Tobi could sense Miss Antonina inwardly shouting for obedience as she stood before her at the top of the stairs.  

She tried to keep her lids from closing as she raised her chin to meet the Mistress’s eye, but was unable to remain in control when the nearly invisible, black outline of Miss Antonina’s Technetium came into view.

The woman’s countenance alone was penalizing…. but coupled with the translucent, revolving cube that encompassed the head of all those who were Given Over, she was the very picture of evil. The rotation pattern of a Technetium was random and, if they weren’t so faint, they could have induced vertigo.  

This was especially true when a crowd of those who had them tumbling about were together… Tobi had looked inside a kaleidoscope before and this was the image that was conjured anytime she saw a group of Given Over.

Once again, Tobi silently begged absolutely no one for numbness. Her mind and body grappled over what action to take next and her fight or flight response told her to kick and scream, to run to a peak and will her arms to transform into wings like an eagle to carry her to safety.  

Her inner voice whispered that she must stay as still as possible, there was no alternative. Although her head wasn’t inside one of those macabre, rotating boxes, she felt as trapped as any of those who had accepted one.

Exit from this earth renamed Saturnine was impossible… she must accept and decide on which side of the shadows she wished to subsist.

To be continued…