Evaughn was spiraling.

He struggled to keep his bike steady. Bit by bit, he was losing balance. The idea of his mind falling apart felt all too real, and an immense urge to hold it in place overtook him.

The last word he said to his friend had left a bitter taste on his tongue. But no matter how disgusted he felt while calling Luka a psychopath, the act he had put on was necessary.

Because the moment Luka said the word sell, Evaughn knew he wasn't lying. That day, Neo hadn't been talking about hypotheticals, no. He was describing exactly what was to happen to Evaughn.

You'd be better off dead, Eve. Better off sold to the nastiest man who gets off on mangling you.

Evaughn felt his stomach churn violently. There was a sudden outbreak in his mind consisting of those pictures. The ones they found on the dark web. Against his will, his mind created graphics of himself as the subject in the scenes. Chains on hand. Tape over mouth. Captured. Constrained. Handled like an object. Fuck. He wanted to vomit.

Evaughn pedaled towards the moon.

When he approached the park, he dropped his bike and fell back-first against a tree. His hands were quick to cup his head. They held tight, applying pressure until the images disappeared.

He waited.

They weren't going away.

In fact, the more he tried not to think about them, he thought about them even more. He felt salt enter his mouth from a gravity-driven trail of tear. To be sold to a stranger as if he were less than huma—. Was he? Less than human? Was he so repulsive that Neo saw no rationality in any other choice?

Fingers latched onto strands of hair. Desperately pulling as if to force the images out.

And then they stopped. Not by will, but by force. The boy opened his eyes and saw the crescent moon.

Both of them.

"Hey. Breathe. You're okay."

The suggestion made him notice the instability in his breathing, so he complied. As if he were re-learning the act, Evaughn struggled. But he who had a moon-like indent on his face breathed along with him.

Little by little, the images went.

He sat beside him, the man did, his elbows on lifted knees. "How do you feel?" he asked, and it sounded genuine.

"L-Like my head is..." The boy shook his head. "I don't know."

"Like it's falling apart?"

"Yeah." Evaughn replied. "I was going to say that but... it sounds silly."

He chuckled softly. "Really? I don't find it silly at all. I also get panic attacks, and it feels that way." His lips pulled into a thin line, and his eyes became solemn. "You know, it helps to tell someone. If you'd like, I can lend an ear."

The boy fidgeted with Mother Nature, pulling grass from the roots in chunks. "That wasn't a panic attack. I was just tired because I took a long bike ride. That's it."

"So tired that you were crying?"

"Yes."

"And your head was falling apart?"

"Mhm."

Lips thinning, he gave in.

All of a sudden, the sound of chirping crickets became more audible than anything else. For a while, Evaughn sat quietly with the moon to his side. He then parted his lips.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Do you... hate anyone?"

The man raised his chin in thought. "Yes. Yes, I do."

"Really?" For some reason, Evaughn found it hard to believe that from such a kind person.

He chuckled upon noticing the boy's skepticism. "Yes. I'm human, too."

Evaughn looked at his most prominent feature. "Is it the person who did that?"

"It is, actually," he confirmed. "The guy who did this thought that killing me would fix all his problems. But, get this: he was such a coward that he couldn't even follow through."

"I bet."

Low laughter erupted. "A real coward."
When he quieted oh so abruptly, Evaughn was reminded of how the moon lacked its companions, the stars.

The man took an instinctive breath before asking. "That panic atta—er, the bike ride fatigue. Does it happen to you often?"

"No." Evaughn shook his head, his lower lip slightly poked out to spell nonchalance. "Not often."

"You said before that you live with your uncle, right," he asked, waiting for a nod before he continued. "So, when those headaches do occur... does he help you?"

"Yeah," he lied, his voice rising in inflection as he did. "He's like a dad to me. He's... yeah." He forced his lips to curl.

It was a slight shift, but the man definitely beamed. "Good. That's... that's good," he said quietly, nodding to himself.

Evaughn made a breathy laugh and leaned back on his palms. It would be.

"It's getting late. You shouldn't wait too long to head hom—. Is that a band-aid? Did you hurt yourself?"

"It's not a big deal." He lifted his forearm. "It was just a car crash."

"Just a car cra—Vaughn, that looks serious."

The boy felt a resonant beat behind his chest. Loud and distinct. If his heart had hands, it was pounding on his insides to get his attention. It was telling him to listen. There was something about the way he said it—that name. It sounded as if it rolled off his tongue easily.

As if he knew him.

Just who was this stranger? And the pounding. God, it disturbed him.

Evaughn couldn't reply for his thoughts were too loud. Could it have been that he actually did know him? Was he... one of them? A part of those who saw him as less than human? Those who wanted to... buy him. Perhaps he wanted to fill his loneliness by any means possible.

Stomach twisting, Evaughn slowly rose. "I have to go."

"Sure. And—watch out for the cars. For real this time." He chuckled again, but this time, Evaughn heard a sound far from pleasant. In fact, it was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Hands shaky, he wasted not a second to get on his bike.

To get away from the crooked moon.

***

Wednesday was two days away.

Evaughn exhaled. He grabbed the square of felt to wipe the whiteboard from graphs and equations he had written. After ten students, he was finally done for the day.

"You look tired."

Even before turning around, he knew who was behind him.

While Iris slid off the strap of her tote bag from her shoulder, she scanned the way his face was scrunched up. "Oh... were you heading out?"

"Well... yeah. But I can stay another session. No big deal."

"Oh, no. Don't let me stop you."

"It's fine, Iris. I'm not on a time crunch, or anything." He uncapped a black marker before she could say more. "So? What would you like to work on today?"

Dimples formed. "Thanks, Eve." She got comfortable in the seat across. "I don't get how to integrate using substitution. It's confusing."

"Okay." Evaughn looked up in the air, thinking. "Why don't we work through a problem, first?"

~

"And that's why we always take the highest exponent."

An awe-struck Iris beamed. "Eve, I think you just saved my calc grade."

Evaughn smiled as he erased the board of ink. He had only been tutoring for a couple of days now, but he grew to enjoy it a lot. Relieving his peers of finals-season stress lifted his heart. Perhaps he would continue tutoring in university as well—.

Oh.

How silly of his mind to neglect

The limitations coupled with his fate.

"...if you don't mind."

Evaughn blinked and saw Iris before him. "Sorry?"

She tilted her chin to the side. "Are you okay?"

He nodded reflexively. "Yeah. I'm fine. What were you saying?"

"I was asking for you to walk me to my cab. If you don't mind."

"Yeah, no problem. But doesn't Luka's Honors Society stuff end right now? You're not going with him?"

Iris' face became unreadable as she bent to retrieve her bag. Slinging the strap over a shoulder, she shook her head. "Unh-uh."

He thought nothing of it, and instead followed the shorter girl outside the school. During their walk, Evaughn counted a total of six different students who acknowledged Iris, either by complimenting her look, or saying hi.

Not long after, the pair found themselves stationed along a sidewalk.

"I forgot how popular you are."

"I guess. It doesn't really matter in the long run, though."

He raised a brow. "Why not?" To him, being liked by many seemed like an amazing thing.

She raised her head to look at him. "I'd rather have friends who help me in math and wait for a cab with me 'cause I'm too scared to wait alone. They'd probably think I'm weird for asking."

Evaughn cocked his head. "Are you scared of being alone?"

"I didn't know I was until recently." She looked forward. "I'm not excited to live by myself anymore. Some people are... unpredictable."

He thought of the man with a scar on face. "Yeah."

"Are you?"

"Am I..."

"Scared of the unknown."

"I think I'm scared of how much I know."

"Oh. So you believe in that saying—ignorance is bliss?"

"Well, your fate doesn't depend on what you know. It happens anyway."

Iris frowned. "I don't think so at all, Eve."

"Hm?"

"I think fate is a stupid thing. I don't think anyone's future is set in stone," she said. "We're constantly making decisions, and, like, the world is always changing. I think our future changes just the same."

Evaughn stared blankly at the road before him. Her words were mush in his brain.

A small vehicle painted bright yellow stopped in front of them.

"That's for me." She walked forward, opening the door and hopping in. "Bye, Eve." She waved when the taxicab accelerated only to stick her head out the window seconds later. "And whatever you're going through, it'll work out, I promise!"

Evaughn watched as the car drove off, his lips still agape. He pushed his hands in his pockets and started for the bike rack. "Don't make empty promises," he mumbled.

***

Evaughn looked at his new debit card. Over the previous week, he tutored for a total of eleven hours, and that translated to $120.

He entered the grocery store and was taken aback by how busy it was. The shopping carts being wheeled around only added to the crowd of people, making it hard to step anywhere without almost bumping into another.

Evaughn twisted his way through the crowd, head lifted to read the hanging signs.

He wanted to find something easy to eat. Something that didn't need to be refrigerated or frozen. Something small that he could hide from Neo.

He walked into a specific aisle after a bit of wandering. What filled the rows was none other than cup noodles. His stomach grumbled at the many options; Chicken, teriyaki beef, Korean BBQ, shrimp, wimp.

Wimp?

Senses focused on the voice coming from the opposite side of the aisle.

"Yeah, well I'm not a fucking wimp," was what Dimitri Leroux had said to someone on the phone. "I had to show him why he shouldn't fuck with me."

Evaughn continued juggling choices. Getting into others' businesses was simply not his thing. He was going to quickly get out of the aisle, but his attention was suddenly caught like a fish on a hook.

"Shut up, Marie. It's not like I was going to do anything to her. And I barely touched her because Luka butt in like he always does, so I don't know why you're exaggerating."

Evaughn's hand hovered over a beef flavored cup. Had there been another victim for the Leroux to prey on? Swallowing, he quietly grabbed three noodle cups, albeit groggily. Dimitri perhaps ended the call for his conversation ended.

But then a new one was started.

Evaughn heard the shopping cart before he saw the guy. Dimitri leaned his elbows against the handle of his shopping cart, the side of his lip pulled up.

"I thought I heard someone's stomach cry for help earlier. Knew it had to be you."

Evaughn ignored the pounding against his chest. He was staring at the very person involved in his imminent... trade. The word created a lump in his throat.

Dimitri eyed the noodles and made a face. "It's only right for the poor to eat this kind of junk. Maybe if you ate right, you'd look like less of a twig. Or is this all you can afford?" He burst into laughter.

Exhaling, the boy turned to leave.

"Hey, Vaughn, what do you want to be when you grow up?" 

He halted. "What?"

"Any plans for the future?"

The words were spoken into Evaughn's back, and they stabbed him like knives. He knew exactly what Dimitri was doing.

There was no future, no. Not for the boy with a sealed fate.

"Why should I tell you?"

"I'm just curious. I mean, you probably have a lot of goals, don't you?"

Evaughn stared at the floor while Dimitri was enjoying every second of it.

"Do you plan on being a doctor? An engineer?" The sound of wheels on the ground meant that he was closing in. "Know what I think? You'd actually do well as a model. Lots of people like guys with hair like this."

"Stop—." Evaughn gasped as he felt the slick removal of his elastic tie, coupled with the unraveling of what it was holding in place.

Eyes glared. "Give that to me."

"No." Dimitri smirked. "You'll have to fight for it. I don't mind beating you up again."

"I'm not fighting over a hair tie." Evaughn moved his hair out of his face and walked away. "What are we, five?"

It took a lot for him not to freak out. Having his hair out and about was dangerous, to say the least. It gave a certain someone a certain need to afflict onto him a certain type of pain. The burn he felt on his scalp whenever it was pulled and grabbed was all the reason for him never to wear it down. He had no luxury of doing so.

In the past, he had gotten so sick of the pain to the point where he decided to cut it.

8 year-old Evaughn had taken scissors from the kitchen before his uncle arrived home. Moments later, he was standing in a pile of hair. The remains on his head were choppy and uneven, but he didn't mind if it meant Neo couldn't hold it anymore.

When the door squeaked open earlier than expected, his master plan was wiped. He couldn't throw the hair in the trash, put on a hoodie, and pretend he hadn't done anything like he had planned.

All he could do was hide. As Neo took his time to enter the house, the small boy found a spot in the cupboard underneath the sink. He closed the door and tucked his head in his knees.

"Eve, what the fuck did you do?!" were the words that told him Neo had finally seen the clump of hair on the floor. "Where the fuck are you?"

The regret built up like a wildfire.

"Not gonna answer? Where are you?! What, do you want to play hide and seek again?" Neo was searching. Evaughn knew because of the footsteps. "Fine. But it won't be pretty when I find you."

He sunk his head deep.

"10... 9... 8..."

Deeper.

"7... 6... 5... 4..."

Breath was held in place.

"3... 2..."

He let his breath go and it sprinted.

"1."

From then on, anytime he wore his hair down, Neo would pull it. Thus, the rule was simple; keep it tied.

So one could imagine the fear on Evaughn as he entered his home with his hair untied to Neo at home earlier than usual...

And then the confusion when Neo saw his hair, but did nothing at all.