips together, wishing the pain would go away. She felt the air stir as someone drew near. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Shelly staring down at her, a concerned expression on her face.

"What is it, dear? Are you in pain?"

Remembering Shelly's earlier strange behavior, Eva lowered her hand and forced herself to ignore the throbbing pain in her head.

"No," she grunted. "It's nothing. I just need ... um ... some water. Do you have any water?"

Shelly smiled widely. "Of course! Yes, water will do you good. It's so easy to get dehydrated, and that can lead to a myriad of problems. So many people don't even realize that, you know?"

She left to search Alex's bag. While her back was turned, Eva looked back at Quincy. She mouthed, 'What should we do?'

He scowled, looking from her to Shelly to Alex to Mark. Clearly, he wanted to do something, but wasn't sure what. She knew how he felt. More than ever, she wanted to bolt from the building and take her chances hoofing it into town, but there was something about Shelly's mannerisms and Alex's actions that made her think she wouldn't get far ...

"Here's your water, sweetie," Shelly said, returning and handing a bottled water to Eva.

Eva took it, mumbling a 'thank you.' She took a drink under Shelly's watchful gaze. She attempted a smile, trying to reassure Shelly that she was better.

Apparently appeased, Shelly turned and walked over to Mark. She talked to him about watching Eva, and the look of intensity in Mark's eyes as he nodded in agreement made Eva very nervous. He had stopped doing the cleansing ritual at some point and now had the same look Shelly did. They both seemed, well, almost bloodthirsty, if Eva were being brutally honest. They looked almost feverish. A mad gleam flashed in both sets of eyes.

And they're watching me for mental instability? Eva thought derisively.

After her conference with Mark, Shelly moved toward Alex. She knelt in front of him, pressing her hand to his forehead, then took his wrist between her fingers.

With Shelly distracted, Eva stood up slowly. She inched along the wall until she was standing next to Quincy. She leaned in close.

"Should we make a run for it?" she murmured, never taking her eyes off of Shelly and Alex, who was starting to mumble as he regained consciousness.

Quincy leaned down and started to reply, but Eva never heard his answer. The pain in her head blossomed into a mushroom cloud, and her vision blurred, then went black. She never even knew it when she crumbled to the ground at Quincy's feet.