"Finally!" Evie fired her grapple gun and swung slowly toward the sidewalk, watching as Alex's car disappeared into the distance, and right in front of her, Erich's house, old and a little neglected, looked like a prize for her superhuman effort. "Alright, let's see what we can find out about this 'Jade' everyone is so obsessed with," Evie fired her grapple gun and landed on the roof of the porch, walking slowly towards a slightly dirty glass window, "Perfect, it's open," she slowly entered the room.
Evie could hear the distinct sound of someone brushing their teeth.
Maybe she had less than five minutes to gather all the information she could.
"I'm lucky I picked the right room," Evie said, pressing a button on her heels, and rubber soon covered them, making each step silent on the old wooden floor. The Hunters may have deformed her feet, but at least they had good gadgets to keep them from ringing any bells. "Nice Monster High collection, second-hand but almost as good as new."
Evie would have loved to have these dolls when she was little.
Frankie seemed to be the only doll purchased new and in box, the rest looked a bit repainted and there was rookie stitching on Abbey's dress and Spectra's skirt, not to mention that Draculaura's fishnet thighs had a couple of holes and Clawdeen's necklace was broken. Lagoona looked almost new, although her hair was a mess, and Cleo was missing her headband.
"Let's see. Bed made, nothing out of place, no traces of dust... A diary?" Evie slowly approached the nightstand, opening the page where a pen was, "Let's see... You were very excited to go watch the concert at Melody's place, you went to Mrs. Elvirham's garage sale yesterday and found an original Ghoulia Yelps in near perfect condition, you want an iPhone 14..." Evie chuckled, "The heart wants what it wants." She continued reading the girl's diary, raising her eyebrows, "You want the Monster Mash dolls but you don't have enough money to buy them from a reseller? Interesting." Evie chuckled. Draco always said those were 'Action Figures' because he never liked the word 'Dolls' at all. The guys had signed a six-figure deal to release them for Christmas before their third album was even announced, and the 'action figures' sold out in a matter of minutes, and now it was very difficult to get them. There were three variants of these dolls: The Budget Dolls that didn't have much articulation and came with casual clothes (Monster Mash casual standards), The Basic Dolls that wore the outfits the guys wore in the 'Hunter In Disguise' music video, and the Collector's Dolls which were super articulated black and white figures with the outfits the boys wore in the 'Monster In Love' music video.
Evie didn't know much but she heard that some singing dolls would be released next month.
She then approached Jade's closet, opening it slowly. A red jacket, a red sweater, a two-layered green skirt and black Mary Jane shoes were the clothes that looked the most worn.
There were also many rings and three necklaces on the beauty table.
Evie couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the girl, and now she could see her with different eyes.
She was definitely not a hunter, just a very lucky girl.
There were footsteps outside the room. Damn!
The bedroom door opened just as Evie climbed out the window, swinging from the second floor to the front yard with her grapple gun.
With the push of a button, the rubber covering on her steel heels retracted, and she rose up quickly to look at the window she came out of.
"Maybe I misjudged you, Jade," Evie sighed.
Then she turned to go back to the hotel.
What the hell?
Across the street, there was a white almost-monster truck parked, a snowplow. And it had a huge snowflake painted in blue and purple on the hood.
Evie chuckled.
"Why am I not surprised?" Evie asked herself, crossing the street gracefully, one foot behind the other, swaying her hips. "Hey Big Guy, do you mind giving me a ride?"
Everett, quiet as always, growled with one arm out of the snowplow truck.
"I'll give you lift to hotel if you don't tell Zeth I'm here," Everett said, pointing to the passenger seat of his truck.
"I suspect Zeth already knows you're here, but okay, I won't say anything." She walked around the truck and he opened the passenger door.
Evie climbed two small metal steps and entered, closing the door with a sigh.
Without another word, Everett started the vehicle, shifted into drive, and they were off.
For about ten minutes, neither of them said a word, but Everett seemed to want to say something.
His eyes never left the road, and the only noise between them was Everett's fingers tapping impatiently against the steering wheel.
"You like that girl, Jade," Evie whispered and Everett raised his eyebrows.
His answer would hurt.
It would hurt her to know that she was nothing short of having it all and losing it because she was a coward.
"No." He replied.
That was unexpected.
"Well... Why are you here then?" Evie asked.
"Just because."
"It is not correct to spy on others."
"Ha! Look who's talking," Everett laughed a little.
"Hey!" She nudged him and laughed a bit, "Zeth pays me to do the dirty job, what else could I do?"
"Zeth should pay you to sleep. You look tired, and it doesn't suit you. You look like zombie. Aside literal sense."
"You have a gift with words," she turned in her seat, leaned against the headrest, and stared at the window. The sky was too dark, so much she could just make out a few stars.
He continued driving in absolute silence for a short while until Evie began drifting to sleep.
She opened her eyes a bit when she heard him growl.
"You said something?"
"Do you think anyone could love someone like me, Evie?" Everett asked and she nodded involuntary.
"Why not?" She looked at the road again, then turned to look at him. "When was the last time you had a girlfriend? I'm talking about something serious, not just a one-night stand."
"Never," he replied, cold and distant.
"Then why do you ask?" Evie was trying to be gentle, but her patience was wearing thin.
It wasn't Everett's silence that bothered her, but this girl... Jade.
Maybe it was envy? Jealousy?
Evie really didn't know.
"Romantic relationships are complicated, I want to understand," Everett said, his voice low.
"Why?" Evie wanted to know, looking at him curiously, even though he would probably ignore her question.
Maybe he'd give her some vague answer that made no sense.
"I love someone who is cold and hard like ice, who I know well and who knows me well, and who doesn't feel uncomfortable because of way I am. I've changed lot, I've made effort, but I'm still bit awkward when it comes to socializing and not everyone likes that." He said, looking straight ahead, not daring to meet her eyes, "I want to make her happy. I m-mean..." He hesitated for a second. His hand stopped drumming on the steering wheel, and he reached for the gearshift. "I've always been direct, and I will be tonight," Everett turned to look at Evie and his icy blue eyes met her warm brown irises, clear and full of emotion. "Evie, from moment I met you, I knew you were woman I always dreamed of having Baby Yeti with," he whispered and Evie looked down. She would never have children, she didn't even have her period, and Everett knew it so maybe that's what made him change his mind? "But when I see you, I don't care that we can never have Baby Yeti. The only thing I have always wanted was to kiss you, and I have never been discreet when I have you in my arms but..."
"Everett... Are you in love with me?" Evie couldn't help the hope shining in her eyes and she didn't miss the smile curving Everett's lips.
"Yes, I am." Everett nodded. "I thought you knew, but I should have asked you if you wanted me too."
"Why did you never say anything?"
"Because I know Frank still loves you, we all know that."
Evie covered her mouth and raised both eyebrows.
That was shocking.
A red light made them stop.
"And Frank writes your name when he writes songs, but Zeth edits those parts," Everett continued, reaching over and cupping Evie's chin gently, "He loves you even more now than when you were dating. But I also know there is no room for me in your relationship, and that is okay." He paused. "I love you, Evie. But I want to keep friendship with Frank. So please, let's keep feelings platonic."
"Okay," Evie whispered and closed her eyes. Everett watched her face for a long moment. "I guess that's how things should be between us. That's fine by me."
It was not.
She was hurt, with her heart in her hand and with a knife stuck in it, about to cry, about to lose her mind and scream that she was broken.
"I don't know if Frank wants something with you or not, but I don't want to be in way between him and you either, not without Death Match." Everett sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I wish I could be as brave as you sometimes."
"Oh, shut up," Evie muttered with her eyes closed, pouting slightly and turning her face toward the window. "And you can't solve everything with a Death Match, Big Guy."
"Sometimes I wish it were that simple."
"I want to believe that everything would be simpler if I hadn't been such a coward," she closed her eyes, clenching her fists, trying to hold back her tears until...
"Evie, wake up! We are here!"
She snapped awake. She was so sleepy she could barely recognise the underground parking of the Hallow Inn.
She looked at the grey place around her, then at Everett, who was already opening the door of his truck.
He quickly jumped out of it.
"Was it all a dream?" Evie whispered, frowning.
"You slept most of way here, it's not like it took long to get to hotel." Everett said as he opened her door.
"I don't remember falling asleep," Evie admitted.
"I'm sorry I woke you up," Everett rubbed his nose, "I was going to carry you to your room but, I don't know. I'm sorry I'm not gentleman, but I know you don't like being treated like damsel in distress."
"Wait... What was real and what was a dream?" Evie rubbed her eyes.
"I don't understand," Everett was looking at her with his head tilted.
"I thought you... Forget it," Evie looked around at this full underground parking.
Did it happen at all?
"I'm so stupid." Evie scoffed.
"You are weird sometimes, Evie, but not stupid," Everett frowned as he held out a hand. She took it and slowly jumped out of his truck.
"Just tell me you and I are still friends."
"Of course, whatever that means," Everett grunted.
Evie then yawned loudly.
"I am so, so tired, and I must wake up early in the morning to go talk to Erich," she mumbled, dragging her feet and looking at Everett pleadingly, "Hey Big Guy, I guess I do want to be a damsel in distress tonight."
"Alright, come on." Everett bent down and carried her bridal style.
"Thank you, Everett," Evie mumbled, closing her eyes and resting her head against his pectoral muscle.
He smelled like cotton candy.
Evie then began to fall asleep, barely conscious when she heard the sound of the elevator chiming and the doors sliding open.