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
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 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
"...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
"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
Clea McEnery was thinking. She wasn’t supposed to be, considering what was happening. But she was. Instead of thriving on the sensation of Irus’ hands caressing her breasts, her mind was working on how best she could break to him that she knew. She knew what he had done to them, to their relationship. He snatched off her bra and kissed the space between her collarbone and neck, and it was with restraint that she didn’t make a disgusted sound. Doing this was coming off so easily to him, as usual. So easily that he didn’t even notice she wasn’t responding. Well, he had always been a self-centred asshole, he was just also good at acting like he wasn’t. Now, it was all Clea could see. How do you pay your girlfriend a visit and move right into making-out, claiming you’ve missed her so much, and in all of that, fail to notice she hasn’t smiled at you for once in all the time you’ve arrived…? It was clear all he cared about at that moment was getting laid. No, he hadn’t missed her. So, no
It was dripping blood, the dagger. That was all that registered in Clea’s mind. She brought out her gun, set it, and pointed it at him, targetting his forehead. “Drop your weapon.”He stared at her blankly at first, confusion in his eyes. Then he dropped his weapon, dropped on his knees and raised his arms. The act threw Clea off; she hadn’t been expecting compliance. She tightened her hold around Jo and walked slowly towards him. Behind him lay a fallen, bleeding Kangaroo. Clea winced, removing her gaze. Then she directed it back at the man, glaring.“You killed it!”She had bashed her car to avoid it getting hurt, only for this guy to attack it. “Yes,” he responded. His voice was mellow, and she could see he didn’t know what he did wrong. “Why?!”“To eat.”In the following minute, she did nothing but glare at him. She had a lot to vent, but she quickly understood this wasn’t the right time, place or person. “Stay where you are,” she told him and walked back to her car. She re
She didn’t even budge. When he moved closer, she moved into him even more, plastering herself to his warm, bulky, chest. Her arms wrapped around him and she held on tightly. For the first time that night, Clea didn’t have her gun on her mind. All she could think of was to gum herself to this man in every possible way. So it didn’t surprise her when she woke up on a human bed. She had slept on Tarik Wolf all night, and it had already registered on Clea’s mind as one of the best nights of her life. She slept soundly, which was a bit out of place. Considering most of her sleeping hours were spent trying to sleep. But she had slept on this man, who was significantly harder than her bed, and she had slept well. She pushed herself off so she was laying beside him on her side. A peer into his face showed that he was still fast asleep.Her eyes left his face and travelled down his chest. For the first time, she noticed a chain dangling from his neck. She took it in her hands and placed
"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