A/n: Hey my Ghesties!
It's been another wait, I know, and I'm so sorry for that. Crazy and hectic don't even begin to cover how things have been.
Before we continue with this chapter, I do want to mention there is talk of some sensitive things and topics not really suitable for people under 16. Read at your own risk!
Enjoy! And don't forget to vote and comment!
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It had been a week since Lilit’s eventful birthday party in Primo’s garden and four days since Copia and his ghouls had been away from the Ministry as the band’s tour continued, minus Mountain who returned to Lilit and the Ministry after each Ritual. Between them, Copia and the ghouls had been and would continue to stay at abbeys in or near the towns the Rituals were at, checking on his flock and attending to his Cardinal duties performing rites and sermons, blessings and ceremonies. Mountain had assured Annie that Copia was doing well and being well taken care of, but the distance between them, the time away from her Cardinal and lonely nights in the seemingly too big and empty bed had her quickly feeling alone and not quite herself. He had told her of his plan to do this, and it made sense and at the time she fully supported it, but now, feeling like this after only four days, she could only imagine how much worse it would get as time went on.
Those left with her, her brother and her ghoulish friends, were quick to note her resigned and borderline depressive demeanor and tried to keep her occupied between her classes and order filling, and while they were together with her she was better, but as soon as she returned to her room for the night it would come rushing back. Thankfully, though, there were no nightmares. That had been one of her biggest fears with his being away. That, and a certain Cardinal, one she had caught glaring at her more than once as they passed in the halls. He avoided her, though, so she was grateful for that.
Sunday she spent the day in the gardens, tending and cultivating herbs she would need for her ever growing commission sheet. Kali had stopped by with some lunch when she hadn't shown up in either the kitchens or dining hall, and he was worried about her.
"Solros," he says with a small smile, pulling her from her thoughts. "Did you forget we were all meeting for lunch?"
"What?" Annie sets down her boline with confusion as she sits back on her knees, turning to look at him. "It's not lunchtime yet."
He sighs softly and holds up the plate he was carrying. "Annie, it's past two. You missed lunch. What are you even doing out here?"
"Gathering herbs for my orders. The siblings have been requesting more and more from me lately, especially contraceptives and, or, aphrodisiacs." She sighs with a small laugh as she shakes her head. "I know Copia said sex isn't everything for you lot, but it sure seems like that."
"True, the siblings are free and encouraged to engage in such things, but… not everyone here is sex crazed."
"It's hard to believe. Sometimes I feel like the only one not participating in having sex. Hells, even Lilit…" Annie cuts off and shakes her head again before dragging a hand over her face. Kali sighs again and eases himself down until he's sitting next to her, looking up at the partly cloudy sky.
"You aren't alone in your abstinence, Solros. You really aren't. Most others around are horny fuckers, though. I won’t deny that."
"I've heard Dew and Swiss are the worst."
Kali throws his head back with a loud laugh, Annie giggling next to him. He bumps into her with a nod once his laughter subsides. “Yeah. They are. You’re lucky your rooms are all the way up on the upper levels. Us down in the dens? Not so lucky. Fuckin rabbits, not ghouls. That’s what they are. Loud, horny, kinky rabbits.”
“Loud horny what kind of rabbits?”
Kali looks at her from the corner of his eye, lip quirking up in a smirk. “Kinky? You don’t know what that means?” Annie shakes her head and he takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “You want me to tell you?”
“It…feels like it’s something I should know, especially living here. Don’t you think?”
Kali shrugs and, after setting the covered plate of food on the grass between them, leans back on his arms while looking up at the clouds again. “A kink is something that arouses someone or something that someone is into sexually. There are many, many different kinds of kinks out there.”
“Such as..?” Annie asks slowly, curious but also weary of what he may tell her. Kali blushes and shifts his weight to one hand to rub the other along the back of his neck nervously.
“Ah, well. There’s uh… uhm…” Kali fumbles as he tries to think of ones that wouldn’t overly frighten her or trigger her but he didn’t know what exactly happened to her during her captivity. He relays as much with his next breath.
“There’s so many out there, Solros. And, I don’t know what you went through with those monsters and… and some kinks that others have… They may be similar to what they did to you and I don’t want to bring up bad memories. And just because someone might be into some of them, it doesn’t make them a bad person or anything.”
“I know I only glanced over what they did to me when I first told you,” Annie says slowly. “Did… did you want… want to know what all they did?”
“Only if you want to tell me. If it’s too much you don’t have to.”
Annie shakes her head before leaning into him. “I was told it could help me get past it if I talked about it more. It’s…it’s not pleasant though and I don’t want you to get upset. All of you tend to get upset when I mention anything about what happened. Not at me, but that it happened, and then I feel bad for even saying anything.”
“I can’t promise I won’t get upset, but I’ll try not to.” Kali sits up more and wraps his arm around her, pulling her closer as he places a gentle kiss on her temple. “Talk away, Solros. I’m all ears.”
“Well,” Annie starts before stopping, taking a deep breath and closes her eyes as memories swirl to the surface.
Warmth on her right, cold on her left. Musty damp and stale air made it difficult to breathe normally. She wasn’t sure how long they had been here in the dark. The stone and iron cell she occupied with her sister had no windows, no way for them to count the hours or days, their sole light source being a single torch on the far wall on the other side of the bars that never extinguished. The only certainty was that she was with her sister, who was curled into her side seeking every ounce of body heat she could from her, and that they would eventually be back but when they came, would it be for her? Or for Lilit?
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Annie thinks to herself as she tries to smooth back Lilit’s knotted, dirty hair from her face. ‘I won’t let them touch her.’
Minutes, or possibly hours passed and Annie felt her eyes growing heavy, sleep creeping up after Goddess knew how long of being awake, but the sound of scraping metal and the jingling of keys to the cadence of heavy footfalls snapped her weary consciousness to alertness and she pulled Lilit closer.
“Get the girl,” a gruff deep voice says with an indifferent tone, its owner stepping into her sight. Tall, with long hair pulled back from his obscured face, the lower half covered by a mask of some kind, but his eyes were dark and dangerous. She recognized him, but didn’t know his name. A second and third man, both unmasked and plain looking, opened the cell door and walked over to them and roughly pulled the sisters apart despite their cries and screeching as they tried to cling to each other.
“Annie!”
“Lilit!” Annie fought against the man holding her with abandon as the other dragged Lilit towards the cell door. “No! Let her go! We told you she doesn’t have any powers! Only me! Let her go!”
Annie twisted and stomped her foot back, heel connecting solidly with the top of the man’s foot and he yelped in pain, his grip loosening enough for her to twist again and throw her elbow back into his ribs with enough force to wind him. She tears from his weakened hold and launches towards the other man still dragging Lilit to the cell door with a screech. He panics and tosses Lilit aside as Annie barrels into him knocking him down. She’s quick to recover, grabbing hold of Lilit and pulling her behind her before turning back to face the men, arms raised defensively.
“You don’t touch her!” She hisses, eyes blazing with protective fury.
“Imbeciles.” The masked man crosses his arm and rolls his eyes. “Get your heads out of your arses and get the damn girl! It’s not that hard! They can’t even use their powers!”
The two men look at each other with a huff of annoyance before they stalk over to the girls once more. Annie is ready for them, though, and when the taller of the pair is close enough she swings her arm in a wide fast arch, her shackled wrist connecting to the side of his head with a sickening *thump* and he goes cross-eyed before falling backwards in a heap. The other man growls and grabs her arm before she can ready herself, wrenching it at an awkward angle behind her back making her cry out in pain as his other braces around the front of her throat, holding her tightly. She panics for a moment before swinging her leg back between his legs. Her calf connects solidly with his most sensitive area making him exhale sharply with a pained yelp. Instantly he releases his hold on her and crumples to his knees, doubling over with both hands cupping himself protectively.
“For fucks sake," the masked man growls before stomping into the cell, his eyes narrow and focused on Annie. She turns to fight him off as well but he's quicker as he raises his arm and lashes out in a severe backhand that sends her sprawling to the floor, dazed. “We’ll take this one instead. Seems like we need to beat the fight out of her. Again. “
The two men on the floor groan almost pitifully, still dazed and recovering and the masked man scoffs and stalks over to Annie.
“Useless. Why is it so hard to find good help nowadays?” He sighs before grabbing a fistful of her hair using it to drag her along the floor out of the cell. She screams and reaches up, clutching at his hand and wrist while kicking her legs but it’s futile. He’s too strong, and she… too weak to stop him. But, at least they wouldn’t take Lilit this time.
“They beat me,” she starts slowly, eyes unfocused with the memory. “Numerous times. In the beginning it was for protecting Lilit, but then it became sort of a warm up for what they had planned for me that day. Sometimes they would pull me and drag me around by my hair to get me out of our cell if they didn’t drag me by my arms. They would tie my shackles together and hang me from the ceiling by them, or tie them up separately and then whip me. At some point it went from making me repent for what I am to them doing it because they could. After so long my back just went numb to the lashes. I was so cold all the time."
“What…” Kali pauses to swallow down the knot that had formed in his throat. “What else did they do to you?”
The whip sliced through the air landing with a wet crack on a bloody back followed by a raspy cry of pain and heavy whimper laced breathing.
“This can end as soon as you repent!” The whip flew again quickly followed by another. Blood trailed behind it as it dragged on the floor as the man holding it paced back and forth. “What say you, harlot? Will you turn from your wicked ways to the light of God and beg his forgiveness?”
“H-h…how can I r-repent f-for being what…what I am?” Annie asked between shuddering breaths before crying out with the next lash, her body jerking but held in place by her arms, outstretched with chains connected to her shackles.
“You will break. It’s only a matter of time.” A second man steps around to her line of sight and she lifts her head to look at him. Greasy looking black hair pulled out of his face, the rest hanging down to his shoulders and cold black eyes she recognized. Zachari. He had one arm wrapped around his middle holding his side - no doubt holding pressure to his healing ribs - the other resting lazily atop the pommel of his dagger on his belt.
“You…”
“Me.” He sneers and leans closer, eyes roaming over her strung up form taking in her bare torso with his gaze lingering on her breasts. “And you, vile little demon. We will break you. Make no mistake about that. You’ll be screaming for God’s forgiveness by the time we’re through with you."
Annie narrows her eyes before spitting in his face. The other man behind her sends the whip flying and aside from her face screwing slightly with the pain of the lash she remains silent. Zachari lets out a sigh, wiping the spit away with his fingers.
“Perhaps it’s time we stop being so lenient with you.” He turns to the man at the whip, corner of his lips lifting to a cruel smile. “I’ll leave you one hour. Do what you will with the wench.”
With that he strode from the room, closing and locking the door behind him. The other man stepped forward, mask hiding his lower face but Annie could tell from his eyes he was smirking, his orbs glinting with dark desire as he set the whip aside.
“I’m going to enjoy this. You, however…”
He laughed then, cruel and cold, sending a shiver of fear down her spine as he unfastened his belt.
“They raped me. Repeatedly, every chance they got. Zachari took me the most, but it started with that masked man then the others. There… there wasn't a…a h-hole they didn't use. And it hurt. It hurt so bad each and every time they did it. If I cried, they would be rougher. If I didn't they would do anything to make me scream.
"Sometimes, when it first started, I was able to escape into my mind, into a fantasy of home. They picked up on it, though, and would cut, burn or brand me to bring me back to the moment.” Annie pauses to take a deep shuddery breath as a tear slides over her cheek. "Then they started choking me as they used me. Would sling a rope around my neck and pull until I nearly passed out only to let me breathe before they did it again, and again, and again."
Kali feels his stomach rolling with nausea hearing her speak of what those monsters did to her. It was one thing to speculate, but to hear the truth? Hearing first hand what she endured and survived, all to protect Lilit.
"I couldn't stop them each time they came for Lilit, but they were eventually satisfied that she wasn't a witch. They never touched her or hurt her like they did me, though. She also didn't fight against them like I did." Annie lets out a huff of a half laugh as she runs her fingers through her hair to push it away from her face. "But, yeah. That's…that's what I went through. Why I've got so many scars. And it's why I still…still can't…"
Kali pulls her into him, both arms wrapping tightly around her as she starts to cry into his chest, her own heaving with hard sobs. He holds her, murmuring soft comforts until she calms and her body relaxes against his.
"So," Kali starts slowly after a few quiet minutes. "You and Copia still haven't..?"
Annie shakes her head. "No. I want to but it's either not the right time or I get in my head about it. Then Midsummer happened and…that pull between us.." She sighs again. "It's different now. It's stronger. More demanding. But it feels so foreign and it scares me."
Kali nodded slowly. "And now he's gone traveling to other abbeys."
"And now he's gone."
"You know he'll be back though. Nothing would ever keep him from you. Not forever."
"I know. It's still lonely, though."
Kali hums in response, his thumb moving in a comforting brush against her arm as he holds her before he lets out a soft sigh.
"So…"
"Hmm?" Annie turns her head to look up at him.
"Still want to know what some kinks are? Unfortunately, a lot of the more…common ones are like what happened to you."
"I can't see how anyone would enjoy things like that."
"It's…different when it's done with a trusted partner. That's what it comes down to. Trust. Trust that they won't go too far. Trust that they'll stop if or when you tell them to, or obey your non- verbal signs that they need to stop if they're in a position where they can't speak."
"Does everyone have kinks?" Annie asks. Kali can't help but laugh softly at her innocence in her tone of question, his laugh making her pout in an adorable way.
"Yeah. Some are more extreme than others, but everyone has some."
"Even you?"
"Ah, yeah… even me." He flushes and shakes his head. "You probably do too, even if you don't know it."
It was Annie's turn to flush and let out a nervous giggle. "Doubtful."
"You do!" Kali thinks for a moment, chewing on his lower lip before he smiles. "I'm probably asking for tmi, ah, too much information, but in the time you've been with Copia, has he ever done anything that made you…ah, made you feel…feel.." He gestured with his hand as he tried to think of how he could ask his question. "Feel like butterflies in your stomach wanted to explode out? Given you a… Fuck how can I put this. Well, basically, make you aroused, even if he hadn't intended to? Aside from kissing or touching you."
Annie thinks for a moment, looking back on her time with Copia. The first thing that comes to her mind is when she saw him perform at a Ritual and his growl-like voice made her thighs clench together and she blushed.
"Um.. well, when…when he performs and kinda growls instead of singing makes me feel like that."
"Yeah? Well, there you go. You like it when your partner growls. Growls can be possessive. They can also be predatory."
Annie blinks at him, her face darkening in her blush that makes Kali chuckle. She huffs and gives him a playful shove that makes him laugh louder.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he assures her. “I’m sure once you can get past your hesitation with Copia you two can figure out any others you have."
"What are some of yours?"
It was the ghouls turn to blush a fierce deep shade at her sudden question and shakes his head. He was sure if he had been drinking something it would've ended up surging out of his nose as well as his mouth. He was thankful he wasn't, and instead covered his mouth with his hand and turned away. Annie giggled at his expression and interesting shade before prodding at a certain spot on his side making him yelp with a jump.
"Don't do that! You know I'm ticklish there…."
"Then answer me." Annie giggles and tickles his side again when he huffs and turns away making him gasp out a mix of a yelp and a shriek as she attacked his most ticklish spots along his ribs
"S-s-sto! Stop!" He fails and tries to grab at her hands as she advances on him until he's laid back against the ground trying to get away. "Annie p-pl-please! Okay! Okay! Just stop!"
Annie laughs softly and ducks down to kiss his cheek before sitting back with a wide grin. "I knew I'd win. You're so easy to coerce."
"Only because you use torture tactics!"
“Only because you left me no choice!” She sticks her tongue out at him before giggles burst past her lips. “I’m all ears, Kako.”
Kali sighs and rests his head back against the soft grass as he thinks. Never had he thought he would have conversations like this with his sister of all people. Eventually he rubs at his forehead and sits up and, still hiding behind his hand, he tells her.
“Kinks can change, and I haven’t been with anyone since Rain. But, while we were together I liked tying him up. Not like… here’s some rope, let me bind your hands behind your back at the wrists. There’s a style out there, called shibari. Ah, here.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone and begins typing something into it as Annie watches. He scrolls a moment before turning it to face her, letting her see a slew of images of people tied up with rope in intricate designs ranging from full body to smaller ones around single limbs. “He tried it on me a few times but couldn’t get it just right.”
“That seems…different.”
“It is. But it’s fun to do, and it doesn’t always have to be sexual.”
“What, uh. What other things are there?” She asks, worrying at her lip as she looks at the screen. He pulls his phone away and her eyes lift to meet his.
“Well. He would use his powers on me. Like, move an ice cube along my skin or even just some cold water.” Annie raises her eyebrow and he laughs nervously. “When you’re all…hot and bothered the cold in contrast to the warm you feel feels…well. it’s hard to explain. I'm multi but my primary is fire, so I always run a bit hotter than the others so the cold felt good and I was usually blindfolded for it so I never knew where he’d do it.”
“I don’t think I could handle not being able to see.”
“That’s where trust with your partner comes in. Usually you talk about things you're okay with and things you aren’t okay with. Hard and soft limits and whatnot, and I’m probably gonna have to explain that to you as well, aren’t I?” He asks with a soft laugh at her confused expression. “Hard limits are things you would never agree or consent to. Soft limits are things you’d be okay with when with the right partner or under the right circumstances.”
Annie nods with understanding and Kali can see her thinking intently. “It’s a lot to take in, I know. But it’s good to know these things. Nothing has to be rushed or definitive. I know that Copia would respect anything you told him, and if you told him to stop or you didn’t like something you two were trying he would immediately stop and not do it again.”
“So,” Annie says slowly after a few quiet moments in which she let her blush fade. “Dew and Swiss are the worst. What makes them the worst?”
“Besides how loud they can get?” Kali laughs and shakes his head, reaching up to pull the tie from his red-brown hair letting it fall before ruffling it with his fingers. “They’re into a lot of things. Lots of hair pulling, biting, spanking, bdsm - that’s where they use restraints and have an imbalance of power scenario where one is in charge of the other - and so, so many others. Their sex life is never dull, let me put it that way.”
Annie blushes again thinking of when she pulled on Dew’s hair at Beltaine and he had moaned at it before telling her not to do that. “Yeah…” She says slowly with a nervous laugh. “I knew Dew liked his hair being pulled. Found that out by accident. He was walking ahead of me and his ponytail was the closest thing I could grab to pull him back to me and he moaned. Swiss laughed his ass off at Dew’s reaction.”
“You touched his hair and lived?” Kali laughs softly. “You go, little sis!”
“What do you mean by that? I’ve brushed his hair and put it up for him before. Seemed to like me doing it, actually.”
“Wow. He must really like you, then. If anyone but Swiss tries to grab or touch his hair he usually bites them.” Annie just shrugs with a small smile and Kali bumps into her. “Hair pulling can be nice, though. Lots of people like it. I know I do.”
“Copia does…” Annie’s blush darkens as she thinks about all the times when she held and accidentally pulled on Copia’s hair while they were kissing and he moaned at it.
“Maybe you would, too.”
“Doubt it.” She shakes her head. “I got dragged around by my hair, remember?”
“You did… but like I said, it’s different when you’re with a trusted partner. It's done differently, too.”
Annie nods slowly before letting out a wide yawn, lifting her hand to cover her mouth. Kali smiles and bumps into her again.
“You’re tired. Why don’t you take a nap?”
“I shouldn’t. I still have a lot to do for my orders.”
Kali smiles and lays back on the grass before gently pulling her down to lay next to him. She’s reluctant at first but eventually gives in and lays back next to him, curling into his side with her head resting on his shoulder as his arm wraps around her. “Sleep, Solros. I’ll stay with you so you have nothing to worry about.”
“Are you sure? Don’t you have chores or something to get to?”
“Not today. It’s Sunday, remember?”
“Oh… right.”
He turns his head to place a soft kiss against her hair. “Just you an me, little sister. Sleep. You need it.”
"Thank you, Kali."
"For what?"
Annie nuzzles into his shoulder and gives him a squeeze. "Everything."
"You're my sister. I would do anything for you, or for Lily Pad. Even have embarrassing conversations about sex and kinks." He peeks down at her before laughing at her flushed expression. "But I think one of my favorite things is being your pillow so you can rest. You need it."
Annie hums in response and relaxes against him. "Alright. Don't let me sleep too long, though."
"I won't. Rest easy, Annie."
~~~
Annie opened her eyes to a dimming sky, the blue replaced with ribbons of violet and red. The sparse clouds shimmered with a golden glow of the setting sun, drifting lazily in the breeze. Obviously quite some time had passed, but she didn’t feel like she slept at all.
Kali shifted with a sleep muted mumble, the suddenness of it making her jump slightly before she smiled down at him. He must have been tired, too, especially for them both to sleep as long as they did. Her stomach gave a low grumble and she sighed while sitting up, running her hand through her hair to pull it out of her face.
“Kali.” Annie reaches over to gently nudge the sleeping ghoul. “Time to wake up, sleepy butt.”
He remained unmoving, his breathing slow and steady. That worried Annie, her brows furrowing as she turned to face him more fully. Normally he woke quite suddenly, especially when it was her trying to wake him.
“Kali?” She tried to shake him again, her voice louder, but yet again he remained motionless aside from his deep steady breathing. “Kali wake up. Wake up!”
Annie was getting desperate, going so far as to shock him with her magic but he never so much as flinched. Panic and fear rose, eyes burning with building tears until a voice, low and calm, sounded from behind her made her freeze.
“He won’t wake up until I let him.”