Emotions

Carson lifts an eyebrow at the sandwich. He would have thought it a peace offering, had Misty’s tone not been so cold and lifeless. Her actions and voice contradicted each other.

His shoulders drop slightly. He didn’t know what he’d hoped for…had he even hoped for anything? Why else would he have spoken to her? And why was her turning her back on him hurting this much? He’d never paid any attention to what someone else felt about him before…he couldn’t have cared less what anybody else thought… So why did he not want Misty upset with him?

Heaving a weary sigh, he steps forward, giving in…giving up. Perhaps letting a corner of his heart be touched by Misty had simply been another wrong choice. Maybe he just needed to start out with a clean slate and forget everything that had happened. She’d given him life, but apparently the spark had died.

Taking her necklace out of his pocket, Carson comes up behind Misty. Reaching over and around her shoulders, his hand barely brush her as he brings them back again, fastening the chain at the back of her neck. “And the warrior bows in surrender to her, who is destined to conquer. He is wounded…defeated by a paradox of the heart. And thus the war is over.”

Carson’s hands hover above Misty’s shoulders, but he bites his lip, resisting, and lets his arms drop to his sides. Backing away, he turns around to leave.


As Jason spots Katie coming towards him, he resists the bailiff more until the pressure is released, giving him just a moment’s reprieve.

Katie’s tears break Jason’s heart, and he can’t even put his arms around her, the handcuffs restraining him. All he can do is lean into her embrace, hoping his presence alone will reassure her.

On the edge of an emotional precipice the way it is, Katie’s admittance of love drives him further away from reality, into a foggy realm of sheer emotion, forcing tears to his eyes that he refuses to let fall.

Words don’t want to come, and Jason shuts out the world as he receives Katie’s sweet kiss, giving it back with a passion broken by circumstance.

Taken by the shoulder as Katie is pulled away too, Jason’s eyes lock with hers, the dying fire desperate to stay alive – desperate to give back the hope she has given. All he can do is mouth silent words. “It’s okay.”

Jason is pulled into the crowd backwards, slowly losing sight of Katie until he must turn, forced out of the room by the bailiff.

It feels like an eternity has passed as he sits in the cool, dim room, waiting to see Lockheart again…his mind in turmoil, his heart in pain.