Children of Heroes

A Survivable Disease

The wall was frigid against her bare back; Bethany hugged her legs in tighter to her chest, burying her face in her knees. She was disoriented, overwhelmed. She'd seen flesh and thought blood. She'd seen serenity and thought pain.

She'd seen life and thought death.

How had she gotten so close? Her teeth bared, she'd been mere inches away from the boy before he'd opened his eyes, and they'd filled with fear. He had screamed, and something had clicked within her. She'd wanted his blood to fill her mouth more than anything - except to keep that child alive. After his initial alarm, the little boy had put his hands on her head, threading his fingers through her hair and giggling. She'd let him.

Shakily, she rubbed the heels of her hands roughly into her moistened eyes, wishing for everything to end. She wanted to sleep, and escape the thoughts which circulated her mind, as much voices as her own. They taunted her, scolded her, criticised her. She squeezed her eyes shut against them, sending fresh tears cascading down her face.

The redhead had triggered her murderous instincts again. It had been the disturbance written plainly across the woman's face as she absorbed Beth with her eyes... it had made Beth angry. She wasn't quite sure why, but she'd found herself suddenly lunging at the woman-

She heard a soft click from her right, making her flinch. Lowering her face onto her knees once again and pulling her legs even closer, prepared herself for the wrath of whoever had just entered.

"Beth?" breathed a beautifully familiar voice.

Without thought, she turned her face up to see him; it was clearly him, though her vision was blurred with tears. She blinked them away and said nothing, feeling her lower lip tremble uncontrollably.

Rafael didn't say anything more, but crossed the room to the bed the little boy had soundly slept in before she'd torn him from his slumber. Wordlessly, Rafe stripped the duvet from the bed and returned to her, tossing it lightly over her body. Hesitantly, she tugged it up higher to sit around her shoulders.

He came to sit beside her. He was watching her - she could see his face in her peripheral vision, but chose to ignore it. Whatever he was doing there, this was none of his business. He'd never speak to her again if he knew what she'd done.

"Beth, are you okay?" he asked after a while, concern laced in every word he spoke. "Are you hurt?"

"No," she curtly replied, staring into the corner of the ceiling across which a matrix of spiderwebs was strung. She concentrated on it rather than Rafe's presence beside her, focusing on each individual strand. Her vision seemed enhanced. She could make out every detail of the web.

However much she tried to distract herself, though, she could not fully block out her awareness of Rafael's gaze.

"Rafe, please, just leave," she whimpered, returning her face to her legs and allowing a sob to rack her body. "I don't want to hurt you."

It was a shallow excuse - she felt no desire to hurt anyone other than herself. Rafe knew this, somehow.

"You're not gonna hurt me, I know you won't." In a carefully dexterous movement - out of character for Rafe, she thought numbly - he brushed her hair away from her face, sweeping it behind her ear. "Please just talk to me. I can help you."

"No, you can't." Her voice was thick with tears, and she could hardly maintain its level.

The hand which had brushed her hair slid around her bare shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She shivered at his touch; his hands were freezing. But she allowed herself to be guided towards him. Once she came into contact with him, part of her seemed to collapse, and she dissolved into tears.