CHAPTER 10
V
He was helpless at that moment...he watched her go and his body shook. The hand that had lifted away from him to her balled into a fist and he brought his chin down, turning away from the door, resisting the urge to bolt out the door after her. She knows...
His head turned and he looked to the door again... she knew he was alive...and she was leaving... and he could do nothing to stop her. What could he say...what could he do? She needs her space... time... slowly unclenching his hands. His body turned, eyes dropping to the spot where she had just been and the demons inside himself began to taunt..."She won't come back you know... you've lost her"..."She'll choose to forget now... and how will you live after that.." "She doesn't want you... has never wanted you... how could she..." and he ground out a groan, his shoulders hunching and his eyes behind the mask closing as he ground out his only retort.
"I will continue to protect her...I will keep her safe, and no regret will linger if I may but do that. That will be my purpose..." That had been his mantra, his prayer all this time. But.
The mask suddenly snapped up, and he moved, cursing that he had brought her here and not to his new home, for he would have to retrieve his cloak and daggers before he could follow. She'd been attacked. He didn't know why. He didn't evening know who the disgusting man was. What if someone else was waiting for her outside the tunnel? Damn. Damn. Damn! He shook off the thought...he must hurry... "Let her be safe..." and ran as fast as his legs could take him.
He breathed an enormous sigh of relief when he found her, walking slowly down the street amid the towering rows of houses and continued behind her, keeping to the shadows that lined her passage home. For a moment, at the turn of her head, he thought she had sensed him..."Impossible..." having made no sounds to give him self away. But still...she searched the shadows with her eyes...and after a moment, shrugged and continued on, her hands sliding into her pockets. Reaching for her pepper spray no doubt...
The journey home for her was short as he set his eyes on the floor to her flat. She ascended the stair and paused again, her keys drawn from her coat pocket, a slight clink as she let them drop into the palm of her hand, sorting key from key to find the right one. Her eyes searched the street side and her eyelids dipped over her eyes before she looked down, turning and inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. Withdrawing her key he watched as she stepped inside and let the heavy door slam behind her.
She was safe...for tonight she was safe and he breathed a silent sigh of relief. Why wasn't he moving though...why was he still following? Without thinking, he darted into the alleyway to the side of her building, tilting the mask upwards as her flat window lit up, illuminating the shadows. With a quick motion he grabbed at the edge of her fire escape, his feet quickly carrying him from ground level, up...and hidden in the shadows to the side of her window, perched in the corner of her wrought iron balcony, he gazed through the glass.. "Just for a short while" he told himself..."Just a short while..."