Episode 2: Hunting ground
Chapter 7
The halls were quiet and the slave court strangely empty. I
headed for the locker room with the intention of retrieving my
things. Along the way I spotted Virginia and figured I'd be on
my own soon with these slaves so I should get ahead of the game.
"Virginia."
"Yes?"
Argh, her brain was filled with such useless gossip I found it
hard to concentrate. "Do you have Abel's cigarettes -- er, I
mean a schedule for me yet?"
"Yes ma'am would you like to see it?"
"No, that's okay." I rubbed my forehead trying to get the
picture of Shelly chewing Abel out over his smoking habit
cleared from my mind. "I don't want Lacey to donate blood to
me. Take her off the list."
"Yes ma'am. She did request to serve you this week. Is there
anyone in particular you'd like to replace her?"
"No, just make sure she's permanently taken off for me."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ma'am? Virginia we are friends, you know you can call me
Toni." She looked away and I knew what she was about to say.
"Yes ma'am." Virginia thought about a conversation she and
Dave had the other day about how dangerous they thought I was.
"I haven't changed."
"Yes, you have ma'am. I'm sure you realize the prophecy-"
"Ugh!" I waved her off. I really didn't want to hear about
the prophecy at all. Her head already began filling with it so
I left without another word. At the door a thought struck me
about how Gary was acting. "And take Gary off too. Hell, just
don't send me anybody I know."
"Yes ma'am."
***
I tossed my goggles into the box and checked for any other
loose items in the locker. I felt a presence then. I also had
a feeling of being drunk, and while it could be anyone after
that gathering, I knew it must be the Queen. What was she doing
here?
I turned to find her supported by two muscular slaves. It
surprised me a little that she didn't have a sedan chair for
them to carry her around on.
"Antoniette, my most favorite friend." She tried to reach out
to me but since she was being held up she only managed to
stumble forward a little. Mark and Brian had a heck of a time
keeping her up straight.
I tried to read her mind just to find out why I was her
'favorite friend' only to come upon a blurry mess that I
couldn't sort through in the short time. So was this why she
was drunk all the time? So no one could read her mind? "What
can I do for you Your Majesty?"
"Haven't I told you to call me Len-Lenooore?"
Nope, I can honestly say she hadn't told me to call her that
but I did clearly remember her telling me to call her Lenore,
which I never have. At this rate I probably never will since
she started talking again.
"I want to have a private little chat. Just you and I. How's
that sound?"
"Fine." I waited for her to tell me what it was about.
Instead she said, "But not here. Later. Yes, come by my room.
When you feel like chatting." She patted my cheek. "That's a
good girl." She waved the boys on and the three stumbled for
the door.
I reached up to close the locker when it slammed shut nearly
biting off my poor, little fingers. I took a step back, not out
of shock, but because Heremon was there invading my personal
space.
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing." Heremon spat.
"Taking my stuff to my room?"
"Don't try to be cute. I saw you talking to the Queen."
"Yeah, so?"
"The only reason she wants you is because of Al."
"What's Al got to do-" right then I saw a memory, not mine but
Al's. He held the Queen in his arms. He catered to her, he
professed his love, and I certainly felt it. He had a strong
desire to be with the Queen now. If that's the reason she
wanted to see me, then sorry Al, but I had no wish to cater to
her.
"Ah, are you jealous?" I asked.
"Why would I be jealous of a little pissant like you?"
"Then why the third degree?" After a quick thought, I decided
otherwise. "You know what? Who cares, I'm not trying to impose
on your territory. I have no interest in seeing the Queen. So
let's just leave it at that."
He knew I didn't have the King to back me up this time so he
pushed inside my mind. Pushing him out was as easy as hitting a
dead fly with a fly swatter. I then remembered what Kama had
told me about him. He wanted to pick a fight and the worst
thing I could do is antagonize him more. So I didn't even look
at him. I picked up my box and walked out.
He buzzed after me. "Don't you ignore me." He tried to get
ahead of me. I wouldn't let him.
I remembered Kama's other instructions; to become friends with
him. I failed to do so before the gathering, perhaps I should
try again. I stopped and shifted the weight of the box in my
arms as I faced him. "Heremon, I know you're upset and jealous
of me in regards to the Queen. Unfortunately, I have no control
over this. Believe me if I had I certainly would not get
between you and her if I could help it. So let's start over
okay? You go your way I'll go mine and I'll do my best to put
the Queen back onto you."
"Why would you do that?"
I shrugged. "I like to help people. Since we have to live
together I might as well help you too."
"Humph. Fine." He finally relaxed a little. "But don't
except me to do anything for you."
"I would never think of it." I said honestly.
I began to walk again and he called to me. "You know, if this
is another trick, a bit of your manipulativeness, I will see to
it that you forget everything."
I turned back to question him, but he had disappeared.
***
My door was in sight and it figures that at that moment my name
would be called. I sighed and hefted the box again. "Yes Keir?"
"Are you okay? You left the conventus before it finished."
"Yes, well, I've never made it through a full gathering before,
why should I start now?"
My smartass remark was rewarded with Keir's patented sneer.
"Anyway," I said, "I wasn't exactly feeling comfortable, if you
know what I mean."
"Yes, but I hope you will begin to accept your position. The
King was somewhat disappointed with your response."
"Yeah, well, not much I can say is there?" Although there was
another whose opinion of my actions I did care about.
"Bram's not here for you, I am." He opened my door for me.
"Bram is in conference with the King." I defended him.
"Is he?"
When I said it I just assumed he was, besides we had no date.
However, I checked now. I easily connected with Bram. I saw
the King speaking but I couldn't hear any words and otherwise
Bram's mind was blank. Obviously, I was interrupting something
I shouldn't be and so I backed out. I wondered if Keir had
orchestrated the whole thing to get me in trouble for
eavesdropping.
As I set the box on the end table I noticed the rest of my
things had arrived and set out neatly for me to use. This
included a laptop. Keir spoke before I could open it. "Yes, it
contains all your files and has a wireless connection to the
Internet if you so desire to use it. However, that can wait. I
believe you have another question for me."
I did? I hate how even now he was one step ahead of me on my
thinking process, even when I believe I have blocks in place.
Yet I knew there was something I was going to ask him and
looking at my box of things I recalled what it was. "There was
a box in my locker. Erik had given it to me. It wasn't there
when I emptied the locker. Do you perhaps know what happened to
it?"
"No. Can you show me what it looks like?" I felt he was being
honest with me and so I pictured it in my mind. "I can't say
I've seen it. Is it of some importance?"
I shrugged. "I assume so since it mysteriously went missing."
"Well, you do have a knack for misplacing things. I'm certain
it will show up. Now, I would like to go over a few other
things with you and practice your meditations."
It's not necessary to go over all the events that happened that
night. While I learned some new things and tricks to keep
thoughts sorted and such, it was all too tedious for me to
repeat here.
***
This was not the only thing I learnt during this time nor Keir
my only teacher. I began absorbing knowledge as easily as I
absorbed people's thoughts. I was free to do as I pleased now.
What do you do with freedom? A child would run around wild
throwing spit balls and paper planes. With no authority figure
around, the possibilities are endless. After a while though the
paper planes get annoying and you find yourself bored as there
is no real direction, no goal to accomplish. Eventually said
child would settle into a routine, sometimes playing and
sometimes finding more mundane things to occupy their interest.
I was never that child. I did not play. Learning interested
me. It pleased me to read and read I did.
I read now to find a distraction from the voices. I read to
see how much I could retain. I read because I was free to.
"So you're still here?" Bram was halfway across the room in
the doorway when I heard his thoughts. I looked up to him
briefly and smiled halfheartedly. He took his time getting over
to me. He took the chair next to me and straddled it. Bram
leaned in close and examined the piles of books and asked aloud.
"What's all this?"
"I found there was at least one advantage to being a vampire;
enlarged brain capacity." I was quiet excited about this fact.
"I can read at such a high pace now and retain all the
information. It's incredible!"
He smiled sweetly, I'm sure he went through the same thing, but
to me this was something new and unbelievable. One thing I've
always hated was how slow I read, made writing a real bitch when
I can write faster than I can read what I had written.
"Then you've read all these books?" He asked waving at the
stack upon stack of books I had on the table.
"Those plus these three aisles." I pointed to the aisles of
books behind me, it was obvious where I left off as half a shelf
was missing, they were all on the table.
"You've been busy the last three days."
"I know. I've hardly slept. I've just got this thirst for
knowledge." He was amused with my newfound enthusiasm. After
becoming a vampire I had hardly even smiled. He was quite happy
to see this change come over me. I decided to show him how
ecstatic I was. "Look at this. I'm reading this book on
biology from 1849 this guy's writing as if the nervous system
was a new thing. Jeez, I think this is one of the books
Frankenstein used to create his monster." Bram laughed.
"So you're enjoying this aspect of vampirism."
"You aren't kidding. I didn't know about this at all. You
know what's weird, Bram. I remember. I remember crap I forgot
ten years ago. Go ahead ask me about Laplace transform. I
haven't used it since school and couldn't dredge it up before to
save my life, but now… I just think about the phrase Laplace
transform and there it is. Even weirder, I can apply that
knowledge. Need to know what the lossy transmission line
response of a cable is? I can do it.
"Hell, I feel like that genius janitor in Good Will Hunting.
You put an equation on the board and I'll solve it for fun. Go
on, ask me a question from any of these books and I can tell you
the answer."
"So you could tell me what soma-"
"Somaisthenics? It's the ability to judge the changes taking
place within our own body. Too easy, try another."
He looked at me disapprovingly. "You're not supposed to read
my mind for the answer."
"I didn't, I swear. It was in Alfred Smee's Elements of
electro-biology, or The voltaic mechanism of man; of
electro-pathology, especially of the nervous system; and of
electro-therapeutics." I took a breath, that certainly was a
mouthful and I was amazed I remembered the entire title without
looking at the book.
"Very good."
"I want more." I said to him like a neophyte out for blood.
Okay, I was. Of course, this thirst was worst, it drilled me to
the core and I knew then my thirst for knowledge could never be
quenched.
"Sounds like you've had enough already." He laughed.
"It's just amazing how much this has affected me. I mean, I
hate biology, yet now I'm attacking this like it was my favorite
subject. It's as if I'm Jarod on that show The Pretender."
He looked at me quizzically. I explained quickly. "He was a
super genius who could read any book and become that profession."
"I wouldn't go performing brain surgery any time soon, or
building a monster of your own." He got a kick out of his own
little joke.
"Of course not, I know the difference between intellectual and
practical knowledge. This is just great! When I get to the
more recent texts I could listen to Doctor Wendel and know what
the hell he's talking about." Bram got a kick out of that too.
"Well, he is a doctor. He may have a bit more experience than
you on top of the book knowledge."
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
"You have to be careful." Bram said.
"Why?"
"Knowledge can be dangerous."
"How so?" I asked.
"Knowing something and being knowledgeable in a subject to are
two different things."
"Ah, well I do know that."
"Yes, but take your beloved Frankenstein there. There's no
argument he was a genius in the field of histology. He had the
practical knowledge too and could build a man. Yet,
Frankenstein didn't know a thing about psychology. He did not
know how to treat his creation. He only had partial knowledge
and failed because of his haphazard attempt."
"Don't let the delusion that I know something means I know
everything. Got it." I looked at him with doe eyes. "Anymore
advice oh wisened one?"
"Yeah, compliments will get you anywhere with me." He bounced
his eyebrows at me.
"So if I wanted to go with you to the other side of the world
all I'd have to do is tell you that you're the most handsome man
I've ever met?"
"See, you're trying to put knowledge to use and don't have all
the information. It's not what I meant, but thank you anyway."
"Yeah." I looked at the book, and thought of Frankenstein.
"Can we at least go to Switzerland? Just for a vacation. I'd
love to see the beautiful country she describes."
"I'm afraid not." He looked away from me. "At least not now.
Maybe next year. There are still things you have to learn."
"Oh." I said disheartened.
"You've taken my advice I've noticed." He said trying to perk
me up. "You're ignoring stray thoughts?"
"Yes, and concentrating on the books has helped." I admitted.
He placed a hand on my chest. "Your heart rate is certainly
down." He held it there a bit longer. One would think he was
being frisky yet I knew what he was about to ask. "Have you
feed since you've gotten here." Well, that put a damper on the
conversation, reminding me of what I really was.
I nodded. "A few slaves have let me drink from them as they
come and go."
He approved silently then asked another more upbeat question.
"You up for a break from all this?" I shrugged, in a way I
didn't want to leave the books. I was afraid I'd lose my
interest. Yet I knew they'd be there when I came back so I
nodded and let him lead me away.
He held my hand as we walked back to his room that was far more
comfortable a place than mine. "Have you ever made me forget
something?"
"Only pain."
"What about the others?"
He shrugged. "There's no way for me to know. More than likely
others have, but I can't tell you what. I wasn't there."
"Is there anyway to retrieve lost memories?"
"How can you find something if you don't know what it is you're
looking for?"
"I guess you're right. It's so frustrating. I mean I can now
remember things from my childhood but there may be something
from last week that I don't remember."
"There may be something tomorrow that is erased from your
memory too. As long as you keep your guard down and there are
others stronger than you, you can always be open to that kind of
attack."
"So you'll help me protect myself from attack?"
"I can try, but there's only so much I can teach. The rest you
have to learn from experience."
"Oh, joy." If that experience was anything like what I went
through as a slave, I wanted no part of it.
"Can you help me with something else?"
"Of course."
"There was a box taken from my locker. You wouldn't know what
happened to it would you?"
"What box? What did it have in it?"
"Erik gave it to me. I don't know what's in it." Once again I
pictured it, not necessarily for his benefit.
"Oh, that box." He said then I felt him rebuke himself. "No,
I don't know where it is."
"But you do know about it?" He didn't answer because we had
arrived at his door.
As we entered his room all my questions disappeared. He'd lit
the place with a hundred candles and had roses strewn about.
"Wow."
I found that night that I had a lot of pent up energy. I guess
that's the reason why the vampires had sex with the slaves so
much, they needed to release all that energy. I suppose it
keeps us from using that energy to kill people. Make love not
war, after all.
I began to wonder what would happen if there were no slaves
around? While I hadn't been with a slave yet, I could see why
they initially started taking them on. Is that how Bram and
Keir ended up sleeping together? They were desperate enough to
take their sexual energy out on each other and not the
unsuspecting masses? Though, I would have thought they would
have killed each other first. No, I think it is so much better
this way.
Agh, I can't believe I was beginning to understand them… us.
***
I was just passing through, on my way to the library when I
heard my name called. I was in another place altogether. Still
with Bram, sharing kisses and whispered desires. I'd walked
this way so many times before I was on autopilot and didn't
notice the people around me. That is until Kenneth called me
again. "Hey there! Fixer!"
I blinked and came out of my fantasy and looked over to him.
"Ignoring us now that you're a vampire? No time for us
insignificant slaves?" He wasn't offended, just gibing me.
"No, I didn't see you 'cause I was stuck behind Yo' Momma." It
had been surprisingly easy to read his mind and find the proper
response.
"Yeah, well Yo' Momma so stupid you have to dig for her IQ!"
He put his fist out and I pounded it. "Seriously though, you
want to join our poker game?"
"You want me to?" I genuinely was shocked. I mean I was the
enemy now.
"Yeah, those losers aren't challenging enough for me." He
smirked and led the way to the table where Gary, Abel and Jean
were seated. Jean handed me a pile of chips while Gary dealt.
"So did you talk to Keir?" Gary asked.
"Yeah, he didn't know anything. You get any info?"
"Not yet, I'm working on it though."
"You guys want to share or just let us try to guess what you're
talking about?" Jean asked.
"It's nothing. I've just misplaced a box, Gary's helping me
locate it."
"Have you checked out the warehouse? Plenty of boxes there."
Abel said.
"I haven't even thought of that." That was an area where all
extra equipment, clothes, furniture, etc. are kept. I'd
probably been there half a dozen times over the years. "I'll
have to look through there."
"You?" Abel asked.
"Yeah, why not?"
"Well, you're a vampire." He said.
"And?"
"That's a slave's job, you shouldn't lower yourself to it."
There was something he was hiding, something he didn't want a
vampire to see. "What's the real reason you don't want me going
there?"
"Nothing." His voice broke a little and I really felt he was
lying now. I picked out his mind from the deluge and saw a
crate full of cigarettes there and him puffing on one.
"Don't worry, your secret will be safe with me, but you might
want to have a talk with Virginia."
Abel blushed a little and said, "Thanks. You still want me to
look through there for you?"
"Sure. It's metal, steel I think, with surface rust. It's
approximately 12in by 9in by 3in and weighs about 5 pounds."
"I'll let you know." He said.
Kenneth placed his cards face down to fold.
I flipped over my hidden cards and said giddily. "Full House,
Deadman's Hand! Ace's over eight's. Give me my money!"
"No, Deadman's Hand is a pair of Aces and a pair of 8's." Jean
corrected.
"Not so fast." Abel's hand sat lightly on my arm as I started
to grab the coins. "Straight Flush."
"But… But… You had nothing showing!" I protested and then
lifted his sleeve. There was nothing there.
"Crap." Jean threw down her cards.
"Nothing but." Gary slid his cards to the next dealer.
"Not fair." I sulked as I watched my pile of chips get
transferred to Abel.
"I've got a question." Kenneth shuffled the cards. "How come
no one gets pregnant around here?"
"Vampire's can't reproduce." Gary threw in his ante
grudgingly. "What are we playing?"
"So, all the movies had that right at least?" Kenneth started
throwing cards around the table. "Texas Holdem."
"Ack, not again." I muttered. Apparently this particular game
was getting popular on the outside as it was all he would play.
"You know, I've wondered that myself. Why can't they, I mean
we, reproduce? We can do everything else." I never bothered to
ask about this before.
"It's nature's way of keeping them at bay. Bet 10." Abel
threw in a chip.
I glared at him. "10? You must have cards up your sleeve, how
do you even know what good those cards are going to do you until
the flop?" I hate this game. I threw in my corresponding red
chip nonetheless.
"Every creature in nature can reproduce, that's part of the
definition of life. We know they're not 'undead.'" Jean said.
She was smarter than I and folded.
"They're not exactly natural." Gary said, then, "Yet they do
reproduce." Gary eyed me. We both were thinking the same
thing. I was the new baby.
"How can that be called reproduction when it takes a man and a
woman to reproduce?"
"What about plants? They're alive, but not all of them need
male or female counterparts. Some can reproduce asexually."
Kenneth said.
"Other things like cells split in two." Gary put in his chips.
"That's considered asexual." I commented then finally folded
and waited for the hand to end.
"Still, what if their way of reproduction is just some new
mutation in evolution?" Jean asked.
That clicked in my mind of something I had read. "According to
Darwin's survival of the fittest theory; good mutations are more
reproducible and thus are able to breed into the next
generation. People with bad mutations usually die off from
cancer and the like."
"So you're saying you're superior?" Gary seemed irritated at
the whole conversation and was beginning to regret inviting me
to the table.
"No, just the opposite. I'm wondering how this virus has
managed to stay alive all these centuries without proper
reproduction and mutation. I mean look at me. I'm no different
from my genitor whose blood is over a thousand years old. He
hasn't changed over those years as far as I know and neither has
the virus. Perhaps it's why we're sterile. So how would Darwin
explain us?"
"Freaks of nature." Abel said and everyone laughed.
"I think you don't have babies because vampires just don't do
well with kids." Jean said.
"What we corrupt them too much?" I asked thinking of Lacey.
She had lived here since she was 9. She didn't exactly turn out
to be an angel.
"No, children are fragile. Easily hurt and sometimes vampires
don't know their own strength. That's why kids aren't allowed
here." Gary glared at me as if in warning.
"Copulation amongst slaves is strictly prohibited. A pregnancy
produced from such copulation will be aborted immediately.
Offenders will be punished and terminated if necessary." Jean
said as if reading out of a rule book.
"We can't have sex with each other?" Kenneth questioned. A
memory of his played havoc on my eyes as he and Heather went at
it and Kama, standing above them, gave him a swat on the butt
when she didn't like his rhythm.
"Well, not unless supervised by a vampire." Jean said as if
reading his mind too.
"Oh."
Again Gary and I shared a glance though this time I wasn't sure
we were thinking the same. I knew he had interest in Lacey
though he tried to hide it. I've known that for years, I just
wondered if the other vampires knew of it and if they knew they
had 'copulated' without permission. Lacey had whispered that
secret to me one late night as we talked. I had forgotten it
until now and I hoped the memory wouldn't betray them.
"What about AIDS and other STDs?" Abel thankfully brought me
out of the revelry and changed the subject.
"In some stories vampires are carriers or get sick themselves
from drinking infected blood." Kenneth said.
"We are alive, as we said before, not undead, but the virus
protects its host by having a unique ability to heal. Our blood
is stronger than yours and I'm pretty sure it can fight off such
diseases."
"Not that they have to. They know who has it and who doesn't
and can avoid it." Jean added.
"Well, I'm not sure that's true." I said. "I would know it if
that person knew they had it. If they didn't I'm not sure." I
took a moment and contacted Bram. "It would taste different,
diseased blood does I guess, but it wouldn't affect us."
Gary corrected me. "They have a cure for it."
Kenneth and I stared unbelievably. I knew about cancer but
AIDS as well? They could do so much for mankind and yet they
didn't.
"Why don't they share?" I asked simply.
Gary shrugged, "Population control."
I shook my head, it just seemed wrong, but I'm sure they had
their reasons and it wasn't population control. Though I knew
if humans didn't have epidemics such as that then there would be
an overpopulation problem.
I remembered a story that might lighten the mood a little bit.
"This reminds me of a time when I had to make a trip outside. I
needed to obtain a chip from an electronics store so we went
to…" I almost said Phoenix but stopped when I realized a couple
of people at this table had never been outside. "the city. I
couldn't find it right away so I went up to the clerk and asked,
'Do you have any STD's?'
"He gave me a flirting look, 'That's a bit personal don't you
think? But no.'
"I told him, 'No, no, no, Shifting Target Decoder.'
"'A what?'
"A bit exasperated at his ineptitude I clarified, 'It
translates alternating frequency signals among other things.'
"'Um… I'll check.' He came back with a big smile on his face
and said. 'Nope, no STD's but the guy back there wanted to know
if you were interested in mono.'
"I began to wonder if sex was his limit of knowledge."
I received sufficient laughter from that and the card game
continued for some time until Kenneth began wondering what other
myths were true. "Now that you're a vampire, do you worship the
devil?"
I shook my head. I was a little offended at the question.
"Vampires were around before Christ. So most of the myths
concerning Christians do not affect them. Just like humans I'm
sure there's individuals that do."
"They weren't around before Catholicism, were they?"
I shrugged. "Who knows how old vampires are. Even before
Catholicism there were other kinds of worship so they all have
their own beliefs. All I know is crosses don't do shit."
Abel drew one on a piece of paper and showed it to me. I
pretend to shrink away from it. Then I reached out and touched
it. Neither it nor I went up in flames. "I guess not."
Kenneth said to Abel, "You have to have faith in it." No doubt
he'd seen that in a movie.
"So, do you believe in God, Toni?" Jean asked.
I shrugged. "I do. Just not the conventionalized version.
Which may be another reason the cross doesn't work, though I
still don't think it would matter."
"So you don't fear God's wrath?" Kenneth asked.
I shook my head. "We're not demons, we don't come from hell,
like we talked about before, we're just humans with mutated
genes. Humans love and fear God and so do we." I looked at my
cards.
"Of course, I'm in heaven right now with these cards." I laid
down an ace high straight.
"What?!"
"No way!"
"You cheated!"
None of them really thought I did. It was just their way of
showing frustration. Still it caused Kenneth to ask, "So how do
you know who's mind your reading, Toni?"
"Excuse me?"
"You know, how can you tell whether the cards you're seeing is
mine or Gary's or someone else's?"
"I don't cheat!"
Gary too stopped cutting the cards and asked me pointedly.
"You're reading our thoughts?"
"First off, I'm blocking all your thoughts since you guys can't
keep your minds out of the gutter. Second off what does it
matter as long as I'm not seeing your cards?" I said to Kenneth.
"I just wanted to know if you could teach me. You know, since
it's your destiny and all."
"My what? Who told you that?
"Kama, she told me all about how you're the chosen one."
"Chosen what?"
"I think he means the prophecy." Jean injected.
"I know what he means." I snapped. "Just because it looks as
if I'm the one that's supposed to fulfill the stupid prophecy
doesn't mean I will. I'm just one person- vampire. I have no
wish to kill anyone else. Yes, I'd like to help you all, but
that doesn't mean I'm going to teach you how to fight us or
anything. And I'm not 'the chosen one.' Don't be making up
more nicknames for me."
"Yeah right. Hasn't Keir started you on that path by making
you a vampire? Don't you get to be with the love of your life?
You get to have all of their powers and still have the adoration
of the slaves!" Gary's voice rose with each word.
"I don't understand, what's wrong? None of that was my doing."
"What about the cards?" Gary asked.
"I don't cheat!" I growled. "Just because I won one hand…"
"You could have thrown a few hands to make it look like you
weren't reading our minds."
"Or because you knew our hands were better." Abel said.
"Then how'd you beat me a few minutes ago?"
"I don't know. Maybe he's in it with you. Just like everyone
else around here with their favored 'chosen one!'" Gary slammed
his cards onto the table and stormed off.
I stood to give him a piece of my mind but Jean stopped me.
"Let him go. He's just jealous."
"To answer your question Kenneth. You just know." I too
stormed off. Things were supposed to be getting easier. I
wasn't supposed to be making enemies of the slaves already.
"Toni!" Kenneth ran to keep up with me. I knew his intentions
were good but I just didn't want to deal with his paranoid
questions. "How do you know if you're reading a mind? How do
you know if someone else isn't reading yours?"
I gave in and answered him. "Not to make you anymore paranoid
but they could be reading you at anytime. You can feel it
sometimes. It's kind of like you feel someone's presence but
there's no one around. There's more to it though."
"Can you teach me to figure out when someone is?"
I shook my head for I felt mine being read at the moment. I
didn't know whom it was watching me, but maybe Kenneth was
paranoid for a reason. "I don't think it'd be a good idea."
"Is it possible for them to put fake thoughts in our head?"
Kenneth walked beside me nearly jogging to keep pace. "If
they're in your head could they make you think it's someone
else? You know what I mean?"
I finally stopped and probed him while asking, "Kenneth, is
there something wrong?" He avoided my eyes.
"I'm probing you right now. Can you feel it?" He shook his
head. I probed a little harder and went searching for his
problem.
I felt wronged. I felt as if I had little reason to live.
She'd betrayed me. She'd taken my heart and ripped it out then
drank all the blood then put it back broken and withered. I'd
been her toy the whole time, nothing more than a passing fancy.
I wanted to please her, I did everything to please her and what
did she do for me?
She refused to say three little words. The damn selfish bitch!
She claimed she can't risk falling in love, that she can't be
with me forever.
I pulled back. It was getting quite suppressive in there.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid again." Kenneth
said. He hadn't even noticed my intrusion. I wasn't going to
let it go unnoticed.
"Did you ever think maybe she was trying to protect you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Kama. Maybe she doesn't tell you she loves you for a reason."
"What? You-? See that's what I'm talking about, you know.
Damn!"
"I know." I sympathized with him. Sometimes I still didn't
know if I was being probed. "Listen, not now, and certainly not
in this hall, I'll help you learn to block some of them out,
okay?"
"That'd be great!"
"With one condition. You give Kama the benefit of the doubt."
"But-"
"Just do, okay?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"All right. Go lie down and relax. Clear your mind. I'll
check in on you later."
"Thanks, Toni." He left a little downcast but a little
triumphant as well. He got what he wanted out of me. I fixed
his problem. Kama even taught him how to manipulate me.
Wonderful.
By: Christine Schnell
