delicate

58

...

Kai

... 

"Where's Evelyn?"

I turned to Caroline, who was standing a few feet from me. I glanced over at Jo, who was now awake and surrounded by Damon, Alaric, and Stefan. "She needed space." I looked at her again. "She asked me to stay here." She left a few hours ago and hasn't texted or called me back, but I chose to omit that part to ease Caroline's worry.

"But do you know where she is? She hasn't answered me."

I nodded. "She asked me not to tell you."

A look of frustration absorbed her features, matching how I feel on the inside. "Does she know Jo's awake?" The swift change of subject was unexpected.

"She knows." I told her she just hasn't responded. "She should be back soon."

She stared at me for a minute, inspecting my face.

"Is Evelyn okay?" Jo's worried voice drew me toward their conversation.

I stepped closer, uncrossing my arms. "She's fine."

"Where is she?"

I thought for a moment, debating on telling the truth. "I'm not sure." I could see the worry and fear in her eyes, two emotions that were most present in Ev as of late.

"What's wrong," Alaric asked.

"Those men that attacked me. They're not going to stop until they get..." She looked at Alaric, then me. "You got them, right?"

I shook my head, "There was one guy. Evelyn killed him." All the color drained from her face. She sat up straighter, and Alaric tried to calm her down. She struggled to form words. I stepped closer. "There was one person, Jo."

She shook her head. "There were five." She stared with tears in her eyes. "They didn't ever leave."

"Where is she?"

I didn't look at Damon to answer him. I thought of where they could've been in that house if we didn't find them. There were two rooms with doors closed to them. I didn't check them myself because we found Jo. If Evelyn had checked them-

I rushed out of the room, running to find the exit of the hospital as I tried to call her. She answered after a few minutes. I kept running, still.

"Hey."

Caroline, Damon, and Stefan followed me as we ran toward the nearest of our cars. "Get the hell out of that house."

I could hear her silence. "Why?"

Damon started speeding. I gripped the phone tighter. "You're not alone." The sound of something crashing or breaking carried through the phone. I couldn't hear her anymore. "Evelyn?" There was no response. Before I could say another word, a scream pierced my ears. Her scream. My heart was beating furiously as my blood ran cold.

"Please don't do this-" She started screaming and crying. Then, the call ended abruptly.

"What happened," Damon yelled.

I pulled my phone away and stared at the screen. Was I the reason they found her? I looked at Caroline, who was next to me. Based on the absent look in her eyes, she had heard every scream and cry.

The only thing I could feel was rage. I was blinded by the need to torture whoever hurt her until their entire bloodline could feel it.

I could feel the car speed up. The anger I felt was circling through me, making it nearly impossible for me to stay still.

...

Evelyn

...

I wrung out the bloody towel in the sink before dropping it in. I glanced up in the broken mirror before looking down at my hands. They seemed like they would be stained by blood. I could hear my phone ringing. I looked at it, resting on the sink. I picked it up and put the phone to my ear, finally answering one of Kai's calls.

"Hey." I tried to hide the sadness in my voice.

"Get the hell out of that house." The urgency and worry in his voice made my heart jump.

I opened my mouth to respond, but I could hear glass crunching in the bedroom. I felt my stomach drop. "Why?"

"You're not alone."

I looked up as a hand slapped over my mouth, and another grabbed my hand, crushing my fingers against my phone, surely breaking some bones in my hand. The phone was pulled from my hand and thrown against the mirror, breaking it further. I shut my eyes as I was thrown hard and fast to the ground.

I felt my arm break, making me scream out in pain. I opened my eyes as the weight of a knee pressed into my stomach after I was turned to my back. I felt like I couldn't breathe. My organs were being squeezed together by the weight on my body. Black spots started to form in my vision.

I could see a huge man walk by me, going toward my phone that was by my side. Another man stood over me. He walked to stand beside the other who was by my phone. He pointed a gun at me. It was different from a normal gun, probably specifically made for wooden bullets.

"Please don't do this -" Before I could finish my sentence, he had fired it. The piercing pain made me scream out. The cries that escaped my throat were caused by the next bullets that entered me.

My vision was starting to get blurry as the knee in my stomach lifted off of me. I felt nauseous.

"Get her." The deep, haunting voice filled me with fear. It's one I hadn't ever heard, but I know it will stay with me until I die.

As the man reached for my hair, I quickly grabbed his wrist and twisted it as hard as I could. He grabbed my wrists, squeezed them and broke the bones. I screamed louder.

I felt another bullet shoot into me, resting next to my heart. I gasped for air, then screamed again. My vision blackened, and the world faded away as I lost my ability to tell my surroundings.