Must be my lucky day. No line at the ER. Only a single guard in a pair of scrubs, with an AK slung over his back.

He held up his hand as she approached. “Alright, that’s close enough. What business do you have here today?”

Evelyn raised her own. “Just looking around,” she said in the deepest and gruffest voice she could muster. “I used to be friends with Mother.”

“You and everyone else these days. I’ll tell you what I tell them: no one gets to waltz in here unless you have an emergency.”

She grit her teeth. Faking an injury was a non-starter. Couldn’t let anyone touch her or see her anatomy. No way to bluff her way through this either. Too much would’ve changed.

Or had it? Her eyes fell on the doctor that had just left the trauma center. His lab coat was coated in blackened ichor, but his skin was still smooth beneath dark hair and gaunt cheeks. Even this far away, she could make out the familiar face of the only surviving rezzer who’d remember her: Dr Frankenstein.

Evelyn started to advance, but the guard stepped between.

“Wait,” she said. “I have to see him.”

“The boss? No.”

“Dr Frankenstein!” she shouted. “It’s me!”

He kept walking.

“Alright, that’s enough,” the guard said

Evelyn grit her teeth. “Hey, Dr Frankenstein! Don’t you walk away from me!”

He paused at the door and turned. Evelyn shifted from side to side to keep his attention. It took a few moments before he finally wandered over.

“Can I help you?” Dr Frankenstein asked.

“It’s been a while, but it’s me. I’ve come back home.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Who is ‘me’?”

She studied the guard, his face hard as granite. It was worth the risk. She leaned in and whispered. “It’s me, Mother’s daughter, Evelyn.”

For a moment, Dr Frankenstein just stood and stared without speaking a word back. Evelyn would’ve loved to read his facial expressions, but these shades were a real bitch to see clearly through. Did he still remember her?

“Ah yes, Evelyn,” he said at last. “It’s good to see you.”

“You know this chick?” the guard asked.

He waved his hand. “Don’t worry about this one. It’s fine.”

She breathed deep. “Thank God. I was worried for a second.”

His thin lips curled into a smile. “What can I do for you today, Evelyn?”

“Look, I’d rather not get into it out here.” The guard still lingered at the edge of her vision. “Not when there are so many eyeballs watching.”

“There’s nothing to fear. No one will harm you.”

“Easy for you to say, but I wouldn’t have come all the way back here if the threat wasn’t real.” She paused. “We really should get to your office.”

But he just stood in place. “If you don’t tell me exactly what you need, I won’t be able to help you.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve already said as much as I can out here. The threat is real. That’s why I left Cheyenne and came back…” She paused, a thought sliding into place. She looked into her old friend with fresh eyes. Only a stranger stared back. “You have no idea who I am, do you, Dr Frankenstein?”

He didn’t even blink. “However much damage your reservoir has suffered, Evelyn, I would be more than happy to provide you with care. This facility is equipped to handle all your needs.”

Her vision blurred, but she turned away before the tears flowed unrestrained.

“No, it can’t,” Evelyn muttered as she walked away. Not anymore.

“And for the record, my name is Stein!” he called out after her.

She kept herself composed for the better part of a block, slinking back into the cover of Tartarus where no one would pay her mind. But no sooner had she dipped into an abandoned alley did the cracks form and burst. A subtle gasp at the back of the throat was all it took. Sobbing, then crying. All in the span of a second. She leaned against the wall for support, but her body grew so heavy at once.

Then as quickly as it began, she clammed up. No choice. Couldn’t be spewing fucking mouthfuls of living snot and saliva. Not here. A single whiff and she’d be outed as human.

Evelyn threw her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. This was the worst part of surviving. Not ever being given the decency to vent outwardly. Only in the depths of her soul could she afford that release. She shut her eyes as if to suffocate the tears. Fuck this shit!

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

She made the long trek home. Quiet and alone.

Dr Frankenstein had been such a powerful force in her life. As the most talented surgeon, he’d risen from a mere attendant to one of Mother’s most trusted lieutenants, rivaled only by Mr Clean, whom she kept in her inner circle. Evelyn had spent no shortage of time around him, learning all manners of anatomy before leaving for Cheyenne. How could their time together have hollowed out of him?

Shit, Dr Frankenstein wasn’t even “Dr Frankenstein” anymore. Did he not remember all the hoards of people who celebrated his good name either? He’d earned his name not out of irony, but through the respect for how well he could sew a rezzer back together.

This shouldn’t have been surprising. It had been ten years since she’d left Pandemonium. Ten long years hiding under a rock in a world where a sound memory was equal parts luxury and burden. Just as she could draw upon more experience than perhaps any rezzer alive, so too was she trapped by the solitude it created. She’d known the possibility of having no allies the moment they’d planned to make the hike out here.

But to see that amnesia in the flesh? To look into the eyes of a long-lost friend and experience nothing in exchange? That was cruelty embodied. The type of malice that only the Hollowing could bring about. Dr Frankenstein should’ve remembered something about her.

The tears grew again, and this time, Evelyn lacked the willpower to stop them. Why did you do it, Mother? Why did you have to die?

Evelyn understood the answer intellectually. Hades had invaded. Cheyenne would’ve fallen soon after. Had it not been for Mother’s quick thinking and the carnage that followed, they would’ve never stood a chance. Their entire mission would have been for nothing.

And yet, Mother had still died. Her! The most brilliant, tactical mind this world had ever known. Always a step ahead of her enemies. Always predicting every outcome. There was no one stronger than her. How could she have died so easily?

Now, Evelyn had no one else left. She loved Liam – of course she did. They had their child together because of their relationship. But Liam had never earned his place in this world, nor could he shoulder its burdens. He’d only lucked into it by chance. Another miracle brought nudged along by Mother.

Evelyn had always fantasized about having another man in her life after her father died. She needed someone to protect her, and make her feel safe, and give her the peace of mind she craved after so much time fighting this world alone. Liam was not that man. He leaned onto her, not the other way around. Except for intimacy, but even then, his older age had caught up to him, and he could barely muster an erection half the time.

Hell, Evelyn could even forgive that, but having to split his love with his first wife was where she drew the line. Liam almost never brought her up. He was too smart for that. But Evelyn could see the look in his eyes whenever he talked about the old world and his time there. That sense of longing that she knew all too well.

He could have those years as his own support. There was no shortage of time from a romantic relationship that consumed many years of his life. Despite everything around them, Liam could still find comfort in those days long gone.

But who was there for her? Without Mother… Without that bastion of stability to prop herself against, Evelyn was so fucking lost.

She closed her eyes and tried to will Mother’s image to the front of her mind again. Tall. Proud. Arms held wide for an embrace.

Her eyelids slipped open, the tears running down her cheeks. That was all Evelyn had left. A memory. A fragment. No more than a passing thought. Her reality remained unchanged. The cold dark stood as proof of that, ready to swallow her.

And no one could change that.

“Are you alright?” a gruff voice resonated nearby.

Evelyn froze in place, her hand gracing her pistol out of reflex. She turned around. Only a single guy stood nearby, plopped on a plywood box. His skin was smoothed over, and his red eyes were bright in the light of the lantern above, contrasted against a brown, unadorned cloak with a rope wrapped around his midsection before falling past his knees.

He smiled meekly. “I don’t mean to be a bother, but you sound unwell.”

“What’s it to you?” Evelyn asked, her head now back on a swivel. If this guy was about to try something, she’d be ready.

“I only wish to help.”

In Tartarus? Give me a break. “Listen, pal. If this is about money, just know that I don’t have a pic to my name.”

His smile widened. “Rest assured, my good sister. What I have to offer has no price at all.”

Now that she had her bearings, Evelyn realized how close she’d come back to the Lodge. Couldn’t have been more than a hundred yards to the edge. This would be a bad place to jump someone. Not when so many Hunters were nearby, just waiting for an excuse to rough up someone and defend their turf.

That didn’t mean she could get careless, though. Evelyn made the slow advance, keeping her attention in her peripherals lest something else come out. As she drew near, the guy in the brown cloak ruffled through his plywood box.

“I’ll bite,” she said. “What you got?”

“Only the most sacred gift this world has ever received.” He pulled out a book. Plain black binding with a cross on th–

Is that a Bible? She leaned a couple inches closer.

“Yes,” the brown-cloaked rezzer said. “That sense you have inside your heart is correct. What you see is the Holy Word of the Lord, gifted to us from heaven.”

When was the last time she’d seen one of those? Not since she was young, before the Hollowing began.

“This is for you,” the brown-cloaked rezzer said, his smile unwavering.

Evelyn took the Bible in hand. “You’re giving this to me for free?”

“Of course! Such truths could never be denied.” He leaned forward, and the shadow fell over his face. “I only ask that you read it with an open mind. Let the Lord into your heart again, and He will raise you back up.”

Evelyn supposed that it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Her whole scouting operation had been a waste, with no more intel against their enemies than before. But it wasn’t lost on her that the Inquisitors were religious in nature. Her brief spat against them informed her of that much. Part of her considered a connection to this guy, especially with the similarly-designed outfit, but his demeanor was completely different. So pious and calm, where they’d been quick and aggressive.

A certain warmth flowed into her hands when she gripped the Bible, once again reminded of better days. Back to a time when her father still lived. To think she’d once gone to Church with him every single Sunday like clockwork. Oh, how she wished she could return there, even for a bit…

“What’s your name, anyway?” Evelyn asked.

“I am Brother Nathaniel,” he said. “What is yours?”

“Evelyn,” she responded before thinking. She chewed her lips once the realization set in, but then again, would telling one random worker her name make a difference?

Nathaniel grinned wide. “It is nice to meet you, Evelyn. If ever you feel troubled, just know that you are not alone, even in these days of revelations. I, along with many others, will always be here to help, as will the Lord above.”

“Thank you,” Evelyn whispered. This might have been the first time in a decade that someone had been kind enough to gift her something with no strings attached.

She made her leave, the Bible still in hand. A smile worked its way to her lips in spite of herself.

And for the first time in longer than she could remember, Evelyn felt safe again.