>>114878324She'd expected a scream. In the stories and mummer's tales people scream. But Varian only looked at the hole in his chest with confusion. Like he was wondering who'd put it there. He looked at her with a sad look. He didn't look angry or shocked. He looked hurt. Like she'd hurt his feeling instead of-
"Cass?"
He crumpled like his legs had been cut from beneath him. Stiffly, Cassandra walked over him. She wanted to kneel by his side, hold him tight, put pressure on the wound and say she was sorry. She wanted to take it back.
She stood stiff as a board and stared down at him.
The fall must have jostle something loose inside him. He writhed on the ground like an earthworm, curling up on his side and pawing at the hole. The earth beneath him grew dark as his life gushed out of him. Short sputtering sounds came out of him. She thought they were curses. Or gasps. Or screams.
She let out a pathetic squeak when he grabbed her ankle, felt the powerful urge to flee far away from all this. Fighting, she forced herself to look at his tightened expression, his pale face, his eyes screwed tight to try and hold back any else from spilling out.
"Tell my dad... I'm-" With a violent lurch Varian sprayed the ground with something wet and dark. Cassandra could feel the heat of it on her feet. Sobbing, she turned and ran away from the sounds he was making. Ran from his shuddering form, shaking with cold on a hot August night.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
She left him alone in the dark. No one was with him when he died.
