11-11-2014, 03:53 PM
A hand steadied her for a moment, but it only blurred the lines of feeling further until it pressed her away. The irritation at her own intrusion washed over her like a sick echo, but though it trod all over her conscience she didn't bow to the pressure of remorse, only felt irritated in return for the way he snapped at an accident. Her dark eyes glanced back for a brief moment of recognition, and met a pale face haloed in black. A frown flickered across her brow, but she moved enough to let him pass, her lips firmed shut against an apology. Across the road one of the brawlers detached victorious and approached them.
"No, and that's the point!"
Desperation tinged the edges of her tone as the shock began to settle in like ice. Her life was in that car. Every scrap of clothing she owned but the garments on her back. Everything her uncle had left her. Every keepsake from her childhood. Just everything. It had been her home.
For the fist time she began to notice the stretch of afternoon shadows.
A hand fished amongst the loose change in her pocket, settled around the card that might or might now hold enough to buy a room in a hostel for the night.
Then another panicked thought. She was stuck here.
Asha fought to distance herself from the pain of the man injured on the ground, groped around instead for the relative stillness of the stranger behind her. It was the empty one who came towards her, she sensed that before she ever saw the charm of a smile on his face. She'd flinched back the last time one of them had come close, but back then she'd been both unprepared for the anomaly and suffering the stifling affects of so much fear.
Between the advance of an empty vessel and the unsympathetic pillar at her back, she had nowhere to go anyway. Except down. Which she did, thumping down heavily on the curb, running a hand back over her head. "Everything I had was in that car."
For a moment her gaze searched the man laid out prone, then the other - they had to have seen what happened, right? But even if she knew who'd taken it, what chance did she have of getting it back? The sudden loss left her numb.
"No, and that's the point!"
Desperation tinged the edges of her tone as the shock began to settle in like ice. Her life was in that car. Every scrap of clothing she owned but the garments on her back. Everything her uncle had left her. Every keepsake from her childhood. Just everything. It had been her home.
For the fist time she began to notice the stretch of afternoon shadows.
A hand fished amongst the loose change in her pocket, settled around the card that might or might now hold enough to buy a room in a hostel for the night.
Then another panicked thought. She was stuck here.
Asha fought to distance herself from the pain of the man injured on the ground, groped around instead for the relative stillness of the stranger behind her. It was the empty one who came towards her, she sensed that before she ever saw the charm of a smile on his face. She'd flinched back the last time one of them had come close, but back then she'd been both unprepared for the anomaly and suffering the stifling affects of so much fear.
Between the advance of an empty vessel and the unsympathetic pillar at her back, she had nowhere to go anyway. Except down. Which she did, thumping down heavily on the curb, running a hand back over her head. "Everything I had was in that car."
For a moment her gaze searched the man laid out prone, then the other - they had to have seen what happened, right? But even if she knew who'd taken it, what chance did she have of getting it back? The sudden loss left her numb.