"please, please don't hurt me," she wailed, her voice merely an echo in her own head. in a ball in the corner of the room. she strained her eyes so she could keep tabs on everyone else in the room. she knew they were screaming.
why couldn't she hear them?
and then there it was again, the shadow that smelled of rusted metal and tasted like blood and ounces of regret. she hoped it was just passing through, but she knew it wasn't true.
"maybe it's not for me," she thought rather selfishly, jumping at her own sudden thoughts. she tried to breathe a bit to calm her down, and it was only then that she realised that her breaths weren't making any noise.
she clapped her hands, and still nothing but a sullen silence clung to her ears.
then it was the face again, the one that words couldn't describe. it was strangely human and remarkably not, eyes that were red as flame but dark as coal, a smile that said both "come in" and "get out of here right now."
its mouth formed three words, and although she found the straining of her ears to have no avail, the mere warmth of its nasty breath was enough to send her into tears.
and so she took a breath, thinking for a bit.
the door was open, she noticed. was it open before?
"but i'd be breaking the rules," she thought to herself. but she decided it was worth it.
she pulled herself to standing, as she watched her comrades frantically tell her to go back to how she was (or they were cheering her on with very nasty faces), and so she ignored the tugging feeling at her feet to give up and let her curl up against the wall again.
she wanted to, but she didn't want to.
and so, against all odds, rules, and regulations, katie beckett ran.
