Almost like Ylva.
No.
Not quite. More like someone sleeping.
“Hugo,” Blended admonished the owner of the hand. “Be nice.”
A small chill ran up her spine. Both of them managed to sneak up on her. And they managed the same feat the other night.
As useless as she had been so far, Eva made a note to have Nel watch the two.
“Yes, Des,” Hugo said as he released Eva’s hand. He moved to stand next to Blended and went perfectly still. His eyes unfocused as they gazed off at some point behind Eva.
“But your eyes,” Blended said as she released Eva’s skirt. Her fingers darted towards her own eyes. They pressed and squeezed until a sickening pop echoed through the otherwise vacant restroom. Several stitches held it in her head by the optic nerve alone.
The boy standing at her side did not react in the slightest.
“How do you even see?”
“With my eyes. But your eyes, they’re definitely not human. You didn’t even have them the other day. Yet no sign of surgery?” She popped her own brown eye back into her skull. It swiveled independently from her blue one before settling into place. “Eyes don’t work like that.”
“The dean said you were partially nonhuman. I don’t believe that. I think you are a human who has replaced your limbs somehow.”
“I don’t care what you think. In fact, I would be very pleased if we never met again.”
The smile on her face vanished in an instant. Water gathered in her eyes, but she managed to hold it in. “W-we’re alike though. We have unique physiology and everyone hates us.”
As her smile vanished, Eva smile grew. She let out a scoff. “Even if that were true–which it isn’t in my case–I am perfectly accustomed to being alone. As for ‘unique physiology,’ well, that’s hardly a thing to bond over. Because of your actions, you’ve potentially damaged my standing here. Damaged to the point where people might die if they realize the truth behind what the dean implied.”
Eva shoved past Blended and her little henchman–who, now that Eva thought about it, should probably not be in the women’s restroom.
“You mean, about those being demon lim–”
Hugo jumped in the way of her claws. One hand embedded itself into his chest. Eva barely took the time to note that he wasn’t even bleeding before her other hand gripped Blended by her throat.
“I think you mean to say ‘West African shapeshifting spider’ limbs.”
Blended struggled against her grip. She wouldn’t be able to break it. Eva wished she had Arachne’s upper arm as well as her lower arm if only because she wanted to lift the girl up by the throat.
Hugo struggled to get off of her fingers.
Eva threw him off, sending him back against the sinks. She wiped the surprisingly small amount of blood onto the hilt of her dagger.
As soon as she had control over it, the blood flew through the air to form two disks that pressed into his eyes. Eva released her control.
Blinded by his own blood, Hugo flailed around as he attempted to wipe the blood away.
Eva dragged Blended to the restroom entrance and pressed one foot against the door. The room was empty save for the three of them. She did
“Now,” Eva dropped her voice until even she could barely hear it, “we are going to have a little talk. I don’t know where you got the idea that any part of me is demonic and I don’t care–”
Blended did not respond. She continued to struggle against Eva’s claw.
Eva released her with a light shove.
She stumbled backwards, gasping for air.
Eva turned her attention back to Hugo just in time to see him rushing at her despite the blood still in his eyes. She kicked out with her foot and struck him square in the chest.
Rather than fly back like a good little ragdoll, he gripped her leg and held on.
Eva hopped forwards–there was no one on the other side of the door anyway–and used her stronger legs to force Hugo backwards.
He stumbled over and fell to his back with Eva’s leg pinning him against the ground.
“I believe I asked you a question.”
“I’m sorry.” Her voice rasped.
Eva didn’t think she squeezed hard at all, definitely not hard enough to cut off air. Then again, she might have some medical issues related to the unable to heal thing.
Blended coughed a few times before she said, “I’m sorry. I won’t mention it again. I just wanted a friend.”
“Well, you sure screwed that up.”
She hung her head. “This isn’t how it was supposed to go.”
“‘How it was supposed to go?'” Eva narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
“You are like me. We’re not like everyone else.”
“We are not alike. Even if we were, that alone isn’t a good reason to be friends. Next time you want to make friends with someone, don’t antagonize them.”
