Chapter 14: Discovered

"..L-let me go.." Evan choked out, desperately wanting to remove Cole's hand from his throat. Unknown to Evan, his claws had come out, scratching at Cole's hand and leaving bloody marks. In most cases, the old Evan NEVER let his claws out but in times of desperation, he couldn't control it. Evan was lucky that his ears, not his tail had popped out because then he would have been screwed. The humans may not have known he was a hybrid but humans didn't really like those who were different from them, which included the other races.

"Mm, no I don't think I will." He jested, glee swirling within his yellow eyes. He wasn't a fool, he instantly recognized how off Evan was acting and knew right away something simply wasn't right. He'd never told Evan he wasn't just human as he didn't feel it was necessary. He was actually an elf himself, specifically a Solaris elf. In order to blend in, he used magical concealing techniques that would hide any elven features from knowing eyes. With being an elf came abilities that were more special than usual, if one was lucky. Cole himself could read auras and the second Evan spoke out, his changed from a deep blue to a golden blur. It surprised him and put him on guard.

In order to figure out what was going on, he used force, which would normally force people to crack under pressure. Cole may have also had a...sadistic streak per say but, no one had to know that.

"Y-you bastard..." Evan continued to choke, tears streaming down his face. He was absolutely terrified and confused. In his memories, Cole was always a happy-go lucky sort of guy, not this violent beast.

Cole slowly brought his head towards Evan's ear, before ominously whispering, "I. Know. Who. You. Are~". His voice had changed from its perkiness to something far more sinister. If Evan were paying more attention, he would've noticed the unnatural glow within Cole's eyes but, alas he was far too focused on being choked to care for his surroundings.

"Y-you...know n-nothing". Evan spat out. He may have been terrified but, he also wasn't going to be backed into a corner by some "friend" who never noticed the pain the old Evan went through.

"You're not who you say you are.~" Cole slowly dragged a finger down Evan's face, wiped a tear and then licked it. Evan stared back at him and stifled a sob, just raring to go. Cole wasn't choking him enough where it would kill him, just enough to cause pain, cut off most of his air flow, and make it difficult to focus on much else.

"A-and..how would y-you know." He gasped, still clawing at Cole's hand. It was crazy how he hadn't noticed the pain yet, that or he chose to ignore it. "Well, that's a secret." He winked at Evan before slowly releasing his hand. Staring in fascination, Cole watched as Evan fell down to his knees and hunched over, coughing and sobbing all at the same time. He planned to keep on watching Evan, as he found this new one far more interesting than the last. The only issue is that he'd have to return back to Floras before his schooling started at the academy. He knew Evan hadn't passed, but somewhere deep within his soul acknowledged the fact that he'd seen him again. He stared at his bloodied hand, fascinated by what Evan could be. Oh, he knew he wasn't human, this simply confirmed it. With one last glance towards Evan, he left, walking opposite of the forest.

Evan stayed down for a bit, wanting to know what the hell had just happened. First, he was almost killed by someone who was supposed to be a friend. Second, he was discovered somehow and that in of itself was beyond terrifying. Lastly, he could tell this wouldn't be the last of Cole. Maybe it was instinct or just a thought, but he decided if he saw him again, he'd run the other way. He wasn't a coward, he was simply not willing to deal with something like that again.

Evan slowly stood up, using the wall as a crutch of sorts. He still had to sell his herbs, plants, and nuts, as well as purchase groceries for his mother. The only plus to this entire trip was that starting tomorrow, all he would be doing is studying and preparing himself for the academy, which was a month away.

Evan stalked towards the pharmacy at the end of the town, having made sure to adjust his hoodie again to prevent any further discrimination. He was positively done with the day and ready to go back home to sleep.

The pharmacy was known as Altea and was the only medicine-related shop within the town. It was a dark forest green with lovely gold accents. The entire store gave off a feeling of hope somehow and he wasn't sure if it were magic or not. Pushing the door open, Evan was assaulted by multiple scents from various herbs. It was overwhelming to say the least. He could barely recognize any of the herbs and only knew some of them from whenever the old Evan used to watch his parents sell some or the ones he sold himself.

"Oh! Hello there! Come in come in." The shopkeeper smiled at Evan, hurrying him through the door. She was a petite woman with beautiful curves. Her name was Lia and she was probably the most sought after woman throughout the entire town. The old Evan had a small crush on her and the current one could understand why. The only issue was that Evan still felt fearful of woman from Mary Ann. He could appreciate beauty and kindness but when Lia put her hand on his arm, he flinched a bit.

Evan wore an apologetic expression on his face, attempting to convey how sorry he was for rejecting her affection in a sense. Lia was someone who thrived on platonic touches, something the old Evan was more than happy to provide through small hand holding, even though he was completely flustered. Lia was also the only person within the town who never shied away from him, despite his white hair.

Lia wasn't always on shifts however, which was why Evan had kept his hoodie up. With other people also being within the store, he hadn't wanted to take any chances.

"H-hey Lia." Evan bashfully smiled, keeping within character as much as possible. He wasn't sure if some of his acting wasn't just acting, as the fear was real. "I-i'd like to sell some..herbs." He softly uttered, holding his beige bag towards Lia.

"Oh! Ok i'll take those right off ya!" She gleefully said, quickly looking through his bag and taking out all the different components. Within 5 minutes, she had calculated how much profit he would receive today. "Alright Evan, the total for today is 5 silver coins! The Lumina herb is very hard to come by and is 2 silver coins alone, so good job there." She gently smiled at him, handing both his bag and the coins to him. It was always a joy for Lia to watch Evan smile as she felt he was often sad.

Evan quickly thanked her before walking out of the store, wanting to finish grocery shopping as soon as possible. It only took 10 minutes for him to arrive at his destination.

Alba's only grocery store was called T's, run by a sweet old couple whose son works on a farm and whose daughter works within the food processing industry. Despite its small size, it held everything one would need. Evan grabbed his list and swiftly entered the teal store that had displays of fruit out in the front. His list contained products such as eggs, butter, and a few other vegetables he didn't really recognize but could probably find.

Grabbing the nearest handheld basket, Evan shopped as quick as possible, finding all the groceries in record time. He spotted a self checkout section and zoomed over, quickly scanning all his items and paying in coins.

Smiling, Evan packed up the groceries within his backpack and left the town, trekking through the forest. The entire day overall had been interesting and it seemed as though he'd simply have a very dramatic life with how his days had gone thus far. He couldn't truly complain, as he was still adjusting to the loss of his family, his own murder, and a new life that was so different from his own.

After his 20 minute walk, he opened the door to his home, noticing his mom sleeping on the couch while his dad cooked dinner. "H-hey dad, I brought back the groceries." His soft voice managed to carry itself throughout the room. His dad seemingly jumped for a second, most likely not having heard the door opening and thus was surprised.

"Hey champ! C'mere and bring em over." He patted a spot on the kitchen counter, using his other hand to call Evan over. Once his son was close enough, he gently ruffled his hair, watching as his son attempted to swat his hand away. It didn't take long to realize how tired he looked so he brought him into his arms.

"Hey bud, if you're tired, then you can go sleep. I rather you eat dinner but you seem dead on your feet. Just make sure you eat enough tomorrow, alright?" The raspiness of his voice only served to make Evan more tired as he placed the groceries on the counter. With a small nod, Evan threw his arms around his dad, content on simply sleeping in his arms but also wanting the comfort of his own bed.

Evan stalked up the stairs, feeling tired out from the day he had. Starting tomorrow, all would be well as he'd only really leave the house to study out in the forest, rather than inside.

He went inside the bathroom first, wanting to give himself a quick shower when he noticed there was no hand mark on his neck. It was odd as he was sure Cole's hand would've left a mark from his grip strength. With a shrug, Evan hopped into the shower, once again using the peach scented soap bar and whatever other products needed to cleanse himself. He'd worry about the revelation of Cole's lack of handprint tomorrow, when his head was clearer.

Once he was all clean, he grabbed a fluffy towel and stalked towards his room, searching for a nice pair of boxers. It was still hot out and his own room was heated enough, so he chose nothing but boxers for the night. He hung his towel on the chair near his desk and hopped onto his bed, snuggling under the covers.

Tomorrow would be a new day and his cramming would begin.