Rae’s POV
I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I ate that roll. But now I have a little to hold me over if I have to pass on eating the next few days. I noticed there has been a lot of guards patrolling the hallway stopping to look at us. I don’t remember this many patrolling yesterday. The women being out of their minds on this drug might have something to do with it. I’m not sure though. Another group of guards walks up and looks into our cell.
I look over to Mary and notice she is looking down twiddling her thumbs. I ask “Are you ok?”
Mary jumps from being startled and gives off an uneasy giggle. “I’m fine.”
Knowing something is off I place a hand on Mary’s shoulder “I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’m here if you need me.” Mary grabs my hand and smiles to attempt to reassure me that she is fine, but I can tell it’s fake.
After a few hours the women are n
Rae’s POV I’m nervous, is it separate baths or a communal bath? I’ve never bathed with other people before, I’ve always been to embarrassed to do so. I remember back in High School during Physical Education I couldn’t even change in front of other girls in the locker room. I had to change in one of the bathroom stalls. I can see the women going into a doorway, I suppose this is the bath. I tense up when I enter the room and see the large shallow pool below. Going down the steps I start looking around not really paying to much attention to where I was going. I see guards spread out above looking down at us as I continue walking down the stairs. Suddenly the rope pulled hard and with my hands tied like this I started to fall unable to catch my balance. Just as sudden as the rope pulled a strong hand grabbed my arm. When I turned around to look it was Jeong gripping my arm that kept me steady. It surprised me, he was so close.  
Jeong’s POV I cant believe I got caught up looking at her eyes, what’s wrong with me. I can’t help but watch her, she’s not going to fall again is she? Seeing her make it to the bottom and look up at me had my mind at ease. I head back up the stairs before I let the chain ropes go. Looking around I can see the men all excited watching the women strip down and wash. I see Zviad gripping the railing grinning as he watches her. I look down at her and notice she’s hesitating. Please don’t give us an excuse to go down there. Looking at Zviad tighten his grip, I know he’d spring into action as soon as he thinks he can. Oh good she’s taking her dress off. Sigh, why is she taking so long. My nerves are shot not knowing if I can stop Zviad if she refuses to wash. My heart cant take this stress. I can tell from here she is trembling and Mary is trying to calm her down. Is she crying? I can’t help but feel concerned. I see Ma
Jeong’s POV As I’m running towards the cell I wonder if it’s one of the women who overdosed on the drug. It can’t be her right? When the vision of the cell is in view I see Mary crying holding onto her lifeless body. Anger wells up in me, it wasn’t Zviad right. Opening the door I yell at the women, “Don’t you dare move or else!” Then quickly running over to Mary and her “What happened?” Mary sobbing “I don’t know, when we got back from the bath she.. she..” I can see she is covered in welts and a rash. Mary trying to pull herself together with tears rolling down her face. “She has a high fever and passed out, it’s affecting her breathing now.” I quickly pick her up and cradle her in my arms while I rush out of the cell. The guard shouts “Sir the door!” I use my power to shut and lock the door and conti
Rae’s POV I find myself waking in another unknown place. An all to familiar smell filled my nose making me grimace. Twitching my hands I realize I’m on some sort of bed? Opening my eyes I slowly take in my surroundings looking from one side to the next. I freeze in place when I see Jeong sitting down leaning against a desk sleeping at the far end of the room. I try to sit up but my aching and hurting body wont let me. Sinking back into the bed I let out a sigh while closing my eyes. I start recalling what had happened after the bath seeing my skin flare up at an alarming rate. I’ve had rashes and welts before but I’ve never had a reaction that went past that. Was there something else I didn’t see? I reach up and take the oxygen mask off and take in a deep breath. I hear a quiet rustle at the far end of the room and soft steps coming closer to me. “You should leave that on for the time being.” Jeong said with worry
Rae’s POV The next morning after waking up I notice the rash has completely disappeared. I’m so relieved since I wont have to go back for another treatment. Again Jeong and two men showed up with the food. When I went to look, the water was fine but I saw those stupid green lights wiggling all over the bread again. “There’s no end to this.” Realizing I just said that out loud and notice Jeong only feet away watching me in the hallway. I brush it off and grab two bowls of water and leave back to my spot giving Mary a bowl. After sitting down I heard someone clear their throat and when I looked Jeong had moved in the hallway towards the side of the cell where we sat. He then proceeded to toss two clean rolls my way and I caught them. Afterwards he walked off. Looking over the rolls they are fine and I hand one to Mary. Mary nudges me “Looks like he’s got the hots for you.” Annoyed “In his dream
Rae’s POV Another day. The same stupid green swirling lights in the bread. Jeong still tossing two piece my way. After they leave with the trays I go back to trying to make an orb show at the end of my finger tips but all I get are sparks. I lean back against the wall aggravated “I don’t get it, what am I doing wrong.” Mary sits there thinking as she leans the side of her face onto her pulled up knees looking at me “Hmm, maybe you’re over thinking it?” “Huh, maybe” as I close my eyes. My head is hurting from trying to focus so much. Mary with a smile “You’ll get it. I know you will.” I feel Mary quickly move next to me as she grabs and squeezes my hands. When I open my eyes I see all the men appearing in front of our cell. Let me guess another bath time? Jeong’s POV I’ve been dreading this, but it’s time for them to bathe ag
Jeong’s POV The water stops as she stands there in the shower stall. I quickly reach down grabbing the freshly washed garments that I placed earlier and walked over draping them on the divider. I’m close enough that I can see all the way down to her feet. She has a killer body. I see her face turn red. Is she allergic to this soap? The doctors told me she most defiantly wouldn’t be. She holds her breasts with her right arm and hand while reaches back and grabs the clothes with her left still facing away from me. I can’t help but lick my lower lip as I watch her breasts bounce with the movement. I suddenly feel embarrassed after I realize what I’ve done and turn around trying to compose myself. When I turn back towards her I see she is already completely dressed. I throw up another chain around her wrists and begin taking her out. Once she hits the locker room the auto dryer kicks in and instantly dries her off. Whoever figured that out a
Unknown POV In a large dark room illuminated only by a crackling fire within a majestic marble fireplace sat an unknown man. In a high back chair holding a glass of bourbon he sat with his back towards the door gazing at the fire. It was the middle of the night, only the unknown man with his butler standing guard at the door. The butler bowed and gestured for a man to enter the room “He’s been waiting for you young lord.” Zviad is now seen walking into the room while the butler closes the doors behind him. Zviad walks towards the man and bows. The man seated takes a drink of his bourbon. After drinking he gazes at the glass as he tilts it back and forth looking at the mirrored reflection of Zviad bowing. “Everything is ready. Tomorrow you will help me with the wench.” Zviad continues to bow “As you wish my lord.” The man sets his drink down onto t
Jeong’s POV The thought of relaxing was cut short when Jeffrey continues to sit there waiting for everyone to leave. He really isn’t going to let this go now is he. Only Jeffrey, Gerald and I are left in the room. Jeffrey lifts an eyebrow motioning to Gerald expecting me to ask him to leave. “There are no secrets between Gerald and I. Whatever you intend to speak about can be said in front of him.” “Very well.” Jeffrey sits up looking at me square in the face. “What is your real purpose? You can’t expect me to believe it’s just to train them for a potential scenario. I went along with it because I know you’re a man with a purpose. Now tell me what is really going on here.” This man holds a lot of weight, if he changes his mind it will severely hurt our cause. “I hope you don’t think I would purposely start a war and put everyone in danger.” “Your reputation suggests otherwise, but one has to
Jeong’s POVBefore we started on the subject of training a knock was heard at the door. Gerald quietly got up and opened it. When I saw it was Jean with a cart full of food, “Let’s take a break and enjoy some refreshments before continuing.” The tense air almost instantly lifted as everyone relaxed into their seats while they began chattering with one another.I watched as Jean made her way to the opposite side of the room but then someone caught my eye. Rae is standing dumbfounded at the door. She asked Gerald something, but I couldn’t make it out. Gerald just laughs as he waves her off before coming to take his seat next to me. I want to say something to her but end up just watching her as she places the trays of food onto the table. When she comes close I was about to reach out and grab her hand, but pulled away before doing so. What if she makes a scene? What if I loose my composure?Sti
Jeong’s POVIt’s been two days since the morning I spoke with Rae. Every time I’ve seen her it was either extremely awkward or she’d run away. I hate this so much, but I don’t know what to do in order to change it. Plus I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really had the time to do much. Even today I’m holding a meeting here at the house. I’ve appointed people who are loyal to me knowing what we stand for and what we are trying to achieve over lead positions. They are a mixture of shop owners, elders, and those with the required skills. This marks the first official meeting to which I decided to hold in the formal dinning room. It’s a room rarely used and for the amount of people here its the best option.The meeting has been going on for a good three hours and we aren’t even half way though the agenda. Using drones to create a replica of the land we’ve managed to map out th
Rae’s POVI helped Jean with dinner. Using what was available at the time I made something equivalent to potato salad and deviled eggs with the ranch. She made some of her normal dishes that I said would be fine to go along with what I made. After all was cooked Jean and I started setting the dinning table.Jean left to get the last of the food while I stood there in the dinning room looking at the table. Panic hit me when I heard Jeong’s voice coming from the hallway and without thinking I teleported to my room. Taking a deep breath standing in the middle of my room I place my hand on my chest to feel my erratic heart beat. Shaking my head I can’t help but feel ashamed at myself. I shouldn’t run away from him, I know that, but I’m afraid to face him right now.Jeong’s POVAfter Gerald’s initial shock and the atmosphere lightened, we began to talk about norma
Rae’s POVAfter placing all the different containers of herbs on the counter in the kitchen Henry asks, “What do you plan on doing with those?”With a huge grin on my face, “Care to help me?”Henry’s eyes light up, “With a smile like that how could I say no?”With everything that is going on lately this is a very much needed distraction. I know I need to address what just happened between me and Jeong and figure out what am I suppose to do exactly for the rest, but I welcome this. It’s been so long since I’ve made this and I really hope it turns out. Anything to give a little flavor to the food here. I’m surprised no one has done this and if they did they sure kept it secret.Grabbing a bowl, eggs, vinegar, oil and what I believe is equivalent to a bit of mustard seed I start getting to work.&
Jeong’s POVSitting in my study I can’t help but lean over looking down with my elbows on my desk while I pull my own hair in frustration. Images of Rae’s terrified face after kissing her keeps flooding my mind. What have I done? Moving my hands down to my face I support my chin on my thumbs while rubbing the bridge of my nose with my fingers. What should I do? Will she still be the same or will she distance herself from me now?Nathan and Gerald walk in without even knocking.“Wow, what’s got you all bent out of shape?” Nathan jokes as he sees the state I’m in.Pure annoyance fills within me as I lean back in my chair still pinching the bridge of my nose with one hand. “It’s nothing, I just have a headache.”“Oh really?” Nathan smirks while nudging Gerald.I’m not in the mood for t
Rae’s POVHere I am standing in my own bathroom in Jeong’s arms naked. I was trying to quickly get to the closet to change, but thanks to him I slipped on the wet floor. Now both our bodies are firmly pressed together and I can feel he no longer is wearing any clothes. I can see him looking down with lust in his eyes as he stares at my breasts.I’m frozen stiff. I’m not sure what I should even do. Pushing away from him will give him full view of my body, not that he hasn’t seen it before but… It would also give me full view of his own body in all it’s glory. I watch as he traces his vision upwards until meeting my eyes. I can’t help but get lost in those gorgeous caramel eyes of his. Before I knew it he tightened his grip around my waist pulling me closer. I couldn’t help but gasp at the sudden action. His other hand soon found it’s way up the back of my neck before l
Jeong’s POV“How did? Who told you her name?” There is no way she could have found out my mothers name. Father had everything destroyed and made it like she never existed aside from that painting he keeps in his study.Rae lets out a sigh, “She did last night. That’s when her, Mary and the other woman sprung the bomb on me.”I can’t help but stare blankly at her. Not only does she seem to know about the theory of emotions fueling The Core but also knows about Mary’s sacrifice and my mothers name. Could what she’s saying actually be real? “Hold on, this is a lot for me to process right now. What you’re saying is insane and hard to believe, but you’re also saying things that you should have never known.”Rae uncertain “So… Does that mean you’re beginning to believe me?”“I&r
Jeong’s POV“You’re wrong!” Rae shouts, completely taking me off guard. “It’s you all who don’t understand!”I’m wrong? I don’t understand? I’ve never seen her behave this way before. What does she even mean? What should I say in this situation? “I’m sorry if I said something that upset you. I don’t quite understand what you mean by not understanding.”Rae looks at me pleading “Women are being sacrificed in vain. The amount of sacrifices is of no use.”I can see tears trying to make their way out of her eyes. Caressing her face I thumb off an escaped tear. “I know dear. I lost my mother remember? Everyone here has lost someone, that’s why we are trying to change everything.”Rae grabs my hand in hers “No, you don’t underst