Glass Tears

Chapter 6

Fitz

I continue to think about how Dex and I are going to escape while I sit alone, eating my breakfast. The food here is nearly identical to the stuff they have at Foxfire which is nice. I don't know how they got gnomes to support their cause but honestly I'm not sure if I want to know. They can't really expect Dex and I to go along with their plans can they? I also notice how that Sam guy keeps staring at me, I think he's planning on killing me or something.

Then I remember the memory that keeps resurfacing in small shards. I keep seeing young Sam's face, like the version of him that I saw in his memories. I see him in tall green grass with a tree in the background. He's saying something to me but I don't remember what he said. All I can see are his lips moving and how bright his green eyes are, sparkling with joy.

I shove the thoughts out of my head. The best thing to do is ignore it. I don't remember anything else with Sam so I think I'm just remembering something wrong. I ignore all of the possibilities. I have enough on my plate right now.

"Good morning, Fitz," My thoughts are interrupted by Sam's voice, "How are you doing?"

I ignore him and pull my food apart with my fork to distract myself.

"Okayy..." Sam takes a bite out of his own meal.

We're given trays but we don't get to pick the food that's on it, they give us mandatory dishes. It's very annoying, especially if you don't like something that's on the meal plan for the week. Sam assured me that if you really hated it you could sweet talk the servers into giving you something else. Apparently he's done it before to get some mallowmelt.

"So, you're an elf right?" I ask, causing Sam's head to jerk up, surprised that I'm talking to him, "What's your ability?"

Sam doesn't say anything for a second, he looks like he's contemplating what to tell me. I wonder if everything he says is somehow planned secretly, if every move is calculated or controlled by his leader.

"Um, I'm an Inflictor," Sam finally says after we sat in silence for a while.

"Wow, that's cool."

"I guess," he just shrugs and then he's the one not talking to me.

We sit just like that, eating our food and both thinking different things and not saying a word. It's kinda nice actually. He does the thing where he runs his hand through his hair again and I watch as a strand falls in his face. His habit reminds me of Sophie plucking out her eyelashes and every time she gets nervous.

"What ability does Elizabeth have?" I ask after I finish all my food.

Sam looks looks almost angry for a second before taking a breath and saying, "She's a Mesmer."

"Oh."

"Yeah," He looks at me directly before saying, "Please don't tell anyone that though. She hates it. I think it's why she trains so much physically, so that she doesn't have to rely on being a Mesmer to save her. It's also part of the reason why people did not like us back in the Lost Cities."

I don't say anything for a while until I ask, "How did you guys end up here anyway? I mean, I know that Cole found you but, why did you immediately agree to leave? Didn't you have family or friends?"

Sam's voice breaks a little as he says, "No, we didn't have any family that really cared about us. We were adopted but our parents didn't like us, they never really wanted kids I don't think, especially experiments. Many people said we were more human than elf and that we would be a danger to them. And as for friends, we'll, they don't remember us anymore. Everybody's minds were wiped before we had to leave. It wasn't right for us to stay there just for them, as much as I wanted to stay, El wouldn't have it."

He starts fidgeting with his hands and runs his fingers through his hair again a couple of times. The urge that I feel to reach out and put my hands on top of his to stop his annoying fidgeting is strong. He's about to continue talking but I notice that he's shaking a little so I interrupt him.

"It's okay, we can continue the conversation some other time."

He nods and I get up to go back to my room to hopefully talk to Dex again before he leaves to train with Elizabeth. The poor guy is going through a lot having to deal with her. He had this new scar on his face the other night, most likely from Elizabeth. She seems really cruel but I kinda admire that.

Once I get to the room, Dex is no longer there. I let out a frustrated sigh. I was hoping we could talk more about what we were going to do. Playing along with these weird people's plans seems so wrong and I hate having to endure all of it. I just want to go back home and for once I actually want to see Biana and Keefe again.

A wave of homesickness hits me like a truck but I push it away into my stomach for another time. Right now, I just need to focus on getting out of here with Dex. I can't just leave him here alone, that's basically betrayal. It's also just a jerk thing to do.

I open the door to leave the bedroom and head down the hall to Sam's door. I knock and hear his voice yell "Come in!" from inside. When I open the door I see that he doesn't have a shirt on. It shouldn't bother me at all, I've seen Keefe shirtless before a lot, but I avoid looking at him too much. He has surprisingly a lot of muscle, way more than me. I mean I've never trained regularly before so that's probably why.

"Ready to go?" I ask even though he's clearly still getting ready.

I mentally hit myself for that and feel a little embarrassed. I know I shouldn't and that it's not that big of a deal but I want Sam to like me, I mean trust me, so that it's easier for us to find a way out of this place.

"Yep, let's go," Sam smiles at me and I wonder how someone's smile could possibly be that bright, it's annoying.

We resume our training and I get way better at throwing knives than before. I even got on right in the center of the target which I made sure to boast about to Sam. He says I'm making surprisingly fast progress for someone who's never done it before. I'm not really sure if that's necessarily a good thing but I'll take it. Even though elves aren't violent, this could come in handy if I can't use my telepathy which has happened many times before, especially since I was able to get kidnapped so easily.

"Hey, do you wanna try using a bow and arrow? Humans mostly use them and not elves but it could be good for you to learn," Sam says, handing me a bow and placing a cylinder filled with arrows in front of me.

He shows me the correct form to use and it takes me a while but eventually I start getting a hang of it. I feel a rush of pride when I hit the center of the target with an arrow for the first time.

We take a lunch break afterwards to go on our run and I'm just as exhausted as last time, if not more due to my sore legs. Sam continues to push me though and the last thing I want to do is show my weaknesses to the enemy.

To distract myself during our run, I sent messages out to Sophie asking for help telepathically. She never replied though and I don't think she'll ever hear me no matter how much I push but it was worth the shot.

Dex losing his memories really makes it hard to do much until we can figure out how to get them back sooner. If cooperating with these people will help us gain Cole's trust in order to get Dex's memories back, I'll do it so well that you'd think I actually liked them.

I focus on Biana and my family and friends for so long I think that I'll get a headache from focusing so much. I'll get home soon, and this stupid leader will be sorry he ever did all of this.