Wapun Meadow grind to a halt

She turned away and turned back to see if they were following, only to see the madman's teeth rend into her son's flesh. The feeling was mixed -- Indra had hated Riley and she had never been a very good mother to him, but Laurel didn't want to see him harmed either -- and she halted for a moment as she saw teeth rend into his face. Run, you idiot!! she half-shouted, half-snarled, a dominating and demeaning tone to her voice that must be familiar to Riley; when they were little, she would either be apathetic and in sorrow for her lost sister, or she would snarl at them and make impossible demands of them and snap at them.

A part of her wanted to run towards him, to help him, to save him, but the bigger part of her, well, simply could not. Her legs were buckled and she well remembered the last time that he had taken her, that he had grabbed her and pressed her face into the dirt -- that he could do whatever he wanted with you, if he wanted to -- and she couldn't get there again, couldn't get too close. So instead she just stared, as flinched as her son was, stood still at a safe distance and ready to run if she had to, and hoped that he would listen to her demands.