Prisoners of Sin: A Dreamer's Lie

Lies of unraveled sin

The day had blinked into night before I had the chance to return home. Against my better judgement, I had decided to stay away from Mikuna until I really needed to return. There was an odd aura around her that I had only noticed lately. If I were to look back at her stealthily, I would see her glaring at me or Ria.

  I was sitting on a bridge, observing the small fish below. The air was cold, and I was glad to be wearing a jacket. There was a strange feeling behind me, and I knew that someone was there.

  "You are so impossible to find." A sigh and a groan followed that statement. Salem sat beside me, swinging her legs. "I swear, I passed this bridge five times when I was looking for you."

  "There's five bridges that look like this in this city," I said, not really thinking. "You can only tell the difference because of the flowers."

  Another groan spilled from her. "Are you playing me? Gods, that's the worst."

  The next thing I knew, she had her arms around me, pressing her face to me. She was warm and soft, a softness I had come to recognize as simple human warmth. Myu was like this as well.

  'What would she think if she saw us now?' I thought idly. 'Probably not much. She's not the jealous type.'

  I closed my eyes, not in the mood to do much else. By the time I opened them again, Salem was swearing in a different language and furiously twisting a pocket watch, looking panicked.

  "Are you all right?" I asked, head still way up in the sky.

  Bright blue eyes lit up with fire met mine. "We've been asleep for two hours, Leo! We have to go back. Now!" Her leg twitched and jumped as she rushed through her sentence. She swung herself away from me, grabbing my hand and pulling me with her.

  We raced through the uncrowded streets, not sending any seconds glances to the familiar stores. Salem was like a wild animal, pure rage and anxiety, desperation taking over. She led me down alleyways I didn't know existed, passing by cold-looking shops. Together, we trampled flowers and other plants, taking no notice or care about them as a whole.

  The Hatune manor loomed in the distance ahead of us, suddenly more frightening than I remembered. It had once been such a nice place to go. Now, it was a nightmare to behold.

  Salem threw the door open, pushing past me. She headed to the parlor room, panting and out of breath. That's when I heard her shriek of frustration, which made me go after her.

  "I told her to not go anywhere! NO!" She collapsed on the couch, tugging at her hair. Turning sorrowful eyes to me, Salem said the worst words I would ever have the misfortune of hearing, "I don't know where Ria went."

  My heart leapt to my throat as my stomach plummeted to the floor. Blood raced, and a high-pitched ringing resounded in my ears. Everything hurt. For more than a few seconds, I was unable to even form a coherent sentence.

  "Huh?" I ended up spitting out. "Wha-what do yo-huh?" I wasn't even able to stay standing. The nearest chair ended up becoming my resting place.

  Salem straightened up, frowning. "This is where the three of us talked." Her brightly-colored irises swept over the room, and I got the feeling that she was seeing more than most other people. "There's still a chance that she's somewhere in here. I can't freak out now. Not now. Not here," she said, voice cracking and breaking.

She took a few shaky steps down the hallway, turning her head every way, hands clutching a necklace I hadn't noticed before. A silver flower with quite a few petals and a red gem in the center. Her hands gripped it, shaking beyond control.