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An irritating rhythmic ticking noise filled the quiet room, the hands of the clock on the wall moving glacially. Paper scraped against paper as a page was flipped, the greying middle aged woman holding the notebook tilting her head, eyeing the person across from her with thinly veiled scrutiny.

"What about the dreams, Nari?" The sickly girl on the matching dull black chair across from her hardly reacted to her voice, her only indication that she had heard her was the barely noticeable tilt of her head, limp coal-black hair falling blandly over her prominent shoulder creating a dark curtain that hid her face from view. Suffocating silence persisted in the room but it was always that way when Nari came to see her, it was rare if the petite girl spoke at all.

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Dr Esther Laverick leaned back in her chair, not once taking her eyes from the eerily quiet wraith that occupied her office. Twisting her pen in her hand she allowed herself to look fleetingly at the clock. 50 minutes and not one word from her. She really shouldn't be surprised but she always hoped with each new session she'd get some reaction. Nari wasn't just a patient to her, she'd been close friends with the girl's parents when they were still alive. Nari's father worked in the same profession as her and they'd come to be good friends in the 10 years the Korean couple had taken residence in the city of Portland.

Sang-Hun and Yeong-Ja Jeong were an enigma, it was rare to see two people so in love, they were truly made for eachother in every way. Nari's father was a marriage therapist and in her opinion the best in the game, there was no telling how many relationships he had saved in the many years he worked. He was an extremely intelligent and handsome man, very analytical and calculated when it came to his job. Many of his female clients would flirt and try to lead him astray, but it was all for nothing. He was the most committed husband and father she'd ever seen, it seemed impossible to her that one person could hold so much love in their heart.

Maybe that was why he and Yeong-Ja were a perfect match, the woman was the epitome of a loving mother and wife. So bright and funny, giving her undivided love and attention to those she cared about. She had worked as an aspiring chef but after meeting Nari's father she decided she wanted to settle down and raise a family. How Esther had adored Yeong-Ja, it was hard to meet someone as genuine and loyal as her in this day and age, the world was filled with despicable people who looked to take things from you at any opportunity no matter the cost.

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They had lived in the city of Daegu, located in the North Gyeongsang Province of Korea until the little girl was 6, her father receiving a job offer here in Portland that was too amazing to turn down. He soon became the most successful and sought after marriage therapist in the state, there was no relationship he couldn't mend. Things had been perfect for them until it had taken a dark twist. Sadly with recognition comes a lot of money; with that money comes unwanted attention.

The story of the Jeongs was tragic, overnight the picture perfect family had been absolutely destroyed. It was...strange how fast things had happened. From the call she'd received the morning after the incident, a group of maybe two or three people had broken into the large home in the early hours of the morning, beating Sang-Hun nearly to the point of death. They had then held Nari and Yeong-Ja at gunpoint and had done...unspeakable things in those long torturous hours. The horrific night had ended with both of Nari's parents being brutally murdered in front of her, the cowards responsible fleeing with anything of value they could get their hands on.

It was an utterly devastating end for such good people, a fate no one deserved. The police had said it was premeditated with the motive being Mr Jeong's large fortunes, the expensive house had an intricate security system that must have taken them weeks to memorize.

Nari had only been 16 at the time of the tragic event. Esther remembered the old version of her fondly, the spitting image of her mother. So full of optimism and happiness, a witty little thing that loved to joke and laugh. She grew up wanting to complete her mothers forgotten dream, talking for hours about all she wished to achieve in life, how she wanted to make her parents proud of her. It was hard sometimes to place that sweet girl with this hollow eyed, silent ghost that sat in front of her.

She was informed in that same phone call that Nari had been rushed to the hospital, found covered in blood and shaking like a leaf. Luckily she had sustained next to no injuries, the only effects being psychological-when Esther arrived the doctors had informed her that she wouldn't speak at all, even when they pushed her too.

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It had stayed that way ever since really, Nari had been forced into the foster care system until she turned 18 and was left to her own devices after that thanks to the substantial amount of money that had been left to her by her parents. They had tried to catch the three men responsible for the shocking crime but there was not enough evidence, even with Nari's detailed descriptions of the three assailants.

Esther had tried her hardest over the last three years to get her to open up and talk, the only person left to be there for the lonely orphan. Sometimes she was successful and the girl would vent her little heart away, most times though the sessions would end like this with them getting nowhere at all.

The clock stood at 3 minutes to two, their session was nearly coming to a close. Pursing her lips she observed the way Nari's almond-shaped Hazel eyes stared dully at the cream carpet, filled with torment as she looked into the past.

This wouldn't do, she couldn't let this go on. The girl was 21 for goodness sake, she needed to live her life. Decision made she snapped her book closed so loudly that she was even surprised when the thin girl flinched, brought back from whatever dark thoughts fogged her mind.

"Nari." The girl's sandy beige skin paled at her serious but gentle voice, wringing her skeletal hands together with nerves. "What I'm going to say now is not as your therapist but as your friend, as someone who truly cares for you." This intrigued the statuesque girl, she sat up from her hunched position and gave Dr Laverick her full attention.

"I can not even begin to imagine how much that night haunts you,  I see it in your eyes each time I look at you." Inhaling sharply at the bold statement, the pretty Korean girl fiddled with the end of her long wavy raven hair that grazed her thighs, lean legs bouncing up and down to release some of her anxiety on the subject. "However, somewhere in there I also see a girl who wants to live-in every aspect of the word."

She saw the doubt that clouded Nari's face, leg muscles tensing as she prepared to get up and leave, gathering her coat from the arm of the chair. She'd heard one too many of Esther's lectures about needing to live her young life to the fullest. The doctor frowned and made to finish what she was going to say hastily.

"Do you think your parents would be proud to see you now?" Freezing in her tracks the temperature of the room dropped considerably. Esther gulped but didn't back down, It may have been bold but this needed to be said.

The black clothed girl's breath trembled, eyes dragging slowly up from the floor, their intensity upon meeting Dr Laverick's making every muscle in her old body tense. Okay, she might have messed up-the once soft spoken girl was a lot more intimidating then she remembered her to be.

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Tears gathered in those lovely hazel eyes but they never spilt, Nari had always hated crying especially in front of other people. Flexing her angular jaw she clenched her fists, leaning back into the uncomfortable material of the chair. She was contemplative for a moment, eventually meeting the nervous doctor's chocolate brown eyes.

"No." She mumbled quietly, her pink pouty lips appearing as if they had barely moved. "I don't think so." Pain clung to her voice, tarnishing it's soft delicateness with the harsh rasp of months of misuse.

Her heart ached at her defeated tone, with obscured judgement she set down her navy hardback notebook next to her water on the table, leaning forward and placing her ageing hand consolingly on top of the cold one that lay limply on Nari's knee, inhaling sharply as she felt all of the bones that lay under the soft layer of skin.

"I'm so sorry, Nari. No one should have to struggle with the horrible things that you've seen at your age. I know it's not as simple as telling you to just get over it and move on, these things will haunt us until our last days in this world." Tears finally spilled from her smoky eyes, body shaking with the struggle of containing her sobs, she clasped onto the doctor's hand firmly seeking even a shred of comfort.

"You might not know it and it might not feel like it but things will get better for you, you have to be the one to make it happen. These things don't fix themselves. Do you think your parents would have wanted you to waste your life like this? Spending every day cooped up inside consumed by grief?" She didn't respond but her head lifted slightly showing she was listening, face barely visible through her dark strands of hair.

"That bright little girl I knew lived to make her parents proud, it was her greatest mission in life. You still have time to do it, to live and make something of yourself. I know it's still there in you Nari, through the pain I see her in your eyes." Hope filled her as Nari's troulbed eyes clashed with her own. Her posture became straighter, shoulders squaring, shining with growing determination. "Say you'll try, for them?"

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Dr Laverick could still see she was insecure and doubting herself, but in the true old Nari fashion she pushed it away, breathing deeply and holding her head high. They both knew it would take a lot of hard work and dedication, but Esther would spend as long as she could bringing the old Nari back.

Gripping her hand in between both of hers, her plump lips twitched, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

"I'll try...Esther."