Abstinence

1. The storm

The thunder howled up in the greyish sky, lightning accompanied it and sent an echo that a storm was indeed inevitable.

"Feya, we have to go home!" Lynette yelled as she pulled her oblivious sister's hand.

"Ye-yes, let's go."

The jerk successfully dragged Feya out of her daydream and she started pacing down the moss covered pathway. Her pale, slender fingers were nervously trying to tuck the loose strands of her vermilion hair behind her ears as she followed her younger sister, who was sprinting like a seasoned guide.

Though lynette was five years younger than Feya, she somehow possessed a superior level of maturity that her older sister apparently lacked.

"It's already half-past six," Lynette started with concern in her voice. "And father had told us to get back before four."

The sentence beckoned traces of worry across Feya's fragile features; her pale face became even paler, as if she had seen a ghost.

"I know," she responded, her soft voice wasn't strong. "We will be at home in two minutes."

Lynette frowned, as she knew that there was still a long way that they had to cover before they reached their destination. But she chose not to argue because she had gotten quite used to her sister's unrealistic thoughts.

The next few minutes were spent in silence. The forest path was gloomy and cold, and an air of macabre was lurking behind those twisted trees.

Lynette despised the bleakness of those woods but her sister wasn't fazed by the grimness of that place. She actually enjoyed it, and if there weren't any constraints, she'd have lived there. As Feya said one day, "This forest is my true abode, and someday a prince will come and build me a cottage and we will live here forever."

Nobody knew when that day was going to come.

Their footsteps subsided finally; their large country manor house now stood before their eyes like a fort. The sisters gulped and looked at each other before taking their hesitant steps towards the main entrance.

Lynette opened and then slowly closed the door behind as Feya entered first and walked quietly to the living hall. It was dimly lit, only a few candles were burning instead of the lamps and Feya perfectly knew this was a bad sign.

"I had told you that we should've left earlier," Lynette whispered.

Feya chose silence, and lowering her gaze she decided to go to the dining room, where her younger sister was headed now.

The delicious smell of the chicken filled Feya and Lynette's nostrils as they entered the large yet cheerless dining room. Their plates were stationed at their respective places on the table and their mouths started salivating as they had only eaten a loaf of bread and a small pie at lunch. And it was not because they were impoverished; it was because the rule of the manor was that one shouldn't feed themself more than they needed. One should never give in to their appetite as it was a sin.

Even if it meant keeping oneself famished.

The sisters hurried up to the table, hoping to finish their food before someone noticed.

"Nah."

The resounding voice stopped them in their tracks.

"You two stay right there where you at right now."

The sisters froze to their spots and dropped their eyes to the ground as if they had turned into ice. Then the noise of footsteps encircled them---that formidable sound of leather hitting the wooden floor, and as they slowly raised their gaze up, the pillar of authority, their father was before them.