Abandon; [v.], to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.
He gets one last look over his shoulder at her before he leaves forever. It's brief, and he realizes that she isn't even looking at him, and that's what kills him the most. It's not the look on her face as she stares blankly ahead, facing certain death, and it's not the way she clasps her gun between white knuckled hands. What kills him is the fact that he is looking at her for almost the last time, and her eyes meet the wall, unseeing, unfeeling, and unaware that he wants nothing more than to save her.
And then it's over as quickly as it began. His head snaps back to where it should be, and he knows nothing except the way his feet hit the pavement, step after step, and the twists and turns of the girl in front of him as she looks for a place to go. The gunshots pop like fireworks, cracking and snapping and echoing off the high ceilings. There are two sets of stairs, and he runs up them without thinking, without realizing that when he gets to the top, he will be on the very edge of falling apart. In front of him, the girl gasps. He hears something that sounds akin to 'oh my god', but the words are coming at him as if he is underwater, seeing and hearing everything through a thin, clear film.
Her body is in the middle of the floor, sprawled and silent, still warm. The blood pools underneath of her like paint staining canvas, artistic in the way it gets into the boots of the soldiers and leaves red footprints behind. He can trace those prints back to her, in scattered lines as if they were a map leading him back to her, and suddenly he surfaces. His sight and hearing become clear once more, and there's a moment where he wants to linger, to stick around and look at her from so high above. The little girl in front of him moves then, and he kick-starts himself back into action, crouching and moving along the banister as though nothing has happened. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see her, and he wants to believe that she will move, get up and run up the stairs to meet him and that everything will go back to normal. But she doesn't, and he keeps going, bombarded by the guilt that he is abandoning her, leaving her there to rot.
The soldier's voices are closer now, and he steps behind a wall that cuts him off from the balcony forever. The girl is ahead of him, bearing no weapons and looking for answers. He skitters across and joins her by a table. He listens to the sounds of the footsteps closing in, hoping that he will join her down below.
[an] Loosely inspired by David Levithan's 'The Lover's Dictionary', which attempts to explain the concept of love with words from the dictionary. I won't attempt to explain anything, but I will select a few words from each letter to expand upon! Will probably update frequently. Reviews are welcome!
Cheers! [an]