This War's Not Over.

It was several hours later before Garrett made his way downstairs for food. Thankfully, because of their fortune due to their records, they could afford to continue blood consumption, but they didn’t know how much longer that would even help them. After grabbing a few blood bags from the mini-fridge in the kitchen he made his way into the living room to find Evie nestled under a blanket watching something on an ancient VHS tape on the couch. He recognized the lead actress as Drew Barrymore, but not the rest of the cast and furthermore they were dressed in medieval clothing which didn’t help him any. He stood by the arm of the couch and watched, spellbound, before he finally heard Evie speaking, reciting lines she knew by heart.

“‘A bird might love a fish, Signore, but where would they live?’” She said, quietly, her eyes wet. It was then that he realized the film and a half smile slipped onto his face. Ever After.

Evie was stretched out beneath the comforter, her head resting on the arm of the couch which Garrett knew to be uncomfortable and he sighed quietly. Evie was a masochist, yes, but to deliberately remove the throw pillows from the couch because of John was fairly ridiculous on her part. He finished the second bag and set the empty packages on the end table before he crossed to where her head lay and finally spoke. “Up,” he murmured, his tone quiet, undemanding, the word more a request than anything else. Eve merely moved her legs, directing him that route. Rolling his eyes, Garrett lifted her torso and laid her head in his lap.

“I never pegged you as a fan of Cinderella.” He said, quietly.

“I’m full of surprises.” She replied, her voice just as low.

His fingers tangled in her dark tresses as he stroked her hair, incapable of thinking of anything to say that might make things easier and less inclined to be awkward. He knew there were pieces of her that she kept hidden for her own reasons and he was surprisingly alright with that. His biggest problem was with her having fucked his best friend, which she had denied having done. Thinking about it now, he was starting to realize that maybe it wasn’t Evie that he should be questioning about these things, but John, even if he didn’t want to think about that. He didn't want to find out that his best friend was a liar.

They finished the movie together and when the credits stopped rolling he listened to her heartbeat, finding comfort in its rhythm. Her breathing hadn’t slowed, so he knew she was awake but as things had been before everything had happened, they were finding themselves comfortable with the silence and their company. However, the silence here was filled with unspoken words and questions left open to a sea without answer and there was a tension that felt thick and sticky to those outside their bubble.

Their quiet moment together was interrupted by the sound of her phone as it tittered obnoxiously from the end table. Fumbling for it blindly while grumbling under her breath, Evie answered a few moments later, her tone flat. Garrett almost laughed; he had forgotten how adorable she was when she was mad.

“Annie Cox?”

He clearly heard the voice on the other end say ‘Annie’, and he was stunned to find Evie’s tanned skin turn white. She had sat up and was leaning away from him, but that didn’t stop him from placing a hand on her arm to comfort her. (What was he doing? Hadn’t she trampled on his heart with John a few months ago? Why was he trying to help her? Furthermore, why was he still insistent on staying at her place?)

“Wh-what did you just call me?” She whispered and Garrett watched her free hand begin to tremble. What was going on?

“Annie Cox. That’s you isn’t it?”

“I haven’t been called Annie since I was nine years old. Who is this?”

John and the others chose that exact moment to trample down the stairs and Evie looked up, completely startled, her face still white as chalk. They froze in the entryway, expressions a mix of confusion, curiosity and concern. They had never seen Eve like this since they had met her. She hadn’t even looked that pale when the subsider had attacked her the night they met.

“This is Ace Martin. Erikka’s brother. It’s taken me a long time to get a hold of your number. How are you?”

“Living.” She replied, her voice still flat although it held a ring of panic to it. She rubbed her face with her hand and exhaled a trembling breath. “What is it you want, Ace?”

“So I heard.” The voice didn’t seem too threatening, so why did she look like she had literally seen a ghost? “And I wanted to see how you were doing. It’s been fifteen years since we last spoke, Annie. That’s a long time to go without speaking to friends.”

“Friends?!” She spluttered, coughing a few times. “Ace, the last I checked, you blamed me for what happened! I hardly considered us ‘friends’ after that. And again, I haven’t gone by Annie for fifteen years.”

“Annie, what did you expect, I was eight! What was I supposed to think? I blamed you then, but I don’t blame you now. I was wrong. It’s not your fault she died.”

“Don’t call me that. And fifteen years is a long time to wait to apologize, Ace.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Where are you now? And what the hell am I supposed to call you, then? I only ever knew you as Annie.”

“I don’t know, Ace. Take your pick. Freak seems to be the name of the year. Otherwise, try Eve.” She replied and her knees curled to her chest. “I’m in Tempe, Ace.”

“The fuck are you doing in Arizona?”

“Living.” She replied. “You’re still in New York?”

“Jersey City, actually, but things are getting really fucking bad here. There are subsiders everywhere. We had a colony of humans settled in the upper floor of an apartment complex, hiding, but the military came last week so at least now the people here have food.”

Eve was silent and she flinched listening to him, her body jerking once before her composure flickered back normal. Garrett could tell her hackles were raised and knew what was coming before the poor sap on the other end did. John looked smug as he too, knew what was coming.

“Did you miss the memo?” Eve’s voice was controlled, barely, the opening notes of rage singing in her tone. “I’m still human. Did you think I was going to get off on that, that I’d find that piece of knowledge interesting, because personally, I find it sick. God, why the fuck would you call me when I have my personal life basically streaming online, I mean, fuck, Ace. Are you really so disjointed that you have to call me fifteen years later just to fuck with my head? You even sound like her, I swear to God I thought I was hallucinating. The nightmares haven’t stopped, Ace, I still see her die every fucking night and now you have to bring back memories I’ve been trying to bury and then have the audacity to act like you have no fucking clue I’m still a living, breathing person and actually have been trying to exist without having to listen to psychobabble about the military assraping my kind. Y’know what, fuck you.” The fact that Eve didn’t yell when she was angry only made her that much more terrifying to deal with, especially when the New York accent entered her voice, which it did. The last time she had been this mad, she had kicked all five of them out, after snarling at them for ten minutes, and then had abruptly left, leaving a note tacked to her door. She had only just come back.

“A-Annie, I-”

“I said don’t call me that.”

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“How did you get this number?”

“Your brother gave it to me, but I swear to God he didn’t ever say you were still human.”

“Which brother?”

“Gabe.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know. Not that he would, he never bothers to call. Next time you get the urge to try and rekindle old friendships, do me a favor and do your fucking research before you pick up the goddamn phone, okay?”

“It took me fifteen years to forgive you, A-Eve. Fifteen goddamn years! You think this was easy?!”

“Fifteen years to forgive me? To forgive me? What about the poor fuck who was rotting in jail for pulling the trigger? What, do you fucking invite him over for Thanksgiving dinner now, and watch It’s A Wonderful Life at Christmas or something? Christ.”

Something clicked in Garrett’s brain then, and he realized that Erikka was the ‘Rikka’ that Evie often spoke of, and this Ace was her younger brother. He also realized that Rikka was dead.

“You didn’t die, Eve, do you know how many times I prayed you would? I prayed you’d die and Erikka would come back. It’s because of you she died. It’s your fault.”

“My fault? Believe me, I blame myself more than you will ever care to know, Ace and don’t bother calling back. I don’t want to hear it.” The phone beeped off and a moment later, with a cry of pain, Eve flung it across the room and listened as it crashed into a vase that was sitting on an end table. Then Evie had dissolved into sobs, curling into a ball and burying her face into back of the couch.

“I’m sorry.” She spoke quietly, but her voice had expelled all trace of rage and was left with only sorrow. “That was Rikka’s little brother. He wasn’t there when it happened but he still blames me.” She paused, her fingers trembling as she pressed them together and then stood, her eyes flashing briefly, their features wet. “You need to leave. I need to be alone.” She murmured quietly. “It’s not a request. Go home.”

Kennedy was surprisingly the first to argue against it, more worried about Eve than anything else. “No, Evan, you need us. You can’t keep isolating yourself-”

“I’m not going anywhere in a hurry like last time. Go home, give me space. Just go.” Her voice had dropped to a near whisper, and they could tell she was just barely holding herself together, trying to keep a brave face. It was in that moment, they realized that her past was colored much darker than anyone had originally thought. The secrets she kept, she kept well. The only thing left to wonder was how long until they broke her?