Wapun Meadow through it all

Rigid ran her body, a quietness overtaking her than he wondered if he should embrace or fear. He wanted to reach out to her, and every fiber of his being urged him to do so, but he was stopped by her screams and shouts—don’t touch me! There was an empty space thereafter, a brush of cold air against where she previously stood. “I’m sorry,” he croaked, even though all he wanted was to reach out and pull her back to him. He wanted to invite her closer, to hold her and offer what support he could—he wanted to honour what little belief Indra once had in him, that he might be able to right things.

She snapped again and his own body stiffened, a man turned to stone. “I’m not lying to you,” he insisted, pleading. “There is no one else, there’s no one on the side. There’s only you.” She was the only one he sought after, previous loves lost or abandoned; he couldn’t remember when it began, when he stopped pursuing others, but now it was unavoidable. Like a virus, it lingered, unable to be killed off by any sort of intrusions into the system—perhaps time would ease it away from him but even that he doubted, any willingness to let go absent.

Alexander watched as she moved further away, returning to her sister’s side instead. He took a shaky step towards her and said, “Let me help.” He couldn’t stand the thought of leaving her there out in the open any more than he was sure Laurel did—it wasn’t right, she deserved better. “Please, let me help.”