She wanted so badly to comfort him. Instead she found herself glaring.

He fixed his glasses but realized she was glaring at him. He shakingly moved away from her, tears starting to fall down his face. Her glare broke his heart. He quickly stood and soon dashed out the door. Crying.

"You did the right thing," Nate said, patting Vexin's back.

Vex stumbled away from Nate, shaking his head. His wings threw themselves open and he shot into the sky without hesitation.

Nate and Sophia looked at each other worriedly.

As if from a great distance, Electa heard the sound of voices from outside, then footsteps moving away. Silence. She stood alone in the center of the room, her muscles quivering. Abruptly, she picked up one of the chairs and hurled it across the cabin, sending it crashing against the wall. Sinking down onto the edge of the table, she shoved her hands through her hair, breathing hard. Around her were the still-rumpled sleeping bags where they'd slept the night before, her black nylon bag, packed with both their clothes. What had happened? What had just happened? For several minutes Electa sat clutching his head, emotions crashing through her so violently that it felt like theyd tear her apart.

Vexin didn't stop flying until he got to a thick cloud, hovering inside of it as he sobbed. He didn't care how much pain his soul was going to give him later, he didn't care if he dropped his glasses. He was too scared, too sad. 'She glared at me.' That thought, along with others, kept repeating in his head. He could barely stay aloft in the air as he sobbed aloud, his cries broken and scared.

She heard the helicopter start up.

Her head jerked up as the sound roared through her, spiking her pulse with sudden clarity. To her knowledge, Vexin was in the helicopter. He was about to fly away from her--she'd probably never see him again. She was on her feet so fast that the table scraped against the floor. Lunging out of the cabin, she ran across the small clearing, skidded her way down the deer path.

"Vexin!" She yelled. "Vexin!"

The blades thudded in her ears as she burst out into the open. The helicopter had already taken off; it was swinging away over the valley. Electa sprinted after it, jogging to a stop as the wind stirred her hair. It was growing smaller; she couldn't even see its occupants through the tinted windows. Knowing it was hopeless, she put her hands to her mouth anyway. "VEXIN!"

The helicopter kept going. As she watched, it moved away over the mountains, until it became a dark flyspeck and then vanished from sight, taking her heart with it.

Electa stared after it, shaking. What had she done? Vexin had most likely gone off to his death, and she'd almost told him to leave. She hadn't held him; she hadn't even told him how much she loved him. She had let him go alone.

"No," she said out loud. No, this wasn't going to happen. This seriously wasn't going to happen; it wasn't going to end like this. If he had to do this thing, fine, but he wasn't going to do it alone, thinking that she hated him. She'd be there--to either help her or die with him, she didnt care which, as long as she didnt have to live the rest of her life without him

Denver by six oclock tomorrow night. She could make it if she drove nonstop.

Vexin was still in his cloud, hearing the helicopter. He flew to another cloud, and then another. He wanted to get away from it. He didn't want to do what he knew he most likely had to.

He hovered in a smaller cloud, hugging his torso. He was closer to the ground now, still crying.

Running back to the cabin, Electa hurriedly changed from sweatpants into jeans and threw on her jacket. She grabbed her wallet, the keys to the truck, her pistol and fresh cartridges. She was back in the rocky valley minutes later, flinging herself into the driver's seat of the truck and starting up the engine. Spinning the wheel, she lurched out of the valley and started down the slope.

This wasn't going to be like with Jake. She wasn't going to let down someone else she loved.

After some time, he flew back down. He started walking to the cabin, but when he got there and saw Electa was gone... . "..." He quickly looked around for her like a panicked kid lost in a store from his parents. Tears started streaming his face all over. "No...No, no no no please! I sh-should've listened t-to her!" He chocked out as he started running to try and catch her before the truck left.