It was my own private horror. My friend was gone, lost into the chasm that was their collective mind. All


    that trouble to save him and I’d helped to send him away permanently. A single tear ran down my


    cheek as I stood up.


    “Why are you making tears, Ciara?” he asked curiously taking it off my face.


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    “Sometimes humans make tears when we are happy about something. I’m really happy for you Master


    Christof,” I Lied.


    I don’t think he believed me, but he let it slide.


    I was so depressed. The one person here that didn’t insist I act like a mindless ve was now a


    mindless ve. I barely noticed when Master Damien let me choose between two different pieces of


    ornamentation to wear to the Keepers today. They’d never done that before, but I was too upset to give


    it much thought.


    The men were still in phenomenally fabulous states of mind. They didn’t seem to notice my mood,


    which was a good thing. It would have been impossible to exin.


    After all the exertion Last night I was really thirsty. They had set me between Master Bane and Master


    Kein and I kept asking for a Little more water during the morning meal. Master Kein must have gotten


    sick of me, he handed me a full cup and went back to the conversation.


    I just stared at him. Nobody else even looked at me. Tentatively I took a sip and looked up. They were


    still talking about a new sword someone had gotten. I drank the whole cup and handed it back to


    Master Kein, he filled it and asked if I wanted more.


    A N G E L A ‘s L I B R A R Y


    I shook my head ‘no’ and he Laughed tousling my hair. It struck me to wonder if they could just stick to


    their own stupid rules. That would make my life so much easier.


    I was still down when we got to the Keeperspound. They weren’t though. Master Damien kissed


    my cheek and told me to have fun. He said we would go for a fitting in the next couple of days. I


    needed to describe to the tailors how the outfit I danced in was made. They were all acting so off, I


    couldn’t figure it out.


    The girls were sympathetic to my problem when I told them about it.


    They didn’t really understand though. Even Rose had forgotten what it was Like to have a special


    rtionship with just one person. They tried to cheer me up, but it didn’t really work. I was in a funk.


    Master Christof came to feed me for lunch, in the Lunch room, of course. I ate what he gave me and


    didn’tin. He talked with the other Warriors about the campaign and who was going for a


    coupling next. They gave each other pointers on how to best subdue the women. He didn’t seem at all


    upset to be Lying out his ass.


    I missed him, the real him. I missed talking to him about how he was raised and what it was like to use


    a sword, all the stupid stuff we used to talk about at mid day. At some point during the meal I started to


    cry again. He brushed the tears away and looked at me questioningly.


    Recovering quickly I told him I was thinking of my family again. He said the same thing Master Damien


    had, I wasn’t permitted to think about them. They had not done a good job protecting me. In truth, I had


    to agree with him about that.


    After Lunch I swam out my Little hole. I surfaced and saw the Keepers were busy with the girls on the


    beach. I was d for the way they obsessed on us. It made it easier to disappear in the afternoons.


    They were always helping someone undress or walking them to the bathroom. It was stupid the way


    they acted Like we were all little kids.


    I took a breath a dived deep. There were all these little yellow fish that hung out at the edge of the rock


    wall by the inlet. I chased them sometimes. I saw a cluster of them now. Swimming toward them, they


    scattered and then all went left. Weirdly enough, they all kept going and didn’t go back to the wall,


    neither did I.


    I was caught in the current. I’d forgotten it was higher up now. The undertow sucked me along at a


    rapid pace. Back at home, I’d been taught never to fight an undertow, but I’d never been in one this


    strong or fast. I remembered an old lifeguard telling me to rx and use my hands to guide me to the


    surface.


    My lungs were burning for air and I couldn’t tell which way was up. I let out a Little bubble and watched


    it as I flew past it. I tilted my hands so they took me that direction. Slowly the light started to get


    brighter. I was going the right direction. Just a few more seconds, I told myself. Just hang onto your air


    just few more seconds.


    Gasping for breath I broke the water’s surface and continued to be dragged along. I couldn’t get out of


    the current and I watched the shore and the rocky inlet getting smaller and smaller. I screamed for the


    Keepers, but I was already so far out. Much to my dismay, I was being dragged out to sea.


    It took forever to get out of the current. Finally, I was dumped unceremoniously on what was essentially


    arge sand bar in the middle of the ocean. I looked around and realized I was in the middle of


    nowhere.


    I couldn’t see Land in any direction. If I could tell which way home was I could swim toward it. The


    current had twisted me around for so long I wasn’t even sure of that anymore. Not that I could fight the


    current to get back there anyway.


    My eyes started to tear up, I was going to die here. No one would ever find me. I fought for control of


    myself and it was a losing battle.