Elara gave me a very tight hug.
"Thank you for saving me, Elie."
"That's okay, Elara," I said, gently pushing her back. My lungs were screaming for oxygen. "Let me catch my breath before you break my ribs."
"Why are you running so much?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "Who is chasing you?"
I looked at her, the same Elara who was still visibly trembling from the last time she saw Alpha Psycho. That maniac nearly broke her mind like a cheap teacup from the dollar store. I couldn't tell her the truth. I didn't want to see her panic again. I didn't want to add more trauma to her already PTSD-level existence.
"I'm fine," I lied, brushing past her and going straight to my little corner behind the kitchen pantry. "Just needed some… air. That's all."
Air? Who was I kidding?
I'd narrowly escaped the Alpha Psycho's madness again today. One more second in that hallway and he might have decided to use my spine as a backscratcher.
I flopped on the floor, sighing into the broken tiles.
