Soh stiffened when Mateo pulled her close, but it only took a moment before she melted against his chest, tears filling her eyes again. He murmured platitudes into her hair, and while she appreciated the sentiment, he was wrong - it was her fault. If she'd been smarter, stronger, faster, this never would have happened. She should have known not to stop for a strange man, should have known better than to wander the seedier sections of the city by herself. But she hadn't thought about what could happened, hadn't stopped to consider that perhaps not everyone wanted to be her friend. She'd simply assumed the best of people, and look where that had gotten her.
I should have let him die, said Mateo, and that angry part of Soh reared its ugly head again. It made things worse, somehow, that a part of her agreed that the man deserved to die. She'd never been a spiteful person, never been hateful, never carried a grudge. But that man - what he'd done, what he'd tried to do - why did he deserve to live? Trembling, Soh shoved those thoughts away. He was a human being. A son, a friend, a father, perhaps. Who was she to determine who lived and who died?
"I'm fine," Soh said as Mateo pulled away, her voice hollow in the lie. She was most certainly not fine, nor did she think she ever would be again. But she could make it to the boat, at least, and that was something to focus on for now.
I should have let him die, said Mateo, and that angry part of Soh reared its ugly head again. It made things worse, somehow, that a part of her agreed that the man deserved to die. She'd never been a spiteful person, never been hateful, never carried a grudge. But that man - what he'd done, what he'd tried to do - why did he deserve to live? Trembling, Soh shoved those thoughts away. He was a human being. A son, a friend, a father, perhaps. Who was she to determine who lived and who died?
"I'm fine," Soh said as Mateo pulled away, her voice hollow in the lie. She was most certainly not fine, nor did she think she ever would be again. But she could make it to the boat, at least, and that was something to focus on for now.
