centauri-119

[centauri-119]

Behind the mask

The resounding sound of the brass metal mask crashing into the floor was almost deafening. But it was the pained expression on his face that truly silenced her. Before she could even think, Kiran covered his bare face with his calloused hands.

"Please...don't look," he whispered defeatedly, as his head lowered in such a way that it made his usual towering figure look like a shrivelled husk.

It was all but a strange sight for Feyisola, the cowering man before her was nothing like the cold stoic man she met when she first arrived. It was alien to her how different his attitude had switched.

She saw how his hands trembled ever so slightly. She leaned forward and pried his hands away. He resisted at first but soon relented. Their faces were close enough that they could hear each other's bated breaths. His head was still lowered, his wispy black hair shrouding his face in darkness. Feyisola gently cusped her hands around his face and slowly pulled him to face the moonlight.

Everything was in full view, she understood the fear in his heart. For him to be trembling this much ... how had he been treated all this time?

Beneath her fingertips she could feel the roughness of scarred skin. His face had been covered in such severe burns, she wondered how long he had suffered to heal through half of them.

When her eyes met his, he instinctively looked away.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You look away like you're ashamed of what you are. "

He looked back at her and said " How could I not be? I'm a monster"

"You are many things, but a monster is not one of them" she replied wryly.

"My face alone sparks fear and disgust in people's hearts. My whole existence has been a blight."

"I have seen many monsters in my time, each and every one of them worse than their predecessor. There are monsters in this world that hide in plain sight, that conjure joy for a moment but it is their cruelty that truly lasts a lifetime. You, my dear Kiran, are nothing of the sort. You spread no misery nor decay. I have seen your kindness first hand, your brilliance, and your bravery. To me you are... "

She stopped herself, now more aware of herself than ever. Her hands were still holding his face. Kiran's eyes stared intensely. Drinking in every word she spoke. Now it was her time to look away. They were both acutely aware of their closeness.

—excerpt from my supernatural+ steampunk ish WIP

Working title: The Creature from the Clockwork Manor

[centauri-119]

Barana Hanabneiho Organisation (BHO)

Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG)

Hadhreen (7adhreen)

Nas Al Sudan

Sadagaat Charity Organisation

Sudanese American Medical Association (SAMA)

Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA)

Sudanese Diaspora Network (SDN)

Sudan Tarada Initiative and Save Al Geneina Initiative by Sadiea

Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS)

Sudan Solidarity Collective (SSC)

Takaful Organisation