Halfling (editing in process)

Chapter Twenty-One

Aria had thought the whole situation with her father had been bad. The thought of her father raping and impregnating her, just so he could probably do the same thing again and again and again made her sick to her stomach. But he was dead. She thought it would end there. Payne had shown her how beautiful and connecting sex could be. She had filled her dreams with passion and, dare she say it, love.

And then Lucien had ruined it.

She had trusted him; she hadn't believed that he could do such a thing to her. She had known him her entire life, he had flirted with her sure, but she never thought he would... And she had liked it. His magic had lit up her body and shoved all her resistance aside. She didn't even remember half of the exchange, but she remembered what had transpired afterwards. She had snapped out of the trance when his body pulled away from hers. She remembered the lingering heat that flowed through her body; remember that smirk that he gave her... She had tried to fight him then. She had used some kind of statue that sat near the bed and bashed him in the back of the head while he was bragging about how good her body had felt under his. He hadn't expected it. He had recovered from it quickly enough however, and had proceeded to drag her by her hair, after backhanding her again, into that room. He had pinned her to the wall by her throat as he chained her, and then had disappeared to go get Payne...

Payne...

She looked down at her arms, the red lines fading quickly as her magic returned to her, her eye having already healed. It had hurt yes, but she had experienced much worse. The lashing session was nothing compared to when her father had loosened the Shadow beings on her. She shuttered at the memory and curled up in the hot water of the tub, panic constricting her chest. They had torn her apart repeatedly, teeth, claws, their eyes still haunted her nightmares, along with that grin on her father's face... And now there would be another the nightmare, someone that was still very much alive, and more powerful than Payne and her combined. If Lucien caught her again, that would be it. It was a wonder that they had escaped, and been from Lucien's assumption that Payne wouldn't snap out of her frenzy. She assumed that was what happened anyway.

She began to wash, flashes of her sitting in the river consuming her. There was no comforting voice this time, there was no thought of 'that was close'. Memories of her father's hands on her mixed with the memory of Lucien's. She scrubbed at her skin harder, hating that she could almost feel his hands on her skin, hating that she smelled like him. The form of her father and Lucien melded in her mind and they grinned...

She didn't notice Payne had come into the room, didn't notice that she had clawed her body up, didn't notice that the room had gone dark, bits of the wall glowed with demonic runes. The door hung on one hinge, the back of it covered in sharp spikes that broke from the wall. Payne held her hands, her mouth moving but no sound coming out. Her mouth, chin, and chest were still covered with her own blood, another painful reminder of what had just transpired. Her eyes swirled between concern and pleasure, her gaze moving down to Aria's arms, watching as the deep scratches began to close and heal. As Aria watched, she could make out the words that Payne was trying to say, she was telling her to stop.

Aria gently pulled her hand out of Payne's grip and brought it up to rest on the other's cheek, watching as Payne's eyes filled with deep sadness.

"I'm sorry Payne." She whispered. "Please... Please don't look at me like that. You didn't hurt me... He did. He made you. It was nothing compared to what he did. It was nothing compared to the torture my father put me through. Please... P-P...."

And she cried. Payne held her, still completely clothed, as Aria sobbed into her shoulder. She could do nothing more than hold her tightly and run her fingers through Aria's damp hair. She wanted to soothe her, wanted to whisper that she would keep her safe, but she couldn't. Not only could she physically not speak, but Lucien had showed her that she couldn't keep Aria safe, she would just hurt her. It didn't take much to send her into a frenzy, especially with the combined pleasure of her own pain and that of another. It was a curse sometimes. She couldn't physically feel pain, it all turned to pleasure in her body, the smallest scratch sending fire down her spine. Usually it was fine, she had soul slaves that would fill her house and she would torture them and revel in their screams... But not with Aria. She never wanted to hurt Aria so badly; maybe play a little, but never to the point where she lost control.

Payne held her until her sobs quieted. She rose to her feet and brought Aria with her, wrapping her up in a towel and setting her on the counter. She dried her off and let Aria get dressed, leading her from the room and setting her down on the bed. She searched her eyes for a few moments before sighing hugging her tightly.

She felt a small tugging sensation move through her body, seeing panic flare in Aria's eyes. She had time to reach out and grip her had before they were both pulled out of the underworld and back to earth.

Standing outside of a burnt pentagram in the ground was Javen, along with a spectral woman that looked like Aria.

"Now then, where is the bastard that hurt my sister?" Javen growled, rage in his eyes unlike Payne had ever seen.