Bramblepoint the devil's right there in the details

Time stands still. The shadows tremble as if filled with imperceptible knowledge of what is to come. There isn't a sound between them; neither move. Then, it all changes. An accusatory glare and a sharply issued — you.

She steps closer. He steps back one step, two, but it doesn't matter. Something changes and before Mou can even think to flinch, the stranger is barreling straight for him.

The first thing that passes through his mind is, Maegi, and he feels the sickening twist of fear in his gut when he realizes he needs to move or he'll die and then she'll be alone again, and he can't let that happen. The next thought doesn't have a chance to fully form. He's reacting like a cornered animal despite the space between them.

Mou realizes that she means to kill him, but she's too weak. He manages to slip away from her grasp in time and slip back through the shadows and the trees, his heart pounding and legs quaking. He doesn't know this forest but he knows the way the shadows move and how to use that to his advantage, and soon he has been sucked in to the void of darkness and lurks there, just out of reach.

You should leave, his mind hisses at him, but he can't. As afraid as he is, Mou needs to know more. He lingers so that he can watch her from an unseen vantage point, wondering if he can get more information out of her. Who is Screech? Why did she want him dead? What was going on?