Cursed

32

Double update. I couldn't help myself. 

*Unedited* 

I took an entire day before Sal could look at Evanora again.

Every time he looked at her, all he could think about was his hands gripping her throat. Her breaths spluttering as she tried to claw him off of her. Every time he saw her, he could hear the forest's voice in his ears. At one point perhaps he had hated her. But he had never wanted to kill her. Overtime they had even become friends of a sort. She was the only contact he had with the outside world, it was inevitable.

He, Lily, Alina and Derrick were in the middle of a drinking version of the card game Bullshit. Drinking here used to describe the grape juice they had picked up at a convenience store and poured into shot glasses rather than actual alcohol. Lily and Derrick didn't drink while Salvatore didn't fancy getting drunk around people he'd just met. It probably showed exactly how bored they were that they'd resorted to a PG version of the game but, at the same time, it was exactly what they needed to relax and unwind.

It was made more fun by the fact that none of them were afraid to bullshit. Especially when Derrick placed down two cards and accidentally said 'three sixes.'

Even so, Lily was quite possibly the worst at the game. She was unable to maintain a poker face, probably because she didn't really know how to hide her facial expressions; it wasn't as if she had a visual guide for that. Though, Sal had started noticing that when she did want to bullshit, she just didn't bother tracing the braille on the cards. That way even she didn't know whether she was lying or not.

He considered calling her out on it but decided to leave it when he saw the self satisfied grin on her features after she supposedly put down 'two fours' and no one questioned it.

Despite the relaxed atmosphere, Salvatore was still distracted by the fact that he and Evanora hadn't actually dealt with what had happened in the forest.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he found himself getting up from where they were all sitting together and making his way to the front of the caravan. They had been on the road almost non-stop since leaving the forest and the entirety of the time Evanora spent at the front, only interacting with the others if she was needed. They weren't certain what caused her isolation though they could all harbour a pretty good guess. She had almost died and the one thing that normally protected her had been blocked, that would rattle anyone.

Evanora looked up at him from what she was reading. The book was thick, the cover seeming to be some sort of brown leather and engraved in runes and patterns, some of which he recognised from Lily's face. The caravan was still enchanted and, despite knowing that, it was still unnerving to see Evanora sitting in the driver's seat without having any attention on the road.

She looked up at him before he could announce his presence.

The two just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"I'm sorry," Sal spoke first. His voice was quiet and he knew the words were inadequate in comparison to the crime but he needed to say something.

Evanora cocked her head to the side as she considered the words. "You're just lucky I didn't have my magic with me," she replied and it would have almost been normal had the deliverance not been in a monotone. She turned back to her book.

Salvatore shifted uneasily. It was rare to see Evanora so serious. She taunted and joked and teased. She didn't do serious.

"How does that work?" He found himself blurting, latching onto the faint conversation thread she had thrown him. "I attack you and you become defenceless then all of a sudden you zap us out of there."