"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change." 

— Mary Shelley 

/ / e v e l y n / /

Excruciating agony.

If I could cry right now, I would. 

If I could scream at the top of my lungs to let out my frustration, I would. 

I hate Louis for making me feel this way. 

I hate him for making me fall in love with him. 

I hate him for breaking my heart after all of the moments we had. 

I hate him because he hates me. 

He made it very clear he hates me and there's nothing I can do about it. Why stick around if the guy I love hates me? Why stay and pretend everything's okay when it's the complete opposite? Why be around the man who broke my heart? 

My arms wrap around myself as I walk down the sidewalk. I stare down at my bare feet as they hit the pavement and I keep my focus on how one foot moves in front of the other. If my mind wanders off to something else...someone else, I'll break right here and draw attention to myself. My heart's broken and I can feel the pain. It has been torn in half, abused. The moment Louis told me he hated me, my heart felt as if someone grabbed it and ripped it right down the middle. A hot glue gun isn't going to be able to fix this broken heart. 

I had been walking for a good thirty minutes now and every part of me feels numb. I know it's best for me to leave. I know it's going to hurt Louis once he finds out but it's for the best. I mentally laugh at myself and suddenly wish I was able to laugh. Right now, my body's disobeying me. All it's allowing me to do is walk...and walk...and walk. I'm broken and the only thing my body knows what to do is walk. 

Will Louis even care once he finds out about my disappearance? Will he jump with joy or feel like I am right now? I blink and expect a tear to drop. However, nothing falls and I'm now convinced that I've cried myself dry. I somehow manage to look up from my feet and look both ways before crossing an abandoned street. I keep my arms wrapped around me and part my lips, taking a deep breath. Once I'm across the street, my head looks downward and I go back to watching my feet move in front of each other as I walk. 

"For so long, I hated you. I hated you so much, Evelyn, and you didn't even know it. I hated you because you had gotten yourself in this mess with me. I hated you because you always thought about Joe and you never thought about me. He was no good for you and I knew I could treat you better. I hated you because I thought you would never be mine! But you know what, Evelyn? I've realized that you don't trust me and there has to be trust to make a relationship work, right?"

The words replay in my mind and I hate myself for thinking about it. I stop walking and close my eyes. A part of me wants to turn back around and run back to the apartment. I want to hug Louis and just forget everything that happened. Another part of me is fully aware of my heart being broken and wants me to keep moving. 

What Louis told me was wrong and I want to know if he knows. I trust him so much and he doesn't even know. I've trusted him for so long and he doesn't even realize how much trust I have for him. I stop walking but my eyes never leave my feet. What was the point of the argument? I tilt my head to the side. It was random...it came out of nowhere. I don't understand why it even happened. He should've been happy that I was all right. He should've been so happy. Instead, he started yelling at me and the entire argument started. I look up at the empty sidewalk ahead of me. 

The Louis I witnessed back there was not my Louis. 

My arms drop back to my sides and I stop holding myself. I turn around and start walking back. If I go back and hear him out, maybe the Louis I fell in love with will come out? The wind starts blowing and I shiver at how cold it is. My mind's racing and all I want right now is to go back to the apartment. I'm stupid for leaving the way I did. I'm stupid for telling Louis to leave me alone. Of course, at the time, I felt like I needed some alone time. In reality, I just needed to be held. 

I just needed to be—

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

I stop walking.

"You finally found a way out and now you want to go back?"

I turn around slowly, my hands shaking at my sides. A pair of green eyes meet mine and my heart's trying to beat its way out of my chest. Harry smiles and I notice he's only a few feet away from me. Where did he come from? How did he know I was here? I take a step back and he laughs, clearly amused by this. He's amused about all of this. 

"Such a shame," he examines his fingernails. "He told you he hated you and you want to go back. Where's your brain at, woman? Did it run away, too?" 

At the mention of the argument, my heart claws at my chest. It wants out. It can't handle all of this and neither can I. 

"How...How do you know about the argument?" I ask him. 

"Oh, Evelyn," his eyebrows knit together and I watch him with cautious eyes. "I know everything that goes on with my marked ones. I never want to miss a good show." He runs a hand down his pale face and winks at me. I'm disgusted and I just want to go back to the apartment. "However, the argument was getting quite boring. I had to do something about it." 

My heart nearly stops. I stare at Harry as my hands ball up into fists at my sides. "What are you talking about?"

He laughs, "You don't think I would just sit back and watch, would you?" 

"What did you do?" I shout, my body shaking all over. I'm beyond pissed. I want to punch him in the face. 

"It's a little game I like to play," he shrugs his shoulders as if it's nothing. "I get to mess with someone's mind and they have no idea what's going on. They think it's them thinking that way." Once again, he shrugs and goes back to examining his finger nails. 

I run at him. 

My fists bang against his chest and I scream with frustration. Harry's the reason for this. He messed with our minds and made us say those hurtful things to one another. He's the reason our lives are like this. I punch him in the face and he staggers back, cradling his injured jaw. My hands fall by my sides and I look downward. It's not long before I fall onto my knees and cover my face with my shaky hands. The tears are fresh and warm as they run down my cheeks. I tug at my hair and shake my head. This isn't happening. It's all a dream. I'll wake up and I'll be in Louis' arms. Everything will be all right. We'll go right back to talking about our future and we'll be happy. 

I'm yanked off of the ground and my eyes widen as Harry pulls me down the sidewalk. I try to pull myself out of his grip but he's too strong and I'm just too weak. I look around to see if there are any cars around. The streets around us are abandoned and I curse at myself for coming this way. I curse at myself for leaving the apartment in the first place. Harry stops walking and looks to his left before looking to his right. He pulls me to the right and my eyes widen. 

We're going into the woods. 

"No," I try to pull back. "No!" 

"Will you shut up?" he hisses. "I'm not going to kill you...yet." He laughs and I still don't trust him. I start screaming and he sighs before turning around. He slams a hand over my mouth and I try to bite him. His grip on my mouth's too strong and I can't get my teeth on him. I try to let my body drop onto the ground but Harry picks me up and keeps his hand over my mouth. I try kicking him but he only laughs. Nothing I'm trying to do works and this frightens me.

He carries me for what seems like hours and my attempts to get away from him continue to fail. I eventually give up and let him take me wherever the hell he wants to take me. If he isn't planning on killing me, what does he plan on doing? I look around at the trees and look at how high up they are. If I scream anytime soon, no one's going to be able to hear me. 

Harry sits me down on the grass and points a finger at me, "You move, you die."

Wonderful.

I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. Harry begins to pace back and forth in front of me. He's constantly shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants and he's saying something to himself...something I can't quite comprehend. I watch him carefully and try to figure out what his plans are. He finally stops pacing and pulls his shirt over his head. I panic, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He ignores me and tosses the shirt to the side before reaching for his pants. He unbuttons them and quickly pulls them off. My eyes widen. 

"Calm down," he murmurs as his hands reach for the hem of his boxers. I shield my eyes and squeeze them shut. A chuckle comes from Harry and I just know he is doing this to get to me. "Open your eyes, Evelyn."

"No."

"I'm not naked."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Evelyn, open your fucking eyes!" 

I put my hands on the ground and slowly open my eyes. They meet Harry's gaze and I slightly gasp. His eyes are fully white now and that's all I can see. The trees make everything dark around us and his skin blends in with the background. He grins, showing off his sharp, white teeth. I scoot away from him until my back hits a tree. 

"W-What...What are you going to do?" I ask. 

"Don't you like me like this, Evelyn?" he questions me and I'm taken back by his question. Of course I don't like him like this. I don't like him at all! I only stare at Harry, refusing to answer his pathetic question. "How's that neck of yours, E?" He laughs when I don't answer him. My neck is fine. I don't need the brace anymore. However, it's still hard for me to turn my head. "Or that bruise on your side?" I want to spit on his face. "I'm assuming it's still giving you problems?" 

"What do you want with me?" I cry out. 

"I believe I'm giving you an offer," he smirks. "I believe I can be the solution to all of your problems."

I wait for him to laugh and tell me this is all some joke and he's really going to kill me. I wait for him to tell me he's going to kill all of us and start over with people who will actually listen to him. He doesn't say anything and I swallow hard. "How can you be the solution to my problems when you've caused them?"

"Are you going to take me up on my offer?"

"I need to know what the offer is."

"Yes or no."

"I can't just answer you when I don't even know what the offer is." I point out. 

"Fair enough," he slurs. "Be like me, Evelyn."

"What?"

"You heard me," he says and he's smiling. "Be like me and all of your problems will be solved. Your neck will heal during transition. That bruise of yours will disappear and it'll be as if it was never there. You'll be able to feed off of fear after your transition is complete and you know what? You, Evelyn, will learn to love being your true self."

"Fuck off!" I yell. "I don't want to be like you. If being like you is being my true self, I'd rather die." I rise to my feet and point a finger at him. I have to appear strong. If I do so, he might forget about this entire thing. Harry laughs and I watch his eyes as he begins to circle the tree my back is against. 

He tells me, "It's not bad. No, not at all. You'll get to be free. You won't need to run away anymore. Hell, you can go back to your old life if you want to." I raise my eyebrows and put my arm down. How can I go back to my old life? Joe and my mother won't be in it. The only breathing thing that would be in it would be Blue. Right now, I wouldn't mind having Blue back in my life. I look at Harry and he's standing in front of me again. "You'll have power. You know how I can control people and their minds?" I don't answer him. "I can do so much more. You could do so much more. Want to know why?"

"W-Why?"

"You won't be born into this life," he says. "Any demon who isn't born into this life is stronger...better." 

As the word 'demon' slurs out of his mouth, it finally dawns on me that he wants me to be a demon...just like him. I shake my head at him and look down at my feet. This isn't right. If I go along with what Harry wants, what would Louis think of me? I close my eyes and sigh. He doesn't hate me at all. Harry messed with him and made him say those things to me. I know Louis loves me. The Louis I love wouldn't say those things to me. 

"I can't," I whisper. 

"You can and you will," his tone's harsh. 

My eyes meet his, "I can't be like you. I don't want to and I won't allow myself to become some....deathly creature who kills for sport." His smile fades and I no longer see his teeth. 

"You will be like me!" he yells. 

I turn and run. 

I run as fast as I can and move tree branches out of my way. I force my legs to move faster than they usually do and I bite my bottom lip when the leg muscles begin to burn. I stop and grab onto the nearest tree. The only sound I hear is my own breathing and when I look around, I don't see him chasing after me. The trees are all I see and I push myself away from the tree I'm on. I see an opening ahead and I push my legs to keep moving. 

There's a road up ahead and I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I run out into the middle of it and look both ways to see if a car is coming. I see lights in the distance and I throw my arms up, waving them back and forth. The car gets closer and I find it in myself to start screaming and shouting for help.

"Help—"

A hand's slapped across my mouth and my eyes widen. I look up to see who's doing this to me and when my eyes meet a pair of white ones, I start screaming. My screams are muffled by his hand and he pulls me back in the direction of the woods. I kick my legs and try to stop him from taking me back. If the car hurries up, they'll see what's going on and they might stop to help me. I'm pulled back but we're still close enough to see the road. I watch it with wide eyes and hope the person in the car will see me. 

They don't.

The car zooms by us and I try to scream as loud as I can. Harry drops me on the ground and I try crawling away from him. He wraps a hand around my ankle and when I look back, he's biting into his wrist. He hisses out in pain and I scream. I scream like there's no tomorrow and Harry flips me over to where I'm on my back. He sits down on me and when his wrist gets closer to my mouth, I close it. 

"Open your mouth."

I shake my head. 

"Suit yourself," he mutters and wraps a hand around my neck. I gasp out and as soon as my mouth opens, he puts his wrist on top of it. His blood enters my mouth and I gag at the taste. The metal taste in my mouth is displeasing and I refuse to swallow it. I try to get Harry's wrist away from my mouth. He only squeezes his wrist, making more blood drip into my mouth. "Swallow it, Evelyn. I know you want to. I know you want to be like me." I start choking on his blood and he laughs. "Swallow it or die. It's up to you." I try to get it out of my mouth but nothing's working. "Swallow it!" My body reacts before I have time to process everything and I swallow the blood. 

I swallow Harry's blood. 

"Good girl," I watch him smile. "Drink up, you have a lot ahead of you." 

He pulls his wrist away from me and gets off of me. I immediately sit up, scooting away from him. This time, he doesn't chase me. I rise to my feet and when I turn around, a wave of dizziness washes over me. I hold onto my forehead as I take small steps toward the road. I hear Harry laughing behind me and I put a hand against the tree closest to me. I look over my shoulder to see Harry right behind me. His green eyes look curious and I look downward. He has on his boxers and I begin to wonder how far I actually ran before. 

My hand slips from the tree and I collapse in Harry's arms.