Dark Decoration
The other girls were preoccupied with Miss Antonina and her peculiar interaction with the mysterious, strapping goat that had emerged from the woods. Tess, however, only pretended to be as enthralled. All the while, she peeked at Tobi from the corner of her eye. She knew that she was putting herself at risk, as she had when she had whispered to Tobi as they had all walked down the path toward the woods. She couldn’t stop herself. She only wanted Tobi to acknowledge her, to give her some indication that she felt what Tess was feeling. She wanted it more than anything.
She remembered the day Tobi had come through the door of the communal lunch room on the compound. She was filthy and in shock. Apparently, after her father had died in front of her, Tobi had gone nearly mad. She had been found by soldiers of the Umlakka, exhausted, with over thirty deep cuts running up and down her arms. The wounds, they later found out, had been self-inflicted. It had taken her arms weeks to heal after being properly cleaned and dressed. The scars would decorate her porcelain skin forever.
To be continued…
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