For a second, Maria really thought that they’d get though this meal okay. Some of her initial fears were abated by the fact that Peter started eating almost instantly, with that kind of fervor that Maria could only associate with teenage boys. Not that she had the occasion to know many of them, but she’d seen how the few she did fell to even prison food with a kind of abandon. She wanted to write off her fears and just go with the idea that Peter was really that gone for food, and maybe her imagination was getting a little overactive.
Maria was so wrapped up in watching Peter, almost studying him now that she’d completely neglected her own lunch, feeling the sandwich just kind of dangling there between her fingers. It was a crazy thought really, but Maria couldn’t completely stop herself form thinking that maybe Peter was part of it, or had seen it, whatever darkness was running down the center of this town. It felt crazy, like some kind of wild conspiracy theory, to really think there was something evil in the foundations here, but it didn’t matter how much Maria told herself she was jumping at ghosts and that her imagination was getting the better of her, too much booze and not enough sober time, a million things piled on top of each other to make her paranoid and jumping at shadows.
But Maria didn’t really believe that. She didn’t think she was capable of believing that.
The world always liked to prove her right, often in sad/sick ways, and she could see it start to happen just before it did. It was far to much like watching someone on a bad PTSD trip, much like she’d watched her old partner go on, the way he’d almost freeze in time, the twitch in his fingers before he was just gone. Little by little he’d get pulled away until there was nothing left. And right there across the table, she saw it start to happen to this sweet, lost kid. Maria could almost feel it in the air, and she almost opened her mouth to say something, as if saying anything would stop it from happening. Evil in the foundations of this fucking town, she thought a little madly, watching the sandwich fall from Peter’s hands torn between fear and unbridled anger at this process that she knew she could do nothing to stop.
It was chilling to watch, to see Peter’s eyes go almost completely absent, like a fog had dropped over him from the inside, those wide dark eyes staring at nothing while his face contorted, reacting to some stimuli that Maria couldn’t even begin to understand. "Peter,“ she said anyway, not sure it could help, reaching out and very lightly touching his shoulder. Squeezing it, a gentle shake and still he seemed frozen, nothing but this immense amount of pain on his face.
"Peter,” she said a little louder, shaking him harder, the worry in her voice growing enough to make her voice almost shrill. And then it was over, almost as quickly as it had begun, but he didn’t come out of it calm and quiet like he had back at the counter. It was violent, so much that Maria lost the grip she had on his shoulder and watched him tumble over himself and she cursed under her breath, scrambling out of her seat. "Peter, are you okay?“ she asked, still something shrill about her voice as she reached for him, grabbing his shoulder. "No, you are not just leaving after that,” she said, her frustration and concern coming out almost as anger in that moment, reaching out and tugging Peter back with probably more force than she needed to. "You’re only thing right now is talking to me. You can pretend you don’t need shit as much as you want, but I see that you do, so don’t…“ She trailed off, sudden emotion suddenly clogging hier throat. "Don’t walk away from me. Please.”
It was happening again, it was the same thing that had happened with Aunt May but it was somehow worse. He never saw May in this state, made sure he left before he could even risk that happening. But then, these flashes played a cruel trick on him by including other people in it, especially someone who had grown really close to over the past few months. Someone who was trying to help Peter and he was so reluctant and resistant because he just knew this would happen, someone they would be involved in these flashes. He just wanted to protect them from this, from whatever was happening because it all felt so real, like it could happen.
When he was being crushed by the fallen pillars, Peter was able to feel that pain, the desperation and the fear of not being able to get back out from it. When he had been knocked out in the park, he felt it. And when he was turning to dust right before his own eyes, he felt the pain, he felt his body struggling to come back from it, trying to fix itself. It didn’t work though, and he just began to disappear completely. He was begging, but there was nothing that could be done. There seemed to be no way of undoing it, and that thought terrified him. What was happening?
However, he was able to downplay any of the flashes he’d have. The bad ones tended to happen when he was by himself, and any other time they happened around people he could play it off as daydreaming. But it seemed like Maria wasn’t falling for any of his excuses, not this time at least. It was even more difficult to try and come back from it after the scene he’d caused, and the fear he was sure was very prevalent in his eyes. He was terrified, he thought he was doing so well. How did this happen? He needed to distance himself from her, that was going to help her. He didn’t want her to end up like she was in that other world, she could’ve died. For all Peter knew, she could’ve died. There was no telling what was on the other side, and he was left with more questions than answers, like he was every time they got even more detailed. Each extensive one more detailed than the last.
His eyes were still teary as he tried to form a proper thought, his hands shaking and his breathing uneven. “Please.” he whispered, his voice breaking a bit. “I’m so scared, Officer Hill. I can’t... I can’t lose you too. I don’t want that to happen, I can’t have it hurt you too. I’m not.. I can’t let that happen. I know it happens and I can prevent it. It’s going to be for the better, I’m trying to help you.” he whispered, looking around the room for a moment. “I need.. I need to get out of here. I don’t want them looking at me, I don’t want them to know.”
