I'm not heartless, even though most of my family would like to think so. Manticore squashed my emotions long ago and I find them hard to revive sometimes. When I'm with Cindy I am able to laugh again. Dennis thinks that I am Sketch's eyes and ears but that's wrong…he usually mistakes me being inquisitive for a 'round of interrogation with Brinn'. He doesn't like being around me anymore so I counter by keeping away from him. Zack and Logan keep to themselves, but when they see tempers fraying they bring us all back together. Well…not all of us.
Jace's reprogramming hit us all hard, but Dennis and Logan the most. For training purposes Logan kept his disappointment and pain to himself, Dennis wasn't as discrete, he was upset for a long time. Now he's only starting to get over it, he found his Manticore 'shell' (as I like to call it, just a coat to hide under when we are asked to murder in cold blood and other difficult things) after we killed that guy a year or so back. I have to admit that he's grown up a lot, which is good for the whole team.
Cindy and I like to sit together most nights and talk about small things like Sketch's attitude or the training we've been through…I sense that soon we'll run out of things to say. But I know that we will always stay the best of friends…if for any reason we slowly drift apart I would feel the same as Dennis, lost and alone in a sea of bodiless faces. It does sound dramatic, but Cindy is the only person who stops me from doing a Jace, just running off into Manticore forest without care in the world.
I sit up in bed now, listening to the noises of owls calling into the night and I begin to understand the old Dennis a little better. There is much out there to be discovered and hopefully, one day I will be out there to see it myself. I can't help but smile as I see Zack looking at me with his head partially under the covers. His bunk is opposite mine, we arranged it so Logan and Zack take the middle two bunks, and then Dennis and Jace are near the window with Cindy and I next to the door. We always are close to the two in charge, which I find a great comfort.
I smiled at him, then close my eyes and listen for the sounds of daybreak.
The sun rose slowly over the horizon casting a dusky orange light over Manticore forest and as it climbed high onto it's throne in the clouds, the world seemed to stir in its presence. Warmth spread through the land and birds raised their calls up to the blazing ball as it smiled down upon our faces. We all felt something stirring in our hearts, like an understanding of the harmony that seemed to of risen up between all the animals, which roamed freely through the foliage. I breathed in and rose my head up to see nothing but green from my feet to the horizon. I held hands with my family and we all ran over the dewdrop grass to the freedom, which beckoned. And we were all here…even Jace. I looked back at the dark walls over Manticore and I felt like breaking down as the land beneath our feet rushed us back up to the cold reality of our life…and I woke up.
Jace's reprogramming hit us all hard, but Dennis and Logan the most. For training purposes Logan kept his disappointment and pain to himself, Dennis wasn't as discrete, he was upset for a long time. Now he's only starting to get over it, he found his Manticore 'shell' (as I like to call it, just a coat to hide under when we are asked to murder in cold blood and other difficult things) after we killed that guy a year or so back. I have to admit that he's grown up a lot, which is good for the whole team.
Cindy and I like to sit together most nights and talk about small things like Sketch's attitude or the training we've been through…I sense that soon we'll run out of things to say. But I know that we will always stay the best of friends…if for any reason we slowly drift apart I would feel the same as Dennis, lost and alone in a sea of bodiless faces. It does sound dramatic, but Cindy is the only person who stops me from doing a Jace, just running off into Manticore forest without care in the world.
I sit up in bed now, listening to the noises of owls calling into the night and I begin to understand the old Dennis a little better. There is much out there to be discovered and hopefully, one day I will be out there to see it myself. I can't help but smile as I see Zack looking at me with his head partially under the covers. His bunk is opposite mine, we arranged it so Logan and Zack take the middle two bunks, and then Dennis and Jace are near the window with Cindy and I next to the door. We always are close to the two in charge, which I find a great comfort.
I smiled at him, then close my eyes and listen for the sounds of daybreak.
The sun rose slowly over the horizon casting a dusky orange light over Manticore forest and as it climbed high onto it's throne in the clouds, the world seemed to stir in its presence. Warmth spread through the land and birds raised their calls up to the blazing ball as it smiled down upon our faces. We all felt something stirring in our hearts, like an understanding of the harmony that seemed to of risen up between all the animals, which roamed freely through the foliage. I breathed in and rose my head up to see nothing but green from my feet to the horizon. I held hands with my family and we all ran over the dewdrop grass to the freedom, which beckoned. And we were all here…even Jace. I looked back at the dark walls over Manticore and I felt like breaking down as the land beneath our feet rushed us back up to the cold reality of our life…and I woke up.