How many times I must have hurt their feelings with what I thought were harmless phrases, simple gestures, perhaps just ignoring their dreams and desi...res and not doing what they wanted, not saying the words they wanted to hear from me the most. Athena, who were you? Sometimes—specially in those cold days when you lay your body over mine, your face hiding in my neck, the covers protecting us from the weather, and we stayed like that in silence for a long time—I wondered if you ever were in love. “How about hamburgers?”“Store bought?”“Homemade.”“Don’t,” she repeated. “I don’t want to poison them. They’re my friends, not my enemies.”With a laugh, genuinely amused by her, I told her I would read recipes and practice beforehand to perfect my burger-making skills. Then I steered the conversation around to her interests. Fashion, music, and movies. Like a lot: books, Instagram. Dislike a lot: chores, studying.I’d seen her end of school report. Addison was a perfect C student, neither. I wasn?t programmed for obedience as the others were; I was programmed for independent thought and intelligence. I learned early, as most children do, what behaviors to avoid. Since it had been awhile since they really needed to break a slave, they had forgotten how and simply applied force to any situation they approached, like the Neanderthals of times past. I was beaten regularly, sometimes more than twice a day, sometimes for no reason at all what the trainers called ?good-measure?. I. ." Necro began to cry."Listen to me, ok, lass? I'm not..." Father did this to me. When he knew that the being destined to destroyour Master was to be born, he sent me to the Underworld, and made itappear as though I were kidnapped. He and Master abused me for so longthat evil became second nature to me, but I couldn't handle it, so Icreated Necro." Yer shitting me, right, lass? Yer tellin' me yer plural?" Yes. In some ways, I guess I am. I haven't been able to assert myselfin years, however,.