snap.

the brittle sound a bone breakin an i could hear my scream from afar, like i wus a witness instead a kneelin on the floor in fronta everyone, my left hand held tenderly in his...

i wus away as a sat up i realized i had been dreamin, my left hand throbbed an i shook it out like that would take the phantom pain way. sumone stirred next ta me an i stopped, Sami turned over, still sleepin an i reached out ta touch her hair but my hand was shakin gain. in all the people i had known since i came back she wus the most beautiful an carin. she wusn't a fierce warrior like everyone else, she wus the ultimate luver. she didnt care bout yer faults, she jus luved unconditionally. she had accepted me unconditionally an wus my first ally, my first rock i could rest on. i luv her with all my heart cuz of that, i will do anythin fer her.

i slipped outta bed quietly an walked ta the balcony, Fae had set Sami up wit onea the best apartments in the compound, marble, balcony, two additional rooms otter than the bedroom, he luved her but she held back fer sum reason, even though she luved him, she luved him like everyone else. Fae. he cared too but he didn't unnerstand us, he was a fish outta water jus like me.

it wus gettin cold an i put my arms round me, it didn't help i wus naked but i wusn't gonna take Sami's sheets fer a stroll. there were others wit compassion, this place wusn't all dead inside. i membered Tasselhofl on that horrible night, so fulla power i could feel it cross the room yet his eyes held such compassion, he cared. he tried his best not ta interfere but when he got involved they listened ta him. he wus respected. i would never stop respectin him, i would repay his kindness all my days if that wus what it took.

i passed two guards an entered the gardens, Master's favorite place an while the guards looked over my body i glanced over ta the bay window Master always looked out from. it wus empty now, he wus in bed now. i saw the flowers an thought of petunias, hearin Tara's words ta me as she screamed at me, gain, right in the middle of the floor.

her words hurt an i felt my right hand ball up inta a fist, my left was shakin, every time i thought of her or sensed her it would shake an i couldn't stop it. she had spit poison at me, her words angry an fulla spite, i had destroyed her world, the way she knew things, had put em all in order, i had turned that cart over.

Myr. Myritqa. the girl that replaced me all those years ago, she wus pretty an i remember teachin her sum stuff, but she luved Master an didn't need ta be told twice fer anythin. Myr who had taught Tara, i had taught. but not from Tara's point of view. no way.

i knelt down on the grass an bent over ta smell the pretty flowers in the moonlight an membered when i first arrived. the men had arrived quietly in the night, Orlando was warm an humid, they had said nothin, jus handed me a locked collar an i followed em. when we landed in the compound Master wus waitin fer me. i went ta him an knelt an he was smilin that smile of his, so sure, i wanted ta slap it offa his face. he always stirred me like that. i wouldn't let him see me cry, no matter wut he wanted ta do ta me.

"Little one." he said in his fine even accent, denouncin each syllable, teasin me cuz mine ran together. "You are needed here, you will serve me yet again." he said calmly an i put my head down, i was teachin back on Earth, they would miss me, they would never know wut happened ta me. i wus already gone from their records.

"but Master, it has been so long, why now???" i had asked an he gave that smile.

"Because it pleases me." he had sipped his brandy an watched me. "It is not going to be easy for you Little One. You are going to crush their notions of what a slave is. There are so many wannabees here, it sickens me. You will suffer greatly." he said an i put my head down, it wusn't the first time he had done this kinda thin with me.

"ya want me ta cause trouble???" i asked an he grinned at me an shook his head.

"Each day or night as I please I will release you from your duties, be free for that time and relax." it wus all he said, all he needed ta say. i would take carea the rest. an i did. sum people saw through the act, saw me unnerneath, but most didn't. the wannabees an those that didn't know.

i tested the leash an saw it comin, they were upset with Master, he wusn't performin properly, not like they thought he should an he sat back an watched as i created chaos. i wus jus the message, his will, his desires, lettin me look fer real masters, weedin out the weaklins that jus pretended.

but they shot the messenger. always my fault, i couldn't defend myself so they struck. they coulda asked questions, they coulda found out the truth but they didn't an those few who did, those that shoulda known, they didn't listen. they didn't wanna.

an i suffer, jus like he said. but i am okay wit that cuz there is luv too.

i got up an went back ta Sami's bed, ta her, ta compassion an carin an luv.