People always thought Kayla was the craziest of the two but they didn't know that Evie was the real dear devil. Unlike Kayla, having a near-death experience taught her not to be afraid of anything so she did the most dangerous things in her spare time without anyone knowing.
If they knew, God knew what they would say. Mother along the lines of, "Why can't you be more like your sister? She doesn't make us worry to death." Mitchie thought she was the neglected one but better neglected than hounded with their accusatory gazes.
When things started to fall apart for the family, she would always meet their helpless gazes, their 'we love you but did you have to be sick?' gazes. They all thought she didn't see it all but she did. Every night it was what Evelyn would think of. A morbid lullaby of some sort. The most unconventional things sometimes made broken people feel at peace just like Oliver with his love of Kay's voice and moans.
"Just follow my lead when we want to climb the fence. Don't do anything I don't do or you could trip an alarm." Evie said very seriously and Wyatt's lips twitched.
"There are alarms for this abandoned building!?" He whispered yelled and Evie shushed him with her hands.
"Where I'm taking you deserves this amount of security now, take my hand, and let's go." He sighed. He was really doing this and with Evie, the classiest lady he had ever met. If he told anyone they'd shoot him in the head.
People knew who Evelyn was. A prize in the eyes of the wealthy men but her sickness preceded her. It still deters from the fact that she was beautiful, had impeccable members, and was the type of girl an aristocrat brought home not this hooligan climbing over the fence like a criminal who had many years under her belt.
He did what she did and soon both of them were on the other side of the fence. Wyatt followed Evie who was behaving like a spy in an undercover movie. Anytime Wyatt opened his mouth to speak, she would hit his arm, turn around and put her finger on the middle of her lips to ask him to shut the fuck up.
Craziness ran in the family, and Wyatt Hudson Parker knew that for sure.
They didn't enter the house but walked along the sides and he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a sound.
"Nothing's here and stop being a scaredy cat!"
"You know this because?"
"Because I've been here before and no one comes here. Not anymore they don't." The last part came out strained but if Wyatt heard, he didn't show it.
"Do you know why the place became sealed off?" The moon peaked through the scanty roofs but they avoided the light, sticking to more dark walls to hide their presence.
"I heard that the owner died and no one wanted to buy it because the ones who dared said the house was haunted. I, on the other hand, didn't think that was true." They both halted in their steps when they were at the back of the house and Wyatt gasped.
"How is this possible?" He stared wide-eyed at the view in front of him. They both stood in front of the ocean. This was a beach, Wyatt thought. The sand too but it wasn't as wide and nearly as sandy as the beach. The moonlight shimmered on the steady, cool waters.
"I also never knew it was but we live in a city near to the coastal shores or have you forgotten? The ocean, I heard connects with the Pacific Ocean. Do you like it?" Her eyes beheld his side profile, hopeful, giddily even.
He admired the sight. Honored that she would even show him when she didn't show her sister. He didn't know what he felt about her but all he could think of was that this woman was an enigma. A delightful one with more than meets the eyes. He would take great pride in uncovering everything about her, slowly.
It wasn't the kind of mystery with Kayla. Kayla wasn't a mystery just more of a layered person who said the most random things and she was funny. Evie was something else. A firecracker hidden underneath a Christmas bow wrapping.
He turned her head to meet her starry gaze and he nodded, breathlessly, "I love it, Angel. Thank you." He pecked her lips. The taste lingered even after they both sat in front of the waters, their legs getting soaked by the coldness.
"I enjoy the ocean more than anything. There is a certain peace that comes with knowing that no one truly knows what the ocean has to offer. So deep yet so surface level. That's what I like the most about life, the fact that things can be two different things at the same time, and each of them is the truth, the real version."
"Thoughtful… almost poetic. You might give Louisa, Kayla's friend, a run for her money." He laughed shortly.
"You know Alfreda?"
"We've met a few times. Her nose is always in a book." Why did he lie? Why didn't he tell her upfront that I love your sister and I wanted to leave you for her and I would prefer that she was the one sitting beside him, shoulders touching not her? The last part was a lie. He enjoyed being with Evie.
"We don't like each other very much. Always held a grudge against me and I did too. In fact, I still do." She scrunched up her nose.
"Why?"
"Why don't I like her?"
"No. I don't really want to talk about the blue-haired bookworm. Why do you like coming here? You could always go to a normal beach, you know?"
"Because I like this house. Even with the horror stories, I feel connected to it. A haunting kind of pull that the house doesn't want to be lonely, just like I don't want to be too." Her eyes lowered, and she dragged her legs so her knees could touch her chest. "I sound crazy, I do but I like it. It's magical, serene, and my secret." What was hers sometimes felt foreign? Her life, her dreams, her ambitions, none of that made sense to her.
No control over what she wanted and how she wanted it because she didn't even know what she wanted. With Wyatt, that was easy. She wanted to bring him here, so she did. She wanted to kiss him, so that happened but with everything else, Evie had to think and that she had done so much that her brain could explode.
Staring at the white walls of the hospital while she lay in bed, waiting for everything to be over. She thought. She dreamt of a life far away from here, being normal. Having friends, having the best relationship with her sister and parents, and not being so fucking sick!
"Evie? Where did you go?" She snapped her head up, blinking at the blue-eyed man.
"What do you mean? I was right here."
"You weren't. You went somewhere in your mind." She flushed having been caught red-handed.
"I'm-"
"The place you went to, was it peaceful?" The question startled her.
"Excuse me?"
"Do you like where you went to, in your mind?" The tip of his finger touched his temple.
She took a deep breath. "No. I don't like to think. I've been dreaming but nothing ever comes true and sometimes I'm so tired of being alive or feeling or just being. It gets too much. I look around my office and wonder why I'm here. What do I want to do? Is this the right place for me? Do I know what I want? Was this all a mistake? Aren't I better off…" She caught herself before saying the word.
"Dead." He completed it for her. She glanced away. "They never talk about the stuffiness in your chest. How you're unable to breathe. How your mind goes off, spiraling and making you feel small. You would think something that's part of you would want the absolute best for you." He repeated, his lips curved downward but not in a frown, "You would think."
"Yes. You are absolutely right. They don't say that do they? I survived so I should be grateful but every part of me is covered with surgical scars. Internal scars that I…." Evie choked but Wyatt didn't interrupt. She was opening up to him. Progress.
"That I can't be normal anymore. I can't do anything anymore. I'm so trapped and suffocated that breathing is toxic!" Evelyn nearly yelled and she groaned loudly out of frustration, her body shivering.
"Evie…" Before Wyatt could speak, they heard a voice.
"Who is there!?"
"Shit!" They stared at each other before rushing to their feet.
"We are so doomed, Evie! I told you this was a bad idea!" Wyatt panicked, grabbing her hand.
"Relax, Wy! It would be fine no one's-" Wyatt covered her mouth when the voice grew louder.
"Show ya' selves you spineless cowards!" A torch was pointed in their direction and without thinking both of them made a run for it.