Eva had dozed off. Sitting still in her bed, her empty plate in her lap, the brunette had finally given into the tired weight of her body. Normally she was a light sleeper, so the knocks on the doors and noises from downstairs didnāt rouse her. She was captivated instead by a dream of Derek (but really, when wasnāt she dreaming about him?)
She was in her room, but not the current one she had made for herself in their house. No, she was in her home in Easton, the big house the one she had so desperately wanted to escape to New York from. The walls were painted a pale yellow, the color her mother had chose for her nursery when she hadnāt known the gender of her only child. It had never been a color Eva had admired and as sheād grown more drawn into fashion and theater and the stories of New York and Paris and London and Milan, her walls had gradually become plastered with posters and sketches and drawings. All of it remained. In the corner were a pair of dress forms and beside them a desk littered with fabric scraps and sewing paraphernalia. Tacked up along a bay window were fairy lights, which were turned on as the rest of the lights were shut off. A hundred candles were also lit and scattered across the room, all adding to the ambience, taking away from the cluttered walls.
Laid across her double bed was Eva herself, as she was currently, twenty one years old, her hair long, dark and curly. She was dressed in a black lace corset and stockings, kitten heels on her feet as she displayed herself for the man who stood in the center of the room. Derek smiled at her, unbuttoning a fitted white collar shirt that he wore. He strode across the room, eyes glued to her. As he approached the bed Eva rolled onto her back, pressing her hands to his shoulders without the hesitation she felt every day around him. No, she wanted him. She couldnāt deny how much she wanted to give herself over to him. Instead, however, he sat down on the edge of her bed instead of crawling over her. Derek sighed, stopping with undoing the buttons of his shirt. Immediately Eva sat up, drawing her hands over his left shoulder and under his right to clasp across his chest. She rested her chin on his shoulder. āPlease,ā she begged. He leaned his head into hers and she saw him smile. It was always a game. Suddenly he was whirling her back onto the bed, shifting with vampire speed to pin her hands and press her back into the numerous pillows. He hovered over top of her, his eyes taking in her frame. He leaned in, the tension building. Evaās eyes fluttered and she closed them, inhaling deeply, wanting him to kiss her.
A loud crash forced her to open her eyes. Eva took in the surroundings of the house and the screams from downstairs, her plate sliding off her thighs and onto her bed. Her heart was immediately racing in her chest as she stumbled, her weak legs buckling as she moved to her bedroom door. She landed in a heap by it instead, pressing her face up to it to listen. She swallowed, hearing noises she didnāt think possible. Screeches, animalistic cries and shrieks. It didnāt last long as suddenly it was ended by the most wretched tearing noises and cries. Her heart lept into her throat then, as silence fell. Eva opened the door to her room and stood on the landing then, looking down wearily, so confused, so dazed. She could see Adonis, a phone in his hands, his voice frantic but his words beyond her. Instead she heard the most frantic and hysterical of cries coming from Angel.
"Alessa! Apresse casa! NĆ£o estĆ” lutando! Eu nĆ£o sei quem estĆ” aqui, mas Jasper estava gritando e Angel Ć© louca e eu nĆ£o sei onde Ć© Eva e Annabelle e Isaac nĆ£o posso ouvi-los! Depressa, por favor! Eu nĆ£o posso ouvir mais nada!" It went on and on, building, the weeping growing. Evaās eyes widened as she moved down the steps one at a time. As she turned the corner she was met with a blood bath that took the breath right out of her. She fell, her feet losing their grip. She bounced down three steps before her hands flew out to grip herself on the banister and wall. Her fingers slid through a spray of someoneās blood and she gaped, so stunned that for several minutes she didnāt know what to think. Angelās hysterics were the only noise in the dead silent room that she could hear. Eva felt herself begin to hyperventilate as she took in the Italian vampire on her hands in knees, surrounded by the heads of strangers. āOh..oh,ā Eva gasped, her face knitting into uncontrolled sadness as she suddenly became aware that three of the bodies were not strangers as well. Isaac. Jasper. Oh dear Jasper. And Annabelle, blessed woman. They were all torn to shreds with the strangers, their heads and limbs so strewn about like someone had thought it a funny game. Fear caught her chest tightly but for some reason she was too stunned to cry.
The main door to the house flew open suddenly and Derek stepped in, his eyes going immediately to Angulizza. Eva leaned back into the stairs, her lips trembling as she saw Alessa behind him. Derek didnāt hesitate, he went straight to his hysterical companion on the floor, fighting her as she wept and pushed him away.
āAngel,ā he whispered, sinking to his knees to bring her into his lap. āNo! Get off of me!ā she yelled. Eva watched the exchange continue, how Derek suddenly moved to caress the Italianās cheek. Her cheek. Not Evaās. No. He was coddling the threatening bitch who had an hour before wanted Jasperās head for disobedience. Well she had it now didnāt she? Her friend was in the pile of bodies. Isaac too, the very man to whom she had grown close to. And Anna, the wise voice of them all. Eva felt her eyes burn then, not with sadness but hurt unaltered jealousy and fear.
āShh,ā he cooed. Eva gasped like she had been stabbed. How many times had he done that to her after feeding on her? It was no longer some special thing. She had convinced herself that he only treated her the way he did but it was so clear then that that wasn't the case. āI'm so sorry,ā Angel apologized. āI tried to protect them! I did...But it-ā
Evaās eyes knitted, her lips twitching as she sucked in air so rapidly. Protect them? She had actively participated in all of it! For all Eva knew she had shredded their coven members in her ādefensiveā rage.
āIts...my fault. And I'm so sorry. Please don't make me go...Don't let me go,ā she sniffed. Eva forced herself to get up then, her knees shaking as she suddenly forced herself down the stairs. She couldnāt see this. She didnāt want to see this. Derek was with her. It was so clear now. The dreams, everything had made it seem so real. She loved him, so loved him so much but months of this, months of merely being fed on and pleasing him, thatās all it was. This display, this coddling and whispering and consolation was so much a display of affection to Angel. It was so much more than she had gotten in months. What did that say about how he felt about her? She knew she had to leave. She had to get out of this horrific house, away from them all.
She threw herself through the open door and started to run.