The Return.

Clea could detect something was different from the moment she opened her eyes. There was a shift in the air, a heaviness she felt heavily. She felt around for Hunter but her hand found nobody. Then she sat up and saw he was seated by the wall. His knees were raised and his arms dangled from them. His head was dropped, facing the ground in a dejected manner.

"Hunter?" Clea called cautiously. She left the bed and crawled to him.

He didn't respond.

"Hunter?" she called again, gentler this time. She placed her hand on his knees.

He raised his head, and Clea understood the shift in the aura. Because it was gone. The playful, careless twinkle in Hunter's eyes was gone. And it was replaced by a brooding. It had moved from a twinkle that made her want to giggle and hand over her heart on a platter, and was now a twinkle that made her want to dedicate her entire self to loving him so much that all his pains disappeared.

"Tarik." Her voice shook a bit with shock, but she quickly recovered.

I