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*cw: hinting at the 'sa' of a minor and abuse of a minor*

a s   t o m         stepped from the last stair, Evelyn's tears ceased

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a s   t o m
       stepped from the last stair, Evelyn's tears ceased. Almost as if they had never been there at all. She looked back at Tom with a grin that told him she knew how powerful she was. She pushed out of his hold gently though, almost as if she was trying not to be too blunt with the action. Tom was reluctant to let her go, oddly comforted by having Evelyn in his arms.

He knew her swollen eyes and puffy lips were not from sadness but from her stunt. However, behind her triumphant look, there was this darkness. One he had a hard time placing, but also a feeling once recognized he knew well. There was this utter despair written in the depths of her eyes.

Tom could never wrap his mind around other people's emotions– he could hardly understand his own. But Evelyn made him feel different like he needed to say the right words or help her relieve herself of the sorrow. He could almost see the string that connected it to her heart. When she opened her mouth, the grief was nowhere in sight.

"That was brilliant, Tom!" Evelyn exclaimed. It took Tom a second to even realize what she was speaking about. Her emotions were rolling around in his head. "I didn't even have to speak very much! I should bring you with me more often!"

Tom searched her giddy expression. Maybe he was only imagining what he had seen, what he had felt for her. He straightened and clasped his hands behind his back. He took a deep breath only so he could remember how.

"How often does this kind of incident occur?" Tom asked. He watched as Evelyn's grin turned into an impish twist of her lips.

"I wouldn't say very often. I also wouldn't say not very often," Evelyn replied, her voice still teasing and bright. She quickly took hold of his arms dragging them from behind his back. "But, Tom don't you see? I have you and now I really have sealed my act! The Golden Boy!" Evelyn giggled and it almost didn't sound sane. Tom frowned.

This was a new Evelyn that he hadn't seen before. It was as if every time he hung out with her he saw a different side. He didn't think he liked this side of her very much at all. It was as if evil and sadness had danced into one. This was a sinister plotter and player. The mastermind behind getting out of situations that could end up in death. Tom was entertaining her, but he knew he should remember to be scared. He took a step back, dropping his arms from Evelyn's tight grasp.

"What do you mean by act?" Tom questioned trying to at least make sense of what he was involving himself in. "I'm also confused about your father. You mentioned him, but is he not dead?"

That glimpse of sadness that Tom had seen earlier came back in full force. It made Evelyn's whole body skeletal as if the darkness behind her eyes had made its way into every sharp crevice of her body. It didn't stay for long. Evelyn straightened back up and returned the ever-present smirk to her lips.

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