[Sweat beads across Alla's forehead. He forces a nod, his jaw clenched against the gesture. Horror-adrenaline floods his bloodstream, numbing and sharpening his perceptions. Everything seems too real and not real enough. Even his posture falters as he hunches over in pain. Silently, over and over, he repeats his plea for the stranger to leave him alone, hoping it might be heard.]
N-No. I am-
[The young man chokes mid-word. He stumbles backward, as if a few more feet of distance might matter, somehow. Alla drops to his knees and clutches at his face. A darker pigment blooms across it. The soft tissue of his lips and around his eyes blacken and spread vertically, like spilled paint. The rest of his skin darkens to a smokey navy. He digs his fingernails in deep, as if to stop the bone-crunching pain, as it threatens to swell outward..]
no subject
N-No. I am-
[The young man chokes mid-word. He stumbles backward, as if a few more feet of distance might matter, somehow. Alla drops to his knees and clutches at his face. A darker pigment blooms across it. The soft tissue of his lips and around his eyes blacken and spread vertically, like spilled paint. The rest of his skin darkens to a smokey navy. He digs his fingernails in deep, as if to stop the bone-crunching pain, as it threatens to swell outward..]
No!