#Ed is also a sweet boi. But I guess Ed is kinda boarderline... he did set a demon on people so... like. On Par?

[soultek]

Sanctuary: A Concept

--- [Playlist] ---

Light... it blisters Your light Coming down so bright Transformation Turn it up, give me some room to grow Turn it up, give me the sense to know I have been cold, I have been blind You were sent to change my mind I can put my faith in you From something ordinary It's so extraordinary I trust, I put my faith in you

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It was quiet when he returned to his residence. Although not completely unusual, he’d grown used to the sound of her voice greeting him. At first shy and tentative, and then the longer she stayed, the more joyful it became – almost as if her greatest happiness was him coming back.

He wouldn’t quite say she never wanted him to leave; she respected his place here and the duties he had to perform because of it. She wasn’t yet ready to integrate into the community. That, he understood – she was the only woman here. That’d caused issues when she washed up on the beach… logically the only option was to have her stay with him, so he could keep an eye on her, and give her plenty of space.

So, the quiet was disconcerting. She was definitely here… where else would she go? When she didn’t respond to him calling her name, he wondered if she was playing, or if he ought to be on his guard. If she hadn’t left then she hadn’t gone far. She had a maximum of three open plan levels to play with, and there wasn’t exactly the luxury of hiding places in here. He listened for a minute – maybe he’d hear the floorboards creaking somewhere above, glimpse the shadow of movement. He made his way upstairs carefully, deciding being on his guard was the best option. “C’mon, Sy. Why’re you hiding?” He waited to figure out the direction her voice would come from and was pleasantly surprised when she replied, “You told me to trust you, that you wouldn’t let your men hurt me. But I’ve also been hearing that the last thing you did before you got here was kill a woman. So, I’m sure you can understand my sudden wariness.” He did a 180 to the back of the room, but her hiding place wasn’t obvious. Now who in the hell had gone and told her that? Else been talking about it, loud enough for her to hear. He considered that condemning them for this would not be the best course of action – it would only help prove her point. He took a step forward, eyes darting from plausible object to object that could conceal her. Keeping his voice calm and level in answer: “Actually if we’re being technical, the last thing I did was stand trial. And it was a jury that decided what I did… or, didn’t do.” There was hesitation he could feel, before she responded, “…They all think you’re innocent.” There was a slight edge to her voice that he read like a book; she had her suspicions that he could kill someone, no matter what he was like with her or who he was to this village. He paused, allowing himself to smile, smart girl. “You must have your doubts. If you’re hiding.” “I haven’t known you as long as they have. Far as I know you’re only nice to gain my trust. Then you’ll strike.” He couldn’t help but laugh, “You think if I’d wanted that, or would let them lay a hand on you, I would have done it already.” There was another pause, and this time it was accompanied by a shuffling from the left-hand side of the room. He turned towards it, narrowing his eyes, there were only two places she could be, and he had a pretty good idea of which she’d chose to hide behind.

Syren remained silent only to consider that he might be right. She hadn’t been awake for that debate, but she did know that when she regained consciousness, he’d told her this building was the safest place for her. She trusted him now, that was for certain, and she didn’t think she’d misplaced it. It would be terrifying for her to find out she had. He was moving closer, to the point where she knew there was no flight option left. It was fight or simply surrender. She considered again that he had the potential to be a killer. He hadn’t denied it, after all. “There’s no weapons you’ll find in here.” She was sure she wouldn’t be that bad at hand-to-hand combat and he wasn’t exactly of the same physique as some of the men she’d seen here – shooting back: “Who says I need a weapon?” Like she wasn’t holding the only thing she could find as weapon potential. He took another step forward and, now level with her, she sprang at him. He was ready for that. His strikes precise, hitting just below her elbow and wrist. Syren cried out against a type of pain she’d never felt before shooting up her arm, dropping the blunt object. And before she could think beyond that, he had her pinned against the wall; her feet off the floor as he placed his thigh between hers. Her arm pulsed as he held it just above her head, and he was a little too close for her liking – and… not exactly proving her wrong. “See? You think if I wanted to kill you, I would have. You were unconscious, they brought you to me. You’d be long dead or WORSE if I’d wanted that.” Syren swallowed hard, “You’re very deceptive.” He breathed a laugh, “I was a surgeon, honey, be a little alarming if I didn’t know exactly what I was aiming for.” He moved a thumb over the pressure point on her wrist, squeezing it just enough to make her wince again, “And, you’re not exactly from around here.” She scowled at him, but it was fairly unconvincing. Internally Syren was fighting battles too, feeling his breath on her skin, she knew her heart wasn’t beating like this and she wasn’t just perspiring due to struggling with him.

His blue eyes studied her slowly, more out of scientific curiosity than anything. She wasn’t sure if she liked that or not, but when his gaze reached her face again, he was leaning in pretty close. Closer than before. His eyes lowered to her lips and he pressed his own together in thought. And then she knew he was moving closer, they were barely even millimetres apart and when he pulled away, Syren couldn’t help but follow him, held back as his forearm jammed into her shoulder. She was denied the kiss. But her reaction almost made him smirk. Like he knew something now - for certain. There was something going on between them. She found herself hiked a few inches further up the wall, and tried desperately hard not to let the whine she felt brewing escape at the feel of him between her thighs. And this time he did smirk; convinced now that she was looking for a kiss. And that intense look in his eyes made her flare; that wasn’t fair – all she wanted to do was wipe it off his face.

For a moment her eyes flickered; the unnatural colour and shape of her pupils didn’t unnerve him in the slightest. He knew what she was - Syren was more than capable of dragging him mercilessly to the depths of the ocean floor if she wanted to. The look on his face stayed intense but that deep voice of his lowered to a growl; she had to know her place here. She couldn’t get away with flashing those eyes at him like that.  “Don’t act so innocent. Don’t think I don’t know the stories. What you are – what you could do – to all of us. Why are you here? Had you been watching the island? You’re smarter and more calculating than you let on.” Despite what he was saying, and his glare, his fingers twined with hers sporadically – she wasn’t sure it was as absentminded as he made it feel.

He dropped her, feet finding the floor she gasped out a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding. Syren was disappointed as he backed away – but still kept his gaze on her; more calculating now. “That’s why I like you. You can play that quiet, innocent, wonderstruck look with everyone else. But I see through you…” Then he smiled, and the look on his face softened – more synonymous with his place here. The Father they all made him out to be, and she knew they weren’t wrong about that. But who he was now was still struggling with the person he had been. “You know your secret is safe with me, Sy. And now you know what I’m capable of… I’d say we’re even…” He turned, walking slowly back to the stairs. She didn’t follow, instead trying to rub the pain away from her wrist. She should have known better. As he descended his eyes caught hers again, and this time she felt her hairs stand on end, the shake wending its way up her spine.

It wasn’t a look she’d forget in a hurry.

---

“Ironic isn’t it. The one person who can freely choose to leave the island, is the one person who actually wants to stay.”

Syren - so named by the screams of sailors she’s pulled overboard, or lured to their deaths with sweet melodies - finds herself washed up on the shore of an island inhabited by the inmates of a maximum-security prison. Being the only woman on the island – and the first many have seen in years – puts her in a vulnerable position; despite the truth of her identity.

Drawn to the astute leader of the island’s community – dubbed by the others as simply ‘The Father’ – Syren confides the truth of what she is in him. Hiding secrets and fighting a past of his own, he entrusts his own truths with her.

But she holds the key to another dream: a way off the island, to get the truth of this place to the world. Even to freedom.

She’s never had a reason to stay within a human settlement before, but it feels like the place she belongs. Could she give that up, even to help the people she dearly loves?

With no guarantee of their freedom if she does as he asks – would she risk never seeing him again?

With a war looming between the community and the outsiders, she could also hold the means to their long-term survival.

Pulled into the affairs of humans for the first time in her life, Syren has so many questions… and nowhere near enough answers.