Evaline | L. Lioncourt ✔

[13] Spy In The Woods

The tavern owner had been slightly skeptical of handing Evaline over to the foreigner so he had sent one of his men to spy on them. He was still uncertain whether Lestat would turn up at the tavern to act upon his threat or not and he only wanted to make sure that nothing went dreadfully askew.

It was past midnight when the spy returned, panting as if he had ran all the way back. The commotion going on at the tavern halted at seeing him so out of his wits for his eyes were wide as if he had just returned from envisioning a gruesome murder.

"Malcolm, what befell you?" Rob exclaimed as he took in his pitiable state, "seems as if you ran all the way here."

"I did... I ran for my life!"

Silence gripped the tavern and Theresa who had been assigned to a table in the corner stood up, pushing off the man's hands from herself as she edged closer to listen in on the conversation.

She had sneaked out of the tavern in order to find Lestat soon after Eva had left. She had had no idea where he could be but much to her relief, she found him walking down the path to that abandoned mansion her friend had once told her about. Approaching him, she had told him about Rob sending Eva out on a night again.

So Malcolm's current outburst was rather expected for her.

"What do you mean by that?" Rob demanded, "where is Evaline?"

"He took her to the forest and I followed," he had calmed down considerably after downing a couple glasses of water, "and it was all well until a... Another man came there faster than it is possible. Everything was a blur but I saw him fasten his jaws upon Gordon's throat. And then... Then he left with Evaline."

"A man... Are you sure it was not a wild animal or some other beast? How would a man do that?"

He shook his head gravely, "it all happened so fast. I do not know. It could be a wild animal... I do not know."

A silent wave of fear coursed through the people present in the tavern and Theresa came down to the central area as well, "that thing, whatever it was... It took Evaline?"

"Yes."

"And you say it ate Gordon?" One of the foreigner's companions spoke up, "where is he?"

"I do not know whether it ate him or not. All I know is that he is in the woods. Go find him yourself. I am not accompanying you whatsoever."

Theresa spoke up a bit louder, turning all attention on herself, "but what about Evaline? What happened to her?"

"It must have killed her by now!" He stuttered, quite visibly shaking in fear, "I do not know more. Go see for yourself."

Fear settled in her heart; of course she had expected a fight to rage on between Lestat and the other man, Gordon or whatsoever was his name. But the account related just then by Rob's spy was quite alarming.

None of them volunteered to go to the woods and Rob sent Theresa away to the kitchen, ignoring her protests of searching for Evaline in the forest. His brow had furrowed as if he was pondering on the whole situation but could not find a convincing solution.

Gradually the atmosphere in the tavern returned to its usual clamoring state and even though Theresa tried to sneak out again in order to find Lestat and ask him about Evaline, the owner made sure that she was kept occupied by her chores.

Hours lapsed and the whole commotion with Malcolm seemed to have faded in the background until Gordon returned, stumbling inside the tavern and collapsing at the threshold.

Once again, the place was taken by an uproar as people rushed towards him, propping him up against the wall. He seemed weak though not badly hurt but his collar was tainted red. When the shirt was pulled back, it revealed deep jaw marks resembling those of a carnivorous animal.