EVABELLE

Evabelle loved shopping, and getting her hair done. It made her feel glad to be a girl. Even though she now had to worry about going to the party with guys, she still found that she was enjoying herself.

Aza, on the other hand, was definitely a tom boy. She wasn't one for fashion, or getting her nails done, in fact she hated it, but Evabelle managed to convince her to at least get a little bit prettied up.

After their nails had been painted, they went to Donna's Boutique, where they sat in chairs getting their hair done. "I should have planned this out better," Aza grumbled with her arms folded as hair was flared and fluffed, her charm now resting on the counter in front of her. "I should have known you would take over, anything fashion related."

Evabelle laughed as her own hair was curled into soft ringlets. "That's true." She leaned over to Aza. "Thank you Azara. You're the best."

Aza glanced at her and winked. "Oh, I'm well aware."

At the mall Evabelle tried on many different outfits, and finally had to be dragged out by Aza. She wasn't sure how long they were there at the store; all she knew was that she could have stayed a whole lot longer. The two of them came out of the store with several bags. The sun was setting now as the evening lamplights started to flicker to life. Evabelle marveled that she had managed to shop for nearly an entire day. "We've got to hurry," Aza began. "The party has already started."

Evabelle glanced at her. "What time is it supposed to end?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, don't worry." Aza grinned, not falling for casualty. "You won't be missing it. It ends at midnight."

Evabelle shook her head. "My mom would never let me stay out that late."

Aza continued grinning. Evabelle gasped. "You didn't... you couldn't... how did you... it's not possible to convince her of that!" She sputtered, staring at her friend in utter amazement.

"I told you; fire hoop-jumping. It does wonders." Aza strode on ahead.

Evabelle shook her head and ran to catch up. "You never cease to amaze me." They reached their apartment building, and slipped inside.

"We can just change at my place." Aza told her.

Evabelle nodded in response. The two of them lived in the same apartment building, just on different floors.

They went up the first flight of stairs and stopped at the first door on the right. Aza put down all her bags and reached into her pocket for her keys. Evabelle watched her, thoughtfully. "Is your uncle here?" She asked.

Aza pulled out a stick of gum, some string, and a wadded up piece of paper. "Crap." She muttered to herself. "Must have forgotten my keys." Then she reached into her pocket again and pulled out a hairpin and quickly began to pick the lock. "To answer your question," Aza began as she twisted the small piece of metal, "No, he's not. He's at some convention, I believe. He left over a week or so ago. He's supposed to be back in about two days, but who really knows?"

Evabelle shook her head. "I can't believe he would just leave you alone for so long. How could he do that?"

Aza shrugged then straightened up and opened the door. She then turned to look at Evabelle; her usual silvery eyes had clouded over like a storm rolling in. "Let's be honest. When had he ever really cared about me?"

They entered into Aza's apartment. Evabelle felt just as home as she did here when she was in her own apartment, even with their vast differences. The walls were covered in paintings. They weren't hung in frames, no; the paintings were the walls themselves. Evabelle gaze traveled past a dragon soaring through the sky, a knight and his fair princess, a snarling tiger in the deep jungle, and a bird burning in flames. Evabelle glanced at the floor and smiled at the familiar carpet stains of all the paint drips from when these fantastical things were created.

If Evabelle's mother could see it she would faint at the sight of all the silliness and destruction of the room. If Evabelle had done such a thing, she would be grounded for life that was for sure. Evabelle glanced up at Aza, the creator of the artwork, and felt a sad twinge. Even though this place had a whole lot more color there was still something heartrending about this place. Evabelle knew that Aza had not only done it to express her creativity, but also to get some sort of attention from her uncle.

Evabelle remembered she had helped to create many of these masterpieces. She thought back to when they had finished, both of them covered in paint, the entire house surrounded in their ten-year-old artwork. She had seen the anguish on her friend's face when Mr. Kendall had come home.

"Look Uncle Matt, look what we did." Evabelle heard Aza's young voice.

He hadn't even glanced up, "That's nice." Then he had turned and walked back to his bedroom without another word.

Evabelle had been rather stunned, but Aza on the on the other hand, had been angry, so angry that she had kicked over one of the giant paint cans. Paint had poured out all over the carpet. "Don't!" Aza had cried, when Evabelle had tried to pick it up. "Let's see if he can notice that."

That had been right near the beginning of their friendship. If Evabelle remembered correctly, that incident had occurred just a few weeks after they had officially met.

Evabelle now glanced over to where that spill had happened. A couch covered the place where the paint had spread.

Mrs. McCarthy, owner of the apartment building had told them they would have to pay for it, but she was a patient woman. Of course she had recorded it, but she never pushed them to get it done. She was fairly relaxed about people doing as they wish in their rooms. Evabelle knew she didn't quite agree with dragons on her wall, but she had let it slide for now.

When the girls had changed, Evabelle admired herself in the mirror. She had decided they would be black and white for the party. Evabelle's outfit consisted of a short black dress with a thin white ribbon around the waist and a pair of the sweetest black high-heeled sandals.

Aza whistled. "Now that's hot, girlfriend." She said looking up at Evabelle, now even taller in those sandals.

Evabelle turned to her. It had taken a lot of persuading to get Aza to try on anything. But finally they had found the perfect outfit for her. She wore a white blouse with its sleeves slightly puffed with a short black vest, buttoned down, over top. She also had a brand new pair of dark blue jeans. And on her feet she wore her favorite ratty high-tops. No matter how hard Evabelle had tried Aza would not get any new shoes. Well, at least they're black and white, Evabelle thought.

"Not too shabby, yourself." She told her best friend.

"If we had enough money to buy that black fedora this whole thing would have been perfect." Aza exclaimed.

Evabelle laughed then glanced at her reflection again. "Oh!" She cried out.

"Oh no, what did you forget?" Aza asked putting her hands on her hips.

Evabelle shook her head. "No, it's not that. I just thought of something that would have been perfect with my outfit." She looked at Aza, who had an eyebrow raised. "Earrings," Evabelle explained to her puzzled friend. She tugged at her ears lobes, thinking of the perfect pair of silver hoops, but she had lost them about two weeks ago.

Aza snapped her fingers and said, as though she had read Evabelle's mind, "You left a pair of earrings here a few weeks ago. Matt found them. I'm not quite sure where he put them, but I think I know."

Evabelle stared at her. "Were they silver hoops?"

"I think that's what he said."

"That's perfect!" Evabelle exclaimed. "Where do you think he put them?"

"Where he puts everything." Aza replied darkly. "In his dungeon."

Evabelle shivered. "Oh, yeah."

Matthew Kendall was a strange man to say the least. He was often distracted, or extremely focused on something the girls never really knew about. He had rented out basement space to keep all his experiments, inventions, and studies of randomness. Evabelle wasn't quite sure what he always did down there, but that place kind of creeped her out.

The two girls left Aza's apartment and started back down the stairs. Once they reached the small lobby they turned down a mini hallway that at the end had an old brown door. Aza pulled it open, its hinges creaking loudly. Evabelle winced as the sound grated on her eardrums.

They started down the steps leading to another hallway, but this one was longer and contained many doors. Aza went to the fourth one down.

"Did you remember your keys this time?" Evabelle asked.

In response, Aza pulled out a key ring and jangled them in Evabelle's face. "Like when do I ever forget my keys?" She grinned and turned back to the door as Evabelle rolled her eyes.

With the door unlocked, both the girls slipped inside. Evabelle shivered, it was cold down here, but that wasn't the only reason. Aza switched on the light. It flickered before finally giving off a weak glow. Pale sickly yellow light cast strange shadows about the walls, all the while giving off a faint buzzing noise, cutting through the silence, making the small hairs on the back of Evabelle's neck tingle.

"You know, we don't need to get the earrings." She suggested offhandedly.

Aza, who had already started looking, shook her head. "You were so excited about them. And besides, we're already here."

"Right," Evabelle murmured, her eyes still travelling the walls. They were covered in papers and objects along with the many tables. Evabelle carefully tread her way over to where the largest object on the wall hung. It was a huge pair of wings, or the outline of one. If expanded they would never fit in this small room. It looked as though they had been made by Mr. Kendall, himself. They probably were, Evabelle thought as she drew her hands along its metal skeleton, feeling the cool material beneath her fingers.

"Does your uncle have some obsession with giant birds?" Evabelle asked.

Aza looked up at what Evabelle was talking about. She shrugged. "He never tells me what he's up to." Then she turned back to the junk covered table, as if that explained it all.

Wings, Evabelle thought as she turned back to the pair mounted on the wall. What was with wings today? For some reason it felt as though they were everywhere. Evabelle felt another sharp twinge against her skull. She massaged her temples again as this time the pain persisted a little longer.

Evabelle glanced down at the table beneath the wings where a book lay open before her. The picture at the center looked like a human body, something you might see at a doctor's office, though the pages were old as was the picture. The words written around it appeared to be in a different language. The symbols weren't even English and plus Aza's uncle had covered them with scribbled handwriting.

Evabelle shook her head she'd never be able to understand it, but then she looked at the top. It was the clearest part; Mr. Kendall hadn't written much over it. It was a title, Evabelle realized. She squinted at it trying to decipher the scribbled writing.

A was the first letter. N had to be the second. Another A. Then a...H maybe.

"Found them!" Aza shouted, making Evabelle jump. "At least I'm pretty sure I did."

Evabelle turned. Aza held up two silver hoops, in the dim glow they looked old and rusted, but there was no mistaking them. Evabelle smiled. "Those are the ones."

"Great!" Aza exclaimed, passing the earrings to Evabelle. "Now let's get out of here."

Evabelle felt a wave of relief pass over her as she left Mr. Kendall's dungeon. Once the girls were back out on the streets, however, she felt a different kind of anxiety filling her. It was dark now, but not necessarily cold.

Aza grabbed Evabelle's arm and rushed her to the bus stop, reaching it just in time to board. At each stop Evabelle glanced at her friend to see if it was the right one, her heart quickening at their destination grew nearer. Finally at the fifth stop Aza began to file off, warily Evabelle followed. The breeze outside made the departing passengers huddle close together, but Evabelle shivered for a different reason entirely.

Aza noticed. "Come on Bellz. Don't fear it." She began leading Evabelle toward the Richard's place, a huge house in at the edge of the suburbs. Michael's family did rather well. He had rented a big time DJ as well as some popular band to come for a bit. Evabelle could hear the music already. "Guys are really the awkward ones." Aza continued. "You've got to be the crazy one."

Evabelle stared at her. "Do you know me at all?" She inquired. "Crazy is not my style."

Aza laughed. "You wouldn't be my friend if you weren't a tad bit crazy. Look it's simple, talk to them as if they're normal people and if they're really shy, you show them there is no need to be. Just pull out that bit of mad insanity that I know is stored up in you somewhere and let it out." To prove her point Aza jumped high in the air pulling a wild face.

Evabelle laughed. "I'm not so sure guys will be attracted to a jack-in-the-box." She shook her head. "How do you know so much about guys, anyway? You haven't been on a date have you?"

Aza nodded. "Sure I have. It's not like I've fallen in love or anything. We're too young for that anyway. All you need to do is treat them like friends. It's what I do."

"Yeah, well you're not afraid of anything." Evabelle muttered.

"That's not true. Have I forgotten to mention I hate spiders? If you have any secret on getting one of those creepy crawlies on a date, you let me know."

Evabelle laughed again. "I'll do that."

"Don't worry, like I said I'll be with you. If you're rejected then we can buy a tub of ice cream and-" Aza cut off suddenly, slowing and coming to a halt.

Evabelle turned to see her friend looking around suspiciously. "What is it?" She asked.

Aza continued looking around. "Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?"

Evabelle looked around too. The two of them were on a dark alley way, rather alone, but a dark alley in New York was never really a safe place to be, especially for two young girls.

Evabelle shivered again, chills cascading down her back. "Come on, Aza, let's go. I can hear the music just around the corner." She turned to go, but Aza didn't follow. Evabelle turned back. "Remember how safe New York is?" She urged her friend to follow.

Aza finally looked back at Evabelle and gave a nod. "Right, let's go."

Relieved, Evabelle fell into step behind Aza as she took the lead. They turned the corner and Evabelle saw the flashing lights through the windows of the complex, as well as heard the booming sound of music as it pounded recklessly. The place looked more like a club than a house.

Aza opened the door and the music intensified. She held it open for Evabelle to follow. The small hairs on the back of Evabelle's neck stood up and for a moment she thought she knew what Aza meant when she thought someone was watching them, but Evabelle shook it off quickly and stepped into the world of hard music and sporadic lights.

~(A/N: Okay so this is the last part of chapter one. I've split up all the chapters into 2 to 3 parts just because my chapters are rather lengthy. I don't want anyone to lose interest. So let me know what you think of the first full chapter! If you liked this please vote and comment! And thank you so much!! :D)~