Shattered Bonds (continued)

She stared at the door, knowing that she should latch it, trying to decide between trying to shower away the feel of Pollack’s hands on her or crawling into bed and hoping that that sleep might help erase some of her memories of what had happened. Neither of these, she knew, would help her resolve the renewed conflict of her feelings for Sean. Of course, nothing in the past few weeks had managed to reconcile them either.

Several minutes later, she stood in the shower, just letting the water run down over her naked body. As she had undressed, she had caught sight of her reflection in the bathroom’s small mirror, seeing the long dark bruises forming across her throat. Looking down at herself now, she saw similar ones, less dark, where Tyler had gripped her arms. Down on her inner right thigh was purplish-blue smudge from where Pollack’s hand had been.

In her mind, she might have been able to bury it away, believe that it had never happened. The physical marks on her body, though, were visible reminders of what she had suffered. They would not simply wash away as soon as she applied more soap.

Alone in the shower, Lorelei began to cry, her tears mixing with the droplets coming from the shower head. They flowed with them down the drain, to be recycled with the rest. Soon, they would be shared with everyone. She took no comfort knowing that, the next morning, they might be used to provide water for one of the colony’s fruit trees.

#

Shanta studied the gate, sensing that something was wrong. Not long before, she had watched as the thin shining branches that protected the Human village had sparkled. Gone now was the ever-present and barely audible sound like a large nest of lyara beetles. What that meant, Shanta did not know.

What she saw, though, was that there no Humans at the gate. That almost never happened, and then not for very long. None had appeared for a very long time, further adding to the mystery forming in Shanta’s mind.

The Humans had been acting strangely since before the fog storm had arrived.

It’s only a fog storm, Shanta thought. Deeper than most, but only a fog storm.

Although thick mists hugged the ground and hung into the skies, they did little to impede her vision. Nor did they chill her much, for her pelt easily repelled the moisture.

Keeping low and to the shadows, she cautiously approached the gate. Should a Human appear and question her, she could always claim that she was seeking Wendy, although she had not spoken to that Human for several turns. Nor had Wendy come to the village in all that time. That also was unusual.