Re: [Portal: Holly & Noah]
Holly slipped and Noah swerved, but he kept his foot on the gas, the same way Holly got right tf back up. "Shit—" Noah felt a sudden dribble of warmth down his chin. It took him a second to understand it was happening IN him. It wasn't something borrowed. It was blood, joining under his throat like a fucking button on a hood, from the split in his cheek and where he'd worn bloody grooves into his bottom lip. It was running down the column of his throat and he could only wipe at it with distracted fingers, while he was, yk, trying to pay attention to Holly, to the road, to the MONSTER. Eventually, he just re-wrapped blood-stained fingers around the wheel and just let it go.
Holly's determination welled up, an impenetrable bubble. Noah felt it, buoyant, like it wanted to push up and out of him. He squeezed his eyes shut—just for a second!—then told Holly to GO. Holly went. Holly slipped and Noah swerved. Wait. Was the moment replaying? Noah was starting to confuse himself. It didn't matter. Maybe it was the terrible ringing that was filling him, snuggled right up next to the frigidity sitting in his belly and bones. But, it didn't matter, because all of a sudden, Noah felt the stab of the whatever-it-was's attention. Adrenaline was slamming his heart to his chest. He just thought at Holly, hard, loud, whatever: RUN. Forward, he meant, and that thought came too. The idea of it.
Noah imagined the tree. He tried. So he could somehow communicate it to Holly without taking the time to explain it. He was pretty sure that was it. The one he'd managed to single out. There wasn't time to test the theory. The monster knew where Holly was, and it was coming for him.