Chapter 6: Alleyway Confessions
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"Now, this is infuriating.  Just when you get to know someone, just when
you think you can get along with them and understand, they start bleeding
BLUE!  I can't believe this is happening to me.  I mean, what am I?
Seventeen?  Eighteen in a month?  This is not a terribly fun way to start
my adult life.  Damn.  Damn it all to hell."
	-From the diary of Seb Alltaire

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The air, thick with pain and ash, was difficult to breathe, especially in
the closeness of the alleyway.  Seb and Alin sat opposite one another, Alin
cradling her injured thigh in both hands, Seb watching her intently.

"I'm sorry.  I... I didn't know..." Alin tried weakly, not making eye
contact.  Seb narrowed his lids.

"How could you not tell me this?  How?  This isn't the sort of thing that
you can just forget about!  Are you even...?" he stopped, knowing he'd
pushed her too far.  She whipped her head up, eyes flaring.  She was on her
feet and reaching for her whip before he knew what was going on.

"Wait!  I didn't mean-" Seb blurted out, panic-stricken.  Then, he streaked
to his feet and a few metres away, barely dodging a nasty whip strike.  He
backed away from Alin, hands held defensively in front of him.

"Now, let's not go completely nuts over this.  I mean, what are, kids or
something?  You need to keep control."  Seb was talking, but his words fell
on numb ears, deafened from the flow of blood and rage.  Alin advanced
slowly, stiking out every few steps, chipping stone walls, and forcing Seb
to back away.

"Get a grip!  This is not the way to deal with this!  Calm down, Alin!" Seb
was getting very scared.  Alin's expression was contorted with impotent
rage, and his words were having no effect at all.   He lowered his hands to
his sides cautiously, and suddenly became very aware that he was about to
back straight into a solid wall.  Another whip strike came, and the wall
was only a step or two away.  If he reached it, there was no way he could
dodge the whip.  And he couldn't very well take Alin down, could he?

************************************

"Fine."

Seb spread his arms wide, fingertips brushing lightly against the walls.
His shoulder blades rubbed uncomfortably against the back wall, his chest
was tense enough to burst, and none of it mattered.  He glared straight
into Alin's unseeing eyes, cold resolve set in his own.

"Kill me if you want.  I don't care.  I don't mind being killed by an
animal.  They don't understand what they're doing," Seb said, his voice
monotone, his expression impassive.  He knew every word he spoke was a lie,
but in this case, that's what was needed.

"Go ahead."

The tip of the whip sailed through the air once more, and landed hard on
the ground with a whispering tap.  The rest of it soon followed suit,
handle and all.  Alin's lifeless fingers, bereft of the whip, clenched into
a loose fist.  Her bottom lips trembled nervously, and she bit it back into
place.  However, her teeth themselves soon began to shake, and within
moments she dropped to her knees, face in her hands.  Tiny rivulets of salt
and warm water trickled down between the fingers.

Seb stood stock still, not letting his arms fall back to his sides.  His
eyes began to stare into nothingness.

Finished.