"'One last thing'?" Evan repeated after Tamara revealed her plan. "And that's the reason you dragged me out of the apartment? To find the Hollowgast and talk to it?" He stomped his foot on the ground angrily.
Tamara winced. She had known he would react this way. "I know you think I'm crazy, but I swear I felt a connection to it. I saw its memories."
Evan rolled his eyes. "Right. You saw its memories. I really hope you're not turning into one of those monsters."
"Come on!" Tamara snapped. "Please!" Her voice cracked. "I… I can't go without you."
Evan glared at her. She really had lost her marbles if she thought he would go with her to find a humane Hollow. There was no such thing.
"And… and you know that the Hollow left before it could eat me," she reminded quietly. "We could have been dead."
Evan nodded grudgingly. "But I'm not going to go with you," he said.
Tamara lifted her head up, meeting his eye. "Then I'll just leave on my own."
He stared at her. Would she do that? She said she wouldn't go find the Hollow without him, but would she still leave the slipped loop? Would she desert him?
"You can't," he said. "So, fine. I'll go with you. But you are not dragging these poor kids along with you." He pointed at the wide-eyed children who were fearfully and silently watching them.
Tamara sighed. "I know, but where do they go?"
The girl who had healed her spoke up softly. "We can take care of ourselves."
Tamara and Evan simultaneously turned to her.
"Yeah," said a boy with red hair. "Seriously."
Neither Evan nor Tamara wanted to leave the children alone, but they had little choice. "Come on," said Evan to her in a last-ditch attempt. "You don't really want to abandon them, do you?"
Tamara shook her head. "Stop it. We're going. I have to."
Evan let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay. Let's go then."
They said goodbye to the twelve former wards of Miss Canary's and walked out of the loop. Evan hoped the children who had saved his and Tamara's lives would survive. But it was highly unlikely. But it would be worse if they came with them.
"Goodbye," he said to himself as he left the building, which was back to a crumbing ruin.
His POV
Things were foggy… dark, painful, and strangely numb. I was gradually gaining consciousness.
The world slowly came into focus, like blurry binoculars being readjusted. I blinked.
There was someone standing in front of me. It didn't know I was awake.
I couldn't tell what – who – it was. I couldn't think clearly. But I could tell it was different. Different than the other ones.
I stared at the person. It left the room.
Who was that? I didn't think to wonder. Everything was just so scrambled….
I drifted back into oblivion.
So Tamara's a jerk. Yep. That's what Love says. Tamara's got issues... But anyway, don't worry about a thing. I'll sort her out. Hehehehe.