========================================================================================== I was the weird kid growing up. Not all of it was my fault,... but regardless of how many of the kindergarten rumors were true, I was stuck with them. Most of the specifics faded over time, but the residual "that guy's weird" remained. I tell you this to give a little context. I became the quiet guy who sits in the back of class and doesn't speak unless spoken to, and that's how I went through most of my. Until about 2 months ago, my thoughts were only of Terry. I would jokeabout having relationships with other friends of his, but Terry was enough tomake me happy. It was when he took me home to meet his family that my jokingbecame serious. I met his mom (his dad died a few years ago) and we hit itoff nicely. His mom was cool with our relationship and was glad her sonfinally met someone who made him happy. About fifteen minutes after meetingTerry's mom, his brother, Adam, came home from. ”“So you want me to prepare for your arrival into town?”This girl was starting to get on his nerves. “You’re not listening. You don’t have to do anything for me. You’re your own person now.”“But I’m not. I’m yours.” She was almost whimpering now. Time for some tough love. Noah retrieved his bow and an arrow and took aim at her. “Leave now, or I’ll kill you and use your corpse for bait to catch my dinner.”There was a glimmer in her eyes. “If I can be useful as a corpse, I’ll do that. Please, use. The two of them had barely enough space to curl up on the floor at the same time. Clegg had kept them shackled and gagged. The only times that they had any freedom at all was when they were fed.It had been a long day. Bethany wondered how many more there would be before they were killed or before? What?This day they'd been told they had to learn how to behave. She guessed that meant Clegg had something else in mind for them. Alexander had delighted in training them to stand or kneel to order..