Chapter VIII - On death's edge

Alex's POV

I tried to wrap my head around what Everett had said. (Evelynn is...alive? How is that possible? That rotten bastard told me he killed her! If she's alive why didn't she ever return home...to us, to me?)

Even though I barely knew this bloke in front of me, I felt...hope. I had to know the reasoning behind his statement: "How can she be alive after all these years? " A mischievous and yet sad glint appeared in the corner of his eyes: "I should ask you the same. I smell human on you however I sense something darker as well. What are you?"

My arms crossed in front of my chest as I shrugged my shoulders: "What am I? I wished I could answer you. When she died I just recluded myself inside my inner world. Wonderland was once only a reality to me, but with time it gained a conscience. With the spread of my story all over the world, my lifespan increased, and then I started killing the people which refused to hear her story, as once I failed to."

"I see. You must be quite powerful if you changed yourself by will alone. Well, I don't know what happened to her. Yet, if she shared the same fate as I did...it explains why we never saw each other."-Everett reclined onto his armchair in front of me and looked to the roof.

"Tell me what happened...please."-I begged him as I swallowed my British pride. A smirk appeared on his chiseled face: "Oh, where's all that pride I saw before?" I looked at him straight in the eyes and clenched my fists: "For her, I would do anything. Even part with my pride." The smirk quickly vanished and I saw the corners of his lips turn slightly upwards: "I'm glad..."

He quickly shook himself off and retained his boyish smirk: "So, as I was saying. You are right. She did die as everyone in my family did. It's how we are turned into the creatures you see now. I can only tell you about the ritual males go through as I never had any contact with my sisters. Our father has separated us into wings. We live in the left wing while they reside in the right one."

(Magic? Rituals? This would all be absurd if it wasn't me listening to it. I remembered Evelynn could see the deceased. If it were now she would be called a medium. I was relieved to know that more people like her existed. Perhaps she wouldn't suffer as much with her visions if she had someone who shared the same experiences.)

"And how did you came to be?"-I asked curiously. "Well, when I was 9 I was kidnapped by our old man after he killed the woman who birthed me."-he said in a poisonous tone. (I see that both he and Evelynn shared the same dislike for their mother. How lonely it must have been...to only have each other in such a dangerous world.)

"He took me to his castle and placed me in a dungeon. For years, I saw as he added lads to our "family". He made us fight against his minions, as humans. And for us to build resistance he tortured us till we passed out. You don't know how many siblings I lost in those bloody halls."-His fists clenched his dark slacks as he remembered his past.

"I'm so sorry...To lose your family over and over must have been awful. Yet, how did you not die with the procedures?"-I pondered. "Hmph, he injected his vile blood into our veins daily. It was like having coals inside us. Some of my brothers just couldn't take the pain and...died. His blood was what kept us alive and what also turned us into demons such as him."

As I was going to stop him since I noticed how much it pained him, he stood up: "Then on the Ostara, the 20th March with 18 years old, the ritual was done. I was dragged to a stone altar where they placed me on my knees and my head rolled down the stone courtyard. My memories left alongside my head and when I came to, I had only this to prove I had died."-He opened his shirt and I could see a fresh scar around his neck and a tattoo gleaming red in the middle of his torso.

My eyes opened widely as I looked into the scar on his neck: "Does it hurt?" I saw his eyes change from his usual smooth self to someone in pain: "Sometimes...when we did something he didn't approve of he made us relive the pain of our deaths. Funny that I've run from him and yet I don't feel anything at the moment. It might be related to recovering my memories."

Surprise overtook my features: "You had no memories? None at all?"-I asked. He looked at me and shook his head: "Sadly, no. Do you think that I wouldn't go after my sister if I remembered her? I would have done everything to see her again."

My hands fell into my lap: "So would I... Regarding her scent, you did say that you felt another one with her scent. Why don't we go look for it?" Everett stood up and smirked: "Well, well. The first time we agree on something. Let's be off. I was one of the best trackers in my old man's family."

Standing up I dress my coat once again and smirk back with a lifted eyebrow: "Let's hope you still are." And off we went through the corridors with Everett in front as he felt for the scent. (Please let it be you, Evie. Please...)

Meanwhile in the living quarters of the house:

Eve POV

This house reeks of slaughter and torture. (Ahhh... just like "home".) Staring down I realized that Charlotte was still sleeping. One less thing to worry about. She is too young to be surrounded by this environment. No one with a choice would want to experience this.

My steps became faster as Edgar flew in front of me and we passed consecutive doors. I was almost giving up from finding an empty room and ready to ask for "help". (Ewww, do I need to go back and ask that annoying ginger for help? I'd rather die...Oh wait, I already did. Still, I don't want to go.)

Yet, as I was ready to turn back Edgar cawed in front of a brown mahogany door with dark iron details. It was beautiful and quite mysterious. As I was taking in every single detail of the door I noticed that there was a dark tablet at its right with something written:

(Calling me witch is one way to oversimplify it. Yet, I don't think Necromancer, medium and serial killer would have fitted into the small tablet.) I would be surprised if I didn't know where I was going to live from now on. Slender was as ancient as my father if not more. Of course he researched before he accepted anyone into his humble abode.

I bet that when I go into the room it will be exactly to my liking, with everything I need. I don't know if I should feel spied on or touched by the intention. Hmm, I guess I'll be both. Turning the cold doorknob, I go in.

When I walked in, I noticed how calm it made me. It was like it was familiar to me. I'm thankful to know it's quite bright, despite my dark aesthetic. Something tells me I wasn't always like that. Taking in every corner of the bedroom I notice an old sewing machine at my left.

Sewing always kept me distracted, perhaps I'll be able to sew Charlotte some new clothes. If only I had some fabric. Rummaging through the cupboards, I knock into a wall that opens itself. Thankfully I managed to stay on my two feet. It was a very dark corridor.

My curiosity got the best of me and I entered it. Wow, a secret door! Let's see where it leads us to. As I adventured deeper into the corridor, I spotted another entrance. The door opened with a push and I saw what this room was: my "working place". It had an altar and many shelves with potions and ingredients for new spells.

There was space for my ravens with dark forged steel birdcages and in the middle of the room, there was a black bathtub. I see... he also knows about that part of me. If he knows everything then there must be... Ah, there it is. I turned the faucet and red blood started filling the tub.

My hand-dipped in the red liquid and as I resurfaced it I saw the burning skin of my hand regenerate. Switching my sister from one hand to another, I did the same to the other one.

I wish I didn't need to do this, but it is my curse as a witch. To require bathing in the blood of our enemies to completely regenerate. In my case, the blood passing through these pipes needed to be male, since they are my main victims. How Slender got to my bloodstock it's beyond me. Might as well go with the flow.

I closed the faucet and left the room to return to my bedroom, but not before drawing a rune to hide this door from the sight of others. Don't need anyone to see me bathe, thank you! Approaching my bed slowly, I laid Charlotte very slowly on the bed.

I opened the covers and covered her with them. Placing a soft peck to her forehead, I saw her smile and nurse her toy bunny to her chest. "I will protect you with everything I own. He won't touch you for as long as I live."

"You know that you can't promise her that..."-I hear a whisper from my right. Standing up, I drew a small smile and looked at my closest friend. Shoulder-length raven wavy locks fazed through one of the walls. Her glassy green orbs stared into my own with maternal concern.

"I might as well try, Lizzie. What do I have to lose?... My life?"-I sat on the corner of the bed and removed the long veil I had on. I didn't usually show my face to anyone, only to my father because I had no choice and to Lizzie, who had been there with me from the start.

I remove the bobby pins as if by instinct, as I started untangling the ornate braid I had on, letting the long auburn locks fall into my lap. Even though Lizzie was a spirit I felt a cold breeze as she enclosed her long arms around me.

She knew, she always did. I might have seemed strong, yet I was so close to a mental breakdown. My hands grabbed into my head, as black tears fell into my dress. If I wasn't mute I would be wailing by now.

"Eve, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay. I am here."-she said as she patted my head softly. My tired grey eyes raised to meet her face. Lizzie must have been a beauty when she was alive if as a spirit she was already one.

Lizzie didn't speak much of her past. She only mentioned she had a little brother who she left behind when she died alongside her parents. She never spoke of how she died but from the blood drenching her white nightgown down her stomach and the huge handprint on her neck, it was quite easy to guess what had happened.

It was because of people like Lizzy that I killed men. Society doesn't care about protecting women, only when they are already dead and even then most of the time justice is not made.

Now that I notice it, Lizzie and I have the same mark around our neck, even though mine was covered by a velvet choker which sometimes wrapped tightly around the injured area. It depended on his mood. I always had a feeling she knew more than she let on but when I asked her she would just say that sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Yet, there was always something gnawing at the back of my head like something was missing. Taking one last sigh I wiped the last remaining tears and stood up: "What would I do without you, Lizzie?"-I asked with a soft smile.

A frown appeared on her pale face as she grasped the ends of her dress: "You would be-!" As she was going to finish her sentence, my door slammed open all of the sudden. Lizzie hovered over my left side with her dainty hands into her mouth: "...No. It can't be! You're alive?"-she gasped even though only I could hear her.

There were the other boys who tried to present themselves earlier, on the ground from the impact. They started standing up: "I know you have information about my sister, Eve! So start spillin'...?!"-Adam started but as he stood up with his knives between his fingers, they fell into the ground making a clattering sound as soon as he saw me.

His orbs were open wide and a grin started appearing on his face: "Sist-!" "Evie? Is it really you?"-Alex stood up and approached me as if in a trance. He looked me up and down but I felt no malice towards me. He was smiling and yet when he looked into my eyes, the smile changed into a frown of despair: "If you are alive that means...Oh no. Evelynn I'm so sorry."

Confusion filled my being as I looked from the intruders to Lizzie who was sobbing into her hands. (What in the actual seven hells is happening?! Everyone started crying all of a sudden. But there's something I just don't understand.) "Who is Evelynn?"

Chapter VIII-END