Evelyn had been fairly good about staying out of trouble recently. At least, she'd like to think she had been. Most of her 'adventures' as of late hadn't been the immediate result of her curiosity. Chaotic danger room fiasco? Sam's fault. Getting knocked unconscious by her own powers? Accident. And running into Syn at the mall had been merely coincidence, so it seemed fitting for her to take a trip downtown, fresh pan of lasagna in a bag on her hip, in an effort to locate her recent sewer monster acquaintance. She had promised to drop off food sometime, after all, and now seemed as good a time as ever. The city was calm, it wasn't too late in the evening, and she figured no one at the mansion would miss her. Getting a taxi was easy enough, then she just had to find the right place to leave the food where the wrong person couldn't find it.

She found the sewer entrance nearest to her apartment, and with a bit of effort pulled the manhole cover free. The echoes didn't pick up much movement at first, so she clambered down into the darkness, blinking and letting her memories guide her. She knew where the sewer monster's old home had been, but he had been determined to find somewhere new to stay. In the dim light, it was hard to pick out anything else though, so she set down her bag, and glanced around. If she left it here, she wasn't sure the kid would find it.

"Anyone home?" She finally called out. Her voice echoed eerily, and the echoes followed the noises down the tunnels. The dank smell was sharp in her nose, faint traces of sewage standing out and dripping distantly from one of the inlets. She resisted the urge to push her hair from her face. She should have put a scrunchy on at least. Wandering forward a few steps, she listened, uncertain what she would find, but lacking the fear that probably would have kept her safe.

The lair Evelyn came upon was quite different than the last time she'd been here. Perhaps the lack of light and the chaotic encounter left her unable to truly observe, but it was obvious Sylar had relocated recently. Much of the littered clothing that had been used as bedding was gone. As was any stockpile of food stuffs, leaving a very empty monster den. Sylar had collected most of what could be called his things and moved them to a new lair, showing that he had indeed not trusted Evelyn with his home location. Meanwhile however, a very hungry mutant was returning from another failed outing. His previous encounter with Evelyn had moved him back into an area he'd been hitting before for food, meaning the police were much more responsive to his criminal activities.

Sylar's mental state was much more affected by his base needs than the average person, and hunger especially left him acting nearly feral compared to his usual attitude. Sylar crept into the sewer tunnels, heading to his new lair with an empty stomach and scattered thoughts. However a fleeting sound caught his attention. Noise, a voice...something living down in his sewers. A worker? An animal? He couldn't sort his thoughts, but either way he became curious as to what the source was. He quickly skittered through the tunnel, heading towards his old lair swiftly but quietly.

His claws clicked softly against the stone, his ears ignoring the sounds of running water, and his nose ignoring the pungent smells of his underground home, the only thing on his mind was finding the source of the sound. Something, anything, possibly even food. As he neared the sewer junction he called home for a time, he smelt a few things in the air, human scents, body odor, hair products, faint after tones of food. His stomach growled, and Sylar's mind slipped a bit further, his urges beginning to take hold of his mind. He bared his teeth a bit in the dark, a satisfying snarl as he realized the opportunity of the hunt.

He turned into the junction, staying hidden behind the wall, leaning out to peek into the room. One heat source, humanoid, a woman. Part of his mind recognized the form, remembering the sound he heard. He knew her, but couldn't stop himself to put a name to her form. His hood was down, crimson hair falling loosely around his face as he peeked from behind the corner to stare at Evelyn. He kept his snarly grin before whispering into the room. "Food..." The word escaping his lips with the faintest hint of a hiss. After speaking to get her attention, he turned back from the junction and moved into the tunnel. His instincts already forming a hunting pattern, lure her out, come around to flank, and then pounce.

But was he supposed to hunt her? This was a person, a person he knew...he thought. He couldn't clear his head, he could only listen to his instincts for the moment. For now he moved down the tunnel, and then made a left turn, keeping a bit of distance from Evelyn, preparing to stalk the unknowing girl.

The echoes caught the sound of movement, drawing Evelyn's attention down one of the tunnels. She couldn't see anything in the darkness, but the faint scratching of claws on rock was familiar. She paused, leaving her bag on the floor with the food still in it. She was fairly certain she had been spotted, especially when she heard the faint whisper echo through the room.

"Food..."

"Hello? I promised I'd bring lasagna... It's Evelyn, you know... Sherlock..." She felt dumb calling into the darkness, but there was little else she could do unless the sewer monster came forward. He was far faster than she was, and if he didn't want to be seen, it seemed unlikely she could catch him. Her curiosity drew her forward though, footsteps light on the sewer floors. For the moment, the paths were familiar enough she could navigate by memory, letting the echoes follow the sounds of footsteps. The echoes, however, flickered a warning.

[Footsteps, louder than previously.] That seemed odd... She didn't have long to wonder about it though as she turned a corner, pausing as she came to a new path and struggled to find her way forward. She didn't understand why the sewer mutant would run away like this. Then again, last time he'd pinned her against the rocks when she wasn't looking.

She felt herself pause in the doorway, taking a small step backwards. It was a faint moment of caution, but the alarms were starting to flicker in her head. Something just didn't feel right. She wished she had thought to bring a flash light or something to defend herself with.

Sylar crept along, leading Evelyn away from the junction, deeper into the tunnel network, into the dark. This tunnel branched off into another, which lead to an eventual dead end. Sylar stopped as he neared the branch, turning back towards her voice. "Sherlock..." He whispered to her, his voice carrying easily in the tunnel. "The game...is afoot." He quoted to her, leading her towards him. He couldn't fight the urge to lead her about by the nose, to play the game of predator and prey. The name Evelyn was familiar, friendly, but he couldn't clear his head of this dull feeling.

He waited briefly to see if she was following the trail, and then ascended the walls of the tunnel, the clacking noise of his claws changing as he traversed the ceiling of the tunnel, bladed digits slicing into old stone. He moved with much greater speed, he could flank her now. If she walked through the tunnels after his echo, his speed would allow him to traverse the maze of tunnels and come back out at a point where he could surprise her from behind. Ambush, surprise, success. He could feel the urge in his gut, his stomach growling and clenching it's commands into his mind.

Sylar almost always avoided people when he was too hungry, knowing his craving for food lead him to dark places, and yet he couldn't stop himself right now. His thoughts were starting to grow chaotic and conflicted. His body ran through the motions of the hunt, setting Evelyn up to be cornered like an animal. But he couldn't eat her, she was a person. He couldn't do something like that, he knew her right? It was like voicing his opinion to somebody who couldn't hear him, his body running on automatic, crouching low and moving in inhuman ways as he played this game of cat and mouse with Evelyn. He needed to wake up before her caught her, otherwise...

Something definitely didn't feel right. The voice... The way it twisted the sentence as it carried down the tunnels. It was taunting, in a way. She followed a few more steps, listening as he transitioned towards the ceiling, claws clacking louder as they dug in to hold him to the wall. He was moving fast, and she felt herself slow, trying to process what was happening.

The voice....[Different from previous encounters. Intense. Hungry?] It was like something else was in control. Something she had been warned about.

"You may not see me as a monster, but I'll become one eventually. You don't know the whole story of my mutation."

She wanted to believe that kid was still somewhere inside him. She wanted to tell herself he was just trying to be funny, teach her a lesson for not being afraid the first time. But something in the voice sent a chill down her spine. Around her, the smell of sewage clung to her nose. The sounds of claws on rocks rattled and echoes, seeming louder the more nervous the got. She couldn't see. Not the rocks in front of her, not her shirt, not the liquid mix of water and who knows what other grime under her feet. She was feeling very far from home.

Your luck will run out sometime

She knew the way out. She could run. Her memories would show her the tunnels she'd already been through, and the exit wasn't too far away. But the crisscrossing tunnels in her mind made her realize he could easily loop around behind her and cut her off. She backed up a few steps towards the wall, and tried not to panic. A feeling was starting to settle in her gut she wasn't used to though.

Fear.

She ran, and let the echoes seek out the sounds of the monster she was certain would be in pursuit.

Sylar crawled along the ceiling of the tunnels at an amazing pace, his limbs moving in ways that would make the average person's joints hurt just from watching. He had nearly looped around, approaching a tunnel that would cross into the one behind her. Every action he took seemed to push him further from logical thought, and engage his inner hunter. It was teasing to have such an encounter set up, almost as if to purposely engage his instincts and nature.

He stopped for a moment, his ears picking up on every sound made in his tunnels, picking up a sound he both enjoyed and resented. The sound of feet scrambling against the floor, the sound of running. Evelyn's feet against the ground was like someone stomping, loud and overpowering every other sound in the deserted sewer. He sped up, and the chase was on. His claws tore the stone apart like it was soft earth, small chunks of rubble falling to the ground as he made his way towards Evelyn, coming from behind her now.

He'd warned her before, he'd warned everyone he met. Nobody believed a boy could be a monster, but they should have payed attention to his flesh, to his outside. If his outside could turn so monstrous, why couldn't his mind? The primal nature of man was a terrible thing, laced with natural greed and priority on survival. And in the end, anything living could be food. The sound of his breath was all that escaped his lips, his ability to think completely subdued by his urge to catch Evelyn.

Where would she run? The tunnels only got darker as you strayed from junctions or manholes, and figuring out the network had taken Sylar some time to figure out even living down here. And worse, Sylar was pushing her towards his dead end, his instincts attempting to outsmart the girl's wit. "Food..." He repeated, the words eerily near Evelyn in the dark.

The wasn't time to beat herself up for carelessly coming here like this. Nor was there time to dwell on her mistake. The echoes were spurred into action by her fear, and like several times before, her powers responded to her desperation. The memories of the tunnels and their directions stuck out in her mind, and she tried to keep a straight path towards the exit. She could hear the breathing, the unnatural noises of claws on rocks, the occasional flick of a tail somewhere behind. [Left. Primary escape cut off, circle back.] She didn't want to circle anywhere, but the sounds of rocks and earth hitting the ground behind her made her blindly obedient to her powers.

He flanked her, and voice sent a chill back down her spine as it called out from the darkness. He wasn't talking about the food she brought. He was talking about her.

She hit an unfamiliar path and her brain scrambled to remember locations of manhole covers she'd seen on the streets above. They had passed the exit she intended to go towards, but there was another intersection up ahead maybe she could reach. She was blind, though. Her echoes relied mostly on sight, and there was nothing to see. Her hearing was average, and the tunnels echoed unnaturally and threw her off. She turned where she thought she heard an opening, and clipped her shoulder against the wall, yelping in pain. Blind eyes looked for light in the darkness as she pressed her back against the wall, listening for her pursuer. She had to double back. She couldn't see anything, and the echoes waiting.

It was silent in her mind.

It was the most terrifying silence she had ever encountered.

Evelyn ran deeper into the darkness that Sylar called home. Down here, he was the master, relying on enhanced senses and sight that wasn't hindered by darkness. Evelyn however, would be the opposite, crippled by the same environment that made Sylar so deadly and unique. The sounds of her feet, the frantic pace, and a cry of pain were like the smell of freshly cooked food, the stimuli making Sylar salivate at the thought of capturing prey. He'd hunted before, mostly small animals, sometimes even managing a deer if he went to one of the parks where they rarely showed up. However this experience was entirely different, the kind of hunt his powers and form seemed to be designed for.

That thought was terrifying, that his mutation seemed to be designed to prey upon his own kind, that thought desperately fighting a losing battle against the animal inside him. She had stopped, trying to regain her bearings in the pitch of the tunnels. At that moment, Sylar crept slowly towards her, and dropped to the floor with a thud, his claws hitting the stone, as well as a puddle, the splashing sound echoing through the tunnel. He crawled forward slowly, his features nearly indistinguishable from the darkness around him. Her name escaped his mouth with a hiss "Evelyn..." the sound of his voice so much different than the awkward mutant boy she'd met last time. The sound was deep and guttural, laced with violent intent.

His pace was slow, purposely as if to intimidate her, to communicate that the chase was over and crush any hope left. His form was crouched and bunched up, sort of like a cat, his tail low and swishing from side to side. He was maybe just a few feet away now, inching forward slowly. His lips pulled back into a sickening snarl, his eyes glued to her signature. He could see the risen temperature, the sweat and the flushed skin. His ears could pick up her heart beat, fast and frantic. He could even smell the fear that leaked out from pores when a person was truly afraid. "Game over." He whispered before pouncing forward, his claws extending outward and aiming for her shoulders.

The texture of the wall of the sewer was sticky, like the inside of an aquarium. There was the faint slime from moisture, mildew perhaps, and dirt mingled with other sewage clinging to the surface. She could feel the uneven bumps under her fingers, the slight rise and fall of brick, the grouting work, and the slight curve of the walls. Her hair would be covered in that same grime when she got out of here, the white locks flatted between her back and the wall. She tried to focus on that wall, tried to hide from the noises drawing closer and the very real pursuit she was facing. This wasn't the danger room. If something happened, she was alone, and she didn't know if anyone would ever find her.

"Evelyn..."

Or what was left of her. She trembled, frozen by fear as the voice hissed in the darkness. The echoes read more in that hiss than she ever wanted to know. Suddenly, getting out of here seemed like a very faint if. There were violent intentions in those echoes. Something hungry. Something animal.

She couldn't sense the mutant kid she had encountered before. Maybe he was really gone now. She found it hard to think, her thoughts sporadic and confused. She could hear the movements, crawling forward in a predatory manner. Slow, taunting, tail flicking with too much pride in the hunt. He was the stronger mutant here, bred in the darkness, while she had nothing but the voices in her head to defend herself with.

"Game over."

She heard him pounce and dove back down the tunnels, felling claws clip her arm as she scrambled past. She screamed, racing back towards the familiar pathways and ignoring the sting from her arm. She wouldn't make it, there was no way she could outrun him...her eyes stung with tears but she kept running. It was the only thing she could do.

Sylar's mutation began with enhanced strength, but every day he lived down here he seemed to adapt into more and more of a creature of the night. His body slowly devoured and encased by the monstrous mutation, turning a boy into a creature, and now that mutation had complete hold of him. The wet scent of the brick down here was like the air above to a normal person. Down here, Evelyn was the abnormality, the scent of her skin, her clothes, her hair, all of it was blatantly obvious to Sylar's nose.

The fear Evelyn felt was a palpable, visible stimulus to Sylar. People could only understand a few facets of fear, not like Sylar. He could see the flushed skin, the cool sweat dripping down it, he could smell the aroma that oozed from the pores, and hear the racing pulse in the veins. The true from of fear was so much more intense than what most people imagined it to be, and he could see all of it on her form. He had done this to her, had instilled such a terrible feeling in her. Maybe his heart deep inside felt guilty about that, maybe that's why he'd allowed her to escape his pounce. Or maybe he was trying to rationalize any part of this scenario he could.

He turned to watch her sprint off, lazily observing for a moment. Now she was moving towards the used tunnels, towards the junction, towards the fleeting glow of what little light made it down here. It was a fitting chase, the darkness creeping after Evelyn, a hunger hoping to consume her before she could make it into the light where she thought she would be safe. His eyes narrowed and he exploded off after her. He was no longer creeping, instead this was a true chase, and he had every advantage.

His claws tore against the ground, the sound of blades carving chunks of stone as he ran echoing into the dark. He'd be upon her in no time, her top speed probably half of what his was. He was behind her, closing the distance every second. "Run Evelyn...run..." He whispered from behind her, taunting her as he prepared to catch her again, and this time, there wouldn't be a grazing miss. She would stumble, and he would have her...but was that right?

For a normal person, getting chased through the sewers by a monster would be scary enough. For Evelyn, it was tenfold. Her echoes brought everything to life, and gave in a new dimension. In the few seconds it took to run, the pace of her thoughts pointed out every tiny detail of her pursuer. Every impact of blade to rock, every slice of the earth, every satisfied smirk. The voice, with it's taunting nature and sinister edge. She glanced back, eyes taking in the form almost upon her. It didn't look like the mutant kid she knew. It was every essence of the sewer monster rumors spoke of. Hungry, animal, taking pride in his hunt. She was just a dumb girl whose curiosity landed was becoming her undoing.

Her foot clipped one of the rocks he dislodged earlier and she went crashing to the ground with a painful slam. It stung her legs, ripped a hole in the knee of her jeans and would reveal a number of stunning bruises in the morning. Unless he killed her. Then those bruises would never appear.

She lifted her head, light light of the exit just up ahead. She could still see the bag with the food she had brought, still feel the rungs of the ladder in her memories. She tried getting to her feet but she was too slow, too late.

He was there.

That stumble was the exact moment he'd waited for. Fear wasn't just an emotion people felt, but a tool used by predator's to feed themselves. Fear made people focus too much on the things around them at that moment, elevating their current situation until it clouded their thoughts. Evelyn had become so focused on Sylar she'd been unable to focus on running. She hit the ground with a thud, a painful landing. Sylar was the cause, he terrified her, and now caused her to injure herself. He was hurting a friend.

His head throbbed, his body was on fire as his heart pumped blood through his veins, his entire form enticed with the thrill of this chase. As she fell, he jumped forward, coming atop as she hit the floor. She lifted her head, looking towards her goal, a fleeting moment of hope for her. But instead Sylar's voice invaded her ears, his head so awfully close to hers. "I'm so...hungry..." His voice was so alien it sounded like an entirely different organism, something else speaking with Sylar's body. He had her pinned now, one of his claws resting atop her hand, the cold metallic feel of his plated skin against her skin. His other claw rested on her right shoulder, keeping pressure on her so she knew there wasn't any escaping this time. His tail curled forward, gleaming in the distant light as he prepared to strike.

He didn't though, he just seemed to bask in the moment. He'd caught her, and ended the hunt, but even his hunger seemed to pause for a moment. He could really smell her now, at this range. A scent he remembered, of a slightly abnormal girl, whom he'd met and fought with, who irked him like no other mutant he'd met so far. If he could see maybe that would have been enough to jog his memory, but for now this moment was all that was between Evelyn and a very gruesome end.

The light from the manhole barely illuminated the tunnels. It traced the outline of her monster companions face, caught traces of color from his hair and his eyes, eyes that weren't seeing her as a person. Eyes that saw her as a thing. As food. With one wrong movement, he could cut her clean open. His claws sliced through rocks. How much easily would they harm her? He could probably smell the blood on her arm, and the pressure on her arm kept her still. There was no running now. She was never very good at running anyway.

But then... there was a flicker. Something beneath the surface only someone with echoes like she had could sense. He was in there. That mutant kid who thought he was a monster. That mutant kid she tried to convince otherwise. It was a flicker, but it was enough. In a moment of fear she threw caution aside and let the echoes help form her thoughts.

"It's Evelyn! I was here, before. I was the nosy lady who followed you when you had chips. You told me you could kill me, I told you that you didn't strike me as the murderous rage sort. You still don't. Your still the kid I found munching chips on the inside, still the kid who helped a little girl. Look, I brought food. Lasagna, like I promised. You're hungry? Ok, eat the food." She waited, watched, let the echoes feed off his movements, the shift in pressure as he held her against the ground. While she still believed he was in there, somewhere, there was something different about her now he might not remember.

She was afraid. She probably could have run if she wanted to. Her hand shook under his and she waited for him to snap, shut her up for good.

"You told me to work on my sense of danger. I was dumb and didn't listen very well." It was almost an apology. There was regret in there. "I didn't want to make you right. I just...didn't want to be afraid of you." Her voice cracked. She felt helpless, she felt terrified, and she felt guilty for both. She wanted to help him feel like he was still a little normal. Instead she was staring at the beast he said he was. She didn't want to believe. But fear was tainting her thoughts.

Sylar heard her words, but it was so hard to understand them. It was like Evelyn was speaking a different language at the moment. He knew the name, but he couldn't shake the urges filling his thoughts at the moment. His gaze upon her must have been monstrous at that moment, filled with horrible intent. "Evelyn..." He repeated her name, trying to bring himself back to reality from his hunger induced psychosis. "Hungry...so hungry..." She said there was food, but all he could see was her, he could only see her as food. His claws clenched a bit, the bladed edges of his fingers pressing against her nearly enough to cut flesh, but then relaxed a bit.

He realized just how terrified she was and his guilt started to retake his personality. "You...you're so scared..." His voice was unsteady and cracked as he spoke, shifting between a boy and a monster's tone of voice. He just needed to eat, to settle his stomach and he could think clearly. His lips pulled back from his teeth, revealing the metal sheen of his fangs, as bits of saliva dripped down to the ground. At this moment, he really was nothing more than a monster. But he didn't want to be a monster, not yet, there was still too much of Sylar left inside the Boogieman.

"Need food...going to eat...Evelyn..." He stumbled on those words, and then finally he heard her say she didn't want to be afraid of him. The conflict between his instincts and her words caused him to regain control for a moment, enough time to pick up a secondary scent, something edible. The Lasagna she had brought as a gift finally entered into his mind, and registered as food. He crept forward, removing the pressure of his weight and the threat of imminent disembowelment from her back. He moved towards the container of food she'd left behind, and managed to open it.

The small morsel of food wasn't nearly as filling as Evelyn herself would have been, but it was enough to break his interest on her, enough to settle his thoughts. He gobbled the food up, tearing at it like he'd not eaten in weeks. As he ate, he turned back to look at her, finally starting to wake up from his daze. "I told you...I told you I was a monster inside..." He whispered as he finished. Embarrassment and guilt started to mix with his emotions, but he couldn't show it like a normal person. He just sat, defeated in his old lair, thinking over what he'd just done.

Evelyn was laying facedown in the sewer. and at the moment, she could have been happier than to just stay there and breathe. Her legs hurt, her knees hurt, her arm hurt and so did her pride. The fear that flooded her mind hadn't quite faded away, but it left a wake of trembling behind. She wasn't sure she could have walked out of here if she wanted to. That was without her own personal boogieman sitting at the base of the stairs.

In the corner of her eyes she saw the hungry monster tearing into the food at the sewer entrance. Teeth flashed, a reminder of what could have happened only moments before. She could still hear his animal-like words, and as much as she wanted to just play it off as nothing, she couldn't. So she pulled her knees up close and set her chin on them watching the teen settle back with a defeated posture.

"You told me you were a monster. But we also knew my sense of danger was broken." She gave a weak smile, and tried to stop her arms from shaking. She didn't feel particularly convincing, but she hadn't felt that way the first time when they met either, and she hadn't been chased through the sewer prior. The echoes flickered around the room, taking note of her surroundings. There were claw shaped gouges in the wall, tears in her clothing, and her pale silver hair had a grimy quality to it now. But she was alive.