Zane;
I expect him to charge at me, but he just glares at me.
Then he looks away and begins to pull at his own hair like he's fighting something.
His breathing stutters.
Like something inside him just… faltered.
The pressure in the room flickers, and he looks back up at me.
His eyes… they flicker.
Just for a second. And then, the side of him I just saw… fades away.
Gone completely.
The purple in his eyes fades away. The intensity in the room collapses, and just then, his body sways.
All that force— all that tension… disappears like it was never there.
And suddenly, he looks like himself again.
His fingers slide from his hair, and his knees give out.
Despite my fear and confusion, I move without thinking.
Catching him before he hits the ground.
Dead weight.
He's completely unconscious.
"…Ethan," I call as I gently try to shake him awake, but I get no response.
Behind me, though, I hear a wet, broken cough.
The intruder.
He is still alive. But barely holding on.
