It certainly wasn’t quite yet warm enough to properly go running, but springtime weather was certainly beginning, and Evelyn planned to take as much advantage of that as possible. Plus, it gave her space to clear her head, and the more she ran in the forest – Ironwood, specifically, the more she could have time all to herself. To think about whatever she wanted, to enjoy her solitude. She would have taken Melanie on a run with her, but any hope of that had been violently torn away from her, Evelyn reminded herself as she snapped her ponytail elastic into place around her ponytail – perfectly curled at the end. Her car was parked a bit away from the forest itself. Closer to Candleton Cemetery than anywhere else.
It really was quite a bother how far away Ironwood was from Harris Island, but she could make do. The drive across any distance in Ashkent wasn’t too much trouble. It was a small town, after all.
She’d worn a light running jacket over her sports bra; it seemed most appropriate, given that while she was fairly certain most of the town’s residents tended to avoid this particular forest, there would always be the few who made their way through it, and while Evelyn was in no way ashamed of how she looked, it could draw unwanted suspicion, a young woman running around in just a sports bra and leggings. Especially since the air was still cool.
She got out of her car and began running, setting a light jogging pace. Nothing too overdone. This was more of an excuse to get fresh air than actual exercise, after all.
Evelyn enjoyed the feeling that the forest provided - though, she supposed that she should have been put off by its name. She didn’t react to iron on the same level as fae could - at least according to the smattering of reading that she’d done - but it was far from pleasant to deal with. Yet, here she was, stretching out her legs on a pathways and breathing in the crisp air. Though irony was one hell of a brilliant literary device, and while going for a run in this forest didn’t quite count as classic irony, it worked well enough.
She hummed to herself, roughly in tune with the music playing from her phone. Of Monsters and Men, or something like that. She’d quickly downloaded it and had found it enjoyable enough, so far.
Suddenly, she heard a scream and turned on her heels, running directly toward the sound. A scream, what had to be a knife, then silence. Evelyn skidded to a stop and found her eyes grow wide until she could set them back to normal. There was a man kneeling next to some creature, covered in blue something.
No way. Evelyn’s nose wrinkled. This had to be one of those mara that Marley had told her about. It looked nothing like her, nothing like Melanie, nothing like her mother. But it was still a mara, and that meant this man - who seemed to be bleeding as well (well-deserved, Evelyn found herself thinking) - was a hunter or slayer or warden or some especially awful human who’d decided to do harm.
She felt her fingernails dig briefly into her thigh, before she sighed and gave a small toss of her ponytail. She couldn’t lash out, not here, not right now. Especially when she was face to face with some monster who’d killed - something very similar to what she was, though incredibly less appealing to look at. Evelyn felt her nose wrinkle in slight involuntary disgust and took three steps towards the man. Three, exactly. She made certain to count them, make them even. Transfer her rage into the ground. Blend in, don’t out yourself right now. Pride was valuable, something itself to be proud of, but not when someone who clearly took part in murder stood less than twenty feet ahead of her.
“What is that?” Evelyn let out a false, nervous giggle and twirled the end of her ponytail around her fingers. Around, around, let go. She pointed to the mara - she’d never looked like that, but that was far from the point at hand. “I was just out for a run.” Her voice rose, and her accent grew stronger, in turn. “I like the quiet.”
He could feel the thumping of his hearth pounding in his chest. Normally that was when it’d start to slow down, the adrenaline would wear off (unfortunately) and it’d all go back to status quo. Not so much just then. Not with this person looming over his shoulder, witness to the scene. Just his luck.
His eyes fixed on her as she stepped closer. She didn’t look threatening, sure, but Kaden was well aware that appearances could be deceiving. Still, as far as he could tell she looked like she was just some chick who was getting her morning jog in and was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Here’s hoping the obvious conclusion was the right one. And that she didn’t have the police on speed dial.
Maybe the blue blood would make this easier to explain. It sure as hell looked less like a murder or something since there wasn’t red blood splattered everywhere. Still didn’t look good of course. He really hoped he didn’t have to threaten her to keep quiet. With towns this small, that kinda shit got messy later on. Wouldn’t stop him from doing it if it came down to that, of course.
“Good question.” He still didn't’ have an answer. His instinct was to kick the body over with his boot to get a look. Had a feeling that wasn’t going to score him sympathy points if he tried that, though, so he refrained. Shit, he really needed to come up with something, some excuse. “I, uh, I was out here hunting and it attacked me. Not sure what it was.” He didn’t exactly have a permit to hunt anything up there but that was all he had. It wasn’t a complete lie, either. Thad made it better, right? Maybe more believable?
“I was just out for a run. I like the quiet.”
“Yeah, well, maybe try running somewhere else next time. This doesn’t look very safe.” It was odd, she seemed normal enough, hell she was even pretty attractive, but something was off. Nothing wolfy, not like that. He couldn’t place it. He didn’t exactly shove the skepticism completely aside but he wasn’t on alert either. “Especially if shit like this are jumping out at people. You should see the teeth on this thing.”
