10.2

      “Cass, don’t do anything rash,” Sergei tried to warn her, to pull her back into the present. He got up and slowly moved towards her, trying to grab a hold of her hands before she would use them for something bad.
      He saw the tears welling up in her eyes, before he witnessed something break inside her. Her complete attitude shifted, the blank look in her eyes gone in an instant. Switched for something dark and unrelenting.
      He launched himself at her, hugging her tightly before falling onto the bed and pressing her head against his chest.
      “They made me turn it off!” she screamed into his chest, her cry slightly muffled by his shirt. Only slightly – the sound was still deafening and heart-breaking. A cry so loud it sent shivers down his spine and a high-pitched ringing into his ears.
      A cry for help.
      He looked at the red-haired girl, crying in his arms, her hands tightly clamping the back of his shirt. Tight enough for Sergei to even feel her nails digging into his skin slightly.
      Softly he patted her head, gently stroking her hair while she wept. There was so much pain bottled up inside Cass, he didn’t know how she’d survived this long.
      No matter how long he stroked her hair or hugged her or tried to hush her, she just kept crying. Until she slowly slipped away into sleep. Still huddled up against him, still gripping his shirt.
      He didn’t want to leave, but he had to. At least to turn of the lights in her room, but preferably out of here before enforcers caught them. Even without the lights they could see if there was more than one person sleeping in a bed and physical contact like that was absolutely prohibited.
      As gently as he could, he tried to remove her hands from his shirt and put her into a comfortable position in the bed. He tucked her in, making sure the shitty blanket felt somewhat like a hug and left to turn off the light.
      Sergei looked at her one last time before leaving to make sure she was still asleep and then quietly left.
      He’d seen so much pain, so much sorrow and agony, trapped inside one person. How had she coped until now?