Kira watched in pure horror as the ants closed in around Aren.
She knew it was her fault.
If she had moved, if she had reacted even a second faster, he would not be there. Yet instead of stepping forward, her fear only doubled. Her body refused to obey her. She stood frozen, shaking uncontrollably, eyes stretched wide as tears streamed down her face.
She could not move.
Aren felt the bites before he could even register them.
Sharp pain exploded across his body as mandibles tore into flesh. His body jerked violently as blood splattered across the stone floor in an instant. The sensation was overwhelming, brutal, suffocating.
But what filled his mind was not the ants.
It was the past.
Dark alleys. Circling figures. Fists crashing into his ribs and face like hammers. Laughter growing louder the more he struggled. The feeling of being trapped, powerless, abandoned.
Something inside him snapped.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
