Another Nouveau clip

Here's another clip I've written recently. I didn't have enough room in my last post, but I thought it was still worth putting out there.

*begin*
A floorboard creaked at the end of the hall.

Too late. It was too late. I was already crouching next to the wall without any doors close enough to duck into.

I restrained the erg to get up and run. To hide under the nearest bed or something. Instead, I forced myself to stay still and take quiet, shallow breaths. At least I still had the covver of night.

Whoever it was flicked on a light switch.

Crap.

I slowly looked over my shoulder, expecting the worst. Instead I saw a young woman, a girl, standing there with a toddler balanced on her hip. She had light brown hair and bright green eyes. They stared at me as I stared back at them, both sides stunned into silence.

I knew who the girl was. Sarah Moxely. I'd known of her but hadn't actually seen her until then. She was Moxely's newest wife, and though the Council often lied about their wives' true ages, nothing could have prepared me for how young Sarah really was. Her profile may have said that she was twenty, but the girl standing in front of me was no older than myself. Sixteen or seventeen years old and she already had a child of her own.

I turned my gaze to the child. Yes. There was no mistake. The child had to be hers. He had the same shade of brown hair and same mystified eyes. Unfortunately, Maximillien was there too. The boy had the same strong jaw and high, regal-looking cheekbones.

Bitterness burned inside me. So dear Max finally had his beloved son. I didn't even know the boy, but at that moment I hated him enough to claw his eyes out.

Sarah hesitantly cleared her throat, which saved me from the horrible thoughts I had for the boy and his father.

"Y-you're Katana...aren't you?" she whispered.

"If you already know who I am, why are you asking?"

Sarah didn't say anything, probably waiting for me to pull out a gun or something.

I stood up to my full height. Sarah took a half-step back.

I sighed, "I'm not going to kill you, and though I'd like to kill the boy, I don't think that'd do me much good."

"His name is Nathan," Sarah said dumbly, though she did seem to relax a little. Nathan just sat in the girl's arm looking at me, silently sucking his thumb.

I started inching myself backwards towards the room I entered through.

Sarah noticed. She took a step towards me.

"Why did you come here?" she asked me curiously.

I didn't answer, just took another step backwards. Sarah took one more towards me.

"I won't tell anyone. I just want to know," Sarah persisted.

One more step, I thought. One more step and I'm through the door.

Sarah seemed to notice this too and lunged for me, trying to grab my arm. I slipped past her outstretched hand and bolted into the room. I ran to the open window, jumped through it, and ran off into the night.

"I know who you are!" I heard Sarah call out at me.

This stopped me dead. She'd already made it clear that she knew that I was Katana. So why say that she knew who I was? Unless...unless she knew who I was. Who I really was. Who almost no one else even knew existed.

I looked back at Sarah. She was leaning out the window with a serious look on her face.

I took a deep breath, trying not to show that I was close to a panic, and slid into the shadows.