Re: Clio & Gabriel | Late night/Early morning into Day 3
Clio relished that soft touch, so much different than the way anyone else had ever touched her. So different than the touch she could swear she'd felt during the dream he'd woken her from. It was hard to resist the urge to raise her hand to her neck, where the scars still remained from her time trying to pretend she was over Gabriel, but she managed. She nodded as he acknowledged they could have done things differently, her lip quivering as she thought about it. "We were so young, and so stupid," she murmured with a slight smile. It was the first smile she had managed since she'd woken up, though it didn't curb the fear still buzzing under her veins.
Tell him, Clio. Your time is running out The voice sounded in her head, though it also felt like it was around her. Inside her. Touching her with its physical slimy presence. Clio shivered, knowing she had to, but not wanting to ruin this perfect moment. This eye of the storm, as it were. Her own hand moved to his cheek, the one she'd scratched, and she sighed.
"My sister had just killed herself, or maybe driven herself to the madness that made her kill herself, I'm not sure. But that wasn't the only reason I didn't come." Pausing, she let her eyes meet his as her mind moved back to that day. Those days, really. "You know the Valdis family? That were friends with ours?" When Gabriel nodded, looking like he had no idea where she was going with this, she went on. "The father...he..." Clio's voice shook as she struggled to form the words. "He liked to touch me. It started when I was little, but as I got older, well. He did more than just touch." Clio knew she had to say it, or else the game could claim she hadn't completed her task, and she closed her eyes. "He raped me, pretty regularly, and right when you were getting ready to leave I was talking about it too. I wanted to do fashion, makeup, everything I do now." She was speaking quickly, as if that would lessen the pain. "He threatened to tell every agency that showed in an interest in me what I'd done with him if I tried to leave. With you, specifically. So I didn't." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she finished, the last coming out quietly.
"I should have told you. I should have gone anyway. I could find another dream. I just wasn't strong enough."