Starglow Basin Feel Good Inc

Was it dread, or were her tremors caused by her condition? The name seemed to rattle her, like wind causing loose shutters to bang against the siding. If a name summoned such a reaction, he wondered what Soto's face must look like; and how it was that he and one other gave the woman the impression that they were powerful or dangerous enough to merit the warning she had given him. 

It was all dreadful- but it was also terribly interesting. 

If he was right about his hypothesis regarding her altered state, and the possibility that she might either be under the influence of something or going through withdrawal, then there was a chance that this all came from her mind...He shook that notion aside; she was wounded. Someone had done that to her. The placement of the wounds at the back of her neck suggested enough. 

She caved in, lowering her head, revealing more of the healing wounds. If she thought these men were so dangerous, she wouldn't take the suggestion of why don't you just leave? If she wasn't tethered here for a reason, she'd have already split. The best she could do was a half-hearted attempt at trying to get him to avoid making the same mistake. 

Maybe the one good thing she could do, at this point, was shelter him from suffering the same fate. 

But that smell...

I can smell something in your markings. He said. Whatever it is...It might be effecting your thinking process, and your actions...And your physical ability. Something once beaten down was easier to beat down again if it was subdued. He didn't want to tell her that they probably weren't coming, because they likely didn't exist- but he wanted to know how fiercely she believed it- and if it was the truth, or some remnant of this drug-induced haze.