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Turning her palm over, she remembered the blisters

It had been as cold as it was now the night it had happened But she had been deter She had used a kitchen knife to stab at the hard, frozen earth and then had clawed the loose dirt free with her bare hands Three feet down, and then she could go no farther because her hands were too shot

She had gone back into the house then

The young she had wrapped in a dishtowel--a clean one that had no holes

Back out by the grave, she had leaned down and placed the tiny bundle in the earth Her tears had been the first thing that had filled what she had dug And then that dirt, falling in chunks that she had had to press down, her bloodwith the clay soil

Concerned that predators would find the site, she had turned back to the house Stones set aside for some kind of terrace project that had not come to fruition had been stacked by the back door One by one, she had carried them over and made a cairn

Then she had sat in the cold until she had shivered fro now

Only the blazing burn of the sun’s earliest rays had o back inside--and even then, she had retreated not because she wanted to live, but rather because she had been determined to clean up her blood on the kitchen floor

And also because of that old wives’ tale about not being welcohtfall, she had dug up that bush and replanted it…and then she had left with no idea where she was going

She had spent the first few days on the streets, keeping sheltered from the sun in alleys behind Du eventually

She still wanted to believe that

Oddly, she recalled how busy the city had been during the day Having only known Caldwell at night, the a, talking hu activity had been a surprise

Eventually, she had decided she had to do so with herself She had found a job as a short-order cook at an all-night diner, taking the third shift that paid relatively well because most humans didn’t want to do the late hours

And then she’d seen that post on a closed Facebook group about the Brotherhood’s training progra herself fall back onto her ass, she stared at the stones she had laid, one upon the other

"Serenity," she said out loud "I’ to name you Serenity Because I hope that is what you have found in the Fade…"

"You are my uncle’s special friend"

At the sound of a small voice, Saxton turned away fro beside hi center’s corridor, both of her parents behind her, a toy tiger dangling in her hand The little girl was in a red dress, her dark hair curling at the ends, her eyes innocent, yet very old

This one had known soThus, she was used to this sorroasn’t she, he thought sadly

Clearing his throat, he eased down to her level so he could meet her eye to eye "Yes, I am How did you know?"

"My uncle told ht He said you were his special friend and he loved you very ht that he was all cried out: After the trip in on the surgical van, with Ruhn coding twice, and then watching the door close as Doc Jane and Manny went in to put so in the male’s throat, he’d assumed he was dry as a bone

Nope

His eyes started to water all over again "I love your uncle very much, too He is my special friend as well"

"Here" She held out her stuffed tiger "This is Mastimon He has always protected me You can hold hiift, and as he tucked it into his heart, he pulled the little girl close to his chest Her arth froe looked heartbroken as he spoke up "Any news…?"

Saxton stood and was surprised as Bitty kept her arm around him It seemed so easy to rest his hand on her sether

"Not yet," he told the Brother "They’ve been in there forever"

"Do they knoho did this?"