Shadows for the shy

[Thalia]

Her legs struggled to support her weight, like a fawn tottering its first steps, but the fear reordered to calm. She should have grabbed her wallet, or dived for the door, but common sense didn't prevail as she retreated into the shadows of the apartment. Thalia swallowed dryly, refusing to confront what she had done or how. Her fingers fumbled for a weapon. Memories changed, like water claiming a drowning face. She felt eerily unlike herself.

He'd witnessed something he shouldn't , and every instinct suggested it a secret better kept to the grave. Already the man stirred, and already Thalia believed she had smashed him over the head with the saucepan now firmly in her grip. His face was creased with anger, and she no longer felt bad for hurting him. He'd broken into her home. "Get out!"