A Change of Pace

Freya’s demeanor changed and Evelyn quickly picked up on it, but she was assuming it was just the pain getting to her, for why would she expect anything else? But even for being in pain she thought it odd she was acting so quiet and demure. Even when she had broken her collarbone and slammed her against a wall the fae had laughed and kept up her antics, she would have expected her to be giving her sarcastic remarks right through all of this pain, though she knew this pain was a hundred times worse. But this…something was up but Evelyn was not good with people’s emotions. Maybe someone else would have noticed she was upset and crying, but not Evelyn.

When she thanked her she rose a brow in surprise but just nodded her head quietly and began gathering everything she had brought and took it back to the kitchen to put it all precisely back where it belonged. She glanced to her and wondered why she was standing but wasn’t going to bother to tell her to take it easy, she was a big girl and could choose what she wanted “I’ll find a sling” She said and went off into her bedroom to see if she had anything she could use. She found that she didn’t, so she took a plain white shirt she had and started ripping it apart to make it useable for a sling…and then she heard the commotion in the living room.

She quickly turned her head to look out her bedroom door then briskly walked out and glanced around before seeing Freya on the floor. She stared at her then growled and moved over to kneel beside her “What in God’s name are you doing?!” She snapped and shook her head aggravated “I would have done that for you, you idiot! You could have made it worse!” She immediately moved her hands to Freya’s collarbone and checked the bone as carefully as possible to make sure she didn’t totally smash it to pieces then sighed and started muttering in Swedish about how she was an impatient idiot as she finished putting the sling together. As she glanced at her face she nodded her eyes were bloodshot and her tears wet. She blinked and went still “Were you crying?”

Evelyn didn’t know why she suddenly gave a damn either. Maybe it was her controlling nature or something else who knew, but it did aggravate her that Freya had done something so reckless when she knew Evelyn would have done it for her. She didn’t know what Freya was feeling but if she did she would have understood it completely. Evelyn liked doing things on her own as well and taking care of herself, one of the reasons she had argued with Victor for a year during her training as Dean about have guards. She didn’t like help but she had a daughter once so deep down Evelyn did have the capacity to care and nurture, she just didn’t bring those traits up very often unless one counted her cat and her horse which she spoiled to pieces.

When she snipped she just shook her head unamused. Well, there was the attitude she had come to know and be used too. “Your just lucky you didn’t make it worse” She muttered curtly as she finished putting the sling together then pulled on the fabric to stretch it out. When she answered no Evelyn gave her a look like she obviously didn’t believe it but she decided not to press it. She really didn’t want to have a battle right now, she had more pressing matters to concern herself with then getting in an argument with Freya about whether she had been crying or not. Once she felt the sling was suitable she got closer to her and started to fit it on her “Just stay still”

“You can’t just leave. Your wounds needs to be cleaned and re-medicated at least several more times today and during the night if you have any chance of them healing. Anyway the hounds are out there, unless you go to Mexico they’ll find you” She did her best to be careful and cause as little pain as possible as she put her arm in the sling but once she was done she sat back on her heels and looked it over then nodded “It’ll work enough to let the bone heal”

She sighed “And why would you care if I gave a damn or not?” It was at least obvious she was ticked off Evelyn had mocked her about being kind, but why did she even care? This woman had shown Evelyn so far she cared about absolutely nothing except herself and causing havoc wherever she could, did the hellhounds warp her brain or what in the hell was happening? Evelyn not only liked order with the items in her home but she liked them in her people as well. She liked to put people in a certain category with a certain behavior and it really did irritate her when her perceptions were thrown off. But for all she knew this was a game Freya was playing to screw with Evelyn’s head…she really just didn’t know.

She stared at her when she got choked up and looked at her like she had grown a second head. It had to be the pain making her act like this…right? “It doesn’t matter if I want too or not, that is not a factor. You simply just should not leave if you want to heal correctly…but it is your decision” She sighed and rubbed at her forehead for a moment before giving Freya a look “I can’t trust you. You should be able to understand that, but if you need to stay here and heal then I will allow it as long as you behave and don’t give me reason to throw you out”

When she exploded…well, she hadn’t been expecting that, at all. Evelyn had been yelled at practically all her life, but for someone to go to in pain and looking depressed to screaming in her face well, that was kind of new. And what she was saying made no sense, what in the world was she talking about! “You are way out of line, I don’t even know what you’re talking about! I have not known you for 250 years” Please, Evelyn could hardly deal with her for five minutes so she knew 250 years was out of the question. But Freya seemed so very adamant and Evelyn was starting to wonder if maybe she cracked her head on the floor and had lost her damned mind. That had to be it…because none of this made sense.

Her…She stood quickly and stared down at her, her face in controlled shock. She didn’t want to believe her, of course she didn’t! What she was saying was absolutely ludacris! For her to tell her she had been living for over a hundred years with someone and never even realized that her cat was a fae and that Freya was that cat? No! No, there was no way, Evelyn would have been able to tell…of course she would have been able to tell such a huge detail of her own life! “You’re lying. You are obviously a sick, twisted individual that wants something from me. I will not listen to your well played out acting. You can leave. Now” She growled and turned away from her. She would not listen to this bullshit. She would not.

She stopped and turned to glare at her “You threatened Chamomile! Don’t you dare try to make me believe that you-“ She stopped and stared at her as she mentioned her other cats. No…how could she know that? She had never made a big deal about her cats to other people, she didn’t talk to people about her past cats now and hardly did back then when she owned them, so how did Freya know this? She stared at her, looking her over in disbelief before looking to her face again “How is this possible?” She muttered under her breath then shook her head. No…this was insane. She did research, magic, something to know all of this! “You threatened me. You anger me on purpose and play your damned little games and you want me to believe you are my cat?”

She grit her teeth and hissed at her “Of course I think you’re lying! I have heard many crazy stories in my life that sound so perfectly wrapped up but are never true” Though this took the cake, she had never heard anything so unreasonable in her entire life. This fae who spent all her damned time tagging up the school and so obviously had hatred for her wanted her to believe she was really a cat?! Her sweet, loving cat that never gave her trouble? “A hell lot more proof then you empty words. Your word means nothing to me” She tensed when she got up and eyed her, making sure she made no sudden movements because she was angry enough at this moment to just snap her neck.

Anger was impounded into her face…until Freya started to shift. She sucked in a breath then released it heavily, her face in utter shock and awe. Good God…she was telling the truth but even with it before her she still struggled to want to believe it. She hated this woman and yet, she had been with her all of Evelyn’s life here. If she had been human her heart would have stopped and she would have forgotten to breathe. She had been a fool, absolutely blind to the truth and it was right infront of her. How could she be so perceptive in everything else and never suspicious that her cat wasn’t a real cat? She maybe didn’t deserve to beat herself up too much, no one else had ever noticed but…it was her! She should have known!

When she shifted back to human form before her she stared straight back in her eyes. She wanted to slap her so badly but she fisted her hands by her side and resisted the urge “Why?” She asked, her voice coming out cracked and she cleared her throat “Why have you been doing this all these years? Spying one me? Working for someone? What? Why have you done this” She demanded. There had to be a reason…maybe she was spying on Victor for information and then stayed to spy on her? There had to be a reason, it was so left field that there had to be some kind of reason why she had stayed here with her for so long.

The answer she had been expecting was not what she was given. That Freya was working for someone, was spying, was wanting to take over the school…something, anything, but not what she was told. Evelyn was caring? That’s why she stayed? No one thought she was caring, not even herself, she of course cared for the school and the students but she wasn’t the type to be actually called caring, she couldn’t even really be called nice. But if she really thought about it, yes, it had always been easy for her to get along and express herself better with animals then she could people but she never realized she was that caring that someone like Freya would want to stay with her for so long and not simply just move on. “And that…that is the only reason why you have stayed?” It just didn’t seem believable to her but nothing right now was really processing well.

She saw her tears and instantly felt uncomfortable. Emotions...God she didn’t know how to handle emotions ,especially tears, she always hated tears because giving people comfort was not something she knew how to do. “Why now? Why do all of this now? Seems more like you have been trying to give me a hard time, something I do not need with all these humans around” She didn’t understand why Freya had pushed her buttons like she had, she didn’t see the logic in it but apparently in Freya’s mind there was a reason for all of this that she just wasn’t seeing. But the tears…dear lord what was she supposed to do? This wasn’t a student she could shuffle off to someone else to deal with, this was something she had to face herself and didn’t know how and she always knew what to do.

When she explained more her reasoning sounded a little sick and twisted but she was starting to understand where she was coming from a little bit better. She watched her for a few more moments then glanced away, obviously disturbed by this revelation. IN any other situation she just would have told Freya to leave her alone, but with her wounded and hellhounds on the loose she knew she didn’t have that quick escape route. So instead Evelyn did what she did best…be all business and try to do things the rigid way, the only way she knew how to do it. “We need to rebadged the wounds” She said, nodding to herself and started walking away from her to go get the items again. She was used to having these things thrown at her, kicking the person out and having alone time but for now she would have to deal with things this way.

She shook her head and gave her a look “That makes no sense” No, Freya’s logic did not compute with her but then again Evelyn’s logic usually didn’t make sense to people either so know she supposed she knew how others felt when she said things to them. She gave Freya a sense of compassion she had never felt before…she would have laughed if this had actually truly been funny, but it wasn’t, but the idea that Evelyn gave anyone that wonderful feeling was amusing, anyone who knew her would think the same. But none of this situation made sense so it all seemed to hit in its haphazard way.

When she went back into the kitchen she stopped and just stared at the cabinet for a few moments and let out a slow breath to try and steady herself. What…the hell…just happened? She had just learned that the cat she adored, all of her cats, were the same person. A fae who she hated and had set a vendetta against, a woman who she thought was a deviant nasty little creature but was now in her house crying and saying she stayed with Evelyn because she felt cared for. If anyone had told her this happened to them she would have laughed in their face and called them crazy, but she was truly in the twilight zone it seemed. But she wasn’t ready to face this yet, she needed time alone to process the way she needed too; talking to herself, throwing things, cursing in different languages then calling Nowe over to take it out on him. Of all days hellhounds needed to be running loose…

She just stood there quietly, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and not break anything then opened the cabinet. No wonder Freya knew so much! She had seen Evelyn at her highest and, to Evelyn’s displeasure, lowest parts of her life here. She had told her cats her dreams, fears, things that made her happy, sad…this kind of pissed her off that this one person knew so much about her and she had not given her permission to know these things! She gave the cat side permission not this human side, she didn’t know this person and yet this person knew her. She took the items back out and went back into the living room without looking at her “Sit down again” This time however she wasn’t as composed and set forward, she was sporadic and unsure.

When one didn’t know how to handle a situation then Evelyn found it easiest to just act like she normally did and that was to act like a Dean who bossed people around with emotion. Oh why couldn’t Victor be here? That man knew how to handle ever situation that was thrown at him, every damned single one he always handled without messing a step and here she was stuttering all over the place in her head not knowing a damned thing to do about this. Did she even tell Nowe? She didn’t know yet, but she knew she at least could speak to Castielle, Castielle she told everything too and always gave the best advice because Evelyn didn’t know what to do and it frustrated her not knowing.

She fiddled with the items for like, five minutes because her brain was still trying to process all she had been told and she was struggling in focusing “Please, stop saying that. You’re not going anywhere, it is not safe” She told her impatiently as she grabbed the balm she had put on her hand before. She finally got it together and turned towards Freya to take her hand…then stared at it in surprise “Your body heals itself?” She asked, looking up at her expectantly. If her body healed by itself then why did she have her bandage her up?

How did a person not know they could heal themselves? She gave her a look and let her take back her hand, putting her own hands on her lap “See? Your healed” She glanced over her shoulder and wondered if her back wounds were healed as well. But Freya surprised by this and Evelyn realized she really didn’t know she could heal herself “When I broke your shoulder, you didn’t heal yourself?” She asked, looking a bit confused. There were many powers in the world even the oldest of fae didn’t know about, but very selective healing? That would be pretty odd. When she jumped up she stared at her oddly. Oh great…something else odd was going to happen now wasn’t it? Of course it was because life seemed to like to shit on her this week.

“What?” She asked her and watched her wipe at her wipe and put them on her back “What are you doing?” She quirked a brow “Your tears? Your tears what?” She questioned, wondering what she meant and was starting to feel a little impatient after all the confusing things she had already had to learn today. When she grabbed her arm she immediately grew defensive and glared, a low growl leaving her “What in are you-!” She started to shout at her then stared as her wound healed without her own body doing it, but Freya’s tears. So that’s what she meant, her tears could heal and she hadn’t realized. “How could you not know you own tears could heal?”

And then all of the sudden Freya was over the table and down on the floor in a flash. She gasped and quickly stood up and went around the table[ b]“What are you doing!”[/b] Her nerves were getting fried, and that never happened but it was now. She gave a frustrated sigh and ran her hands through her hair harshly before dropping them and kneeling down beside Freya “You need to take it easy or you’re going to be dead! If your tears can heal then heal your back before you get any worse” She then started muttering again in Swedish to show her frustration.

Her eyes narrowed some at her when she mentioned getting help “I thought you told me you were alone, you had no one to help you” Even though her brain was spinning madly didn’t mean she wasn’t paying attention to details, it was in her nature to be suspicious. When more tears fell she was just glad this time they were from pain and not from passionate emotions like their conversation only seconds earlier. Pain tears she could deal with, those she didn’t have to worry what the hell to do. Her head snapped back though “Never? Never cried?” Well that…she didn’t know what to think of that. Freya had only ever cried in front of Evelyn? And also claimed Evelyn was the only one to care for her. This just got more bizarre and more uncomfortable by the minute. Even she herself cried, though the last time was fifteen years ago but still, it did happen.

She stopped when she told her too, but gave her a dirty look about it “I am frustrated” It unnerved her to have Freya know these little details about her, even something as minimal as when she spoke in her native tongue. She watched her put the tears on her back and shifted to look at it better “Not all of them, there’s more in the middle of your back going down. If you can produce more tears I can put the on your wounds myself” Then she would be healed…and then maybe she’d feel no guilt for having Freya leave. She would never be able to see a cat again and not be paranoid it was Freya. But what would she do now? Stay on campus? Leave entirely? Evelyn knew her secret now, she had no disguise to help herself so why would she stay?

She eyed her for a few moments but she nodded and took what she told her without thinking she was lying. Evelyn knew all about favors, she had people all over the world, powerful ones, that owed her plenty of favors. She wasn’t surprised Freya didn’t have many people to help her out, for if she acted the way she did with Evelyn before, then no wonder no one wanted to bother with her. But then again, Evelyn felt she should understand that feeling. She had been a wife several times in her life, and except her first marriage she had meant nothing to any of her husbands. Is that how Freya felt? But she didn’t know if she should even bother to relate to her.

When she offered her neck Evelyn was quick to move back and shake her head “No” She told her firmly, seeing very adamant in that one word. She hadn’t fed from a live source for over twenty years; she was strict on drinking from bagged blood and nothing else, especially now with the humans around she never wanted to slip and make a mistake. Not to mention fae blood could be addicting, especially to a Vampire as young as she was. She did not feel at ease feeding from her but, it was an instinct to feed from a warm body that no matter how long a Vampire fed off a different source they always yearned for what they were made for, to be hunters. “I cannot feed from you” Well she could, but it wouldn’t be right to her to do so.

Evelyn was curious to know more about her, to know exactly what was going on with this fae, but was it worth biting her? She wasn’t sure about that. She trusted herself that she wouldn’t get out of control…well, she trusted herself to stay in control with a human, but biting a fae? She had never tasted fae blood, partner that with not tasting fresh blood for twenty years and she wasn’t quite sure what would happen. Sure she had wanted Freya dead before and had threatened to let her die at the jaws of the hellhounds, but something about accidently draining her did not bode well with her. She wasn’t some savage, she would feel disgust with herself if she killed Freya by taking all her blood. “You wouldn’t be able to stop me” She told her bluntly. She was already injured and if Evelyn got half the blood out of her system she wouldn’t be strong enough to pry her off.

She snorted and crossed her arms “I would be blamed plenty” Well Nowe would probably make sure no one found out she killed Freya but she would blame herself. She had once been bloodthirsty, her sire had taught her, but after becoming Dean she felt it wasn’t right for her to feed off humans and needed to reflect a better image of herself, a controlled image and that meant no blood from the source. Did she really want to break that now? But when Freya spoke it hit home with Evelyn and she sighed, her stubbornness against this melting away. She was right…there were people who were injured now. She had countless inhumans in the nurse’s station and many more humans at the hospital, a great number of them hanging by a thread. Most of those near death were poisoned by the hellhounds and who knew if Freya’s tears could even heal them but, magic and other things weren’t working for those people, maybe this could.

She grinded her teeth and mulled it over before she gave in and nodded “Fine. I will agree to this” She said, but got up first and went to get a small bottle with a cork top before returning and giving it to Freya “Capture all that you can…I will be making sure that it hurts” She warned her. She was so thrown that Freya was behaving like this, not at all like the offensive fae that had caused havoc in her office. She rubbed her temple then moved closer to Freya, eyeing her neck then her face “You are sure about this?” She asked her to make sure she was absolutely certain, before she leaned towards her neck and with the quickness of a snake, slammed her fangs down into the most tender part of her neck.

She still didn’t feel entirely right about this situation but, when it came to her students, she would do anything for them and if that meant drinking someone’s blood to produce some tears that may heal the people injured from the damned hellhounds then she would do it. She did make sure it hurt, she had learned a long time ago how to make a bite hurt and not hurt and she knew to get the most out of this she needed to make sure Freya was in pain. Typically Evelyn liked causing pain to people she hated, but this situation was all turned around now, she didn’t know exactly all what to think but she wasn’t getting any satisfaction out of it…well, mentally.

Physically, her body was in heaven. She hadn’t had blood from a live body in so long, of course she was in heaven, and the fact Freya was a fae made things fifty times more satisfying than if she had been just a human. Evelyn liked to keep the more beast like nature of her hidden, but God the blood was so good she didn’t feel like ever stopping. She didn’t resist when Freya pushed her more into the bite, she embraced it. She didn’t even have a clue how long she had been at Freya’s neck drinking, but she was in a frenzy and didn’t want to stop until there wasn’t possibly anymore to take. That’s what she wanted, but when Freya spoke for her to stop Evelyn snapped out of it…but only a little bit.

Her bloodthirsty urge kept egging her on to just take a little more, and then a little bit more, and just a tad bit more after that until it was at least a whole minute after Freya had spoken. But Evelyn could hear her heart slowing down and she forced her hands to grip Freya’s arms and push herself back forcefully. She scooted away from her, clamping her mouth shut and turning her head away “Lie down” She barked at her, knowing she had taken a lot but she was struggling with self-control too much at the moment to try and help her.