"Oh God, oh God." Clea got down from the shrub. "Go—" She looked around and saw Tarik had already disappeared into the forest. "That was fast." She put on her crocs which fell when she was busy wrapping her legs around Tarik. Tried to button her pyjamas and found the buttons were no more. She facepalmed and tried to slow her breath, crouching deeper into the hiding place. The person came closer and closer, heading towards her. Clea withdrew her hand for a blow, stopping when she recognised Kali."Kali!" She stood up. "It's just you." Kali shone the torchlight on Clea."Stop.""Why is your shirt unbuttoned? Is that a hickey?"Clea held her collar together and covered her neck with her other palm. "No, it's not."Kali pointed the torchlight into the forest. "Kali!" Clea took the torchlight out of her hands. "What if you draw a wild animal towards us?" "Wild animal?" Kali laughed. "Who is the guy you were with? The one you don't love?"Clea said nothing. "That one? He's the one who
Clea shook her head but the pack remained there. In the air. Someone entered the aisle and she grabbed returned it to its place on the showcase. She hurried out of there and to the checkout. She paid for everything Rose bought alongside hers. Even after they got outside, she kept looking backwards in fear. "What?" Rose asked.Clea put an arm around her shoulder. "Nothing. Get one of those cabs for us."The drive to the inn was silent. On Clea's side. And Rose's. By studying her in silence, Clea noticed the change in Rose's body language. The girl kept fiddling with her fingers. Pulling at them harshly. Clea held her hand when she couldn't bear it anymore. "Are you nervous?"The girl shook her head. Then she nodded."Why?" There was fear in her eyes as she spoke. "Your friend. That came to see you at the class earlier...""Tyler? What about him?""He was part of the men I saw sneaking in."* * * * *Clea was startled when she got to the inn and met Kali already there. "How did you g
Tyler picked her up with the sheriff's jeep. On the way, he ranted about how the sheriff appreciated his help in the hospital and offered him an unoccupied house to live in during his stay. It was once home to a cop who no longer lived in Ohalo. He had cleaned it up and contacted the necessary people for repairs.The house was in a sparse area of the town. An area reserved for the cops. It was a two-bedroom bungalow.Tyler guided Clea through the overgrown bushes surrounding the house. "I already got someone to clean this up. The weeds should be gone by tomorrow."Clea smiled at the house. "Looks nice.""Yeah," he agreed. "Much better than the inn. I couldn't sleep there. It kept feeling like it was going to come apart any minute."Clea laughed. "It's not that bad.""It is.""Woah," Clea exclaimed as Tyler swept her legs off the ground, carrying her bridal-style into the house. "This is nice." She giggled. He kicked open the door to a small parlour space. By the right, upon entrance
"What the fuck! Tyler!" Clea raged. She turned sharply, dragging the bedsheet around her body. Not that it did anything. Tarik had withdrawn his head immediately he 'saw'. Clea was mortified. Angry. Embarrassed. Ashamed.She didn't even know what she was ashamed of."Oh really?!" Tyler entered and locked the door. "That's unexpected. I thought it wouldn't be an issue since y'all must've fucked the night you slept at his place." Clea gaped. This was a Tyler she knew painfully too well. There was disgust strewn all over his face. "You don't need to play this game, Clea. 'We' know. You know that I know!" Clea's voice was unstable when she spoke. "You're mad." She began to dress up. "No! You! Are! Mad! To have the effrontery to say to my face that I'm lying when that's all you've been doing ALL DAY. Friends huh?" A burst of sinister laughter left his mouth. "What? You think I'm some fool? You think I didn't see how he was staring at you that day at the inn?! I could smell him on you t
The sun had begun setting when Tyler called and asked if he could visit. Clea was playing with Jo when he called. And she was still playing with him when Tyler arrived. Playing with Jo was something Clea had learned over time brought her peace. She and Kali stayed in, expecting a call from Natasha. Until it came, there wasn't much they could do aside from sitting around and pondering about everything. Clea, in particular, now had fear situated in every fibre of her being. She was forced to accept that Kali's theory made sense. And her accepting it made her anxious. What weird situation would she find herself in next? If she didn't even understand what was happening to her, how could she be sure she wasn't being a danger to Kali?That was what scared her the most; Kali getting hurt."Aren't you scared I might unintentionally hurt you?"Kali looked up from the book she was reading. "No. You are?""Yes, I am.""Awww," Kali cooed, then laughed. The matter wasn't as serious to her as it
"Get up, C. Get up!"Clea groaned in her sleep. Kali pushed her softly. "C! C! Clea! Wake up!" Clea blinked her eyes open. The sun wasn't even showing signs of rising anytime soon, and there was no reason for Kali to wake her up this early."What? Is something up?""Yes! We have to leave in thirty minutes, be ready by then."Sleepy, Clea dragged herself off the bed without asking where they were going. She thought since Kali was waking her that early, it had to be about something important and urgent. Getting the sleep off her eyes was the hard part. She'd fallen asleep late, no thanks to heartbreak and anxiety. So she half-slept through getting ready. It wasn't until she jumped over a fence, lost her footing on the landing and crashed on her knees, that she came to her full senses. She looked around, trying to gauge their location, while Kali hurriedly pulled her into the forest. The forest. Clea gasped. She tried to pry Kali's hand off her. "Where are we going?" "Hush. Don't
Clea deciding to see Rose's parents at that moment was more of her running away from Tarik. In the few minutes that she spent talking to him, she had almost confessed love a hundred times. She was leading him on. But it wasn't her fault. She hadn't said anything she didn't mean. But... she also wished she didn't mean those things. She didn't want to feel what she was feeling. That only made the feelings overwhelm her the more. She decided to catch some sleep before visiting Rose's parents. It was a Saturday, and she didn't want to upset them by turning up early in the morning. It was a phone call that woke her up. She would've slept past the stipulated visitation time if Tyler hadn't called. "Clea.""Ty.""Why do you sound like this?""What are you calling for?"She heard him huff. "You... uh... free today?""No, I'm not, Tyler.""Clea, I'm sorry! I wanna make it up—""It's not even about me being mad, I'm really not free today.""What are you doing then?""You don't deserve to kno
"Thank you."They had just finished pumping and setting the bed. The air mattress lay beside the wall, swollen with air. "You're welcome," Clea said and blew him a kiss. "Phew. A bed we can both lie in knowing for sure we won't be pressed together," she said and giggled. Then she added, "Not that being pressed up against you was awful."Tarik smiled. "Not that it was awful."There was suddenly an uncomfortable silence as the two of them stood there, staring at each other. "Wanna... do that again?" "What?" Clea said, her voice almost a whisper.There was a seductive twinkle in Tarik's eyes as he spoke. "Be pressed up against each other." Clea tried to curl her toes, then remember she couldn't do that comfortably since they were in boots. "I don't wanna put you in trouble.""I don't mind trouble if that's what it takes to be with you.""Tarik!" Clea said and chuckled. "What?" He held out a hand. She placed her hand in it and he pulled her closer. He slid an arm around her waist and
"You think we told her off too rashly?""That's weird coming from you," said Clea, who couldn't care less about sending the Shaman away. They were putting the room back in order, filling the empty, heavy void with small talk, here and there."I just think that we should've listened to her more. Especially that stupid threat she made, maybe there's more we don't know of.""In relation to what?""...I don't know.""And why do you care to know?""Because you might regret it, as she said."Clea found Kali incredulous. "You believe her? That was an empty threat. She was just desperate. When people don't get what they want, they result to coercion using fear.""Yeah, but—""Kali," Clea called with a sigh, "we're leaving in two days, aren't we?""Yes, we are. But—""So there's nothing to—""I just wanna make sure you're safe, okay? I wanna make sure that there's nothing to watch out for. Or anything in particular that we should be careful about.""K." Clea came over and put her hands on Kali
"...what?"The Shaman ignored Clea's perplexity. She walked to the bed and sat on it. Then frowned afterwards. "Uncomfortable."Clea shrugged and shut the door. "Okay, let's get down to it since you're here. Kali, how about you ask the questions? That's your thing, I'll digest the answers." She sat cross-legged on the bed a good distance from the Shaman. Kali nonchalantly moved to stand in front of the bed, facing both of them. "Why did you refuse to see us when we visited? What changed?"The Shaman looked between both of them. "I'm not here to answer your questions. I'm only here to explain—""It's all part of it. Answering our questions takes nothing away," Clea said.The Shaman opened her mouth to refuse, but then she changed her mind. "I'll answer just this question then go right into what I'm here for.""Good, thank you." Kali forced a smile."I didn't want to see you because I didn't think anything good could come out of that. I'm now forced to, owing to arising complicated circ
Clea found Inna lying across the kitchen, her ankle in a weird position. Beside her on the floor, was Jo who dutifully licked her injuries. She let out soft groans as Clea raised her to a sitting position."Did an evil spirit get into your sister?""Exactly," Clea said, then she blushed. "Sister? Why do I feel honoured?"Inna laughed softly. "I could tell. When are you girls leaving? You shouldn't hang around for long. I should've told you this earlier but this damn town isn't nice to strangers. You've seen that for yourself. Hell, it's even turning on the towners now." She sighed heavily. Clea held her cheek up. "We definitely won't hang around for long. We've already overstayed our welcome as it is." She picked up the malformed hand. "How does it feel?""I can't feel it. It's turning purple." "No, it's not." Clea chuckled. She wanted to be as warm as possible so she wouldn't scare Inna. She placed her hand around the wrist and tried to press it back in place. "Careful, bitch!""In
Kali didn't fully realise the size of the snacks she got until the cashier had to get a large trash nylon to pack them in. The weird stares she got also helped. And as she dragged it down from the cab that drove her to the inn, she felt how outrageous the size was. She held it up as she walked to the inn, then eventually gave up after a few seconds, dragging it behind her instead.She was at the staircase when she saw something flickering in the bushes, just beyond the wall that separated the town from the forest, a few metres from the inn. Ignoring whatever it might've been, she took a step forward, but then the flick came again. Her curiosity overtook her. If they weren't safe in the inn, she needed to know. She left the bag of snacks resting by the porch steps and walked to the wall. She got there and peered over, looking around. She was about to regret wasting her time when a smoky shape formed right before her eyes. Kali remembered at once. She remembered how, the day before, sh
Clea lay on Tarik's body; his arms wrapped around her, his jaw on her head. His hand patted her arms softly and he kissed her forehead every now and then.Clea felt... good. She felt calm. Almost not sad. Her despair was disappearing bit by bit. In his presence, it couldn't swallow her. Being in his arms like that, Clea felt protected against everything that could bring her down. Everything that could harm her. "It's nice," she murmured. "What is?" he murmured back. She moved her head unsurely, and it seemed like a half-nod, half-headshake. "I— don't know... it just feels nice. Inside me. It feels, horrible too but... it's nice. You're here. I'm in your arms. That feels nice." She snuggled closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her tighter as he dropped another kiss on her head. "...it's nice too, from my end."She raised her head. "Really?" He nodded. Their gazes held. "Why do you doubt it?" he asked."Because... you wouldn't talk to me, yesterday."He flexed his jaw and hes
Beneath the headline... was her picture. Frizzy brown hair with a bright smile that Clea still saw the day before.Her name was there; Rose Johansson.Clea's phone dropped from her hands. Absentmindedly, she stood up and went to the door."I've seen it," she said. Her eyes were staring at the ground and her shoulders were drooped."Clea," Tyler called with a sympathetic voice.She forced herself to look him in the eyes. He began to move in, spreading out his arms. But she didn't want it. She thought she'd want it. It was why she found the strength to return to the door after reading that. But now that his consoling arms were spread, moving closer to hug her... she realised she didn't want it. She shut the door and locked it. Then she returned to the bed, her phone in her hands. She read the article and didn't register anything except for the certain fact that Rose was dead. Dead from trying to smuggle drugs. That was so off.So far away. A few minutes ago, it would've felt so impos
Clea could detect something was different from the moment she opened her eyes. There was a shift in the air, a heaviness she felt heavily. She felt around for Hunter but her hand found nobody. Then she sat up and saw he was seated by the wall. His knees were raised and his arms dangled from them. His head was dropped, facing the ground in a dejected manner. "Hunter?" Clea called cautiously. She left the bed and crawled to him. He didn't respond."Hunter?" she called again, gentler this time. She placed her hand on his knees. He raised his head, and Clea understood the shift in the aura. Because it was gone. The playful, careless twinkle in Hunter's eyes was gone. And it was replaced by a brooding. It had moved from a twinkle that made her want to giggle and hand over her heart on a platter, and was now a twinkle that made her want to dedicate her entire self to loving him so much that all his pains disappeared."Tarik." Her voice shook a bit with shock, but she quickly recovered. I
"Why?""Because I love you.""...Why?"Clea's brain quickly cooked up something to save her from the complicated question. "Because you're warm. You make me feel warm and that's very nice because the cold has really done its number on me."Hunter wasn't moved. "I need another answer."Clea almost huffed. "I can't think. My love for you has clouded my brain with fog."He chuckled. "You're just saying that to get outta this.""No," she denied. Then she laughed. "Honestly, I can't think straight when I'm with you.""So you're not in your right senses right now?""No. The man I love is in my face. I feel intoxicated." As she finished speaking, she adjusted her sitting position. She sat on his lap with her legs thrown behind him, straddling him. Face to face.He resumed the thoughtful stare. "You don't want this.""What? This?" She took his hand and used it to trail her body from her waist up. "Yes, I do. I want it.""You won't be disgusted with yourself at the end of it?"Clea was taken ab
As they stared at each other, they could both see the reflection of their feelings in the other person's eyes. "I shouldn't have said that," It was Clea speaking. "I didn't mean it. I promise."Hunter looked away. He got up and walked into the room. Clea followed him. "I'm very sorry—"The door jammed on her face as the last word left her mouth. "You owe me an apology too!" The door opened as fast as it shut, taking Clea off-guard. She gazed into his eyes, sucking up the deep of his expression. Overwhelmed, but unable to back out. There was only resentment in his eyes, but Clea convinced herself it was fake. She told herself he didn't really despise her. That he was sorry for what he said, too. "No.""What?""I don't owe you an apology."He was being incredulous. Clea swallowed, unsure of where she could go with this. Then suddenly, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. With his facing down, and hers facing up, the distance between their faces was in inches. Strong arousal we