Summer wavered, putting a hand on the wall, then sank back down to curl up in a little ball. Maybe it was the stress of trying to escape, or the uncertainty of what she was running from. Or just the clarity and strength of Isaac’s emotions. Holding a hand out, she watched it tremble. “I’m not hungry anyway. I w-won’t be in your way much longer.” The muscles in her legs jumped, and she curled up tighter, hoping to hide the tremors.
Isaac watched her, concerned she might just fall on the ground; she didn’t look steady. “Are you okay?” he asked, approaching her again. Part of him was happy about the distraction from the house – he really didn’t like being there – but another was worried he might be doing a mistake. He decided to pull a McCall and try and be the kind person. “You can stay as long as you want,” he told her. “This place could burn to the ground for all I care, so it’s not like I’m going to kick you out.”
“H-he never tr-tries to bother me at h-h-home,” she said, desperately trying and failing to suppress the trembling. “I d-d-d-don’t know wh-why.” She had to clench her jaw to keep her teeth from clicking together painfully. Almost all the major muscles in her body were jumping, nerves firing randomly with the overload of emotional energy. “I’ll be fine in just a minute,” she forced out through gritted teeth, and then made the mistake of looking him in the eye. Her spine bowed sharply as the convulsion took hold.