Flawed: Help Me Survive [Eve]

[Andrue Dimitri]

"Git on out, ye cheeky brat! There ain't room here for the likes of you."

The grocery store clerk had grabbed Andrue by the collar and dragged him outside, scolding him.

"Tryin' to steal me apples, boy?! This'll teach you, theif!"

A heavy blow to his head sent the boy into the ground and he instinctively covered it with both hands, shaking.

"Now don't let me see yer face again!"

With that, the older man went inside, slamming the door behind him. Groaning, Andrue raised himself into a sitting position and glanced around. Only a few pedestrians had stopped to watch the display, the rest had gone on home.

"Show's over," he muttered, loud enough for the onlookers to hear. Standing, Andrue brushed himself off before feeling something wet trickle down the side of his face. Reaching up, he gingerly pressed his fingers against his forehead and then lifted them away, seeing blood.

[Eve Siren]

"Here you go, Miss Siren." The old lady smiled, handing Eve her grocery bags.

"Thank you, ma'am." Eve smiled back.

It had been a while that Eve hid herself and Syren from the outside world, retrieving in a little village on a tiny, almost unknown, planet. She learned so far how to talk normally, react faster emotionally and more importantly, to smile again. She nodded and gave out a few credits, before heading towards the door where the owner busted in, bumping into her. He never seemed to like her ... He walked right pass her, without even glancing. She shrugged at the old lady, who was his wife, and stepped out of the small store, where she saw a little boy. She stopped in front of him, pulling up her yellow tinted glass, arching an eyebrow.

"Are you okay ?" She asked, with a softer tone than usual so he wouldn't run away.

[Andrue Dimitri]

"Sure, lady," he scoffed before raising his brown eyes to look at her. And nearly regretted it. She wasn't the wife of the old man who had just caught him stealing, instead, she was a customer. Quite easy on the eyes, too.

"Oh, uh .. Yeah, don't worry about me."

Managing to force a half-smile on his face, the twelve year old shoved his hand in his tattered jacket pocket, and, the smile growing broader, drew out a green apple. Seemed like the old man was losing his touch.

Taking a bite of his prize, Andrue chewed then swallowed before looking at her again.

"Honest, I'm fine."

[Eve Siren]

A chuckle escaped her mouth. He reminded her of herself, in such an odd way. She reached in her jacket's pocket and pulled out a white folded handkerchief. She kneeled down to be at the same level as he was and gently pressed the folded piece of tissue on the boy's forehead. "Here, this should help."

Her brown eyes slowly gazed into his, as she asked, smiling softly. "What's your name, little man ?"

[Andrue Dimitri]

He was about to take another bite out of the apple when the woman pressed a handkerchief against his cut. Brown eyes widening slightly, he nearly didn't hear her ask him his name.

"Andrue."

After a moment's pause:

"You?"

[Eve Siren]

"Eve." He didn't add a last name, so she didn't either.

Suddendly, she felt like being generous. Or even, nice ? She stood up, her hand still pressed the handkerchief on his forehead and the corner of her lips curved up in a grin.

"Wouldn't be very good for you if this here, started to get infected. I got a med-pack, at home ... " Her voice trailed.

It wasn't a very smart thing to say, instead, she changed the question. "Are you hungry, Andrue ?"

[Andrue Dimitri]

It was ironic, that her name was Eve and he was eating an apple. So where's Adam? he thought jokingly.

She started to say something about his cut possibly getting infected and a med-pack at home when her voice trailed off, taken up by a different question. "Are you hungry, Andrue ?" Looking at the bitten apple in his hand, a rueful expression came over his features. Lately he had been stealing food here and there, but it just wasn't working. There was something else his appetite seemed to be craving, something that nobody seemed to have.

"... Yes."

[Eve Siren]

Eve smiled and took back her lightly bloody handkerchief, just putting it back in her pocket. Something strange about this 'little man'. He was already a handsome kid, but something about him was different. She was holding two plastic bags of food when she came out, so she handed one to Andrue.

"To be fair, you'll have to carry one too." She chuckled softly.

[Andrue Dimitri]

He watched as Eve put the handkercheif back into her pocket, slightly amazed that she hadn't just thrown it away. Gladly he took the plastic bag, grinning a bit.

"It's okay, Ma'am, I can carry the other one if you want."

[Eve Siren]

"Don't call me ma'am, the name's Eve, little fella. And it's fine, I wouldn't be a very good host, if I gave you both of my bags."

She marched forward, motioning for him to follow. They walked silently, she wasn't exactly sure what to ask or to say. He seemed like a child carrying a heavy secret, or maybe just an odd thing about him gave her that impression. She knew it was better to leave a kid alone, in those kind of situations, because she used to be like that. Nonetheless, she would let sighs escape her lips, every once in a while. Arriving shortly, she stopped infront of a phone booth. She put her finger on her lips and shushed softly, inviting Andrue inside the booth with her. She pressed 3 numbers and suddendly, the floor of the booth acted like an elevator, bringing her and the child downwards. After a little while, it stopped and she stepped down on the floor, approaching a table to put her groceries on it.

"Syren and I live underground, so that nosy people can't find us." She grinned, proud of her 'home'.

It looked exactly like a normal house. All the furniture was silver, and the walls were black. Bright lamps hung from the ceiling and it was unusually very big. A few motorcycles, speeders and hover cars were resting about. She pointed out towards a closed door.

"Syren is sleeping, so it's better if we don't make too much noise." She murmured.

[Andrue Dimitri]

He could feel his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as she told him to call her Eve, instead of ma'am. Silently he began to follow her, a bag in one hand, an apple in the other. Once in a while a sigh would escape from her lips, and he would look at her curiously, waiting for a word or two to come. However, none did.

When they stopped infront of a phone booth, he was about to open his mouth to speak when she pressed a finger on her mouth, to let him know to be quiet. Obediently he did, biting down on his tongue as he stepped inside with her. A part of him wondered who she was calling, until suddenly the floor jolted and began to lower.

His eyes widened as he drew in a gasp, his heart skipping a beat. Eve looked like this was an everyday thing, though, so he forced himself to calm down. When it stopped, they were both in a home, and she walked out. Following her, Andrue placed the plastic bag on the table like she had before looking around. He had read something about an underground lair in a comic book, but hadn't expected something like it to be real!

"Whoa," he said breathlessly. He wondered how they were actually able to do this, but then decided that some questions were better left off unanswered.

It looked quite normal, except for the fact that the walls were black and the furniture silver. He scarcely remembered his true home before being put into an orphanage, but knew that they had to be pretty well off when it came to credits - especially with all of the vehicles she had! Well, they. Eve had mentioned someone by the name of Syren, and figured that it was a family member. However, he felt obliged to ask.

"Who's Syren?"

He made sure that he spoke in a low voice, as to not wake the sleeping person.

[Eve Siren]

"Syren's a good friend of mine, almost my sister ..."

Eve smiled, and started taking out the food in the bags, putting them on the table, while watching Andrue from the corner of her brown eyes. She'd tell him her whole life story, but she wanted to hear his first.

"What's your story, Andrue ?" She knew she was asking an unusual question, but it would satisfy her curiosity.

[Andrue Dimitri]

He knew the question was going to be asked sooner or later. He just didn't know what to say. Might as well tell her the truth. Got nothing to hide.

"Mom and Dad died in a hover car accident, then my brother - Skylar - and I got put into an orphanage. We escaped, though."

He hoped Eve wouldn't ask where Skylar was now, since he left that part out. Turning his attention to the food she was taking out, he took another bite out his apple.

[Eve Siren]

"Ah, my story's similar to yours." She noticed, and was somehow glad about it.

She spread the food around on the table and grabbed whatever that was meant to be put in the freezer. She walked up to it and opened the door to the freezer, putting in one item after the another. Andrue didn't seem to mention much about his brother, maybe that was something he didn't want to talk about. She then crossed her arms, watching him eating up his apple. She grinned and took one on the table also, taking a bite out of it.

"I never knew my parents, however. Instead of an orphanage, I was put in a laboratory, where they enhanced me into --" She stopped.

She didn't want to keep it a secret from him, but maybe he wouldn't understand.

"They just made me better, stronger, faster ... To be their little toy, you see ? So I escaped too, with others that were like me. I joined an Empire a while back, and they formed me into a Sith Knight, but I left them. I died after that."

A little smirk drew on her lips. "Syren and another man, Tempist, were the ones that brought me back. But in order to do that, Syren had to sacrifice her soul for me ..." She sighed. "That is why I take care of her today."

Eve never realized it before. She was a genetically engineered killing machine, that escaped an lab at the age of 12, became a Sith Knight, died and was resurrected. Her life didn't seem so empty, as she used to think.

[Andrue Dimitri]

Thankfully she didn't ask anything more about Skylar. He felt guilty about leaving his brother out of the big picture, but well ... Skylar was just ... There weren't any words for it.

After Eve had put food into the freezer, she took an apple and began eating it, like him. He was about to take another bite out of his apple when she said laboratory. Immediately the boy froze, his eyes widening slightly. Laboratories ... That's where the boys in the orphanage were threatened to be taken to if they mis-behaved. Those who went never came back.

She made it clear that they experimented on her, but then Eve told him that she escaped with others and joined some sort of Empire. There she was dubbed into a Kniht, and left them, and then ... died?

His brow furrowed slightly at this as he stared at her. She didn't look dead...

"Syren and another man, Tempist, were the ones that brought me back. But in order to do that, Syren had to sacrifice her soul for me..."

.. So Eve was ressurected from the afterlife. If he read this in a book, Andrue would exclaim something like, "Cool!", or, "Wonder what's death like." However, now that a real person was actually telling him about this, he suddenly felt very solemn.

"So Syren can still live without a soul?" he asked hesitantly.

[Eve Siren]

"She's not actually living." Eve sighed heavily. "But she's too alive to be considered dead."

Eve put her hand on Andrue's head, shuffling her hand through his hair slightly. He wasn't exactly like anyone she had met before, but she wasn't on her guards around him, even though she couldn't say the same for him about her. She took another bite out of her apple with her other hand, smiling.

"So, little fella, what are you in the mood for tonight ?"

[Andrue Dimitri]

"Hmn ..."

He hadn't really thought about it, but this place was really fascinating.

"Well, I don't know, to be honest."

He squinted his eyes together slightly as he stared at her, before a sudden realization hit him.

"Hey, you're Dark Angel! I remember seeing you before in a live concert before .. before the accident."

His brow furrowed slightly, "Do you still sing ..?"

[Eve Siren]

"Heh, did you like it ?" Eve was surprised that someone recognized her as a celebrity.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Only in the shower."

[Andrue Dimitri]

"Yeah, you had a nice voice."

Frowning when Eve said she only sang in the shower, he crossed his arms stubbornly.

"You should start singing again."

[Eve Siren]

"People would find me too easily that way. Sometimes, you need to make sacrifices, Andrue."

Eve's smile didn't fade, but it turned more into a sad one. She finished her apple and threw it in the trash can that was next to the refrigerator. Now, to cook. She opened the freezer and grabbed a pack of meat. She start preparing it, her back turned at Andrue.

"I don't want people to find out that I am still alive ..." She sighed. "It's too hard to explain."

[Andrue Dimitri]

Deciding that he didn't want the rest of his apple, he threw his aways after Eve did.

"Oh ... Well, okay then. Sorry I brought it up."

After a moment:

"Do you need any help?"

[Eve Siren]

She had the meats already burning up on the pan. She looked over her shoulder and smiled, letting go of the pan's handle to reach up in a drawer where all kinds of knives remained. She took out a small one and put it on the table, next to a few potatoes. She turned back to her pan, nudging it slightly.

"You can peel the potatoes, if you can handle knives."

She didn't really know if he could or not, but she continued asking him some questions.

"What have you been doing since your escape of the orphanage ? I mean ... Did you just live on the streets ?"

[Andrue Dimitri]

Already the aroma of food being cooked wafted gently in the air and he gladly took the small knife, picking up a potato.

"Well, kinda ... Sometimes a lonely couple would take me in, but it just didn't feel right, y'know?"

As he was answering, he was already beginning to peel a potato. In the Orphanage, they had an education program for the children and one of the classes he had was Home Ec., where they taught you how to cook and sew. He always failed the latter, though.

[Eve Siren]

She held the pan up and nudged it gently before making the meat jump a bit.

"Well, umm ... I'm not lonely or anything, but ..."

Eve hesitated. She liked this little kid. He didn't remind her of anyone, on the contrary, he wasn't like the people she had met before, and she actually wanted to keep him in her life. She bit on her lower lip for a little while, before setting the cooked meat on a plate that she pulled out of a cupboard above her.

"If you want, you can stay here. I'm not holding you back or anything, but anytime you need a shelter, you're welcome here, little man." She looked over her shoulder, a smile drawing on her lips.

[Andrue Dimitri]

"... Really ?"

He liked Eve - she wasn't curt, vain, boisterous, or sarcastic, a trait hard to find among people now days. He momentarily forgot about the potatoes and stared at her with a stupid grin on his face.

"That'd be awesome!"

[Eve Siren]

Her smile grew wider and she nodded. Taking the plate in one hand, she went back on the table, and put it in front of him. She then went to the refrigerator, taking out a can of soda, in the middle of the cans of beer. After spending a minute thinking, she decided to grab a beer for herself. Going back to the table, she sits across from him and puts the can of soda in front of him.

"Well, you didn't finish the potatoes, but maybe the steak will be enough." She grinned.

"I rarely cook, since I don't eat and Syren only eats when she feels like it, so it might be not so good."

[Andrue Dimitri]

"The .. potatoes?"

He looked down and saw the half peeled potato in his hand, then blushed.

"Oh, don't worry about your cooking, Eve. I'll be happy even if it was burned to a crisp!"

Gratefully he took the soda and thanked her before opening it, and took a long gulp. He had forgotten how soda tasted but remembered the way it fizzed on his tongue.

".. Oh yeah, the potatoes ...! Don't worry, I'll finish them."