delicate

8

Everything's quiet. Everything's still. Yesterday was filled with tension and awkwardness between my sister, my mom, and I. I locked myself in my room to avoid them. They knocked on my door and talked to me through it but I was deaf and they were sirens. In no world would I hear them out.

Even though my exhaustion is keeping me pinned to the bed I can't fall asleep. I opened my eyes and turned on my phone, looking at the time. 4:27. I dropped my phone and put my hands over my face, groaning. There's a few ways I can force myself to fall asleep and none of them seem enticing.

Staying awake seems like the better option. I force myself to sit up. As I stand up, there's banging on the front door. I step back, aware of how odd it is for someone to be here at four in the morning.

I slowly made my way downstairs. I stared at the person through the window. It seemed like a very tall man, who's hunched over. They're leaning against the door. I can hear him groan loudly, then cough. I feel uneasy and scared.

"Who is it?" I hear Caroline asked drowsily from behind me. I don't acknowledge her.

She sighed and walked to the door. "You're going to have to get over it, Evelyn," She muttered as she pulled the door open. She's taken aback by the man.

My suspicions were all correct. He's coughing up blood. He looked from me to Caroline. His intake of breath is interrupted when he starts coughing again, this time with blood spotting his hand. He looked up at Caroline.

"What did you do to me?" His eyes closed a few seconds before he collapsed to the ground.

I gasped as I stumbled back a step. "Do you know this guy?" I'm staring at Caroline as she checks for a pulse on the man.

She nodded frantically, "He's the cancer guy."

I raise my eyebrows. "Oh my God." The realization reaches my brain, and my breathing becomes shallow. "Oh my..." I can't think of anything other than how my mom is going to die. Soon. Very soon.

My vision is spotted with black dots as my body loses the ground beneath me.

-

"Evelyn." My name is softly spoken by Stefan.

I can feel his hand resting on my hip. I opened my eyes to see him staring down at me. He's sitting beside me. I looked around as I sat up. My eyes find him after my brain registers that I'm at Stefan's.

His eyes bore into mine as he speaks. "Do you feel okay?"

I close my eyes, trying to remember what happened. "I guess." I opened my eyes and looked at him again. I looked behind me at the entryway that leads to the front door. My heart rate picked up as I remembered. I looked at Stefan again. "Where's Caroline?"

He slid his hand to my thigh, "It's okay. She's with your mom."

I was scared to ask the next question. "Where are they, Stefan?"

He looked at his hand, then at me. "The hospital. Your mom... She passed out."

The tears in my eyes weren't willfully going away. "What happened to..."

"Colin." He got a sad look on his face. "Caroline's blood sped up the cancer. Last night, when he showed up here, he was in transition."

I felt nauseous. "How is that possible?" If I spoke above a whisper, I would cry.

I couldn't really hear him over the ringing in my ears, but I understood it had something to do with the magic.

"Can't we find some way to undo it?"