(omg, I'm so sorry for spontaneously disappearing! I was pretty busy these past two weeks and haven't had the time nor motivation to write, but to make it up to y'all, this chapter is hella long. Like seven pages in Google Docs long. And it's kind of crazy. You're welcome? Haha, but really, I'm sorry for being so inactive and I'll definitely--try--to update on a normal schedule again. But it is summer, so cut me a little slack, lol. Love you all so much, thank you for your endless support <33 if you read all this, comment a fruit to screw up everyone else in the comments.) 

**UNEDITED & PROBS FULL OF TYPOS, I'M SORRY BUT YOU'VE BEEN WARNED**

CHAPTER SIX

EVELYN BEGRUDGINGLY ALLOWS MERCEDES to help her dress, though she's more annoyed at the fact that she still can't put on jeans. And she's undoubtedly even more annoyed that this must've been the governor's daughter's or wife's room so the only attire are frilly dresses and pencil skirts. She's forced into a lavender knee-length silk dress that hardly differs from the nightgown she takes off. Spaghetti straps, low neckline and reeking wealth. She can practically feel the money spent on it.

Mercedes attempts to push her boundaries and offers to do Evelyn's hair, which only takes a scowl from Evelyn to dissuade Mercedes otherwise. It's bad enough Evelyn is getting dolled up as if preparing for cocktail party, she doesn't want to add to the illusion. Admitting that the silk is comfortable is a hassle alone for her.

The only reason Evelyn maintains her temper is because she was promised a look around the property. It's been two more days since Micah told her where she is, and she's been trying to get up on her feet more. She managed a lap around the entire room last night, which she used to her advantage when convincing Micah she's fine to walk the mansion. She doesn't acknowledge that her legs are still stiff and throbbing.

Minor details.

Evelyn is in the midst of smacking Mercedes's hands from trying to braid her hair when there's a knock on the door. Mercedes sighs, leaving Evelyn sitting on the couch while she goes to open it. As expected, Micah stands on the other side of the threshold with his eyebrows raised, his lips pressed together.

Evelyn pushes herself up, which causes both Mercedes and Micah to wince and instinctively step towards her. She rolls her eyes. "Relax. I'm not going to fall over and die."

Mercedes clasps her hands as if it's necessary to keep herself from holding Evelyn steady. "Are you sure you should be out of bed? It's hardly been two weeks since--"

"I'm fine."

"But--"

"I'm. Fine." Evelyn matches her stare, then turns to Micah when Mercedes surrenders. "You said Sasha is here. I want to see her first."

Micah still looks reluctant to allow her out of the room, but he sighs heavily and gives her a single nod. She bids a curt goodbye to Mercedes and ignores Micah's outstretched arm for support. She limps on both legs, so it's a strange image of her seeming as if she's falling over with each step. The corridor is long and leads to a grand spiral staircase, which Micah doesn't give her the choice in walking. He scoops her up and carries her down them, then she has to fight him just so he'll put her down.

When in the lobby, that's when the noise around her starts. Pots and pans can be heard clanking in the kitchen somewhere down another hall, the front and back doors open and close continuously as people saunter in and out, distant whistling she can't quite depict. It's so odd and loud that she takes a long moment to look around. Sounds that should be so normal make her feel uncomfortable.

Micah nods to the front door, a large slate of metal painted white with ornate jewels lining the handle. He stays behind while she takes the lead. She's almost nervous to step outside. The closest she's gotten in two weeks is standing on the balcony. Even that was hardly close since the balcony had a shade over it which blocked any inch of sunlight she wanted to feel. She could still feel small gusts of wind and smell remnants of rain, though, and that had been satisfying alone.

Now when she opens the door, heat engulfs her along with the sight of numerous people at work. Planting crops, it seems. Most are women with dirt on their cheeks and under their nails, sweat greasing their hair pulled back in ponytails. No one is speaking, no one is resting. There must be at least twenty of them bustling about.

Micah helps Evelyn down the five or so stairs to the stone walkway. A few of the women notice them and stop, eyes slightly widening yet confusion furrows their eyebrows. Evelyn feels a flush of anger in herself as she catches a lot of the women eyeing her dress. How arrogant she must look in comparison to these women in rags. How stupid she feels. It nearly makes her want to ask them where their ripped dresses and torn shirts and jeans came from so she can get something of her own that's more suitable. She's thankful she can't read their minds. They surely think Evelyn believes herself to be all high and mighty, strolling in a silk dress with an enemy on her arm.

Disgusted with herself, Evelyn clenches her jaw and yanks her arm from Micah the moment she's on even ground again. She forces herself to look away from the women and quickly continues moving. Micah points over to the left where a flowerbed lines the brick wall protecting the mansion. Children with the help of a few teenage girls sprawl along the soil planting flowers. Evelyn begins to wonder where all of these supplies came from when glittery shoes steal her attention immediately.

"Sasha," she whispers under her breath, taking in the small girl's frame and her dirty, tangled black hair. She hobbles over as fast as her injured legs let her. "Sasha," she says again, much louder this time.

The little girl whips around, eyes wide. "Eve!" she yells, jumping up to meet Evelyn halfway. She crashes into Evelyn's stomach so excitedly, Evelyn loses her balance and stumbles back right into Micah. He stops her from falling over, but Sasha is hugging Evelyn too tightly for her to notice she nearly fell at all.

Despite her legs screaming in refusal, Evelyn crouches slightly to better hold the girl. Relief floods through her so rapidly, she could probably cry if she let herself.

Sasha doesn't care about holding back tears, though, and sobs all over the front of Evelyn's shirt. "I was so scared!" she exclaims. "I missed you so much, Eve. I thought you were gone forever."

Evelyn can't find words to say, so she sighs and hugs the girl tighter.

"Mr. Erik is really nice. He's been looking after me, and so has Locke, if you can believe that. Everyone has been here except you and Robbie, and I thought--"

Sasha cuts herself off and look up with dreadful eyes. Evelyn swallows the lump in her throat and slowly shakes her head. "I haven't found him yet, but I will, okay? He's fine." She glances back at Micah who awkwardly smiles.

Then Sasha seems to realize that Micah has been with Evelyn and she steps back, noticing Evelyn's dress for the first time. "Wow," she breathes. "This is really pretty. Do you think they have ones in my size?" She turns to Micah.

Appearing surprised that he's being spoken to, he stammers. "Oh, um, I don't know. You can ask Mercedes, though."

"Where is she?" Sasha asks, excitement rushing back into her face as she looks around.

"You can talk to her later," Evelyn says. "Why don't you give me a tour, hmm? Tell me what you've been up to."

Sasha grins. "Okay! Follow me."

Micah hesitates and Evelyn halts his train of thought. "I don't need a bodyguard," she tells him. "Thank you for getting me out here, but I'll be fine on my own now."

He frowns, but says, "Very well. I'll see you at dinner and escort you back to your room."

"That won't be necessary. I don't need that room anymore."

"All due respect, Eve, some of these people don't have the best living conditions. You'll risk infection sleeping with them, and besides, you still need your bandages changed twice a day."

She narrows her eyes at him. "And what kind of living conditions do these people have, exactly? You said it yourself that there's plenty of guest houses and spare rooms, so it can't be that bad. I don't need nor want to be treated above any of them."

He looks at her for a brief moment. "I've never been more baffled by a person than I have been with you."

"Thanks, I guess?"

Sasha tugs her hand. "Come on, Eve. You'll love the pond in the back."

Evelyn glances at Micah as a gesture of dismissal, then turns her back on him without another word.

***

"Unbelievable. How is it you manage to tame bloodthirsty science experiments gone wrong? I mean, yeah, you're hot and all, but there's plenty of girls here who surpass your looks--no offense--and I don't see any of these vampires leeching onto them. You sure you're not secretly one of them? Like an experiment that sort of worked but didn't really--"

"I've punched you in the throat once, I'll do it again."

Locke scrunched his face and held up his hands. "Sheesh, fine, I'll shut up. But you've gotta admit, it's a little weird."

"What's weird is your fascination with the fact that I might be part vampire," Evelyn says with an eye roll. "I'm fine by the way. Nearly died of blood lost from getting stabbed in both of my legs, but I get it. Possibly being an undead whisperer is way more important."

Locke shrugs. "I mean, kind of, yeah."

Evelyn scoffs. "And I'm the unbelievable one."

He smiles a bit timidly, then hesitates a moment before saying, "Seriously, though. It's nice to see you're still alive, Eve."

She can't muster a smile in return, but she mimics his shrug. "I almost didn't want to be."

She can feel his eyes on her, but thankfully Sasha comes running back around the corner of the building. She had gone to find Erik, who apparently is her new favorite person, but she'd been gone for quite a bit, leaving Evelyn and Locke to catch up. Which mainly consisted of Locke expressing ridiculous theories and complaining about how mundane the past two weeks have been for him. Somehow, he misses the near-death experiences he used to despise.

Erik stops a few feet away, staring at Evelyn as if she rose from the dead right before his eyes. She naturally averts her own eyes, but she's lucky enough that Sasha handles the strange reunion. She knew the man all of two days before he watched her "die." She owed him gratitude, though, she'll admit that much. He did, after all, protect Sasha.

"See! I told you I wasn't seeing things. Eve really is okay," Sasha says happily, satisfied with her confirmation of sanity as she crosses her frail arms over her chest.

Evelyn forces herself to look up just as Erik heaves a heavy sigh. "Wow. You weren't kidding when you said you knew them better than me."

She practically cringes. "That's not really what I meant." Or was it? Truth be told, this isn't the first time a beast has saved her life.

The universe really does work in unexplainable ways.

He cracks a wry smile. "Well, however you meant it, you're pretty fortunate."

Evelyn bites the inside of her cheek. It's such a bitter-sweet phrase to hear nowadays--being "fortunate." She supposes she is, for the most part, considering she is indeed still breathing. Whether that's something to be fortunate of is the real argument.

Erik takes a hesitant step closer to her. "For the record, I didn't abandon you. When I saw that thing hovering you, I shot him down and immediately checked you for a pulse." He closes his eyes for a moment as if reliving the scene in his head. When he looks at her again, there's a haunting cloud over his blue eyes. "I guess it was too slow for me to feel it. My plan was to get the kids to safety and then come back--"

"Erik," she cuts him off quietly. "It's okay."

His shoulders slump. "I was going to come back. I did come back, but the whatever-the-hell-you-call-them already took over the place and we all got shoved in this place."

It takes a great amount of effort to offer the tiniest smile. "It's okay, really. I mean, like you said, I'm fortunate right? I'm still here."

He looks like he wants to argue more, as if he has any responsibility over her life, but multiple screams nearby halt him from doing so. Evelyn instantly grabs Sasha's shoulders, pulling her close while she scans the area. Erik pulls a knife from his belt, as does Locke, and the three of them tense as they wait. More screams sound, steadily growing nearer and nearer until--

Evelyn's eyes widen as her heart pounds hard. "Harry."

It's not the Harry she left, but he's unrecognizable nonetheless. He seems bulkier, almost like he buffed up overnight. His hair is still a mess of brown ringlets that dip into his red eyes, but with the frantic turning of his head, his bangs fly back and forth. What catches Evelyn's stare and makes her heart sink is his mouth--halfway open, unable to close completely because of the sharp canines filling every inch of the space.

The people are still running and screaming. He chases a few before stumbling, clutching at his head as if it's hurting. He keeps blinking rapidly, spinning this way and that like he's lost and confused. He swipes at people who get too close, but then instantly yanks his arm up to his chest and grabs it like he has to hold it down.

Evelyn doesn't even think before she shuffles Sasha over to Erik and begins her awkward hobble-run towards him.

Not because she believes she's like him and can "tame" him, as Locke seems to think.

No, she runs because a twisted part of her mind can tell that he needs her, or at least someone who isn't afraid of him. It's blatantly obvious he's at a war with himself, so the soft side of her hopes she can tug him back to peace.

Plus, she never got to rescue him in return for all those times he helped her dodge death. This seems like a pretty good opportunity.

She's slow because of her legs, but the crowd is rushing towards her anyways. Majority of them gape at her, baffled, while the rest are oblivious to her stupidly brave actions. She wonders where he'd been kept--Micah said he had no clue where Harry was, but Harry had clearly been on this property. Evelyn isn't surprised Micah lied, but she is surprised that it took Harry this long to escape, if that's even what he's doing.

"Harry!" she shouts, trying to draw his attention away from the frightened mob of people. There's only a few around him now, but they scatter quickly and leave him staggering in his own little circle. She shouts his name again.

His head snaps in her direction.

Evelyn skids to a stop, her legs throbbing immensely, but the pain isn't why she paused. There's no recognition in Harry's eyes, no hint of emotion whatsoever. It's just a blank redness dark as blood that glares at her.

Suddenly slapped with how incredibly stupid her plan actually is, she takes a wary step back. Harry doesn't move at all, simply maintaining his glare on her. She holds up her hands instinctively, trying to hold his gaze but the intensity of his is almost unbearable.

"Eve!" Erik yells behind her.

"Don't," she says over her shoulder, keeping her eyes forward as if Harry will snap if she looks away. Maybe he will. "Stay back."

"What the hell are you doing?" he hisses, but Evelyn ignores him.

Keeps her focus solely on Harry.

He had once said he knew she was afraid of him.

She isn't. She refuses to be.

She knows who he really is.

"Harry," she says softly, taking that one step closer again.

A boy walking out of a building behind Harry snags his attention. The boy's eyes bulge as he drops a basket of berries, but he doesn't have time to run. Harry snatches him by the shirt collar, wrapping his arm around the boy's throat.

Evelyn's stifles her shriek, but can't stifle her anxiousness. "Harry, you know you don't want to hurt him. You save people, remember?"

The boy screams which causes Harry to tighten his grip.

"Kid, if you want to live, you have to trust me, okay? Don't struggle," Evelyn says urgently, her voice shaking. "You're going to be okay, I promise." She meets the boy's eyes and he barely manages to nod.

"Erik," Evelyn says, though she looks back up to Harry who grunts and grabs at his hair with his free hand, "be ready to get the boy out of here."

"Eve--"

"Follow me closely but don't talk." She takes another step with her hands still up, but Harry isn't looking at her. She's picking at her brain furiously for a way to talk him back to reality, but she doubts he's even listening.

Oh well. There's no harm in trying, right? Except the boy might be harmed... No. No, she won't let that happen.

"Harry, it's me. It's Evelyn, remember?" He's still not looking. "You saved a woman named Nive and a little girl named Sasha. You saved me and Robbie. I taught you how to write, remember that?"

A small bit of relief runs through her as he stills, slowly looking up at her.

She risks another step. Then another. He stays unmoving, staring at her with red eyes that have now lightened just the slightest. She's only a breadth away from him now. "You're not a monster," she whispers. "This isn't who you are."

She dares to look down at his arm holding the boy, and she sighs when his arm relaxes. She quickly grabs the boy's arm and swings him behind her to where Erik is standing. She glimpses the two scurrying back over to Locke and Sasha. When Evelyn peers back up, she meets Harry's eyes and the breath leaves her lungs.

Dammit.

She hadn't gotten this far in her planning. How is she supposed to get herself back to safety but still secure Harry simultaneously? Where is the backup in this place?

She tries to take a step back, but Harry's eyes dart down to her foot then back up, dark again. She goes to run, but Harry stumbles while clawing at his hair. He grips his head on either side, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Evelyn is momentarily stunned as he glances back up.

"Evelyn," he whispers, voice hoarse as if he hasn't spoken in a while. It reminds her of the first time she heard him speak, when he spoke up to Micah in her honor. She almost laughs in relief, but then he says, "Run."

Evelyn doesn't need to be told twice.

Even with her impaired legs, she stretches the distance between them in moments.

"Get Sasha out of here!" she yells to Locke and Erik, who still has the boy. Locke grabs Sasha's hand and runs while Erik hesitates. "Go, you idiot!" That strikes him from his stupor and he takes off after Locke.

Shortly after they disappear, Evelyn is tackled from behind. Her legs scream in agony as she lands roughly, but she wriggles onto her back as soon as she hits the ground. Harry--no, he isn't Harry anymore--the beast stares down at her and growls like a ravenous lion would. With a knee on either side of her hips, he closes one hand around her throat while the other pins her wrists above her head. His nails are sharp and pierce her skin, drawing blood that drips down her neck and arms. She tilts her head up for air.

"Harry, please." She squeezes her eyes shut, searching for an option--any other option to get him to stop. He came back to reality once, he can do it again. "Harry..." Her chest gradually constricts and she feels light-headed. She says the only other name she knows him by, "748."

Like she flipped a switch, he stops. His hand leaves her neck and she attempts to catch her breath, opening her eyes. It's blurry at first, but once her vision settles, he's no longer on top of her. She slowly sits up, her head spinning, and finds him scooting away from her, fear etched into every inch of his face.

"Evelyn," he whispers again, this time fearfully, as if it's the last time he'll ever say it. "I'm so sorry, I--"

Two large beasts haul him up by either of his arms, startling him though he doesn't fight. He keeps staring at Evelyn in horror. She stares back, though she's void of any emotion. She isn't angry, she isn't scared, she isn't forgiving. She merely holds his gaze.

Out the corner of her eye, she sees Erik kneel beside her. He must've brought the situation to Micah's attention, because she catches Micah on her other side. He goes to help her up, but she leans out of his reach, incidentally into Erik. Erik helps her to her feet, asking if she's okay, but she doesn't answer.

She doesn't even think she blinks as she watches Harry get dragged farther and farther away. She doesn't think he blinks either. She stares until she can't see him anymore. She thinks he does too.

She can't explain what she feels because she doesn't know.

All she knows is that she had given in to that darkness once again, but this time it hadn't been frightening.

Or unwillingly.