In the woods Tag: Eva

Ariel walked along throught the woods, carrying her 2 year old daughter. She was wearing one of her two jeans and t-shirts and Lila had on one of her two dresses. Ariel's ribs hurt and her arms were sore, but she wasn't about to put Lila down. She knew Lila could walk on her own, if she chose to, but Ariel felt safer holding her. Especially with everything that had happened and with them not knowing the place they were now.

After walking for awhile, Ariel sat down. She didn't really have the strength to continue walking. She knew she could really use some food, with her not eating for at least a week and a half, and she was sure Lila was hungry too. Ariel really wished she had enough money to get something for them, though.

Now that they were both seated, Ariel put her daughter in her lap and noticed she was sleeping. She went and lightly stroked her daughter's dirty blond hair as she watched her sleep. She was kind of glad that she was asleep and hoped that she'd stay that way. At least, for the moment. Ariel didn't want to hear Lila get cranky. Especially when Ariel wasn't feeling all that happy herself.

As Ariel sat where she was, she looked around her, not wanting anyone to sneak up on them. At the same time, she wished someone would show up in the woods and help them. She just hoped they wouldn't be put off by her attitude, though. She wanted help it was just that she was too scared to ask for it.

Eva had just gotten back from her shopping trip in Seattle, and she was making her way toward the little house in the woods that Freddy had agreed to loan out to her. He'd gotten it somehow, and since he wouldn't be needing it again for "God knows how long," and since the Cullens needed some alone time, the house was hers for the time being.

Y quizás esté bien, Eva thought with a smile. It wasn't as though Freddy could set up the house to kill her when she walked through the door or that he'd care enough to rig the house like so if he could.

The smile dropped abruptly from her lips when she smelled two humans in the woods just up ahead, and she froze on the spot, uncertain. Neither human smelled particularly good, and one smelled very, very young. And they were alone.

Los--o las--ayudaría, Eva thought, changing her path just a little so that she'd "accidentally" bump into the humans on her way to the house.

She decided to whistle to make herself look more casual and less creepy as she made her way down the path. Hopefully, these two wouldn't spurn her efforts to help--if they needed it--and hopefully, she'd be able to do a little something for them without risking revealing her secret.

Ariel had been sitting for a little while, just attempting to let herself get some rest and get some sort of strength. She felt really tired and weak and needed help. Right then, she really doubted she'd be able to get enough strength to keep walking. Ariel still hoped she would, though.

After sitting for awhile, she heard something. After listening for a little while, she realized it was whistling and then she noticed a woman walking down the path towards them. Ariel wasn't sure who this woman was, but she really hoped she was there to help and not hurt. She had already been around those who seemed nice, but weren't.

Ariel felt Lila stirring a bit. She stroked Lila's hair and said, "It's ok. You're fine. No one's going to hurt you." Ariel didn't really necessarilly believe it, but it helped Lila stop stirring and go back to peaceful sleeping.

Ariel had let the woman who had been whistling come closer to them, before saying, "Hello. Who are you?" When she talked it was soft and her voice was a bit weak and tired.

Eva stopped whistling and stopped in her tracks, carefully looking at the young woman in surprise. She didn't look so good. Sure, she was a pretty girl, but she looked dirty, sick, and weak.

¿Cuándo comió por la final vez? Eva wondered, looking at her and her fitfully sleeping child in concern.

"My name is Eva Rios," she replied as she walked over to the young woman. "And who are you? You and the little girl don't look well."

Ariel had watched as Eva walked over to where they were and listened as she introduced herself. She was silent for awhile as she thought of what to say. What should she say to Eva? Ariel had just met her and wasn't really sure what to tell her.

After being silent for a little while, Ariel said, "My name is Ariel Beckley and I'm 15. My daughter's name is Lila and she's 2. We haven't eaten in a while. It's been a few days for Lila, but a week and a half for me. We don't look well because we aren't."

Eva wasn't shocked that her suspicions had been confirmed. She'd seen enough hungry people--from the time she'd been a child in Cartago until just a few months ago when she'd gone to India again--to recognize another one. Still, it made her mind reel when she looked at the little girl--the older one's daughter no less!--and it hurt to think of it.

"That's good of you to give her food and go hungry for longer," Eva said. It was the first thing that came to mind, and she meant it. "You both need food though--you especially, Ariel--and I'll be happy to go get you some. There's a town really, really close by--only a few minutes from here--and I can buy you something to eat there."

Of course, once they got into the town, Eva was going to find out some more about these two and maybe even offer them a place to stay--if Ariel would trust her, at least. Freddy wouldn't mind her using his house to help two human girls.

Ariel had silently listened to what Eva was saying and was really glad about it. She would really, really like it if she had some food. She knew Lila would like it too.

After being silent for awhile, she said to Eva, "You can buy us some food. We'd really appreciate it." After she said that she picked up Lila and stood up. When she stood up, Lila woke up.

Ariel had felt Lila waking up and had looked at her. Lila looked up a little and said, "Hungry, Mommy." She sounded really, really cranky.

"I know, sweetie. I'm hungry too," Ariel said to Lila. "We're going to get food soon."

Ariel looked at Eva and said, "Let's go before she gets even crankier. I really hope the town you mentioned is as close as you said." Ariel was ready to follow Eva to the town she had talked about.

"It is," Eva promised. She'd walked there at a human speed once before, and as much as she'd like to be able to run those two over there at a vampire speed, she knew that that wouldn't be practical. She wouldn't help herself or them by revealing her secret. "Now just follow me."

She turned and began to walk, looking over her shoulder to make sure that the two were keeping up with her. Ariel was moving pretty fast and pretty steadily given her condition, but Eva could tell that she was struggling.

"Do you want me to carry your daughter the rest of the way?" Eva asked once they'd walked for about a minute. The trees had cleared by now, and Forks were very clearly in sight.

Ariel had followed Eva and had done a decent job of keeping up with her. Or maybe it was just that Eva was walking slow enough so that there wasn't any chance of Ariel not keeping up. Either way it was a bit of a struggle, no matter how fast she was walking.

Ariel had heard what Eva had said, when they had walked for a minute. She had also noticed that the town wasn't that much further. Even though it wasn't that far, Ariel wasn't sure if she'd be able to get there while still holding Lila. She also wasn't totally sure if she wanted to let Eva carry Lila.

After being silent for a short time, Ariel said, "You can carry Lila the rest of the way. I can't carry her right now." After she said that she walked closer to Eva and handed Lila to her. Lila was cranky, which she had been for awhile, but she didn't complain about going to Eva which was something Ariel was glad about. "I hope you don't mind that she's cranky. She's just hungry," Ariel said.

"Believe me, I can understand that," Eva said with a small smile. Nobody got quite as "cranky" as vampires did when they were hungry.

Eva wasn't hungry now though, and she wasn't cranky either. It was hard to be cranky when she was holding such a cute child like Lila. She'd always liked little children, though she knew that she wasn't grounded enough to even bother trying to adopt one, and she'd always thought that she'd make a good "aunt" or baby-sitter to someone else's child. Maybe, if she'd stayed human and married as she'd thought that she should, things would have been different, but once she'd met Jim, her character shifted in a direction entirely contradictory to something that would make a good mother.

She hoisted Lila up a little bit more when she noticed the girl drooping slightly, and she picked up her pace just a little. These two did really need to eat badly, and she was thinking over what she should feed them. If they hadn't eaten in a while, it might be hard for them to keep down a big, huge, rich meal.

Pero si ellas no comen con frequencía, entonces sabrían que pueden comer, she reasoned.

Ariel had listened to what Eva said and watched her as she held Lila, as she followed Eva to the town. They were almost there, she knew that. At the same time, she really wished the time was shorter for them to get where they needed to go. Her and Lila needed food and soon. Of course, how much food was needed was confirmed when she saw Lila droop a little.

When Eva picked up her pace, Ariel did too. Yes, she was injured and hadn't eaten in awhile, but she wasn't about not keep up with Eva. She was determined too, just like she was determined to get food. She just hoped that they'd both be ok. Yes, she was worried about herself but she was also worried about Lila. Right then, she was sure they'd take any food they could get. That's how it'd been before anyway and she was sure it'd be the same now. Besides, any food was better than no food.

A few minutes later, they'd reached the town, and Eva was sure that she'd never be happy to see a small Applebees right there. She'd never had much use for human food--poor, medium, or high quality--but now she did.

"They can bring you two bread right away when we go in there, I believe, and then once you two have gotten some food in you, we can take care of those injuries," Eva whispered as she led the two into the restaurant. The host took one look at them and started gaping. No doubt he was shocked by the sight of Ariel, but Eva gave her a look that kept him from gaping much more.

"My little sister's had a little bit of an accident," she said smoothly but earnestly, "but what she really needs right now is some food. Can you get us seated quickly?" The way she looked at the man was enough to convince him to do what she said, and the thought made her smile a little. She could still put 'em in the seats if she needed to.

The host nodded briskly and picked up three menus, taking them to an isolated booth.

"I'll have them bring you bread," he said, "and I'll get some band-aids for the younger miss if she wants them."

Ariel was very glad when they had finally gotten to the restaurant and her and Lila would get some food. When they got into the restaurant, though, and Ariel saw the host gaping at her, she looked away from him. She really didn't want that right then. She knew she looked bad. She didn't need to be reminded of that.

When they were actually seated and out of the hosts site, though, Ariel felt better. At least she could sit down. She was even happier when there was bread on the table and she could actually eat something.

Now that she had at least something to eat, which definately helped, she looked over at Eva and said, "You can feed her if you want. I don't mind." After saying that she sat and read the menu and waited for someone to come over and take their order.

Once someone did she ordered a well-done cheeseburger with fries and smoothie for herself and chicken fingers with fries and a big glass of juice for Lila. She then sat and waited.

Ariel didn't question Eva as to why she didn't order anything, but Eva decided to give the younger girl a quick explanation anyway.

"I ate about an hour ago while I was out earlier," she said with a smile. "I'm glad that I could get you two some food too. You looked like you really, really needed it."

She politely waited until Ariel was done chewing her bread that they'd brought for her, and she broke up a roll to feed to Lila. The younger girl ate it eagerly, and Eva found herself giggling as she watched the younger girl.

"She's so sweet," she said to Ariel. "How old is she?"

Ariel listened to what Eva was saying as she watched her feed Lila. She smiled slightly, then said, "Yes, she is very precious. She's two. Well, a little more than two but I'm not really going to try and figure out just how much more."

She paused and the slight smile left her face before she said,I got pregnant with her two weeks after my thirteenth birthday. I'm not really sure where her father is and I don't want to know."

Ariel was silent for a little while before saying, "I'm sure you're wondering all about me and Lila. There are some things that I'm not sure I should say now. I will say that Lila and I have been through a lot. I've been scared for awhile to ask for help. I guess I just realized I couldn't go much longer without it and that's why I'm letting you help us."

Eva drew in her breath sharply at Ariel's words. The way that she talked about Lila's father, combined with how young she had been when the baby was conceived, fueled some very dark suspicions in the vampire's mind. She didn't voice them aloud though. She'd let Ariel talk when Ariel was ready to say more.

"I...I figured as much," she said with a small, sad smile. "You two looked like you'd been having a really rough time of it, and since I've recently had some luck with some friends of friends and some money, I decided that I should do a good deed." She paused and reached for a drink of water. For some reason, she'd always been able to tolerate liquid, and she enjoyed it every once in a while.

"I can see that you need more help than this meal, and this friend of a friend recently lent me his house around here for a while," she said slowly. "If you wanted to stay there for a while and see if you can get yourself on a better track in this town, that would be fine. I have some friends in the area, but they're all preoccupied right now, and I wouldn't mind some company. And like I said, I just really hate to think of you and your little girl all alone and hungry."

Ariel silently listened to what Eva was saying, drinking some water as she did. It was so nice to be able to drink something again. She was really kind of happy about what Eva was saying, about wanting to give them a place to stay. But was it too good to be true? Of course, if her and Lila didn't go live with Eva they wouldn't have anywhere to stay.

"We'll stay with you for awhile. It'd be nice to have somewhere to sleep and have a roof over our heads," Ariel said.

She paused then said, "Thank you for helping us. I feel like you actually want to help us. At least, right now I do." She paused then said, "I don't say that to make you angry or anything. It's just that I've been around someone who I thought was nice, but wasn't. I don't think you're like that, though. If you were like that you wouldn't be so nice to Lila."

"I can understand where you're coming from. With what you told me, I can guess that you've had a tough run," Eva said. "That's why I want to help."

She paused for a long moment, pondering what to say next. "And ,no, I probably wouldn't be," she finally added, smiling genuinely at the little girl again. This time, she offered her a drink of water. She'd eaten so much, she'd have to be thirsty. "She is very sweet though. It's hard to be mean to her."

Lila let go of the drink, and Eva sat it down on the table. A second later, the food arrived, and she quickly helped the waiter clear a place.

"Thanks," he said, giving her a cocky grin. Eva resisted an eye roll. Roman might not have worked out in the end, but compared to him, this guy didn't have a shot.

"You're welcome," she said. "Thanks for bringing everything so quickly." The guy grinned, said something else that Eva didn't quite catch because she was helping Lila with a fry, and then walked off.

OOC: Last one for me tonight. See you in the morning, I guess.

"So...you're fifteen then?" she asked Ariel. "You look a little closer to my age than that."

Ariel was glad about what Eva said. She was glad she wouldn't be mean to Lila. She wouldn't be happy if Eva ever was mean to Lila.

Ariel was very glad when the food finally arrived. It had seemed like forever before it was there. Now that she had her burger in front of her, she picked it up and started eating as she listened to what Eva said.

She swallowed the piece of burger she was chewing and then took a couple sips of her smoothie before saying, "Yes, I'm 15. I'm not surprised I look older with what I've been through. I've had to grow up pretty quickly."

Ariel ate some more of her burger as well as some fries, before saying, "How old are you? If you don't want to tell me that's fine. I'm just curious."


OOC: Hey, if you have to post tomorrow that's fine. I might post sometime in the early afternoon. More like the morning if it is. If not, I'll post when I can.

OOC: Okay, cool.
IC:
Almost 200, Eva thought, biting back a smirk. She didn't say that though. Bragging about her vampire age in the presence of humans wasn't smart.

"I don't mind the questions. I've asked a lot about you. And I'm eighteen," she replied, "and I can see how what's happened to you has made you seem older, especially since you're already a mother. Then again, my mother was about your age when she had me."

Only she was willing, she thought, smiling sadly. Her mother had loved her father, and her father had loved her--in a way. He didn't marry her though. The explanation that Eva had always been given was that her mother was not a Catholic and that as a Catholic, her father simply could not marry her mother. Now, the irony of it could almost make Eva laugh.

Ariel had eaten a good amount more of her food as she listened to what Eva was saying and as Lila was being fed. After a little while of eating and drinking, Ariel said, "Yes, well, I'm sure you're mother had a choice of whether or not she wanted to be with your father. I didn't."

She paused then said, "It isn't that I don't love Lila. I do and do my best to keep her safe. It's just that I wish I had her under different circumstances. You know, that I had a choice of whether or not I had her."

Ariel went and finished eating and drinking and said, "How is Lila doing? I don't know if she'll want more to eat than what I ordered for her or if that'll be enough. I never can tell."

Eva grimaced when Lila confirmed her suspicions, and she shook her head sympathetically.

"I'm so sorry that you went through all that," she said quietly. "It wasn't fair to you at all, or to Lila either."

She wasn't sure if Ariel heard her properly or not or if she just didn't want to say anything because a second later the younger girl asked, "How is Lila doing? I don't know if she'll want more to eat than what I ordered for her or if that'll be enough. I never can tell."

"She's eating everything really quickly so far," Eva said with a smile. "She's very good, actually, for her age. If she needs more to eat, you can always order something extra for her."

Ariel had listened to what Eva was saying and watched and waited for Lila to finish eating the chicken and fries she was being given. When that was done she'd get up and ask her if she was full or if she wanted something more to eat.

Once Lila had finished eating and now that Ariel had some food in her and had gotten some of her strength back, she got up and walked over to where Lila was. She then bent down and said, "How are you doing, sweetie? Are you still hungry?"

"No, mommy. Tummy full now," Lila said. She then looked up at Eva and said, "Thank you Eva."

Ariel stood up and looked at Eva and said, "It looks like Lila likes you. That's good. She doesn't always talk to anyone but me."

Ariel paused for a short time, before saying, "You mentioned that you could look at my injuries. I think that'd be something better done at your home and not here. Some of my injuries are really bad. I don't know what it'll take for them to heal."

She sighed then said, "Anyway, I think we should move on now. I'd feel better talking somewhere other than here. Oh and you can continue to carry Lila if you want. Unless she gets fussy, of course, and asks for me."

Eva smiled when Lila thanked her, and she hugged the young girl very gently. No need to hurt the poor girl, who was still a fragile human, as was her mother.

Then Ariel spoke up, reminding Eva once again of their situation, and her smile dropped off of her lips. She sat up straighter and sighed.

"You have a good point, Ariel," she said. "And I'll carry Lila again too. You've got some food in your stomach now, but if you're injured, I don't want you straining yourself anymore than you have to." She paused then, and her mind went back to food. What would she do about that? For a moment, she was afraid that they'd have to make a stop at the grocery store first, prolonging Ariel's discomfort, but then she remembered what Freddy told her.

"Look, the way those Cullens go on, doing this and then that and then each other all the time, you're gonna be pretty lonely around here sometimes, and you might get some human company. I know that I usually have human company, so I stocked up the fridge yesterday. That way, your friends won't starve, and mine won't either if I wanna bring one back here."

Then, Eva had been temped to ask him how he could even think of having sex with another human after what had happened to his last human conquest, half-vampire baby Cameron's mother, but now she was glad that she'd kept her mouth shut. Freddy's unexpected thoughtfulness was now proving to be useful.

Ariel was glad about what Eva was saying. She was glad she wouldn't have to carry Lila for awhile and strain herself anymore than she'd have to. She just hoped it wasn't a long walk to Eva's house. Yes, she had food in her but she still had injuries and it'd feel a lot longer walking than it probably was.

"Thank you for carrying, Lila. I agree with you. I shouldn't strain myself anymore than I have to," she said. Ariel moved back away from where Eva was sitting so that she could get up, bringing Lila with her.

"You'll have to lead the way," Ariel said as she stood and waited for Eva to lead the way to her home, ready to follow her.