"How could you do this?"
Thaddeus freezes. A flicker of fear plays behind his gray eyes that have just returned to their softened state. The headache threatening to create a rift in his skull makes his ears ring. The world lurches and his hand flies up to catch his head, where the equilibrium has gone haywire.
Through pinched eyes and clenched teeth, he stammers through the pain.
"I-I… I didn’t m-mean… I-it wasn’t… It w-wasn’t me! I…"
He collapses to his knees, head clutched in both of his long pale hands. His heart is hammering at a dangerous double-time, his breathing shallow and labored. Even more so for the smoke roiling lazily from the surrounding charred remains of the tavern store-front.
Was it just property damage? Had he hurt someone? Or worse…?
He would file it all under collateral damage.
Thaddeus would file it under “G” for “Guilt,” a file that was only growing thicker.
"I… I-I’m s-s-so s-sorry…"