For each step Hastin took towards Akemi, she moved back the same number of steps. He looked at her hands and his heart ached. He wrote like a mad guy for the past several days, with hardly any sleep or break.
He did not see Eli as well. Once he tried to enter the dark forest to search for her but Troodon did not let him go. Finally, he realized that he could never be so close to Akemi like before. He stood in one place and said,
"Akemi, stop!"
Akemi stopped moving while staring at the ground. Hastin took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves.
"Look, Akemi! I am sorry! I didn't mean to let you get hurt. I did run as fast as I could… I really did not expect that they would do such a horrible thing to you… I know you can never forgive me!"
Akemi lifted her head and glared at Hastin. Her eyes were red and it reflected her face that was burning with rage.
