Evelyn McMillan was slightly more than average. She was thin and beautiful, but she was never the highlight of the crowd. She was a 26 year old college student and like many college students, Evelyn knew how to have fun. She frequently went out, and she frequently went out with young men. It wasn’t difficult for Evelyn to find suitors considering she was one of the prettier options on campus. With her long, dark brown hair and her deep, piercing green eyes, it was very easy for her to get the attention she wanted. Evelyn also had a roommate named Beth. Beth was not more than average; in fact, Beth was what many would refer to as “the ugly stepsister” of the pair. It isn’t that Beth was not pretty, but her beauty was not conventional. She had short blonde hair and brown eyes hidden behind her thick glasses. Where Evelyn was audacious and fun, Beth was simple and reserved.
Though the two girls were so different, they were close. Many nights, Evelyn would tell Beth to “Get ready, and get dressed because we are going out!” In response to Beth’s protest, Evelyn would practically shove her out the door. The girls would typically go to a night club called The Snake, where they served their famous drink the Poison Apple-tini. There Evelyn would meet the boys that she would soon break the hearts of while Beth would sit at the bar and drink with acquaintances from various classes. However, this story isn’t about Beth and Evelyn’s average night.
On a cold mid-January night, Evelyn made Beth come out for a celebratory party. Outside it was dark and fog hovered above the ground like vultures over a carcass. When they arrived at the club there was a plethora of other university students there celebrating the end of the semester. Above the loud music, Evelyn could hear Beth trying to speak.
“What are you saying?” Evelyn screamed to Beth as she moved in close to her face.
“What? I’m- I’m trying to say that I should go back to the dorm. There are just so many people and-”
“What! No Beth, stay here. You worked your butt off all this term and now it’s time for you to have a little fun. Meet a cute boy or something. It’s about time you stop only having your books!”
Beth looked down at the floor; she looked at the black heels that Evelyn had made her wear and tugged at the hem of the “hot” skirt Evelyn had forced her into. She shuffled her feet uncomfortably and then looked back at her friend. Evelyn always had a way of giving people this look that made you want to make her happy, that made you want to gain her approval. “Okay. Fine, I will stay. But you have to promise that you won’t-“
“Oh thank you Beth. Yay! We are going to have the time of our lives!” And with that Evelyn took off dancing into a mass of other young, wild twenty-something’s.
Beth stood there, unsure what to say or do. “-leave me.” Beth headed over to the bar and managed to squeeze her way through a group of rowdy 3rd year boys. She couldn’t believe that Evelyn had left her yet again. So for another night, Beth sat at the bar and watched as Evelyn got all the attention she wanted from all the men in the room. But from the other side of the room she didn’t realize the attractive male staring at her.
After ten minutes of fighting with himself, he downed his gin and tonic and mustered up the courage to walk over and talk to the cute girl he had his eyes fixated on since the minute she walked in. “Hi, I’m Ben.” Beth looked up at him and blinked. For a second she looked around wondering whether it was her that he was really talking to. “Hi, I’m…umm Beth. I’m Beth.” Her cheeks turned a bright red, but in the dark room no one noticed. From somewhere in the middle of the crowd, Evelyn saw Beth and smiled. However, once her view was clear she saw that Beth was not alone. Beth was with a boy, possibly even the cutest boy in the club. Beth was laughing and smiling, and the boy seemed to be enjoying her company as much as Beth seemed to enjoy his. Evelyn waved goodbye to the boy she had been dancing with and headed in Beth’s direction.
“Well hey there Beth, who’s your friend?” Evelyn stood behind Beth’s chair and stared at Ben, her eyes hooked on him. He was wearing a black, collared shirt and a pair of dark jeans that fit him very well in her opinion. His dark brown hair was cut short and his silver watch gleamed in the colored lights of the club.
“Oh, umm this is Ben. Ben this is my roomie Evelyn.” Beth looked passively at Evelyn with the look of defeat. She knew that once Ben met Evelyn he would no longer want to talk to her.
Ben looked at Evelyn. She was wearing a little black dress that he thought emphasized the “little” too much. Her dark hair fell on her shoulders just slightly curled and her long thin fingers grasped onto Beth’s shoulder. Evelyn looked as if she were trying to hard according to him. “Well hello,” Ben quickly responded and turned back to Beth. “Wanna go dance?”
Beth looked shocked. No one had ever chosen her over Evelyn. “Umm….I mean, of course. Yeah, let’s dance.”
Evelyn watched as Ben walked away holding Beth’s hand and dragging her through the crowd. Beth kept turning and looking back at Evelyn as she was whisked away into the crowd, her face a mixture of sheer joy and apology. And Evelyn sat there, appalled by what had just taken place. No one picked Beth over Evelyn, it was a rule. It was a law of nature that had just been upset.
Evelyn sat at the bar and watch Beth. A feeling began to creep up inside of her, a feeling that was unknown to her and unwanted. Jealousy. Evelyn hated being shown up and she glared enviously in the direction of the duo dancing on the floor. How dare he she thought? Who is he to pick her over me? And as time elapsed, her envy grew. It got deeper and thicker, and almost consumed her. It was all she could do to sit there until she could see nothing but the two of them dancing.
“Wanna drink?” She heard a feminine voice behind her. Evelyn turned around and saw a sleek, light skinned woman. Her light, pin straight, blonde hair fell softly on her shoulders and overlapped her dark red dress. She was thin and the bar only came up to her waist. It was obvious that she was wearing stilettos because her legs looked slimmer than average legs and the curve of her back was accentuated which Evelyn could see as she turned to make a martini. When she turned back Evelyn looked at her dark, black eyes and her attention was drawn to her bright red lips as they separated and revealed her sharp white teeth. “So do you want the drink?” She pushed the martini glass in Evelyn’s direction.
“No thank you,” Evelyn politely refused as she pushed the martini glass back in the bartender’s direction. She glanced back at the pair on the dance floor enviously.
“It must be killing you,” the woman. “He is so cute, and she is just so…average.” Evelyn starred at the woman. She could not believe her ears. The bartender was actually egging her on.
“Excuse me, who are you? Who do you think you are?”
“Different cultures have called me different things. Some call me Hecate and some call me Lilith. You may have even heard me called Mania.” She smiled a sick, twisted smile. “But as far as we are concerned you can call be Santana.” Her smile grew wider as Evelyn began to realize who the woman in front of her was. “So I will ask again. Do you want the drink?” And she pushed the drink closer to Evelyn.
“What does it do?” Evelyn asked the woman hesitantly.
“I know your deepest desires. You want him, and I can make him want you. She doesn’t need him, and she will live if he chooses you.” The woman stood there swirling the red liquid in the glass. “All I need is one simple thing in return. The price that everyone pays, you pay your soul in order to get everything you’ve ever wanted. Think on it.” The woman walked away to serve other people at the bar. And as she did, Evelyn realized that with every Apple-tini she served not only did the bartender walk away looking more accomplished, but another olive popped up in the jar behind the bar. By this time of night the jar was halfway full. The woman started to walk back Evelyn’s way. “So the price, are you willing to pay? Why live your life unhappy? Everything is better once you’ve tasted the apple. Just one sip, one sip and the deal is sealed. I get your soul and you get what you want.” The bartender pushed the glass even closer to Evelyn. Evelyn picked up the glass by the stem and eyed the liquid. Was it worth it she wondered?
“Bottoms up,” and with that Evelyn drank the liquid down quickly. Santana stood there and a smirk spread across her face, a sick smirk that could have sent shivers up the bravest man’s back. As the liquid set in, Evelyn could feel the difference it made.
A few minutes later Beth came up to Evelyn giggling and loud. “Hey, it’s time for me to go home. But can you please keep Ben company? He doesn’t want to leave and I don’t want to be the reason he leaves.”
“Umm…yeah, sure I will keep him company,” Evelyn said with a polite smile.
“Ok, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.” Beth smiled and gave her a hug. “You are the best Evelyn, just the best.”
As Beth walked away Ben came up to her, the liquid starting to really set in her system. “Well hello again.” Ben awkwardly sat down at the stool next to her. The bartender brought a drink to him and winked. The drink smelled like cotton candy, and Ben sipped it as he sat next to her. As he kept drinking his face began to change and the way he looked at her melted into a soft passionate expression. “So how was your night? Sorry we left you here all night.”
“Oh it’s ok. You are a good dancer.” Evelyn leaned in closer to hear him talk.
“Yeah, but I bet you are too, though.” With that he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the dance floor. They began to dance and kept dancing for hours. At one o’clock they decided it was probably time to part ways. They headed to the door and before she could turn and say goodbye he was right there in her face. He was so close, and before she knew it they were kissing. But as soon as it started it was over, and she was putting her number in his phone. As they parted ways her phone started to ring.
“Hello? Umm yes this is her….Yes she is my roommate….She is where?....I-I will be right there.” She quickly threw her phone into her bag and ran to her car. She put the keys in the ignition and sped to the hospital. Evelyn parked the car and ran into the Emergency Room. “Where is she? Beth, Beth Barnes, what room?” Evelyn ran to the room, and saw Beth’s parents were sitting there crying.
“She’s in a coma,” the mother said between sobs. “She was on the way back, back to the dorm and-and another car hit her at an intersection. She was so young!” The mother wailed and hid her face in her husband’s arms.
“I-I’m…I’m so sorry Mrs. Barnes, I shouldn’t have let her leave.” The room was silent and after a few more minutes of silence, Evelyn said goodbye and left the hospital.
It only took two days for the doctors to realize that Beth would be not be recovering, and in a week the doctors pulled the plug with the permission of her parents. The funeral was held two weeks later, and everyone was dressed in black. Beth’s parents were crying, and all their campus friends were there. The coffin was buried and as it went down the mother began to sob. She fell to the ground in a heap of wails and convulses. At the end of the ceremony everyone hugged her parents and left the grounds.
Although the ceremony was over, Evelyn decided to walk around the cemetery and look at all the monuments. Halfway down one aisle way Evelyn saw a figure at the other end about 60 feet away. As they walked closer to each other she realized it was Ben.
“Hi Evelyn,” Ben said in an eerie tone.
“Hi, I’m glad you came. It’s a tragedy, she was so young.” The two walked closer as they talked.
“It really was. She was such a pretty girl…” He was close enough to touch now.
“She was, wasn’t she?” He pulled her in and kissed her. And then they stood there in the cemetery. In the quiet morning mist, the air was damp and smelled musty.
“I was just wondering, would you like to go on a date with me sometime? I know with all of this going on it may be hard and we can wait until it’s-”
“No. It’s fine. We weren’t that close anyways.” Evelyn lied. “How does this Friday sound?” They made a date and he walked away. Evelyn stood in the mist of the morning, alone in the cemetery.
“It’s nice isn’t it?” Evelyn jumped and turned around only to see the bartender sitting on top of the nearest monument. “When everything goes your way and you get what you want. Too bad she had to die for you to get what you want, right?”
“Yes it is. But I didn’t tell you to kill her, I didn’t know this would happen. I’m very happy though, we have a date this Friday.” The woman jumped off the monument and landed swiftly on her toes. Not a sound was made even though she was still wearing the outfit from the night they had first met. Evelyn could now see that the dress ended at the woman’s mid-thigh and slanted down in a pattern of zigzagged edges. The hem looked as if it had been burnt and shaded by fire and smoke.
“Well it’s a pity you won’t be making it then isn’t it.” The blonde crept closer and as she did so Evelyn began to slowly pace backwards.
“What do you mean? We had a deal, I get what I want and when I die you get my soul. I haven’t gone back on my half!” Evelyn was terrified and the devil could see it. A smirk began to cross her face, her red lips parted and a smile broke out on her face. She even began to laugh, but her laugh was dry and petrifying.
“We made a deal that you would get what you wanted and I would get your soul. The deal never said only when you were dead. I have come to collect my pay in full.” She crept even closer now and Evelyn had nowhere to turn. Before Evelyn even had the chance to run the devil had grabbed her by her dress. “No running for you my little paycheck.” The bartender held tight to Evelyn’s body and she began to shrink. Evelyn actually began to shrivel and turn green, and soon enough she was just an olive on the ground. The woman bent over and picked up the olive off the ground and held it between her thumb and pointer-finger. “Your kind never learns do they?” The woman shrieked with laughter and popped the olive into her mouth. She then walked off into the cemetery into the January morning mist.
That was the last time Evelyn was ever seen, and that Friday when Ben sat there waiting at the restaurant it is said that a blonde woman in a red dress and black stilettos stopped by the table and warned him not to wait. “You may end up waiting a lifetime for her to come,” and the woman walked away. According to legend that was the last time she was ever seen at The Snake.
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