I took a deep breath. "Jack is the man who molested me"

"................................well that's one way to tell a long story..." Zine let out a nervous laugh, looking shaken.

Zine stared at me in silence for a moment before opening and closing his mouth, seeming to not know how to speak.

"...Molested you?" He said in a soft voice.

I sighed. "Yeah, he came in while I was sleeping and watched me a bit before making a move"

Zine looked incredibly shaken and on the verge of being sick.

"...I see...how....far...did he? Did someone stop?....Are you...ok? No...you're probably not uhm...he's...he's in you!?" Zines head whipped over to look me straight in the face, his expression both shocked and livid at the same time.

I looked away from his gaze. "I think so? But the thing is that he died by his brother's hand in front of me a couple days ago"

".........Jesus Christ on a cracker....da faque have you all been through!" Zine shrieked as he stared at me.

"I don't know?" It fell as a question. "I was locked in a basement, confined to a bird cage, and experimented on by two brothers for years. They said it was self defense but I don't know- and then after being found, I was molested in my own room" I looked at the tree I was still holding onto and sighed.

"You hinted at your life earlier, I believe. You were in a cage too?" I said the last part in a whisper.

Zine looked up towards the sky, his eyes squinting a bit before he spoke.

"Not...exactly...I wasn't in a cage like you were but.......I was in a basement the same as you.....with alot of....rats...." Zine visibly shuddered.

Zine shifted a bit on the branch and looked at me.

"My mother...was a bit....she...went kind of crazy after some issues with my adopted father....my parents adopted me when i was about 4? They ended up having issues and... well they divorced. My mom got into drugs and started neglecting me and locked me in a basement a lot of the time......I....grew up around a lot of messed up people...it made me both strong as weak. It made me stop looking at things normally and ignoring bad things....you said you were molested....well...uhm....after I ended up leaving my mothers I lived with my adopted father after some time passed and he....was similar to Jack....I guess." Zine said and looked away from me.

I listened to him as he spoke words that flew over my head. "We both have been through the wringer- you more than I"

Zine let out a shaky laugh and looked back at me.

"Oh hell no you have been through alot more...a bird cage!? That's so fucked up! At least I got to leave the basement sometimes!"

I shrugged. "I've come to terms with it. I think I found peace? But you sound like you're still in pain"

Zine stared at me before his eyes looked off to the side.

"I don't... think you have found peace as you say... that is hard to do after everything you have been through but ...maybe it's because that's all you ever knew so it's not that big of a deal? I had tastes of freedom sometimes and was forced back into that shitty situation a lot... this is the first time you have tasted freedom....so maybe.... It affected me more because I was denied all the time whereas what you went through became the norm?"

Zine shook his head slightly and looked back at me.

"I....it's not that I am always experiencing the pain from what I went through because of course it's going to stay but I've always been good at ignoring it.....I know that's bad but I don't know how to properly deal with it so I just....ignore it and try to do things that make me happy....like I was trying to get you to do as well?....I figured you need some joy and shit..." Zine looked down and off to the side, his eyes squinting in confusion as if he noticed something but he disregarded it.

I tilted my head to each side, weighing his words in my head. I let go of the tree and looked at Zine. "That may be true, but it's hard to be sad when the three people in charge are already dead" I choked out a misplaced chuckle but shook it off. "When I was down there, I always counted my blessings because I always wanted to look on the bright side of things. I know I have many reasons to cry and sit on it but what would that do? I've been looking for the good even while I was down there and that may be my way of coping with it"

".....Mhmmm......as I said...my coping is ignoring it and trying to find things to be happy about...so we are similar I guess.......when you said....that the man tried to attack you in your sleep....it was similar for me when my adopted dad did it to...at least the most memorable time..." Zine muttered out.

Zine shook his head letting out a hoarse laugh.

"We are seriously similar it's kind of crazy, both locked in basements, both having issues, both molested by crazy bastards...we both got wings as well....." Zine shook his head again letting out a snort.

"Don't say we're brothers" I chuckled.

"Oh dear God no if we were brothers I am pretty sure you would have a tail as well?" Zine laughed.

"Well I've been diagnosed as something that doesn't have a tail so maybe cousins?" I laughed.

Zine laughed and clutched his stomach as he wheezed.

"I swear to God! If were cousins that would be one hell of a weird family reunion!"

"You have a point but we could have it in the clouds since everyone would be able to fly" I smiled as the sun shined on my warm cheeks.

Zine let out another amused snort and looked over at me.

"I am not done with trying to get you to enjoy life more alright Kye? You should see all you're missing but I can tone it down a little...."

I shook my head. "I know I have to explore more but I'm afraid that history will repeat itself"

"History?" Zine asked in confusion.

"That I'll end up somewhere and I'll be back to square one. The person who held me in the basement made it clear that I was dangerous and needed to be contained" My wings unconsciously hugged me.

"...Ah.... so your scared to explore.....scared of being taken again?.....I see....but...ya know it's not like you're alone this time right? You got a mate same as me? I doubt he would let you go alone into anything dangerous? Plus...you don't need to contain yourself....?"

"Easy for you to say," I rolled my eyes. "Someone didn't associate you with death"

"I mean.......I think that's kinda cool? In a way I guess? Don't you have some cool powers with your voice maybe? Harpies could scream or something right? I saw it a lot in video games. But...even if you are associated with death it doesn't mean....you want to cause it right?"

I shrugged. "I just sprouted wings the other night and it wasn't on my own accord"

Zine's face screwed up into a grimace.

"My wings kinda came out on their own too...it totally sucked....."

I shivered as a flash of the bathroom covered in blood came to mind. "I never felt so much pain, and I was put in an Oven for hours"

Zine's eyes widened.

"..........Those guys are definitely better off dead.....Jesus.....ya know death isn't exactly a bad thing either? It stopped those guys from hurting you or from hurting others? Oh...maybe not from hurting you...I guess." Zine said referring to them being inside Kye.

I nodded slowly. "I still feel them inside me. It's weird. When they died I saw these things hover over their body before entering mine" I visibly shivered, causing the branch Zine and I were sitting on to shake slightly.

"Sounds rough....you say you are at peace with it but.....I don't see how anyone could be at peace with having other people take over their body...." Zine shook his head, scrunching up his nose in disgust over the idea of it.

"I honestly don't know if I could be at peace until Jeremy, Jake, and Jack are gone" I spoke truthfully. I knew that once they were fully then I'd be able to find some type of closure that I couldn't find at the trial.

I just don't know how to get rid of them- and the fact that they can come out at anytime scares me.

I looked at Zine who had his head tilted. "Jeremy, Jake, and Jack are the men who did this"

"....Their parents must have been weird too, who names all their kids with the same letter?" Zine snorted.

I laughed. I was about to respond but my limbs felt cold and I felt myself sinking into my mind again. I watched as Zine looked at me with cautious eyes before words grumbled out of my mouth.

"Do not talk about them, peasant."

Zine looked at me in confusion.

"....About who? Oh your eyes..... Which one are you?" Zine sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance. Before my body could answer him, Zine's face screwed up and he cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Did you just call me peasant? The hell are you some sort of lord of the land? You don't even got your own body how could you be a lord?" Zine snorted while insulting him.

"I'm Jeremy and you belong on the underside of my shoe." I felt my body shift towards him and I let go of the tree fully so I could stare Zine head on.

"And you belong on the end of my gun......plus you don't even got your own shoe now? It's Kye's stupid." Zine rolled his eyes while picking at his nails.

I felt my lips curl up in a smile.

"It's all fun and games until someone dies. I suggest you not getting on my bad side or you'll be next."

"Uhm....you already died so it's a win for me at least? What you gonna do haunt my ass? OHHH SO SCARY Ya gonna say boo now?"

"If I was dead then how am I talking to you? I could easily destroy you and your puny mate with a thought."

"You're using Kyes mouth to not your own? Plus Kyes body is super tiny... I TOTALLY BET YOU CAN HURT ME.....you keep forgetting your in a malnourished tiny ass body right now? Plus if I wanted I could drop you from this tree with a tiny push? I won't but dude you should look at your surroundings more...you fucked up when you hurt Kye so much and made him weak...and then took over his body like your super strong or something? He's super tiny and sick HOW YA GONNA HURT ME? I'm pretty sure I could breathe on you to hard and he would fall over." Zine said and rolled his eyes at the man's stupidity.

"Don't enter a battle of wits unarmed. Harpies don't need to eat when they have souls stocked up inside of them."

Zine raised an eyebrow.

"....But are you being used as energy right now? You don't seem exactly tired or anything how could he be using you as a source of sustenance? Plus.....its not like a weak little thing either? There's like a few hundred against you including the guy you forcefully took?"

"There are two others in here, and I don't have to lay a finger on you to wipe your existence off this planet. So, you better look both ways before crossing my mind, little one."

"Oh? Again its not even your own fingers that you can lay on me BUT OKKKKK mister big talkity talk. Plus....right now you are the little one? I am taller than you right now?" Zine smirked at me.

"I didn't mean little one as in size, I meant power. And right now- your minuscule size can not be compared to me."

"You don't even know my power? Or my backing so I suggest..." Zine was suddenly in front of me, banging my entire body back against the tree.

"You go back to where you belong cause, I despise you Jeremy since you remind me of my mother, except you're so much more worse. Now leave Kye alone before I take a shotgun and shove it up your ass ok?" Zine smiled at him.