19

                                    

                                          
When she made it up to her lab, she was shaking. Her blood felt like it was boiling in her veins as she pulled on her gauntlets that were barely tested properly. White hot fury was the only thing she could feel. How could Wednesday manipulate her like that?
"Evelyn! No! This is insanity!" Arnold yelled, leaping out onto the table to stop her. 
"This ends now. I'm going to go into the forest and kill that son of a bitch," she scoffed, shoving a bunch of gemstones into her pouch despite Arnold's protests. 
"I'm not letting you go out there and get yourself killed!" Arnold said, causing Evelyn to whirl around quickly at the door. 
"Then you stay here," Evelyn replied, ignoring the way her heart ached at Arnold's expression. "I don't want you to get hurt."
With that, she locked the door behind her and with her hands deep in her pockets, she headed down to Jericho. The cold wind hit her face sharply even with the extra layers she had on. She ignored the looks the townsfolk shot at her, the mistrustful glares that made her squirm and continued on her single-minded mission to the Weathervane. 
The door chimed as Evelyn walked in, causing Tyler to look up quickly. He grinned at her arrival, "Let me guess. A latte? My shift is about to end but I can squeeze it in."
"Afraid not. You and I need to talk," Evelyn muttered grimly. Tyler raised his eyebrows in response. 
"Is this about Wednesday?" he asked, taking off his apron. "Is she okay?"
Evelyn walked over to the door and held it open for him. He came over somewhat awkwardly and followed her as she led him into the forest. "Hey, where are we going?"
"To find answers," Evelyn replied, walking for a few minutes longer before she grabbed the boy and slammed him against a tree.
"Woah, uh, no, what's going on?" he said, panicking as he tried to free himself from her with surprising strength given his lanky frame. 
"You know something," Evelyn said, drawing in magic from the air to intimidate him. 
"I don't know anything! Let go of me!" he yelled, pulling harder on her hands fisted into her shirt. 
"Don't lie to me, Galpin," Evelyn warned, slowly heating up the gauntlets with magic until he could feel the warmth through his clothes. "Think about it. We're too deep in the forest for anyone to hear you scream. I could do anything I want to you and you wouldn't be able to do anything. Not even your dear old pops will be able to find a trace of you...Think very carefully."
"Okay! Okay! Fine! My dad found a cave that he thinks the monster hid in! I'll show it to you!" Tyler exclaimed, wincing as his hands made contact with the hot metal.
"That's what I like to hear," Evelyn beamed, releasing him. He immediately rubbed his reddened hands together, a pained expression on his face. 
"What the hell did you make?" he muttered, beginning to walk toward the Nevermore side of the forest. Evelyn followed closely, her hand locked tightly around a gemstone that she prepared to throw just in case. 
"A murder weapon," Evelyn said nonchalantly, smirking as she saw Tyler squirm. 
"For who?" he asked, stepping over a log and continuing onward as Evelyn hurried to catch up. 
"The monster. I'm going to turn it into a charred corpse," Evelyn said, carefully watching Tyler's poker face. 
"Oh," he muttered, wandering over to walk behind a tree. 
"Where do you think you're going?" Evelyn asked sharply. 
"Relax! I'm just taking a piss. The cave is right over there," he replied, equally aggravated as he ducked behind a tree. 
Evelyn turned and indeed, there was a cave, the entrance looking like a swirl. She slowly walked closer to it, placing her hand gently on the stone as she peered inside and used a gemstone as a light source. "Hot damn, he's right."
A low growl suddenly sounded from behind her. Evelyn turned slowly to see the monster crawling out of the underbrush. It stood up on its hind legs, easily towering over her as it stared with its huge, bulging eyes. Evelyn felt every hair on her body raise as she looked back, frozen in fear as saliva dribbled down its chin. 
"Tyler?" Evelyn called out, her voice slightly squeaky as the monster leaned in. Its breath smelled strange, not like a monster's should. It didn't smell like rotten flesh, nasty or smelly at all. 
The monster snarled and Evelyn grabbed its giant hand as it swiped for her, heating up her gauntlets for the monster to scream in pain. Evelyn stumbled back as it wrenched its hand free, her eyes wide as it reared back for another attack. Knowing that this was not a fight she could win, she ran. Foliage hit her in the face, leaving small scratches all over her body but she was running on pure adrenaline. The sound of the monster bashing through the forest only spurred her on, pushing her demigod legs faster but alas, it was all for naught. 
Evelyn barely had time to scream before the monster grabbed her by the leg and threw her into a tree, immediately knocking the wind out of her. It roared, stalking toward her as she got back up slowly in pain. Through blurred vision, she could only see a hulking mass approach her but she'd be damned if she went down without her fight. She used her magic to raise her gems into a makeshift shield, to which the monster pounded down mercilessly upon. It was not enough, as the monster beat it down easily and in a last ditch effort, Evelyn turned the gems into spinning projectiles that simply bounced off the beast. Aggravated, it reached for her, putting her insides on display with a roar. It was a blinding amount of pain that sent an ear piercing scream tearing out of Evelyn's throat. It swiped again, sending another wave of pain through her body. Blood bubbled into her mouth, causing her to cough violently while her hands raised feebly to stop the onslaught of attacks. There was suddenly a blast of light that sent a scared whine coming from the monster and disappeared. Evelyn only had enough energy left in her to turn her head, letting the blood fall out of her mouth with a quiet groan, the loudest she could muster out as breathing was difficult. 
She was laying leaves that cushioned her body gently as the mist seemed to encircle her. Her could barely feel her wounds anymore and it was...quiet. It was peaceful, something that Evelyn hadn't felt for quite some time. She was tired, so tired. It couldn't be so bad just to close her eyes for a moment. Let nature take her body. She closed her eyes just for a moment. 

I am back from the dead. Hello.