Past and Present Danger, Chapter 13
by blueeaglex
 
 

"Who was that woman, and why did she look like me?"

"That woman, for lack of a better explanation, WAS you."

"Say what?" Eve pulled Tabitha into the room she had been locked in only minutes before. "How could that woman be me?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I gave you the full details..."

"Try me."

Taking a deep breath, Tabitha told her everything. She told her about the potion which had split the two women, how the other Eve was a respected doctor, how the two women coming face to face would end the spell. "So now, you understand what I've done."

Eve just stood there, speechless.

Then, she laughed, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks. "That's the craziest story I've ever heard! A magic potion which split me into half! You're crazy lady, you know that?"

"Do you have a better explanation?" Tabitha offered. Opening the door, she pointed to the people outside. "Care to explain why the others aren't wrapped up in your retro fashion taste? Face it, Eve, the seventies have come and gone--and you'd be gone, too, if not for the potion."

"This is one crazy joke." Eve shook her head, refusing to buy this tall tale.

"Then how do you explain...Timmy?"

Placing her doll into Eve's hand, Tabitha said, "Show Eve what you're made of, Doll-face."

Timmy sprang to life in Eve's hands. The stunned singer dropped the doll to the ground, with Timmy hitting his head on the floor. "Ow!"

"I don't believe this...any of this." But she was starting to. Eve's eyes widened as she looked from Tabitha to Timmy. Finally, she turned and ran from the room. Tabitha and Timmy walked to the door, watching as Eve rushed out of the club, not looking back.

"You're just going to let her go?" Timmy shook his head. "And since when do you go around telling people you're a witch?"

"Don't you see Timmy," Tabitha said, cackling loudly. She picked up her doll, beginning to dance around the room with him. "She's scared and vulnerable right now, just what I want. Oh, no, Timmy, everything's going exactly as I planned."

***************

Simone scanned the streets, not used to being out by herself this late. A few homeless people wandered aimlessly around, but other than that she was all alone.

She just needed time to think before she went home. Time to wipe away her tears. She didn't want anyone to see her like she was now...her makeup mussed up, tears streaming down her face. No, when she went home, she would be strong. How long would it take until she felt that way?

"I hope we can always be friends." Just thinking about Chad's words made her blood boil. How could she stoop so low as to be Chad's friend? No, it was his lover or nothing...she would not settle.

"Simone, dear, aren't you out a bit late? And what are you doing in this part of town?"

Simone whirled around, surprised to see Tabitha standing behind her, her doll in hand. She was just as surprised to see Tabitha there as Tabitha was to see her. "Tabitha?"

"Dear, dear, you look terrible. I mean...what's wrong, Simone?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Simone turned to leave. "Could you please not tell my parents I'm out here? They'd kill me if they knew I was here."

"Your secret is safe with me." Tabitha assumed her sweetest look, attempting to reel Simone in. "And that's because I'm your FRIEND, Simone. Oh, I know you think of me as a little old lady who doesn't know what you youngsters are into, but believe me, I was there once. So, whatever your problem is, you can tell me."

"Well..." Tabitha looked so trusting, so eager to help. "There's this boy I like. Only I told him how I feel, and he turned me down."

"Ah yes, a classic problem," Tabitha said, shaking her head. "I was there once."

"What did you do? Did you give up?"

"Give up? Certainly not!" Tabitha spoke as if giving up wasn't even an option. "No, I went out and got what I wanted. Boys like that in a woman, you know."

"He said that he doesn't love me," Simone shared, taking a deep breath. "That Iove isn't something you can just make happen. That--"

"Oh, he was wrong about that," Tabitha said confidently. "You can make love happen."

"I could make him love me?" Simone brightened at the possibility. It seemed so wrong--but Tabitha wouldn't lie to her, would she?

"Oh yes." Tabitha nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "I know how you can make the boy you want fall in love with you."

***************

Hurt, confused, and alone, Eve walked the streets of Harmony, not sure where to go. Back to the club? No. To Tabitha's house? No. Then...where?

What Tabitha had told her made no sense. At the same time, it was the ONLY thing that made sense in the past twenty-four hours. Could she really be the result of a freak magic spell? If so, then who was she?

She was no one. No, the other Eve had the husband, the kids, the career. She was someone. "I'm nobody," Eve whispered. A throwback to an earlier era...someone who didn't fit in here and now. She'd seen no one in the past day who seemed to fit with who she was, no one except...

"Julian?"

Just as she'd thought of him, he'd approached her, a worried look on his face. He was huffing and puffing, looking both ways as he maneuvered along an unfamiliar street. "What are you doing here, Julian?"

"I was looking for you. The club owner said you ran out crying. What's wrong?"

"I...didn't know you cared."

"Well.." Julian did his best to sound as though he didn't care. "It's just that we were supposed to hook up tonight, and that can't happen if you're sobbing your eyes out." Looking around again at the seedy locale, he added, "Can we go somewhere else to talk?"

All of Eve's problems seemed to melt away when she spoke to Julian. He was the one person who seemed to fit...despite looking a bit older than she remembered him. Switching gears, she playfully suggested, "I don't want to talk, Julian."

"Ah. I understand. Then I guess I should be--"

Eve wrapped her arms around Julian, her hand caressing his bottom. Before he could say anything, she placed her lips against his, rubbing his bottom as her tongue slipped inside his mouth.

"I don't want to talk, Julian," Eve said, pulling away for a brief moment. "Is there a hotel around here we could go to?"

Julian nodded. So many questions--so little use for answers. He had other things on his mind.

***************

"Now where did I put that elixir?"

Simone stood in Tabitha's bedroom, not sure of what to say. Tabitha was going through her closet, searching for something, and throwing out everything she wasn't looking for.

"Here it is," Tabitha said. She exited her closet, holding up a small pink bottle. "This is how you're going to get your man."

"By giving him a dose of Pepto-bismol?"

"No, this is much more potent than that. This is a love potion, guaranteed to make the man of your dreams fall head over heels for you."

"A love potion? Like magic?" Simone was skeptical. "I don't know..."

"Not magic," Tabitha said. "As if I would dabble in the black arts," she added, snorting. "It's scientific. It affects the cerebral cortex, which is where one's love is centered."

"I don't know..." Tabitha handed the potion to Simone, who studied it carefully. Could this make her dreams come true? "It's not something you can make happen," Chad had told her. Or was it?

"It won't hurt him?"

"Of course not."

"And he'll love me? He'll really, really love me?"

"Oh yes." Tabitha turned and winked at Timmy, who was standing behind her. "You'll get everything you deserve, and then some. Slip some into his drink, and let the fun begin. Just be warned, don't use it all...just a little or you'll overdo it."

"I don't know how I can thank you!" Simone leaned forward and kissed Tabitha on the cheek.

"Your getting what's coming to you is all the thanks I need," Tabitha said cryptically. "Now, you should get home before someone realizes you're not in bed!"

Moments later, Simone exited, not before giving Tabitha another gleeful thanks.

"You're really going to make her dreams come true?" Timmy knew better than to think that Tabitha was looking out for Simone's best interests. "What's the real deal?"

"Her dreams? No. More like her nightmares!" Tabitha laughed again, just thinking about what was to come. "There's no such thing as a love potion, Timmy. That's a lust potion--guaranteed to make any guy who takes it as h---- as President Clinton!"

"That doesn't sound so good for Simone."

"Oh, it's going to be much bigger than just affecting Simone and her so-callled relationship with Chad," Tabitha explained. "You think I'd give her the potion just to create some heartache for the poor girl? No, no, Timmy, I'm after much bigger things than that."

"Then what will the potion do, Tabitha? I can't stand the suspense!"

"I've consulted the tarot cards, gazed into my crystal ball, and there's no getting around what happens next."

"Yes?"

"Someone in the Russell family is going to die!"

**************

Was he dreaming? Or was Eve really in a hotel bed, naked as the day she was born?

Julian wasn't sure he could trust his eyes. "If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up," Julian said, slipping into bed with his former lover.

There was no need for words. Words wouldn't work, anyway...for the first time in the longest time, Julian was speechless.

Their lips touched, first barely brushing against the other, than pressed harder, firmer. Eve moved over Julian, practically pinning him onto the bed. She was the only woman Julian had ever allowed to put himself into this position...just doing that brought back so many memories for Julian.

His hands reached for her breasts, and for a split second he was sure she'd toss him away. But no--she seemed to be even more excited by the mere touch.

Eve lowered herself onto Julian. There would be no big build-up of foreplay here...Eve wanted Julian now, and she would have him--and Julian wasn't about to complain.