Already Keeping Secrets

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     The meeting had only lasted half an hour, but when Mark returned the others were asleep...except for Phil who sat in bed reading a book by lantern light. He saw Mark and gave a small wave before gesturing him over.

     Mark sat next to him on the bed and he handed Mark his book.

     "This is a lion." Phil said, pointing to a furry creature with golden fur and sharp teeth.

     Mark squinted at the picture then looked at Phil. "That's freaking amazing man!" He whisper-laughed. "Where'd you get this?"

     Phil put a finger to his lips. Mark was forgetting that books like this we're illegal, and had been for over a century.

     Taking the book back and flipping to the inside of the front cover, Phil pointed to a list of names, all ending in the same surname. Howell.

     "My friend I mentioned, his name is Daniel James Howell." Phil pointed to the name written most recently, which was Dan's. "Dan got this from his older brother Adrian, who didn't feel responsible enough to hold onto it until finding an heir. Dan didn't want the book either though, because he is 100% percent sure he'll lose it."

     "So he gave it to you?" Mark asked curiously.

     Phil nodded, keeping his eyes on the old book. "He, PJ, Chris, and I all lived together before PJ left for military, then Chris the next year, me the next, then Dan two years after me. But before all that, the four of us would look at this book together and try to imagine what it was like to live in this world," He smoothed his hand over the book's leather cover. "Before the Titans...After PJ and Chris left, Dan and I moved into a smaller place for a year, and it was too populated to ever bring out this book. Then, before I left, Dan gave it to me. He said I was the closest thing to family he would ever get...one more year, then hopefully he'll come here and the four of us can be together again." He hoped.

     Mark smiled smiled sadly at Phil, and put a hand on his shoulder. "If all three of you were lucky enough to have picked stationary guard, and all managed to get sent to this same 'special' camp, then I'm pretty sure Dan will too. That's just fate." Mark remembered something Phil had said when they'd met. "Oh, and no need to lie about knowing what you do. You can trust us with this secret. We're all kinda' in the same boat..kay?"

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