Death wish

Safety

Evelyn stared at Damon, eyes wide with shame. She was frozen, the knife locked in place resting against the threads of her hair. As she blushed, she jerked the knife away, light strands of hair following it. "I...I...I was just" she stuttered, her brain unable to come up with a plausible lie. She knew exactly what she was doing; James had always loved her hair. He compared her to an angel when the light glanced across it the right way, he would curl it round his finger and smile like everything was perfectly normal. She wanted nothing to do with him. Her whole being felt tainted with his touch and if cutting her hair cleansed her, just that little bit she would shave it all off in a heartbeat. She bit her lip, avoiding eye contact. Now he definitely thought she was a freak.  Her arms felt weak with the thought of having to return back to that place. When he moved closer, she unintentionally flinched away, body shaking with the anticipation of pain. She saw him jolt and she cursed internally. He wouldn't hurt her! Just stop being so silly! She scolded herself. "I'm sorry, I'm fine really, I'm sorry" she said earnestly, making the effort to look him in the eyes. But Damon glanced away, Evelyn felt guilt rise up and wash over her. She shouldn't have done it in his house, she couldn't expect a stranger to understand or put that kind of pressure on him. It was unfair and selfish. She scolded herself again, biting her lip, tears brimming in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to tell Damon everything, simply because she needed to tell someone all these thoughts and simply because he was the first person who didn’t seem to have a hidden agenda.

Damon sighed internally; he had no idea what to say to her. This whole situation was messed up and suddenly everything seemed so much more complicated. The way his heart had lurched at the thought her hurting was completely normal he reassured himself.  It’s just normal human empathy. He turned back to Eve, She was shaking. Her thin fingers trying to clasp onto her fragile frame, her eyes closed. Damon could make out the faint outline of her eyelashes against her cheeks.  “Evelyn” He half breathed. She exhaled as if preparing herself and met his gaze, her eyes were misted and her silhouette seemed fractured across the wall. “You are safe here and” Damon paused, unsure about his beginning and improvising the end “You can stay along as you need, I’m not a monster I’m not going to kick you out when you clearly have no place to go. Just one condition” He swallowed, he didn’t want to make it obvious he had seen her vulnerability “don’t do anything reckless?” Evelyn smiled gently, as if appreciating his subtlety. “Okay, you have yourself a deal” She stopped. “Thank you ever so much Damon, you saved my life. I would have happily died on that cliff but... I just, I don’t know how I will ever repay you.” Both seemed surprised at Eve’s brutal honesty, Damon rubbed his arms unsure on how to respond. Eve sensing his uncertainty spoke “its okay, you don’t need to reply, I only wanted you to know how much I appreciated everything” Damon breathed in relief then laughed, “c’mon we still have a couple hours of daylight, I’ll catch you up on society” He gestured for her to follow. Eve trailed behind and for the time being, here in Damon’s company, she allowed herself to feel safe.