EVDOKIYA


IN the back of the classroom, Evdokiya sat alone and stared down at the page of symbols Professor Hart had outlined. She held up the page, eyes studying each of the symbols as her vision flickered behind the paper to the professor at the front of the room. The professor had her hands together as she explained the meaning of these Pagan symbols, known as symbols of the Vikings. Evdokiya watched as the Professor took questions from the more engaged students at the front of the room. The Professor then looked forward, staring right into Evdokiya's eyes.

Evdokiya shrunk in her seat. There was something strange about the professor, something that screamed at her to run but at the same time she was a good person and she could trust her. She had no idea what to believe. She tried to trust her instincts, but at the same time, she did not know what to think. Lowering her head, she looked down at her book and let her dark hair fall over her eyes. As soon as class ended she was going to get out as soon as possible, she did not want to be caught by Professor Hart again.

"Excuse me," Evdokiya turned her head, noticing a young, dark-skinned woman looking at her.

"Yes," she straightened her shoulders as she faced the girl.

"Can I please borrow a pen?" She asked, "My ink ran out and I didn't bring another pen."

"Yes," Evdokiya opened her pencil case and handed the young woman a pen.

"So…" the girl stared at her. "Where are you from?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're not from here," the girl rolled her eyes. "So where did you grow up?"

"In Bulgaria," Evdokiya pressed her lips together. "Are you from here?"

"No," she shook her head. "I was born in the Dominican Republic, but I came here when I was little."

"Oh," Evdokiya nodded her head slowly.

"Well," the girl smiled. "What's your name?"

"Evdokiya," she said her name slowly because she knew that others could pronounce it wrong.

"Ah, cool name," the girl complimented. "I'm Maria."

"That is a nice name," Evdokiya recalled a child she had met in her orphanage by the name of Maria.

"Thank you," Maria grinned, leaning back in her seat. "Thank you for the pen," she waved it before turning around to face the front of the classroom.

Evdokiya also turned to the front but avoided the eyes of the professor, who attempted to catch her gaze again. What was wrong with the woman? Evdokiya suddenly had the fear that the professor was going to try to seduce her. She winced, it sounded so ridiculous in her head but she had heard stories of professors who paid particular attention to students – only to seduce them. Evdokiya shivered, what was she going to do? Did she enrol out of the class before anything happened and before her grades were marked down? Evdokiya was so unsure, she rubbed her temple in frustration.

As the class finished up, Evdokiya placed all her things back in her bag and placed it on her back. She then looked to the front of the room as Professor Hart spoke with one of her classmates. Evdokiya slowly headed down the steps to the ground of the room, wrapping her hand around her amulet she ducked her head to make sure she was not seen. As soon as she made her way toward the door, she heard someone call out her name and she tensed up, turning her head slowly as she noticed Professor Hart making her way toward her.

"Evdokiya," she stepped backwards, wishing she was able to leave quickly. But she had no excuse to get out of there quickly. "How are you feeling today?"

"Well," Evdokiya blinked up at the student who came to join them at the door. "How are you?"

"Never better," Professor Hart grinned. "This is Vincent, he's one of my best students and I was asking if he would be able to tutor you."

"Tutor me?" Evdokiya blinked slowly, "Do I need tutoring?"

"Well," Professor Hart smiled at her kindly. "You are not the best student, I think you need a little help…"

"Thank you," Evdokiya looked up at Vincent who was studying her. His skin was a lot darker than Professor Hart's skin and his hair was very curly, styled in a large afro.

"You're welcome," Vincent shrugged his shoulders. "It will help me with extra credit, tutoring you. And Professor Hart said she'd be a reference for me in the future."

"I was always going to be a reference," Professor Hart rolled her eyes before clapping her hands together. "That's good. Do you both want to go get coffee today?"

"Coffee," Evdokiya opened her mouth to say no but was interrupted.

"Sure," Vincent pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I don't have to go to work until later tonight so I can join you both for coffee. Is that alright with you, Evdokiya?"

"Y-yes," she then nodded. "Are we getting a coffee here or off-campus?"

"We can get one here," Professor Hart was by the desk, packing her things away.

"So…" Vincent looked down at Evdokiya. "Can I call you Evy… or do you prefer your full name?"

"You can call me Evy," she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Cool," he grinned, "Then you can call me Vince."

Evdokiya nodded her head slowly, bobbing it up and down as Professor Hart came toward them. She was ready to go and the three of them left, walking quickly down the path. Professor Hart suddenly came in front as she began to lead them to the coffee shop she swore had the best coffee, from what Evdokiya gathered as she spoke with Vincent. Evdokiya felt so awkward and out of place, as if she didn't belong as the two of them continued to have a conversation without her. She wanted to go home, but that wasn't likely to happen.

They got to the little coffee place, Evdokiya sat down and looked up at Vince and Professor Hart sat with her. She could not leave, not yet – she had to at least sit and eat with them. She bit down on her bottom lip and watched as Professor Hart made her way into the coffee shop, leaving her alone with Vince. The man had pulled his phone out and was holding it up, he then looked over his phone and grinned at Evdokiya. She was startled and leaned back at his grin.

"You're beautiful," he said so suddenly.

She blinked, "T-thank you." She was unsure of how to reply.

"Sorry," he then ducked his head, looking embarrassed. "I didn't mean to sound weird or anything. I'm a photographer," he suddenly turned his phone around to reveal a gallery of photos. "It's what I do. I see something pleasing to the eye and I take photos of it, I'd like to feature you."

"Oh no," Evdokiya held up her hand, shaking it. "No thank you."

"Oh," he frowned, "Okay then." He shrugged his shoulders, "But if you ever want to just let me now," he then smiled. "I'm going to be your tutor so we're going to be spending a lot of time together." He reached over to touch her hand and Evdokiya swallowed.

"I love you," a voice whispered and her head turned. Two men stood together, nude with their bodies pressed up against each other. One man had a large afro and Evdokiya gathered it was Vince. The other man had skin a shade or two lighter than Vince's. Their lips pressed against each other gently and the two men sighed, sinking into each other's embrace as they kissed.

"Hey!" She heard someone say and she looked up at Vince who was staring down at her, brows furrowed. "Are you okay? You went into a trance or something."

"I'm fine," she smiled at him tightly. "Just… just fine," she flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked over at Professor Hart.

"I've ordered for myself," she smiled. "So which one of you would like to order?"

"I will!" Evdokiya stood up quickly, chair scraping against the stone ground and drawing attention from nearby patrons. "I'll be back in a moment," she picked up her bag and hurried into the shop, taking a deep breath as she paused by the door.

She could go back out there and have an awkward coffee with the two of them, or she could sneak out and somehow try to get passed them. Evdokiya's shoulders slumped as she gripped the handle of her bag tightly and looked out the window, watching as the two of them laughed together. Professor Hart was engaged with her students, so maybe she wasn't trying to come onto her. Since her kidnapping, Evdokiya felt so off… jumpy and suspicious, as if everything was out to get her. She really couldn't blame herself for being suspicious of the professor.

Evdokiya spent the whole afternoon with the two of them, she just could not get out of it no matter how hard she tried. She finally got home and it was dark, Caspian was meowing by the front door of her shop and she bent to scoop him into her arms. Pressing her nose into his soft head, she kissed him and headed up the stairs to her apartment. The cat jumped from her arms and onto the kitchen bench, sauntering over to his empty bowl and the empty cup he drank from – unless he was drinking from the sink.

Placing her bag and keys down on the end of the bench, she bent down underneath the sink to get out some cat food. She placed it in Caspian's bowl and he immediately set about eating it. She threw the tin in the bin and then filled up his cup in the sin, placing it by his bowl and then heading to her room. There she immediately dropped her jacket onto a chair by her window and pulled some leggings out of her drawers. She then grabbed a large jumper and headed to the bathroom, where she was going to have a shower.

While in the shower, Evdokiya rubbed the back of her neck and hung her head as the water fell over her body. She raised her head and froze, she thought that someone was looking at her through the glass. Opening the shower curtain, she peered into the bathroom but there was no one there. Shivering, Evdokiya turned around to face the tiled wall and took a deep breath. Although it was warm in the shower as she liked the water hot, as she exhaled Evdokiya froze as she could see her breath come out of her mouth.

Rather freaked out, Evdokiya turned off the shower and wrapped her towel around her body. As she stepped out of the shower she paused when she noticed none of her clothes were in the bathroom when she remembered putting them on the counter before she stepped into the shower. Irritated, she clenched her teeth together and opened the bathroom door. Maybe she hadn't put her clothes in the bathroom, because as she stepped out into the living room she found her clothes resting on the couch with Caspian resting on them, haunches up as he hissed at the window.

"Caspian," she reached out to touch her cat lightly. He was vibrating and she pulled him into her arms, frowning as she looked toward the window but there was nothing there. A little shaken, she grabbed her clothes and headed into the bedroom not particularly caring that she was dripping water through the flat. Closing her bedroom door, she dropped Caspian who hurried to her bed to lay on the end, facing the door. She dropped her towel in front of the door, changing quickly and then heading to the bed, sitting beside her cat to offer him some comfort.

He pressed his entire body against her, still watching the door with his green eyes. Evdokiya ran her fingers over the top of his body and watched the door too. There was something off about her apartment and her shop, she could not put her finger on it but she would offer free services to her clients, to ask them if they believed there was something different. Evdokiya had not believed in the supernatural until she had been kidnapped by an enraged witch and then saved by hunters, Sam and Dean Winchester. Did that mean she was cursed by the witch?

Evdokiya's body still bore the pain and suffering of what the witch had done to her, she hated looking at herself in the mirror and she still had nightmares. Evdokiya tried not to think about it, she wore her crystals, cleansed herself and her house while suppressing her hurt and attempting not to deal with any sort of pain. It was the wrong coping mechanism, she was well aware that she was only going to make it worse for herself. But she could not bring herself to care, not when she could not be bothered with caring for herself.

Lying down on her side, Evdokiya bit down on her bottom lip and reached over for her phone. She hadn't bothered to hire anyone else since Poppy had died, perhaps she needed to see her mother for the two of them to talk. She looked down at the screen, a little surprised she had a message and found herself rolling back up to a sitting position. Caspian hurried off the bed to stand guard by the door, tail slowly waving from side to side. Evdokiya paid her cat little mind as she clicked on the message.

It was a cryptic message from Professor Hart, telling her that she could talk to her if she ever needed to. Evdokiya ignored it quickly, rolling over to place her phone on her bedside table and throwing herself against the pillows. Placing her hand on her abdomen, she stared up at the ceiling as she tried to think of what to have for dinner. She could not be bothered cooking, she did not feel like spending her time in the kitchen. Instead, she would order pizza and would walk down to the pizza place, it was not far from her shop.

Throwing on some shoes, Evdokiya grabbed her phone and her bag and headed out of the apartment. Heading down the stairs into her shop, she barely noticed the shadows as she turned on the lights and then locked up the shop to head out. A weight was lifted off her as soon as she exited the strange shop. She frowned, turning back to study the shop as her blue eyes looking around. Peering up at her apartment, there was a face in her window that disappeared as quickly as she looked. It was only Caspian, she shook it off and turned down the street.

Down at the pizza place, Evdokiya stood patiently behind the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. She bit down on the inside of her cheek and thought of her upcoming assessments. Distracted, she barely noticed one of her customers come inside the shop until she felt someone touch her shoulder. Flinching, Evdokiya whipped around quickly and faced one of her customers. The woman was smiling at her and Evdokiya stepped back, heart pounding in her chest as she tried to think of something to say to the woman smiling at her.

"Evdokiya," the woman grinned at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I just decided to get pizza for dinner," she said slowly, softly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm picking up Katie from work," she smiled. "Then I noticed you were in here and I was wondering if I can come for a reading soon? You're the only one I trust. Since you've been closed since your… accident," she said carefully, "I headed to another town but the psychic wasn't as good as you. I'd say the man was lying to me and we both know I don't like liars."

"Yes," Evdokiya then cleared her throat. "Sure, I was going to open back up this week. You can come tomorrow if you want," she suggested.

"Oh really?" Her eyes widened with delight, "Thank you so much Evdokiya, I'll probably be there after I dropped the kids off at school. Is that alright?"

"Yeah," Evdokiya nodded her head slowly. "Sure, when I get home later I'll make sure everything is ready for tomorrow."

"Mum," a voice was heard from the right of them. Katie stood with her bag on her shoulders, "Are we going?"

"Yes, right," the woman smiled. "I will see you tomorrow then, Evdokiya!"

"Bye," Evdokiya watched as the two of them left the shop. Evdokiya shivered as she continued waiting for her pizza.

"Evdokiya," she heard her name call and she headed to the front counter. "It's good to see you out and about," the manager smiled at her. Joe Chen, a man who had moved from China ten years before Evdokiya had moved to the town.

"Thank you," she smiled at the man. "I'll see you later then."

"Of course," he grinned at her. "You always know that we will provide you with pizza."

Evdokiya shook her head as she held her pizza and left the shop. In the night air, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before making her way back home. There she headed up to her apartment, turning on all the lights and heading into her room. Opening her laptop, she watched a TV show and leaned against her pillows as she ate her pizza slowly. Caspian sat on the end of her bed, still watching her open door as if he was waiting for something. Evdokiya tried to brush it off, but there was something off.

She just couldn't describe what it was.