My friend and I started this fic as a collaboration on both our parts, but as life sometimes goes, she has lost interest with Supernatural and therefore Monsters. So, in order for the story to be as good as I can make it, she relinquished Evdokiya over to me and gave me permission to finish her story.


EVDOKIYA


"MORNING," her first client of the day bustled into the room, a grin on her face.

"Morning," Evdokiya was a little surprised to see the woman so cheerful. "How have you been, Betty?"

"Well, well," Betty smiled. She was an old woman with four grandchildren and three grown sons. "How have you been, Evdokiya? You gave us quite the scare."

"I'm doing better," Evdokiya shrugged her shoulders, pushing her hair away from her face. "Come in," she stepped back to let the woman pass her.

"I'm glad," Betty patted Evdokiya's shoulder lightly. "Well, I have a lot to talk to you about and hope my angels have answers."

"I do too," Evdokiya moved to her reading room and sat down slowly.

"You will need to hire a receptionist soon," Betty suddenly said. "It was a shame what happened to your other one but unfortunately you will need to hire another person."

"Well," Evdokiya cleared her throat. "I will get to that, someday. But for now, I can do it, just me."

"Well," Betty shrugged her shoulders. "You did it before you hired her and you can do it now." Betty smiled, "I should have you know we're all proud of you."

"Thanks," Evdokiya pulled a face. Why the hell were they proud of her? Evdokiya shook her head and took a seat in front of Betty. She had lit her incense before the woman had arrived and had laid everything out to go, she was ready.

"Oh, look at that good boy," Betty suddenly grinned and was looking over at the bottom staircase to where Caspian was sitting. His tail was flicking and he was staring into the shop, watching. "He's grown quite big since you got him from Mrs Keller's cat, he's a good boy, don't you think?"

Evdokiya hummed in agreement and cleared her throat, "What would you like me to do today? Card reading? Palm reading?"

"Palm please," Betty held out her hand. "I have a doctor's appointment next week and I don't want any bad news but…" she sighed. "Breast cancer runs in my family and all I want to know is that if anything happens I will come out the other end healthy and happier."

"Do you think you may have breast cancer?" Evdokiya was concerned for the elderly woman who had been one of her first clients and was always kind to her.

"I am not sure," Betty shrugged her shoulders. "But my mother had it and so did her sisters, I want to make sure that I will live to see my next grandchild born."

"Oh?" Evdokiya raised a brow.

"Yes," Betty grinned, "We found out in the few weeks you were gone. I'm very happy for my son, it will be his first child and I want to be there for him like all of my other children."

"I'm sure you will be Betty," Evdokiya held out her hand. "Now give me your hand so I can make sure you're okay."

Evdokiya was struggling to get a hold of the rushing feeling she felt whenever she touched someone. Would she ever be able to control it? She didn't like the way it ran her life, especially as she delved into whatever she was seeing in Betty's head. The woman was walking in the centre of town, distracted by her keys as she was trying to put them into her bag. At the last minute, she decided to cross the street, heading to the ice cream shop across the street. In her distraction, she did not notice the car driving.

It struck her and Evdokiya yanked her arm back, falling backwards and blinking quickly. Betty leaned across the table, peering at Evdokiya in concern as the girl rubbed the back of her neck. It was taking some time getting used to seeing different parts of people, but how would she learn to control it? What she wanted to know was why she had seen Betty being hit by a car, she had never been hit by a car before. Evdokiya licked her lips and then moved back to her original sitting position. She was breathing heavily, hands flat on the table.

"Are you alright, dear?" Betty asked kindly.

"Fine… fine," Evdokiya drew a ragged breath and pushed her hands through her hair suddenly.

"Are you sure?" Betty frowned, "Perhaps I shouldn't have come, you don't seem alright."

"I just…" Evdokiya reached up to try and calm her beating heart down. "You need to be careful Betty, you need to make sure that you look both ways before crossing a street."

"Of course," Betty looked at Evdokiya with concern. "I always do that."

"Seriously," Evdokiya then pressed. "This is no joking matter, it's dangerous so you need to be careful."

"Yes… I will," Betty frowned at her. "Are you sure you're alright, Evdokiya? Perhaps you should talk to someone, that often helps people who have been in your situation before."

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I don't need to talk to someone. I can deal with it," she leaned back. "I won't charge you for this session, Betty. But please be careful when you're crossing roads," she urged her. Evdokiya didn't want to hear about Betty's death.

"I'm just concerned for you," Betty smiled at her. "But thank you, I will make sure to be extra careful when crossing roads."

"Thank you," Evdokiya hung her head, black, wavy strands of hair moving to fall over her face.

"Don't thank me, dear," Betty reached out to place a hand on Evdokiya's shoulder. "You should know that you can come to visit me anytime you need to clear your head. I like having visitors over, perhaps you will finally meet the husband I complain about so much."

Evdokiya could feel nothing but the warmth in her heart for the old woman, she reached up to rub her heart with a small smile on her face. "Please be careful Betty," she didn't want Betty's family to lose such an angel.

"I will," Betty patted her on the hand and then frowned, looking around the room. "There seems to be something strange here, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?" Evdokiya perked up, watching as Betty continue to look around the room. Evdokiya followed her eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse at what she was staring at.

"A strange energy," Betty pursed her lips. "I'm not sure, but I can feel it. I wonder if you can too."

"I can feel it," she agreed, "But I don't know what it is, I don't understand it."

"Hm," Betty shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps it is nothing, maybe you need to sage the place because there might be some negative energy."

"Good idea," Evdokiya stretched her arms above her head. It would be a little while because she would sage, not that she was being lazy but she had many customers after Betty who stood up. "Well, let's pay for your session."

"Alright then," the two of them headed to the front counter. "Everything is going to be alright, I know it will, Evdokiya."

"Thank you," Evdokiya smiled at the old woman kindly. "I will see you next time, then?"

"Of course you will," Betty then waved over her shoulder and hurried out of the shop.

Evdokiya moved into the room where she had been doing Betty's reading. She placed her hands on her hips, frowning as she stared around the room. There was something off, but she could not place where the off feeling was coming from but it seemed to be everywhere in the bottom floor of the building. Caspian did not want to come out of the apartment, he no longer wanted to spend his time on the bottom floor, giving comfort to her customers.

Shaking her head, Evdokiya decided to head up to her apartment where Caspian was cautiously eyeing the front door. She reached down to pull her cat into her arms, stroking the top of his soft head as she moved around the room. He jumped out of her arms as soon as she got to the kitchen, landing on the top of the kitchen counter Caspian meowed at her as she went through her freezer. She pulled out something she could put in the freezer and cook quickly, she placed it on the top of her countertop and almost screamed.

Caspian was hissing and he had been raised on his haunches. Evdokiya was staring at the figure standing in the middle of her apartment, a girl in a white dress with long, black hair that stared at her with soulless, dead eyes. She tensed as just as soon as the creature appeared it disappeared. Evdokiya was blinking quickly and she reached up to rub her eyes, unable to believe what she had just seen before her. Evdokiya looked over at Caspian who had calmed himself, she reached out to run her fingers over her cat – hoping to offer him some sort of comfort.

Stretching her arms above her head, Evdokiya yawned as she stumbled into the bathroom, bleary-eyed. She did her business and then washed her hands, looking in the mirror she was startled as she noticed someone standing behind her. The same vision she had seen the night before, a girl who seemed to be watching her. Evdokiya's heart was pounding inside her chest, she felt her breath stop short as she stared at the girl who had deep, brown eyes and seemed to watch her with curiosity rather than malice.

But why was she seeing a little girl?

The child reached out to touch her and all she felt was a chill, a shiver ran down her spine. She could not move, not with the way the child seemed to run her hand over her shoulder. It was then she felt nails dig into her skin and she let out a cry, eyes squeezing shut as her knees buckled a little. There was a searing feeling in her shoulder and she felt herself fall against the kitchen sink, gripping it tightly and pressing her forehead against the cool mirror. What the hell was that?

Eyes opening, she pushed herself up but her body shook and her knees felt so weak. The girl was not standing behind her any longer, there was no one behind her – she was alone. Heart pounding inside her chest, Evdokiya turned her head slowly to get a look at her shoulder and let a cry slip from her lips. Raw, red fingernail marks were embedded into her skin and she felt her body slacken. Could it be? A ghost, no they weren't real! As much as she wanted to, she could not deny it – it was stupid to deny it.

"Why?" She couldn't help but wonder and found herself tensing, should she call Sam and Dean Winchester?

No, she decided as she headed out of the bathroom. Her shoulder throbbed, how had a ghost managed to dig nails into her? It sounded ridiculous. Hearing hissing, she hurried into her bedroom to watch Caspian hiss at the doorway. He calmed as he noticed her standing in the doorway and she came thundering toward him, scooping her cat into her arms and running her hands over his fur. She should close the shop, but she needed the money first and foremost.

There was much that she needed to do, but with a ghost hanging around she thought that she had the worst luck of all. Shivering, Evdokiya licked her chapped lips and headed into the apartment. Caspian tensed as she walked, digging his sharp nails into her skin, Evdokiya hissed but looked around the apartment just in case the ghost came out of nowhere again. She felt eyes watching her and she hated it, she did not feel safe in her apartment any longer which angered her. Letting Caspian go, she poured herself a glass of water and sipped it slowly.

Evdokiya was admittedly spooked, she didn't want to spend any more time in her apartment. Maybe it was a little drastic, but she thought of heading to the motel down the street to get some peace of mind. With her mind made up, Evdokiya began to move around her apartment to pack an overnight bag with things that were most valuable to her. She stroked Caspian, shoving him into the bag too since she wouldn't be able to sneak him into the motel. Evdokiya needed to get out of there, she was getting more uncomfortable by the minute in her apartment.

Caspian hissed inside the bag and she tried to shush him, hurrying across the road to the main street so she could get to the motel. She opened the bag a little bit, letting Caspian poke his head out of the bag and look around. Smiling, Evdokiya ran her fingers over the top of her cat's head as she headed toward the motel. It was at the edge of town and was one of the first things that could be seen when a visitor was coming into town. It was a nice motel and cheap, Evdokiya had stayed there when she had first decided on the town.

"Hey," she said as she entered the motel, smiling at the old woman behind the counter.

"Ah, Evdokiya," the woman frowned as she noticed her. "What are you doing here?"

"It feels… strange in my apartment," she then shrugged. "Perhaps it's after what happened to me…" not really, but it was a good enough excuse. "So I've decided to rent a room for a little while."

"Oh!" The woman smiled at her and then her face became sympathetic, "Of course. Do you want your old room? I know you liked your room facing the lake."

"I did, I do," she corrected herself and hoped that Caspian wasn't going to suddenly let out a yowl. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear," the woman turned her back to grasp a key. "We were all so upset over the murders and what happened to you. I'm glad that even though we lost so many that you are still here."

"Thank you," Evdokiya cleared her throat. "And thank you for the room."

"You're welcome," the woman smiled and they both turned as the bell chimed, another person stepped inside. "Well, I have another customer. Have a good night, Evdokiya."

"I will," she waved at the woman, heading to her room. She opened the bag, allowing Caspian to jump out and bounce across the bed. She poured him a bowl of food and got some water ready for him, even making sure to prepare him a litter tray in the bathroom. Evdokiya then left the bag by the foot of the bed as Caspian explored the room. Tucking some hair behind her ear, she looked out the window at the lake, feeling somewhat relaxed. Perhaps she would walk down by the lake later, she needed to centre herself and standing by the lake could help.

Hearing her phone ring, Evdokiya frowned and put her phone up to her ear. "Hello?" She asked, watching as Caspian headed to the window to stare out at the lake.

"Is this Evdokiya, the psychic?" The voice asked and she winced at the label. She was a fraud… with weird things that were happening to her.

"Um, yes," she answered, pulling the phone away from her ear to curse under her breath in Bulgarian.

"This is Betty's granddaughter, she told me to call you," the girl sounded a little flustered. "She wants to thank you for saving her life."

"Oh," Evdokiya rubbed her arms, relieved Betty hadn't died. "Well, um, tell her she doesn't need to worry about it."

"Well," her granddaughter sounded a little unhappy. "She wants to invite you to lunch, to thank you."

"Um, are you sure?" Evdokiya cleared her throat.

"Of course I'm sure," the granddaughter became frustrated. "She wants to take you out to lunch tomorrow. I will be going with you, is that fine with you?"

"Um, sure," Evdokiya nodded. "Where do you want me to meet you?" She listened to the granddaughter give her the restaurant name and the two of them hung up.

She rubbed the side of her face and then opened the back door, letting Caspian slink out onto the patio and she crossed her arms over her chest. She gazed out at the lake, watching as the sun made the lake sparkle, the water shimmering welcomingly. Evdokiya almost wanted to go swimming, she had bought the bathers for it but she hardly ever went swimming. She looked at Caspian who had jumped up to the railing that lined the patio, he sat himself down and his eyes almost closed as he basked in the sun.

Evdokiya headed down the front steps, making her way toward the lake and kicking off her shoes as her feet got to the edge of the sand. The sand was damp from the water, she parted her lips as a little bit of air left her body. She made her way toward the water, her feet pressing into the cool water and she looked up at the sun, eyes closing. It was warm and lovely, Evdokiya wanted to do nothing but soak in the sun. Hearing barking, she whipped her head around and noticed a person walking their dog passed her room.

She headed back to her room, the owner of the dog smiling at her apologetically as Caspian hissed and arched his back. She made her way to the door, opening it to allow her cat to dart inside, she looked back at the dog who tugged at the lead in an attempt to get to her cat. Evdokiya scowled, shaking her head before turning and heading back inside her room and closing the sliding door. She left the curtains open and watching as Caspian made his way to the bed, still eyeing the window and the dog suspiciously.

After he settled in, Evdokiya made her way over to the bathroom to get ready for bed, not able to get rid of the feeling that she was being watched. Having a relatively quick shower, not liking the idea of her being exposed, she got changed into comfier clothes and stepped into the main area.

Hissing and yowling caught her attention when she threw the towel off towards the bathroom. Whipping around, Evdokiya found a figure before they lunged. They managed to get a hand over her mouth before a scream escaped and panic welled in her chest.

They were stronger than her. A lot stronger. Evdokiya couldn't get the power to fight back when a pinch on her neck caused the world to start going fuzzy around the edges. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Caspian lunging at the bald man. Not her cat.