Tobi’s Fleck was, of course, red. She didn’t know what sadistic game Miss Antonina was playing by not coming into the rooms of the girls to wake them this morning or by letting Tobi eat with the others, but she knew better than to think the Mistress had just suddenly found empathy somewhere in her black heart. Regardless of the deviations from protocol, Tobi knew not to look at any of the other girls, especially Tess. She had taken special care to make sure she was not seated right next to the girl at the breakfast table. Still, entanglement professed its reality… Tobi could hear Tess’s thoughts pouring through her consciousness, babbling like a brook.
They both remembered how it had felt to touch one another, to experience such comfort in such a desolate, barren place as this. They both remembered the seal on Tess’s neck and how she had collapsed under the weight of knowing that the Seal of Janess was upon her body. Their streams of conscious thought merged into one, so strong and tangible that Tobi was sure that, if they just paid a little bit of attention, the other girls would see it flowing and coagulating between the two girls. It was thick, their bond had already been forged and only those completely blind to realms unseen would fail to know it.
Would Miss Antonina know? Did she already know? Was that part of her plan, the reason for her deviations? The thought struck Tobi as hard as an open-fisted smack to the face. Involuntarily, she jerked her head up from the table with a start, dropping her fork. A gasp escaped her throat and she felt an immediate pang of panic rising through her body… if that happened, she would be betraying not only herself, but Tess as well!
Bitch! The word oozed from her mind like venom being squeezed from the purple wound of a deadly snake bite. Her head snapped in Miss Antonina’s direction, their eyes locking. Time stopped and Tobi watched as a grin seeped onto Miss Antonina’s face so slowly it felt like Tobi was watching grass grow; the Mistress leered at Tobi as happily as a lazy cat nestled quietly in tall grass watching a helpless field mouse.