Ch. Six

                                    

                                          
Chapter Six- Falling
                          
Drake's hands shot out with lightening speed, roughly grabbing Evangeline's flailing arms. She had just begun to tilt backwards, succumbing to gravity when she felt an iron grip on her, pulling her back onto the landing. The next thing she knew, she was slamming into a hard wall of muscle. 
                          
The breath was instantly knocked out of her. Dazed for moment, she placed her hands out in front of her onto Drake's chest trying to find her balance again. Her heart was hammering painfully in her ears. All she could think was she could've died right then.
                          
He brought his arms around her, carefully holding her to him in a close embrace. The top of her head just barely reached his chin, being a head shorter than him. Her heart beat was screaming at him from her chest, beating into him like punches from where she was pressed into him. As gently as he could, he pulled Evangeline away and held her at arms length.
                          
She blushed a bright shade of red that almost made Drake feel embarrassed for her. Her lips were parted as she drew in a few short breaths. At first, her head was turned away from him but now she was looking up into his face. 
                          
Even though he knew she couldn't truly see him, a tiny part of him could feel her gaze sweep across his face looking at him as no one had before. Little did he know that she too could feel his eyes burning into hers.
                          
"My name is Evangeline," she offered, attempting to ease the tension between them.
                          
"Evangeline," he echoed pleasantly.
                          
She just barely repressed a shiver at hearing her name coming from his lips. Mentally slapping for her reaction, she had to remind herself that they were still strangers even though every traitorous fiber of her being begged they didn't have to be.
                          
"That's my name, don't wear it out," she joked halfheartedly, her heart lodged in her throat. Replaying the phrase in her head it rang annoyingly with her embarrassment and she felt mortified.
                          
 Grimacing at how cheesy the thought was she forgot Drake was still staring at her. His eyes narrowed in confusion at her expression.
                          
"Have I done something wrong?" he asked. 
                          
"I believe a thank you is in order. If I do recall correctly I just saved your neck," he teased.
                          
Evangeline scoffed. He didn't honestly expect her to thank him, did he? Typical guy. 
                          
"Says the vampire," she quipped. 
                          
His grip tightened on her as she suddenly realized what she just called him. She swallowed reflexively, as if she could take back what she said and swallow the words. Vampire? She had absolutely no idea what possessed her to spit that word out and in her kidnappers direction. 
                          
Actually it made a lot of sense.
                          
"You know about that?" he asked.
                          
"You tell me," she sassed, not entirely sure where this conversation was going.
                          
She could tell his face was very close to hers now. Her nostrils flooded with the scent of old book pages and pine trees. It wasn't a terrible sensation, she traitorously admitted to herself. She hoped she was looking at him with a convincing expression of defiance, and that he didn't notice how she generously inhaled the air around him.
                          
Honestly, she had no idea why he felt the need to invade her personal space. If she didn't know any better she almost thought he was going to kiss her or something.
                          
Someone coughed discreetly alerting them of their presence. Drake hastily straightened up from where he had towered over Evangeline, any decision he might've made quickly disappearing. He noticeably loosened his grip but didn't let her go, much to her annoyance.
                          
"Yes, what is it?" he asked politely, sounding as calm as ever, as though he hadn't been considering violence or possibly stealing a kiss.
                          
The unfamiliar maid that had rounded the corner looked at them with a blank expression. She was obviously used to walking in on such improper situations. Evangeline felt awful because of her mutilated clothing from when Erik had dragged her through the gravel. She was probably bleeding in a few places as well and not to mention her hair was tangled and wild.
                          
"We weren't aware you had arrived early, sir," she said coolly and professionally.
                          
Evangeline listened to them both carefully. She had never met any of the other servants besides Alex and wondered just how many others there were. How many had the Lady kidnapped from their otherwise peaceful lives?
                          
"Indeed, I literally just arrived. I would have announced myself but I ran into one of the guard's victims and was about to escort her to her room." Evangeline snorted, earning a cross look from Drake before he continued, "Perhaps you could save me the trouble if it's not out of your way?"
                          
"I was about to tend to your sister and her guest. But this is no trouble." Evangeline wondered if she could detect a note of sarcasm in the maid's reply.
                          
Drake either didn't catch it or chose to ignore it. "I was under the impression that I was my sister's only guest."
                          
So was Evangeline. She felt a faint sense of dread at the prospect of yet another monster inhabiting the large building. Delia was dangerous enough on her own.
                          
"Delia's friend arrived a few days ago. A woman named Eloise."
                          
Evangeline could feel the atmosphere around Drake change drastically. Where he had been playful before, he was now sending off all kinds threatening vibes. 
                          
"I suppose I should go make my presence known. Delia always hates it when everyone but her is fashionably late. Please excuse me...uh..?" he trailed off hoping she would fill in his sentence.
                          
"Number three," the maid supplied respectfully if a little stiffly.
                          
Againwiththenumbers, Evangeline thought in disgust. 
                          
"Of course. Evangeline." She could feel him looking at her again before letting her go and made his exit down another corridor.
                          
"Come with me then." The maid took Evangeline's hand and led her down a different corridor.
                          
Evangeline was so unbelievably confused. Who was Eloise and why didn't Drake seem to like her?
                          
Not to mention what kind of person was Drake really? He had not only saved her from Erik's temper but also from falling down a flight of stairs. If he was the brother to the woman who had had taken from her life, he sure didn't act like it, other than his overall snide attitude.
                          
The maid delivered her to room without a word and left just as silently. Finally alone, she collapsed into bed, pulling the comforter over her aching head. She was exhausted. There was no way she could even begin to think of what was going to follow later in the night. Something was certainly going to happen to her when it was revealed to everyone that she had tried to escape.
                          
She could still feel the brisk night air on her skin if she thought about it hard enough. For a while she just imagined she was lying in the grass outside, in possession of her freedom once again. She could almost see it in her mind's eye until she was dreaming about it. Strangely enough, Drake was lying there right beside her, blood on his lips and a content expression on his face.
                          


                          


                          
Authors Note: Those are some weird dreams you're having, Evangeline. You might want to look into that. 
                          
On another note: Can you feel the soul-matey AU vibes coming off these two??? One could almost say Evangeline really FELL for Drake LOL
                          
#Evake5ever