Chain Me

Friends

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     Lost nods eagerly and I swear she blushes. Her mood is infectious and my smile widens slightly, then I gesture for her to follow me. She steps to my left and lets me lead as we make our way into the hall and let her room's door shut and lock behind us.
     "Where are we going?" she asks softly, looking embarrassed.
     Mariam's passing comment some time ago about Lost having a crush on me surfaces, and I quickly shake the memory away. "Just around," I say, walking slowly along. "You need to stretch your legs."
     "Are we allowed to do this?"
     "You're my priority now. I have the last word on your well being. I say you need to exercise."
     "Am I getting fat?"
     My foot falters and I trip up, but Lost catches my arm and sets me right. "What? No," I chuckle. I never expected her to come to that conclusion. "You're in fantastic shape. What I meant was you need something to do. Stretching your legs seems like a great idea, doesn't it?"
     "Oh. Yes, that seems great."
     We fall into a companionable silence after that, and I wonder how I should bring up living together. I'm sure Lost would do it if I said she had to, but I don't want to force her to do it if she doesn't want to. The General will pressure me if I take too long, I'm sure, but he doesn't understand how I'm trying to give Lost her life back, in whatever way I can. She's had her will stripped from her for too long.
     "So, how are you feeling?" I ask to get us started. We need to talk in order for me to get on the subject of going up top to work.
     "Better, thank you," she says cheerily, giving me a happy smile. "The backs of my eyes hurt a little, though."
     I stop and turn to her. "Let me see," I tell her, motioning for her to lean in close. When she does, I lift her right eye lid. "Are you tired?"
     She's quiet and I have to ask again. "Oh, um, no," she finally says.
     I dig into my pocket and fish out the little light I have. It comes in handy more often than I'd like to admit. "Headache?" I ask, pointing the light into her eye then flicking the beam away.
     "Nothing I can't handle."
     Humming, I release Lost's face. She seems fine but I'll get a doctor to look at her later. It's most likely the tranquilizers being flushed out of her system. Usually she would have had another dose by now.
     "Tell me if you feel worse," I instruct, walking again. "Tell me if you ever feel out of the ordinary, okay? Our doctors are the best."
     "I will."
     "Good." We pass a solitary soldier and he nods at me as we pass. I nod back, thankful that he doesn't raise his weapon to Lost. Anyone duty should already know by now that Lost and I are to be left alone unless instructed to do otherwise.
     "How are you feeling?" Lost asks as we make a left and hit an open area with two elevators, one on each side of us. We pass them and enter another hall.
     "I'm good. But can't you already feel that?"
     She shrugs. "Emotions are hard to decipher. Sometimes we feel a mix of things and it's difficult for me to figure it out. Besides, it's impossible for me to know why you're feeling what you're feeling."
     That makes sense. "Does it upset you when you don't know why?"
     "Very much. Especially when the emotion is negative. Usually I assume it's my fault. Even if it's not, it's common for me to get the backlash. So I try my best to make things better."
     My footsteps slow and Lost's do the same. I frown, crossing my arms over my stomach. "How long have you been... someone else's?"
     "Since I came into my own. It's in my nature to find someone to adhere to."
     "Even after the terrible things you've been through? Why do you keep looking for more?"
     She sighs heavily and bows her head. "I don't want the terrible things, but it seems I have the worst luck."
     I feel bad for her. "So why keep trying to get yourself collared or whatever?"
     "I need to; my kind needs to. We need the bond otherwise we're self destructive. You get my power while I get your sanity."
     An ugly sensation makes my stomach tight. "The previous people who've had you weren't very sane, I think."
     "Perhaps not, but they kept me grounded all the same. What they chose to do with their side of our relationship... Well..."
     "How many people have you been in these relationships with?"
     Lost's face twists and she tilts her head towards the ceiling. "I'm not entirely sure. My most recent years are a blur."
     I put my hands in pockets, feeling my tiny flashlight. "Do you remember your first?"
     Her face returns forward and she nods. "She was a wonderful woman. We got to know each other when the Britains invaded."
     Shocked, I wave my hands before me and stop. "Wait, wait, wait. When the Britains invaded. When was this?" Lost doesn't look older than twenty five. Brits haven't invaded anything for a long, long time.
     Lost puckers her lips in thought. "I'm not sure of the year. But I believe they dubbed that time 'the slave trade.'"
     "The slave trade?" I burst out. "The slave trade? But the last time the Brits invaded anywhere for slaves was like, the late 1800s! You're not that old."
     "I'm older than that," she says nonchalantly. "My first Mistress just happened to be in Africa."
     I'm still in shock about this. If Lost isn't lying, and it's unlikely that she is, I think, then she has been around for centuries. "Were you born in Africa?" I ask softly, really not wanting to talk about possible immortality. That's too much to handle.
     "I was," she says, looking at me funny. I assume she feels my surprise. "But my mother was from Romania. She met my father in Egypt."
     "Oh," I manage. Her heritage certainly explained her brown skin, though pale thanks to her captivity, and her sharp features and deep, dark eyes. She's beautiful, actually. Though I never would have guessed her line. "That's great. You must have lots of stories about traveling the world."
     "I didn't always travel by my own volition."
     I rub my brow, already hating the stories she has yet to tell. They're probably filled with violence and prejudices. "How did you get to America?"
     "I was put on a boat to work under the guise of being male. It was all very stressful."
     I could only imagine. And now the topic was way far off from what I really wanted to talk about. But then again, how could I pass up the opportunity to hear history from someone who lived it? So, I continued to ask questions, and we walked together much further than I originally planned to go.

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     I wasn't sure why Kahlan started taking me for walks and talking to me about the past I lived, but I enjoyed every moment of every day we did it. It was a lot of days, too. I knew because I wasn't drugged, and I'm still not. It's great. Every day Kahlan asks something new about me or about a historical event, and I give her all the details the best I can. Some things I couldn't comment on because I wasn't there or I wasn't paying much attention to them, though.
     Today, Kahlan is asking about the second and third reemergences of the Ku Klux Klan, wanting to know if I did anything to help stop them at all. I had, helping any minority I could, and more than once taking a life as well as saving one. Mindless hatred disturbed me and I couldn't help but lash out at those morons in white, hiding their faces like the cowards they were.
     "How did you not get caught?" Kahlan asks, taking a left. We're taking the same route as we always do.
     I shrug nonchalantly. "Make the deaths look like accidents or some such thing. If I didn't the police would take a poor black man into custody. I really hated that."
     Kahlan nods, her face serious. "Racism ran rampant then. It still does, but at least we're not quiet about it anymore. I wouldn't have been able to hold myself back if I were you. I'm sure those people back then were more than awful."
     "They were," I agree. "I protected my neighborhood every day and night."
     "I'm sure you did."
     I walk along, already knowing where we are and where we're going, but still allowing Kahlan to lead. I don't want any of the soldiers we happen to pass to get the wrong idea. None of them have attempted to attack me since Kahlan and I first started taking our walks, but I know they will if I ever act out of turn.
     "How would you like a new neighborhood to protect?" Kahlan asks suddenly, making me turn my head to face her as we walk along.
     "A new neighborhood?" I say, intrigued.
     She nods, giving me an odd smile. "Yes. You could work for my people, have a new neighborhood to take care of."
     I manage not to frown as I ask, "Are you sending me away?"
     Kahlan stops and shakes her head. "No, no. Of course not. I'm asking if you'd like to move out of here. Move somewhere where the sun is."
     That sounds nice, actually. "Am I allowed to do that?"
     "Yes, if you want. But you'd have to do work for my people. Are you okay with that?"
     Puckering my lips, I tilt my head slightly to the side. I assume working for Kahlan's people means tracking down individuals and apprehending them, as Cas did with me. Or perhaps killing them. Cas sure didn't seem shy about killing so I can guess that she's done it before. Why else would the government have her in their clutches? "Can I still see you?" I ask softly. I'd still work if Kahlan wanted me to, but I'd be happier if I could see her often enough.
     Kahlan smiles softly. "You'll see me every day. I've been appointed your caretaker. We'll be living together if you agree."
     My heart skips a beat and suddenly I'm nervous, but I think some of it is Kahlan's. I wonder if she's nervous because she's given me the opportunity to say no. But there's no way I will. "I'd enjoy having a new neighborhood to protect, one with you in it," I say sincerely. I'd put my life on the line for Kahlan. I don't care if I have to work for her people. I'm just glad that she'll be with me along the way.
     Her smile widens. "Good. I'm glad." She starts back for my room, brushing those beautiful red locks out of her face. "But I'll warn you, we're going to be living across the hall from Cas and Mariam. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't fight Cas again."
     I groan, making Kahlan chuckle. I suppose Cas being my neighbor won't be a big deal. She just better stay out of my way.