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Olivia, although kind by nature, treats even someone like Henry as her equal.
And that’s what makes her dangerous.
Henry snatches her by the arm, squinting down at her. She stares back at him with the same confident intent that always puts him on edge. That look only brings trouble – for her and him. Once Olivia puts her mind to something, there’s nothing on Naga’s Earth that will stop her, and that fact alone frightens him.
“Don’t,” he says, but his mind is foggy on exactly what he’s telling her not to do. “Don’t do it.”
“Let go, Henry.” Olivia’s voice is soft, even. “Let go.”
Then her face contorts from determination to pain, and a cry bursts from her lips. Henry flinches, but for some reason, he doesn’t move. His eyes widen when he smells the scent of burning flesh and, when he looks down at the hand attached to Olivia’s arm, he sees sparks spewing from his fingertips, traveling the length of her arm, creating charred marks wherever the sparks land.
Horrified, Henry tries to pull his hand away. However, this only proves to tighten his grip on her arm.
“Henry, let go. You’re hurting me.”
“I–” Henry’s voice is caught in his throat. “No, Olivia. Please, Olivia, I–”
“HENRY,” Olivia screams, tears spilling from her eyes as she tries to pull away – as she tries to get away from him. “It hurts…. It hurts so much… Henry….”
He doesn’t want to let her go.
Olivia continues to scream, pleading with him as his grip tightens. He can hear his heart pounding in his chest before her body freezes. His hand releases her then, letting her fall to the ground. Blood gushing from the wounds on her arm, staining her body in the very color he hates.
It’s not her that’s dangerous.
It’s him because no matter what, Henry knows that she’s important to him, and that’s dangerous.
All he sees is blood.
✯ ✯ ✯
“HENRY!”
Henry is startled awake by someone shaking his shoulder violently from side-to-side. For a second, he forgets how to breathe. His lungs scream for air as his breaths come in ragged gasps. When he finally settles into the bed and on his back, Henry’s eyes immediately dart to the woman towering above him, looking pale and horrified.
“Are you okay?”
No, he’s not okay. He’s in so much pain it’s beyond words. His whole body is shaking, and all he can see his Olivia’s body covered in blood because of him. Because of what he did. Who he is.
“What… what are you doing here?” Henry rasps. His throat is dry, his tongue tasting of bile and blood (did he bite the inside of his cheek in his sleep?).
“I-I heard you screaming and then y-your tent flap was open s-so I–” Olivia swallowed. “I was worried.”
Half of him wants her to get out, to run away as fast as she can. However, he curses the other half that wants her to stay, to make it so that, yes, everything isalright. Henry feels her hand press against his left cheek, her thumb stroking his face as he stares up at her in wonder.
Then an image molds itself into his mind of Olivia lying on the ground – covered in blood and screaming.
You’re hurting me.
“Dont… me…” he gasps.
“What?” Olivia reaches out her other hand, eyebrows furrowing in concern. “Henry, what–”
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Henry screams, slapping her hands away from him.
The room is silent after his outburst. Henry falls back onto the bed, chest heaving. He presses the palms of his hands against his eyes, trying to stop himself from sobbing. Never again does he want to see Olivia like that. Never does he want to be in a situation where she’ll ever be like that.
She’s everything – the light, the sun, the innocent daisies in the meadows – and it burns him to his very core.
Frustratingly enough, Henry feels her fingers running through his hair. It’s soothing, and he no longer hears her terrified shrieks in his mind. Instead, it’s replaced with her smiling face calling out his name while she drags him along behind her. Heaving out a sigh, Henry takes her hand, being careful not to put any pressure behind his grip.
“It was just a dream,” she says after some time. Henry says nothing. He continues to play with her hand, running his fingers along her palm lines. “It’s okay.”
“How do you know I’m not still dreaming? You’re acting really strangely,” he asks. It’s a valid question. Normally, if Henry so much as raises his voice at her, Olivia will run the other way without as much as a retort. This time, she stayed. It causes a feeling to stir within his heart that he beats down with resolution alone.
“Because I just know,” Olivia says. And then she beams at him, and, in this moment, Henry almost believes her.
“You’re weird,” he finally says before releasing her hand. Before she can do anything else, Henry throws the covers over his head, grumbling. “You’re reallyweird.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Henry hears her say (and he knows she’s rolling her eyes with that dumb grin of hers still on her face).
For the rest of the day, Olivia doesn’t leave his side, and he’s all the more grateful for it.