-'CHAPTER 3'-
SKIN
3 months later
Evangeline ran as fast as she could, her heart beating fast in her chest. Why does this stuff always happen to me? She internally groans.
"Come on, we promise to play nice," one of the drunk men calls out sharp on her heel. Evangeline cursed her stupid self for being out so late in an unfamiliar town. Especially when so many drunk men resided. Her mind wandered to the dagger strapped in her waist. She debated using it on the men, but there were so many, and she didn't feel like being charged with murder tonight. Even if these men probably deserved it, Eva didn't want that stirring guilt in her stomach.
The woman felt as if she were in an internal loop, always running, always tear stained, and so very cold. She felt hopeless until she saw it. She would have to be quick, but there was a sewer that was unscrewed. She took a quick glance around her surroundings once more, no lights could be found, all the shops were closed, and no one was in sight.
Evangeline speed for the sewer quickly opening it before jumping down.
"Don't be like that," one called as she finally hit the nasty sewer ground. Evangeline instantly put her hand to plug her nose as a scorching smell erupted. The sewer was slim with a path and traveling water next to it. The water was green littered with plastic and knacks, and the smell of the place reflected the look perfectly.
"Come on up, we don't bite," another man called in a drunken slur. She simply rolled her eyes in disgust. She would rather wander a nasty sewer than stand to look at those men again. A sharp pain pierced her shoulder, and she bit her lip hard. Bringing her hand to the shoulder. Despite three months in recovering, her shoulder still felt stiff with echoes of occasional pain. She silently cursed that stupid hunter.
Evangeline fixed her posture silently and debated if she should wait for the men to leave but it didn't seem likely as they continued to call down to her in drunken slurs, their voices echoing through the silent atmosphere. She eventually started walking, still shivering from the cold, silently scolding herself for not bringing a jacket. She took each step carefully as the dark sewer didn't give her much light. The ominus place creeped her out from the icky smell to the walls wrapped in darkness.
Her feet patterned on the stone, and she silently prayed for no icky substance to stick to her shoes. When she got to her hotel, she swore she would take the most thorough shower of her life.
A loud bang echoed through the narrow space. Evangeline jumped before grabbing her dagger from her waistband, squeezing her hand to the hilt, her heart skipping a beat. She slowly continued to walk, scanning her surroundings desperately trying to find another latch to leave out of. Despite her attempts, all she seemed to do was walk further and further into the maze of stone.
Echoes of water dripping occasionally stirred, causing her to jump, and she finally turned a corner to see a light illuminating down the path. A flashlight. She saw a shadow of a man holding a gun close to him, the darkness masking his face. Eva quickly hid behind a corner, her heart beating fast as she gripped her knife tighter.
The pattering footsteps grew louder and louder. She waited and waited. They got louder. A pace closer. She knocked into his body hard, hearing the gun clink to the ground with a loud bang, but the man reacted fast, hooking his leg under hers, making her stumble to the ground. His moves were precise and quick. Eva makes sure to bring him down with her; she twists her body, forcing him underneath her. The body immediately squirmed underneath her. she locked her legs around his, pinning him down as her dagger went to his throat. He stilled at the cold feeling of the metal meeting his skin.
She finally got a good look at the man. His brown hair was messy flopping to the side, and his face held a boyish look, a familiar look. "Dean" she mumbles.
"As much as I enjoy this" his lips rise in a small smirk, his eyes flickering to her, "mind getting the hell off me" he raises a brow no glint of fear in his eyes. Only pure arrogance and a bit of amusement.
"Give me one good reason I should" she mutters, distrust leaking from her voice.
He scoffs like the mere thought of her not trusting him was baffling.
"Don't I look trustworthy?" his eyes gleamed with curiosity, his voice teasing.
She narrows her eyes unamusingly; she feels his arm start to move a light movement as if trying to grab something, she presses the dagger deeper, nicking his skin. He grits his teeth in pain. For a second, it's silent, only their quiet breathing and the small sound of water dripping filling the atmosphere.
She furrows her brows in mock "trying to go somewhere" her voice was taunting dripping with arrogance of her own.
His smile simply widens "If you're going to kill me" his words were barely above a whisper, he leans a tad closer, the knife drawing a small pinch of blood but he seems utterly uneffected. "You should be quick with it. My patience is really running out". They were mere inches away, Eva could feel his warm breath tickle her cheek and see small specks of gold that littered his brown eyes. She deepened her glare.
"Your patience" Her voice was thick with amusement "I think you're forgetting who's holding the knife".
"If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it already". She wanted to roll her eyes at his words simply because they were true. Evangeline wouldn't kill him. Not when he hadn't actively tried to harm her. The gun mere inches from him made her uncomfortable, but this was the same boy who had given her his coat, who had yelled at the cruel men when they tried to kill her. She by no means trusted him, but she could tell he wasn't the type to immediately kill her because of a cruel heart. And she certainly wasn't the type to kill an innocent man.
"Make a single move" she spoke quietly, making sure he heard every word "and I won't hesitate".
She slowly leaned off him, keeping her knife close and her eyes glued to him, and she stood.
Dean sits up, tilting his head before picking up his flashlight and gun. "Evelyn or something right".
"Evangeline" she corrected, putting her knife back in her holder around her waist. Her eyes never left him, watching cautiously for any sign that the man would attack.
A flash of recognition erupts in his eyes. "Right the crazy chick with the knife" his eyes widened "wow you weren't actually going to kill me right" his deep voice rumbled.
Eva shrugs, she wouldn't have, but she liked the tinge of worry in his eye.
"That's not concerning," he mutters.
"What are you doing here?" She raises a brow.
He shrugs "sewer cleaning you" The smirk never left his face. Eva wanted to roll her eyes.
She raises a brow instead, "with a gun" she questions her eyes, falling to the weapon in his hand.
"For safety" he shrugs a lie Eva easily detects but decides not to dwell on. "Do you know the way out?" She questions, not particularly caring. Whatever he was doing down here wasn't her business.
Dean's eyes grow bigger as if he just released something.
"I'll walk you. We really should get out of here though" his tone changed ever so slightly to that of worry.
Evangeline raises a brow "yeah" Dean quickly walks forward in front of her, holding his gun close.
"Is that necessary?" she questions.
He gently grabs her arm, guiding her through the tunnel. A part of her wanted to smack it away, but she let it reside there. Instead, she simply studied him. He looked around as if something were going to jump out of the shadows. It was an action that reminded her of her father and mother. She remembered once being scared of a monster under her bed, a fear most kids had but her father looked on with true eyes asking her questions, he even sent her to spend the night at a motel with her mother and brother. As if he believed there really was a monster.
"Is there something here?" Evangeline voices. Dean's eyes flickered to hers for a single second it caught hers. Why was he so weird? He quickly averted his eyes. Perhaps it was simply his personality. He is walking around in the sewers with a gun like a madman.
"What" he sounded distracted as if his mind was somewhere else.
"You're making it seem like there's something out there" she continues.
A loud creak echoed through the still walls.
The two stop in their steps, looking up in alarm. Soft footsteps pattered, getting louder and louder. A man walked from around the corner seemingly out of nowhere. He looked human, but his eyes glowed an unnatural silver. Something about it made Eva's skin crawl.
Dean quickly throws Evangeline behind him as he gets striked in the face, his gun clacking to the ground. Eva swiftly reaches for the gun, sending shots at the man as he runs. She had seen eyes like that before not silver and glowy but cold and lifeless, eyes that made her heart pound in her chest, inhumane, fear reap into her very core. She remembered that night so vividly, stabbing scissors in the masked man's neck. For a split second his mask fell off revealing his eyes, he didn't look human, he didn't act it either as he tore the scissors from his neck with no more than a tug as if it were simply a scratch. A weird sense of deja vu wrapped around her, sensing an eerie feeling to her chest.
Dean quickly got up gently, grabbing the gun from her hands "Come on" he mumbled before running off.
Eva followed, grabbing her dagger and keeping it close. Eventually, the sewer latch was no more than a foot away, and they both climbed out.
Evangeline was ecstatic to finally be out of the nasty place as she felt the soft breeze hit her face. Dean, on the other hand, seemed more concerned about the man who had attacked them.
"You should go home," he turned to her swiftly, seemingly out of breath.
"Who the hell was that?" She raises a brow.
"Go home" he calls before running off, leaving the raven haired woman confused and alone.
🧷 ✧ ˚. ᵎᵎ 🎀⊹₊｡ꕤ°₊
Evangeline decided to call it an early night, heading back to her hotel room, she showered, washing the icky feeling away before changing into a white tank top and some gray sweatpants.
She immediately curled up in bed, wrapping herself in her warm blanket before a loud knock echoed through her walls. She groaned, rubbing her eyes as she stood. She grabbed her white jacket, wrapping around her before looking through the small peephole to see Dean.
She grabs her knife, strapping one on her waist before putting on her boots and tucking one in there for safety before opening the door.
"How do you know where I'm staying?" she asks an accusation thick in her tone.
Dean smiles, and something about it makes Evangeline's skin crawl.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay".
Evangeline didn't know Dean well, but this didn't really seem like the man she had met the other day. It was something in his eyes or his demeanor. Something off.
"Yeah I'm actually going to call it a night" she starts to close the door, but Dean takes a step forward, putting his foot in the doorway and moving his body to keep it open.
"Maybe we can go out or something" he smirks "the night is still young".
"I'm okay" Evageline shifts on her feet, avoiding his eyes before awkwardly trying to shut the door. Dean pushes it open aggressively, and before Eva could react, Dean's gripping her wrist tightly throws her body back into the wall. Her head hits with a loud bang before everything goes black.
🧷 ✧ ˚. ᵎᵎ 🎀⊹₊｡ꕤ°₊
Evangeline groans as her eyes flutter open, and a familiar foul scent fills her nose. She was back in the sewer ropes tied tightly around restricting her from moving. She squirmed, trying to ignore the throbbing of her head.
"Evangeline" a voice called gruffly.
She turned her head to see a man tied just like her. "Sam" she questions upon seeing his familiar brown eyes and messy shaggy hair.
"What are you doing here?" he questions, concern evident in his voice.
"Trust me, it's not by choice" she mutters.
Footsteps echo through the tunnels. Dean steps out a machete in his hands and a smile gracing his lips.
He walks over to Evangeline, crouching down in front of her. She scowls, glaring at him.
"Leave her alone," Sam calls out, grinding his teeth together. His tone shifted to that of anger.
"Leave her alone" Dean furrows his brows in a questioning tone as if the thought was amusing to him.
Sam glares at him as Dean slaps her across the face, the sound echoing through the atmosphere.
The sharp sting pricked her face, fueling her rage. Despite her anger and fear, she keeps her head high, not softening her glare. This certainly didn't seem like the Dean who tried to stop the rednecks from hurting her months ago or the man who threw her behind him when someone attacked them. Then again, she didn't really know the man. And she knew from experience just how fast people could change.
"Where is he" Sam calls out "where is my brother".
Evangeline furrows her brows "what the hell is going on".
"Oh I wouldn't worry about Dean, I'd worry about you two".
The pounding in Evangeline's skull grows, feeling as if her head was being pierced with needles.
Dean laughs, walking over to a wooden table "I thought I came from a sad background" the man starts sharpening his knife.
"What do you mean?" Sam bites.
The raven haired woman was beyond confused at the conversation the two were having. She felt as if she were dreaming.
"He sure got issues with you" Dean approaches his brother, continuing to taunt him as Eva tries to drown out their conversation, focusing on trying to feel the knife in her boot. She could already tell the knife strapped to her waist was gone, but she could feel the cool metal on her leg.
The man eventually leaves the two alone going off to do lord knows what.
"What the hell is up with your brother" Evangeline mutters, trying to reach her boot.
"That wasn't my brother, look Evangeline. I know it's hard to believe, but that wasn't Dean".
She squirms in the tight ropes, only further irritating her skin.
"He has an evil twin or something" she says sarcastically, raising a brow.
"It's a shapeshifter".
She chuckles "a shapeshifter". Oh great, Sam is crazy.
"Why do you think he doesn't refer to himself as Dean? He just copied his skin".
"Okay you're off your rockers".
"Look we have to get out of here" the man squirms in his ropes.
"I'm trying" Eva mutters. She could feel the dagger in her boot, but she couldn't reach it.
The image of the masked man comes to her mind. Waking up in a random forest, the way people had called her crazy. I stabbed him in the neck. She had told the truth. So he died? the cops would question. No, he wasn't affected by it, she explains. She's off her rockers she had heard them whisper.
"So you said this thing is a shifter, what is that" she questions softly. The memory of Izzy, the woman who was supposed to be her friend, grabbed the dagger, trying to kill her with that look in her eye. For a second, she let out a breath. She could desperately try to believe Izzy was a shifter, if what Sam was saying was true, but deep down, she knew it was just cold betrayal. Or maybe just a scared girl who wanted to live.
"It kills people, then shifts into their skin" he grunts, "pretends to be them until they take a new skin".
"Can they die?" she inquired.
"Yea only by silver though".
"What else exists" she mutters an underlying fear in her voice. Eva didn't wanna believe it. She was afraid she was truly crazy but she knew what she saw that day, she knows what happened.
"Ghosts, spirits, creatures like that, wendigos, vampires" he lists off.
"Okay that's just," Eva didn't know what to say. "How do you know about this stuff?" she mumbles, her breath caught in her throat.
"Me and Dean, we hunt them," he explains.
The two sit in silence, Eva trying to wrap her head around all this while Sam continues to thrash in the ropes.
The sound of someone groaning fills the quiet sewers.
"Dean," Sam calls out.
"I'm here Sammy" he grunts, sounding wounded, his voice groggy and quiet.
Evangeline lifted her foot, trying to get the dagger out of her boot. She felt it shift ever so slightly.
"What are you doing?" Sam questions catching her eye.
"I have a knife".
"Evangeline" Dean calls out confusion laced in his deep voice.
She wiggled her legs again until the dagger clinkz to the ground, finally falling out of her boot with a soft thud. "The one and only". She uses her foot to kick it toward her back, and she struggles to get it in her hands.
The dagger felt cold against her skin as it finally met her hand. She slowly worked on cutting the ropes wrapped to her hands.
She finished quickly rubbing her pained wrists.
She stood ignoring the aching in her body as she moved to Sam, cutting his ropes, he gives her an appreciative smile before the two approached Dean.
"You just carry those on you" Dean raises a brow as she cuts the ropes around his wrists.
She shrugs "came in handy, didn't it".
"We gotta catch it before he gets Rebecca" Sam chimes in.
"Who's Rebecca?".
"My friend, it's after".
"What are we going to do? He took all our weapons" Sam mutters his tone hopeless.
"Let's get out of here first".