evan + exhausted
World 4 it is
title: stray
summary: lone wolves don’t make it very far
@t-kristen owns NPC Caleb Rane
word count: 1,148
The world was fog, fog, fog.
Ev stumbled forward, struggling to keep her eyes open. There was no way she’d make it back to Pack HQ. It was too far away, and she would still need to find a place to hide after. All she needed was a place out of the way. She didn’t have the energy to climb a fire escape this time. Her legs shook under her. The street would have to do. It was like she was looking through a tunnel, but Ev scanned the buildings, spotting an open alleyway. She ducked into it. Her foot caught on something, and Ev was falling, falling— She was out cold before she hit the ground.
Ev was yanked out of the dark.
Everything was hazy. Her head, her body, her sight. She could feel the rough concrete under her fingertips, the ache from the bruises all over her body. But there were at a distance, as she was drifting in an ocean of fog. "What’re you— “ said a voice, sounding like it was coming from the end of the tunnel. But that was still too close. Ev’s eyes shot open. There was someone right above her. Heart hammering, Ev fumbled for her knife. She lunged forward. Something hard hit her hand, and the knife slipped from her grip. It hit the ground with a clang. She kicked forward blindly, pushing herself to her feet. Ev scrambled back, nearly falling. Her back hit something hard. She glanced over her shoulder. She had backed herself up to a wall. Ev tried her best to blink away the sleepiness. The silhouette gave way to a man. He was at least a foot taller than she was, and could probably break her in half. Ev’s knife was on the ground near his feet, too far for her to reach. The man was also blocking the entrance to the alleyway. Ev was cornered. An icy feeling spread through her body, but she barely felt it through the haze. The person bent down and picked up the knife from the ground. Ev tensed, pushing herself farther back against the wall. Her heart slammed against her chest. Ev fought the tears threatening to spill over. She was going to die by her own weapon. Would it be fast? Would it hurt a lot? Would her mom ever find out what happened, or would Ev just disappear? The man stayed low, crouching down so he was eye to eye with Ev. She swallowed. Ev glanced at the entrance to the alleyway. He was too close to her. If she could distract him, maybe, maybe she could make a break for it. But her legs felt like jelly, and threatened to give out on her at any moment. The moment he grabbed her, it would be over. The man flipped the knife over so the hilt was facing Ev. Then he held it out to her. Ev blinked. Then she narrowed her eyes. Was it some trick to get her to move closer? But arming her was a bad strategy if he was planning to hurt her. She eyed the knife for a few seconds. Ev darted forward, snatching the knife from his hand before retreating. She held it in front of her. Her hand shook. "Hey, I’m Caleb, part of the Pack,” the man said gently. “Are you lost?” Caleb… Pack. Well, a part of Ev’s mind realized, they were on Pack territory. And Ev was also Pack, so maybe he wouldn’t hurt her? Not that he knew that, probably. He seemed to think she was lost. Is that why he had woken her up? "No.“ Ev shook her head. It was hard, pulling words from the heavy fog. Drowsiness pulled down on her eyelids. ”… Can I go back to sleep now?“ "I have a spare room at my place,” Caleb said. “Do you wanna crash there?” "…No.” Ev blinked sleepily. “I’m okay here.“ Not that she would be able to make the walk to wherever he lived, anyway. A corner of her mind knew she’d collapse. Why was he being so nice, anyway? If he wanted to take her somewhere, he could just do it. It wasn’t like Ev could fight back, and if he disarmed her once, he could do it again. "You’re gonna catch a cold out here.” Caleb smiled a little. Ev frowned. It wasn’t even that cold. It was only the end of September, and not even completely dark yet. She swayed on her feet. The world tilted a bit, blurring at the edges. Ev braced herself against the wall. "I can give you a ride over if you need…?“ Caleb slowly inched forward. Ev didn’t try to back away. If he were going to hurt her, wouldn’t he have done it already? Going to a stranger’s place was a bad idea, even if he claimed to be Pack. But Ev couldn’t stay awake for much longer. He could’ve hurt her but he didn’t, and even gave her back her knife. Maybe he wasn’t so bad? "What fairytale are you from?” Ev squinted at him. Not that which fairy tale a Tale was from meant they were good or bad. But if he was one of the many witches that ate people, then it definitely wasn’t a good idea to stick around here. "No fairytale at all, kid,“ He answered lightly. “Just a boring old human.” Caleb stretched out his hand. “And you?” Ev stared at his hand for a few seconds. A faint voice at the back of her mind, almost drowned out by the fog, complained that she wasn’t a kid. Ev had turned thirteen three months ago, so she wasn’t technically a kid. Ev slowly put her knife away, and took his hand. Caleb shook her hand lightly. "Little Red Riding Hood,” Ev said, groggily. Caleb turned around and— Ev blinked. He was offering her a piggyback ride. The same faint voice in her head noted it had been a long time since she had one of those. Her legs shook under her, but she managed to climb onto Caleb’s back. She wrapped her arms around his neck. She rested her head on his shoulder. Her eyes closed almost instantly. The fog came down quickly, so heavy Ev almost missed Caleb’s question. "And who do I have the honor of meeting?“ He stood up with ease. Ev almost didn’t notice. ”…The Wolf,“ she mumbled, because she wasn’t feeling very big or bad at the moment. "Pleased to meet you,” Caleb said, and Ev could hear the smile in his voice. He started to walk. “Hope you don’t mind other kids.” Ev wanted to argue she wasn’t a kid at all, but all the words were lost in fog, and soon, she was, too. The world faded into nothing.