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  Staring out the window as we drove south, I watched the landscape change from the sprawling metropolis of San Jose—with its houses on top of houses—to areas where some open land could still be seen. We passed through garlic town, A.K.A. Gilroy, reminding me of the garlic festivals we always went to. Contests between Harm and me over whose breath could smell the worst made my lower lip tremble over the memories.

  Most people prefer lush green land as far as the eye can see, but I was always attached to the warmth of the brown hills and mountains we drove through. As we drove past the reservoir and through the treacherous Pacheco Pass an hour later, I stopped staring blankly out the window at the world passing me by. I fiddled with the radio since the station had turned to fuzz. At this point, I knew we would pretty much only find Spanish stations, but I still made the attempt.

  Jay correctly interpreted this as an okay time to talk again. "You okay?" He rubbed soothing little circles on the back of my hand.

  "No, but I will be. It's just gonna take some time to adjust, you know?"

  Jay had been raised in a very loving family, just like mine. The major difference in our childhoods was that while I had helped to take care of my terminally ill uncle, then grandpa, then aunt, and lost them all, he had lived a relatively carefree life. Add to that the devastating loss I faced when my parents died and my life seemed like some kind of overly dramatic, Oscar winning, "she overcame so much diversity" kind of movies. His life looked like some kind of cheesy family sitcom episode where every problem has a happy ending in under thirty minutes. It made me wonder if he ever really understood what I had been through, but I knew that wasn't fair. He had loved my parents, especially my dad—I knew he missed them too. Even if he had no frame of reference for the sadness I had faced, he was still very caring and very supportive.

  "So," he began in a lighter tone, "what do the reports say? I'm dying to know what these changes are. To me, Bishop is the same boring town it's always been."

  The papers sat on my lap, but I had somehow managed to forget all about them. Interested in the possibility of shifting my brain power to something other than mopey memories of my past, I unfolded the papers. The first page had a bunch of statistical information about the population of Bishop. The rate had stayed right around 3,500 people for years, so I didn't see how that was significant in the discussion of things that had changed since I had lived there as a kid. I glanced at graphs about ethnicity of residents, household income, education level, and a bunch of other things that really didn't seem important. There was a map of the area on one page with elevation information and surrounding cities and blah, blah, boring. I moved to the next page and immediately started laughing. It was a list of the names, addresses, and physical descriptions of all the sex offenders in Bishop with their pictures and the crime they committed.

  When Jay saw the page, he started laughing too. "Only Harm would think to include something like that. He probably expects you to memorize it."

  The next page immediately wiped the smile right off my face. Staring back at me was a horrific photograph of an entire family viciously murdered, their bodies mutilated. The headline read: "Teen Suspected in Brutal Murder of His Own Family."

  I sat up straighter in my seat. "Oh my God, have you heard about this?"

  He glanced down at the picture and shrugged. "I don't know." He reached out to turn down the radio. "Read the article out loud."

  I nodded and put on my best reading voice.

  Even the most experienced officers had trouble taking in the sight that confronted them at the home of 17-year-old Raymond Acacia on Tuesday morning. After receiving an anonymous tip, Inyo county officers rushed to the scene, breaking down the door to find the decomposing bodies of the Acacia family.

  Police suspect Raymond Acacia slit the throats of his two younger sisters, AnnaMaria, 10, and Luciana, 6, while they were sleeping before entering into a physical fight with his father, Danny Acacia, 40. Neighbors reported hearing the noise of a fight on Saturday evening, but thought little of it. Danny Acacia's body was found in the bedroom brutally beaten and stabbed twenty-seven times. Early reports from the coroner place the time of death at around midnight on Saturday. Evidence on the scene has led police to believe that the murderer is, in fact, Raymond Acacia.

  "He was always such a nice guy, but the past few weeks he had changed, a lot! He became like really mean and almost evil. His eyes were always bloodshot. I just assumed he was smoking pot," said classmate Tonya Clark.

  Sherriff Clay made a statement earlier today on the topic. "Reports show the blunt force used to injure Danny Acacia came from an unnaturally powerful person. It is strongly suspected that Raymond Acacia was on some type of drug that not only made him act differently, but also boosted the adrenaline in his system, increasing his physical strength, much like PCP."

  While Police refused to comment, many residents are wondering if this group of murders is in any way connected to the unprecedented six homicides that have occurred in the past month.

  Raymond's mother, Margaret, 38, is still missing and was last seen leaving work Friday afternoon. Residents are strongly urged to dial 9-1-1 immediately if they see Raymond Acacia or have any information leading to his capture. However, Raymond is considered to be very dangerous, police request that you do not speak to him or confront him in any way.

  My eyes once again focused on the second image on the page—a black and white school picture of Raymond. He looked like an everyday, ordinary teen in his high school football jersey. He wasn't smiling, but really, what guy smiles in any picture when they know it's being taken? They all have to have that tough guy look, and this guy was no exception.

  When I finally turned to the last page in the pile, it took me a minute to realize that it was another article about the same person. The picture taking up most of the page was disturbing and downright scary. His face was thin and pale with eyes that seemed to bulge off the page. His veins were popped out and seemed to be much darker, contrasting with his skin in an eerie way that made him seem alien or some other kind of supernatural.

  "Look at this guy, Jay." I held the two pages up to show him the change. "He doesn't even look like the same person."

  "Wow, he looks freaky." He took the more recent article from me and studied it more closely. "Look at his eyes—they look like something out of a horror movie." He handed the paper back to me. "What does this article say?"

  New Drug amongst Young Adults Results in Murder of Young Family

  Police have arrested a young man in connection with the murders of three people who were stabbed to death in Inyo County Saturday night. 17-year-old Raymond Acacia has been charged with the murders of his younger sisters and his father. He is also being questioned in relation to the disappearance of his mother, 38-year-old Margaret Acacia, who has not been seen since last Friday.

  Raymond was taken into custody after neighbors saw him wandering the area and called 9-1-1. Next door neighbor, Melissa Crabtree, told authorities that Raymond "looked possessed. He was walking in circles and talking to himself. His eyes were just lifeless until police arrived when he like freaked out or something, going all crazy."

  While police refuse to comment on the investigation, Sheriff Anderson confirmed earlier suspicions of narcotic use. "We're unsure as to the specific drug being abused. We suspect mushrooms of some sort since it appears to be based on a fungus. Our concern is that a new substance has become popular that causes accelerated heart rate and a numbing of pain receptors, resulting in the sensation of increased strength, invincibility, aggression, and psychosis. We want to once again encourage parents to closely monitor their young adults as this new drug has the potential to cause severe and irreversible damage."

  Acacia is being held at the Inyo County Prison without bail.

  When I finished reading it to Jay, I turned to see his reaction. "Have you heard anything about this?"

  He looked mildly surprised as he glanced at me. "No, I would remember that. How s
ad. He killed his own family, his own little sisters."

  One thing I always loved about Jay was how much he loved his little sister, Samantha. He reminded me so much of Harm in the way he looked out for her and how close they were.

  Sadly, I returned my gaze to the haunting photograph. "I guess Harm was right—things are a bit different from when I lived there before."

  "But that didn't happen in Bishop," he defended. "Bishop is still the same. You'll see." He reached over and squeezed my hand again. "It’s still a nice town to live in."

  "True, this happened in Independence not Bishop. This guy's eyes are just creepy, aren't they?" I held the picture back up for him to see.

  He wriggled his shoulders. "Ehh, put that away. He's lookin' at me."

  "This is scaring you?" I cracked my first smile since leaving Harm as I waved the picture in front of Jay. "Jay, oh Jayyyy, I'm gonna come get you Jay."

  "Oh, you are so gonna pay for that. You know what I can still do while driving, don't you?"

  I giggled. "Shake in your boots over creepy guy's face?" I thrust the picture closer to him again. "Ohhh Jayyy."

  "I can tickle you." He proceeded to do just that.

  I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants. I often cursed how ticklish I was. "No, no, I'll stop. I swear." I was gasping through laughter.

  After a few minutes, he stopped and grabbed my hand again, bringing it to his lips. "You know I'd protect you from creepy guy even if he were in Bishop, right?"

  "I know." I smiled fondly over at him. "If you didn't, Harm would kill you."

  He bulged his eyes briefly at that reminder. "I don't know who scares me more, creepy guy or Harm when he thinks I haven't taken care of you."

  "My money's on Harm, but you'd do the same for Samantha, and you know it."

  "I know." He smiled warmly. "But I'll do my best to cut her boyfriends a little more slack than Harm."

  Aside from several playful arguments over tunes and many hours of bouncing back and forth between city and valley, our drive to Bishop was uneventful. While it had been a few years since I had been back to Bishop, Jay had made the trip several times over the years, so he was thankfully really familiar with the roads. It was nice spending time with Jay—it had always been easy for me to relax with him. Still, the scary thought of the changes that Bishop might have undergone in my absence were nagging at me like Harm telling me to clean my room. It left me wide-eyed and curious as we drove through town.

  It was tough leaving Butcher at my best friend, Sonya's, but Samantha was allergic to my boy. Although he'd only been in my life for a few months, he was mine, and I was his. He understood me and loved me no matter what happened. My only comfort was that he was staying at Sonya's where she had a kennel in her backyard with a comfy little house for him all ready to go.

  I was worried that he would get lonely being outside by himself all the time, but Sonya promised me that it wouldn't take her long to convince her parents to let him inside. Her Nana, who could barely get around anymore, loved Butcher, and I was pretty sure that she would put up a strong argument for allowing Butcher to keep her company. Butcher was an excellent companion. I was also completely confident in the fact that I would see him constantly since I knew that I would be seeing Sonya at least every other day, if not more.

  After many hugs—I hadn't seen Sonya and her family since my parents' funeral—we made our way to Jay's house where he helped me unpack my things and get settled in. It was nerve-wracking not to know what the future would hold, but my life had been so up-in-the-air that it almost felt normal to he amidst upheaval.

  Senior Year

  Summer always seems to go by too quickly, and this year was certainly no exception. It really makes you miss the days when you would whine and complain about being bored during the summer so much so that you actually wanted to go back to school. Sometimes it would be nice to go back to being that young and naïve. Now, it seemed the older I got, the more I wanted time to slow down and freaking chill for a minute. That clearly wasn’t going to happen, but after a relaxing summer of hanging out with Gary, Sonya, and Jay, I couldn’t help but wish for it.

  Spending so much time with Sonya and Gary was like breathing air for me. I had close friends back in the Bay Area, but they were nothing compared to Sonya and Gary. Sonya's mom had been my mom's best friend, and the way they had always talked and laughed together made them exceptional role models for Sonya and me. It was really inevitable that we would be as good of friends as we were, especially when you see pictures of us as kids. I could think of one, in particular, of our two car-seats sitting side-by-side on the floor in front of our moms as they sat chatting.

  Gary didn't join our circle until I was almost two years old. Sonya's neighborhood was having a block party for the Fourth of July. We were all in a playpen together when Sonya and I started crying at the sound of the firecrackers. Gary wasn't scared at all and sat there with his chubby arms around both Sonya and me the whole day. This cute and adorable scene was awed over so much that it brought Gary's parents into the little circle of friends Sonya's mom had begun with my mom. The rest, as they say, is history.

  That summer though, things had shifted. At first, I didn't notice the tension that seemed to come and go between Sonya and Gary, but as the summer went by, it became dead-obvious. When Sonya's Nana passed away at the age of ninety-one just a week and a half before school started, Gary's arms were practically glued around Sonya. She took it pretty hard, and Gary seemed to be the only one who was really able to comfort her that first week. I knew there was more to that than friendship.

  The Saturday before the first day of school, I decided to get the information from Sonya while I held her captive by way of toenail painting. "So… what's up with you and Gary?" At my words, she did the most awesome imitation of a tomato set nicely against the long, wavy brown hair she let fall to hide her face. I had to press on. "I've seen the way you two look at each other. Is there something I should know about?"

  "We're just friends, you know that." Her fidgeting toes and red face told an entirely different story.

  I smiled encouragingly. I couldn't think of anything I wanted to see more than my two best friends happily in love with each other. "You two like each other, don't you? So when did this happen? I don't remember seeing this last summer."

  She shook her head weakly. "I told you, there's—"

  "Nothing there. Yeah, you said that, but I'm not buyin' what you're sellin', so spill."

  She rolled her big brown eyes and threw her hands down on the couch beside her. "You can't say a word to him, Evie. I swear, I'll—I'll, I don’t know, but it'll be awful whatever I do."

  It was my turn to roll my eyes as I glared at her with my hand on my hip. "Have I ever in the history of history, even when drugged and undergoing surgery on my tonsils." I was really warming up to a good righteous indignation. "Even when Gary threatened to tell Graham Parsons that I was afraid of the tooth fairy in fifth grade, even when your mom threatened to ground us both for a century if we didn't fess up about the broken table leg, even—"

  "Okay, I get it." The laughter was back in her voice instead of just embarrassment and fear, which made me feel less guilty about forcing her to tell me her secret.

  "Good." I patted her knee. "Now come on, you'll feel better getting it off your chest."

  "Yeah, okay." Her eyes sparkled, and the huge grin on her face made her high cheek bones more prominent. "Well, he's just different. We didn't really hang out much last year at school. You know, he got on the varsity football team, and it kind of changed everything. He became 'cool.' You'll see it this year. He didn't like ignore me or anything, just—we just went on our own a bit more."

  I nodded while finishing her little toe in bright yellow nail polish. "That happens, but what's different now?"

  "When you came back, it brought us back together as close friends again, and since we've been spending practically every day together, it's just a little di
fferent. I was prepared for him to go back to how he was last year since he started football practice a few weeks ago, but—" Her smile got so large and she bit her lower lip before turning her face away from me. "He hasn't changed. He's still spending all his free time with us, and not a day seems to go by when he doesn't smile at me a certain way or touch my arm or my back for no apparent reason. I don't know, maybe I'm being stupid."

  I shook my head passionately. "Don't you dare brush this off. I've known you two since we were babies, and it only took me a few days to see this—this something between you two. There's a spark there, even I see it. And I know what I'm talking about."

  She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at me in complete seriousness. "Because you and Jay have that spark?"

  My mouth fell open a bit, and I couldn't think of anything to say in response not only to her question, but to the worried tone in her voice. Did Jay and I have a spark? We used to. We were such good friends, and he made me smile a lot, but was there a spark there like I had seen between Sonya and Gary?

  She put her hand on my arm. "You don't have to answer that, Evie. I'm sorry I brought it up."

  Nodding vaguely, I still couldn't think of how to reply, so I let Sonya's words take me to another, safer topic.

  "Are you excited about going to a new school? I mean, Kennedy High isn't like a top-ranked school or anything, but it's pretty nice. People there can be crappy, but where aren't they?" Sonya's babbling and my quiet thinking went well together finishing off a night of very revealing information. At some point though, we did shut up long enough to sleep.