forbidden { michael gray } ON TEMPORARY HOLD

e i g h t

Two hours. For two, long-winded, painful hours, Mikhail and Helga screamed at Talya. Her tears didn't stop for a single minute.

Once she was finally allowed to leave the living room and go to bed, she desperately tried to ignore Alexei's sneer as he stood by her room; and tried even harder to ignore the unspeakable comment he made about her as she shut the door. Unrelenting, hot tears ran down her cheeks for hours. At one point Anechka came in and wrapped her cousin in her arms until she eventually fell asleep.

Talya woke up to the feeling of someone stroking her hair, and for a second she managed to trick herself into thinking it was Michael and that last night hadn't happened, but the sound of Anechka's voice told her where she was. "Morning, sunshine."

There were no words Talya could make herself speak, no pretences she could make. She just lay there, still, unmoving. Anechka left after a while, but throughout the day she checked in on Talya, who didn't leave her bed.

For the next few days, Talya stayed in her room apart from to use the bathroom, and even that was spared. Her hair was greasy, her skin was sallow, her eyes dull. She didn't go downstairs until one night when Anechka burst into her room looking shocked. "Tasha, get up."

No reply came from Talya.

"Now, Talya! Michael is in the garden!"

The girl sat up as the colour drained from her face. "Tell him to leave."

Anechka's mouth dropped. "What? No!"

Talya's face darkened. She flew up from the bed and stormed over to Annie, getting right in her face. "Get him out of here. Get him out of here before his cousin kills us both! Now!"

Eyes wide, Anechka stumbled from the room and went down the stairs. Michael was still stood patiently where she had left him behind the shed. His face lit up as he saw Anechka, but it dropped as soon as he realised there was no Talya. "Where is she?"

"She won't come out. Thinks your cousin will kill you both if she does."

Michael gritted his teeth. "Fuck... Fuck!"

"She's terrified, Michael. I've never seen her like it. Hasn't left her room since she came home."

"Tommy did something to her. He kicked her out after and told us all she was the enemy. He nearly shot me after it, too." He sighed and ran a hand through his ungelled hair. "If she won't come out, will you give her this letter for me?"

Anechka nodded and took the letter from Michael's outstretched hand. "I will. Get some sleep, Michael. You look awful. If anything changes I'll get word to you through someone."

"Not Isaiah?" He said with a weak laugh.

"Certainly not Isaiah," Anechka muttered, shaking her head as she remembered the outrageous argument they had a few weeks ago which had swiftly ended their relationship. "Take care of yourself, Michael."

-

One week later, Talya finally finished her first day back at work. The whole day had been spent under the watchful eye of the very person who had grassed her up to Alexei and made her run away, Andrey. She was actually glad to be back in her family home for once in her life.

She decided to speak to Anechka, who was, as always, reading a magazine on her bed. Talya walked in and plopped herself down on the bed with a dramatic sigh. "Good afternoon."

"How was work?" Annie asked as she threw the magazine to the side.

"Shit."

"Have you read Michael's letter yet?"