Starve This Sin

{ Chapter Twelve }

"Eva," his voice called, ringing like a bell through the black tunnel of her thoughts.

She was dreaming, wispy and feathered in conciousness. Hearing him made her head snap around, searching.

In an echoed circle, she found around her mirroring mountains, feet planted along a snowing trail. Giant ferns brushed their tallest branches against her ankles.

Snowing mist cloaked the sky, a dull light pulsing behind the mountain beside her.

Eva dared not utter a word, afraid he would come to her.

"You're here," he calls again, sure of the fact.

Eva registered that she had been to this place many times in her dreams, although she had never traveled to such a place in physicality. She often had dreams of chasing her farm horses here, cursing as they ascended the tall peak. Even as a small child, she had dreams wondering this place with her mother.

But now, it was just her, seeking solace. Not even in dreams could she find peace.

Deciding it was best to keep climbing, to get as far from the forest as she could, she jogged barefoot up the mountain.

When she reached the top, she cursed.

There Ben stood, in his usual dark clothes, long hair swaying with the mist that surged around him. He knew exactly where she would go and awaited her.

Eva appeared in the same pink dress she had put on before falling to sleep, a thin spring number that was no match for the cold, yet her skin stayed unphased. The mist landed with a sizzle against her skin and she barely noticed the sensation, eyes daggering into Ben's.

She told herself she couldn't back down, continuing her journey to the mountain top.

"So you've returned to your human form," he comments.

"If I had known you could so easily reach me, I would've stayed how I was," she grits.

"I have many powers in places you would not expect. I've been searching for you for days in here." He relaxed his stance as Eva became level with him, her barefeet padding to skim the edge, not wanting to be too close.

"You knew I would be here?" She allows her curiousity to poke in.

"Your kind have a special place to dream."

Eva gulped. Would she have to face him every time she tried to rest?

Ben recognized the panic that flashed through her eyes but ignored it physically. Eva pinched her hands, trying to awaken herself.

"Where are you?" He asks simply.

"... You don't see how that was a bit stupid to ask?" Eva rolls her eyes, trying to deflect any of his attempts at getting information with rudeness. Her anger only backed it.

"You're power surge will only return and you do not have enough control or training to deal with it. You need me."

"I think we're far past pretending that I need you."

"You spent nearly a week inhuman! Do you know how dangerous that is? You're lucky you even returned to your same self."

"I'm fine," Eva shrugs. "If I need help so badly, I'll find it somewhere else. If it wasn't clear, Ben, I don't want anything to do with you."

He paused then, throat bobbing for steady words. He wanted to correct her, that he was no longer Ben but King Kye, but he couldn't.
"Change your mind." It was softer, more desperate.