Years ago in Tales^°^Sreya felt like a Century had made an appearance and gone. It was always dark and cold. And when the darkness was disturbed by the dizzy rays of the candlelight, he was always there... Touching her, touching himself, scanning the faded pages of his small bible...burning his flesh. He wasn't giving her the numbing shots anymore. Sreya wanted him to. She didn't want to feel what he was doing. She hated that her body responded every time. Her flesh, a traitor to her mind. She was able to move a little at least but involuntary abstinence from food for a while barely allowed her the luxury. A little wiggle of her pinky finger, and that was it.She knew what her captor was doing by refraining from shooting the usual daily fluid i

WHILST THE LONG hand of the clock kissed six and the short hand hugged seven, Xaver was chopping onions on a wooden chopping board as Dinah watched."She should be here any minute", he muttered. He wanted the food to be ready before she arrived but he doubted he'd be able to achieve that."And you're cooking at the pace of a snail. I'd help you but I'm tired""Yeah, for doing absolutely nothing" Xaver reprimanded as he expertly dumped the chopped onions into hot oil. A roaring sizzle echoed throughout the kitchen and Dinah sniffed as she put a cubed pineapple in her mouth.Her nose was runny from all the crying in the hospital. You'd think it'd have stopped by now. She'd left Edith a mucus and make up stained shirt to remember her by. Except, she won't. Sigh.Dinah shut her eyes and moaned as her favourite fruit melted on her tongue, exploding into sweetness, "Mmmm. Ugh. Pineapples are God

SHOVING THE MEMORIES of her achingly sour past to the back of her mind, Sreya smiled, hoping with all her heart that it reached her eyes before telling the story of her childhood, the Father she never met but heard about, her twin brothers and the beautiful yet astonishing way the people of Tales worked together to take care of their own....a fact Sreya believed was only possible because of the diminutive population. As she spoke, Dinah's searching silver grey eyes wandered across Sre's face and for a fleeting moment, Sreya wondered if she had Xaver's eccentric ability to see right through her.She was never to find out if the Kirkgrade sibling possessed the same mastery because the gorgeous woman looked past her and murmured softly, dreamily, "It must have been nice growing up in such a place".And it had been nice...For a while..."Why did you leave?"The air-condition in

SREYA WAS SORE all over yet a smile dwelt on her lips as she made pancakes. Scooping the already decently whisked mixture of eggs, milk, sugar and flour, she gently poured it into a pan with already heated oil. And despite her viciously aching muscles and limbs Sre felt really good... And genuinely happy.Lifting the already well-done pancake she'd been nursing, she turned to the counter to place it on a plate and spotted Xaver staring at her with an amused yet intense and caressing look in his cyan eyes, she gave an uncomfortable laugh, "What?"Xaver was currently shirtless with sweats covering the lower part of his body. Though they were in Sreya's house at this time, he'd previously dropped a few clothes just like she'd done at his place since they sort of interchanged locations once in a while. But given his already complicated relationship status they mostly camped at Sreya's because it'd be awkward having Crystal walk in on

MOMENTS SAILED PAST and the intense ache in Sreya's heart became a lulling, dull throb as the stream of tears ceased to run. Silence dominated the space and Ethan ran his hand down her back, Sre still on his lap as his body slightly moved from side to side, like that of a mother when trying to hush a wailing baby.Ethan sighed, the feeling of guilt about the past was something his sister would have to work on on her own. One is always completely able to let go of something when the decision comes from within. It might be hard but it's possible. And maybe when she accomplishes that, she'd see that none of that was her fault. Whether her body responded or not, the bastard would have put his hands on her regardless.Sreya sniffed and a small whisper kissed the air , "Ethan?""Hmm?""Sorry. There's snot on your turtleneck now".Ethan's chuckle was low, "It's okay". He had no idea why they were