Vessa saw her door and let out a breath, still holding the file to her side. She paused, the door was slightly ajar.

She opened her mind to the numbers and Douwell’s came rushing in. Vessa sighed and thought about turning away and going elsewhere, except Castillo had told her to wait in her room. The chorus of screaming, and the thirteen-year-old’s begging, was too fresh to disobey.

“You may come in,” Douwell called.

Vessa’s fist tightened on the file. The last thing she wanted to deal with was Douwell. But if she turned and walked away Douwell would either mess with her room more or follow her, and the screaming echoed in Vessa’s mind.

She opened her door to Douwell laying on Vessa’s bed with her shoes still on.

“Get your shoes off my bed” Vessa said

“Did my favorite well trained hound complete their assignments with their normal perfection?” Douwell asked as she sat up and put her shoes on the floor. Vessa looked around her room to see everything shifted a bit out of place.

Vessa breathed slowly out and looked to Douwell who had elbows on her knees and hands cupping her slightly tilted face. A smirk on her lips and eyes mocking Vessa.

“Apparently better, considering you lost the betting pool.” Vessa said, almost smiled at all she was leaving out and went to fix her curtains. Vessa put the file down on the windowsill to straighten her books.

“Well, maybe I’ll bet better next time with this,” Douwell said and Vessa turned from her books to see Douwell had nabbed her file.

“Give it back, Douwell.” Vessa said and walked towards Douwell. Douwell jumped up onto the bed with her dirty shoes and opened the file and began reading.

“OOO spicy…. and you normally don’t care which must…..” Douwell went quiet and completely still. Vessa grabbed her file away from Douwell, who let it slip from her hands. Vessa began straightening the papers.

“Vessa……” Douwell said and Vessa looked up to Douwell who was still on her bed. There was no longer a smirk on her face, and her eyes were unreadable.

“Vessa, let me do this” Douwell said.

“No. And get off my bed,” Vessa said and went to the shelves of knickknacks and straightened them. She heard a thud and then hands turned Vessa, so that she was facing Douwell.

“Would you stop and listen to me!” Douwell said and shook Vessa. Vessa pushed Douwell’s hands away and stepped back.

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“I can do my own assignments Douwell.” Vessa said and Douwell laughed, but it was not the usual. It was more manic, as if Douwell was panicked.

“Not this time. Not this one. Let me do it. I’ll sneak away and go with you and then sneak back in and you can claim you did it.” Douwell said, looking completely earnest.

“That would be lying,” Vessa said and Douwell pivoted away from Vessa and threw her hands up into the air.

“So the fuck what?” Douwell asked as her hands went to her head.

“I was given this assignment.” Vessa said, watching as Douwell’s fingers dug into her scalp.

“Because the fuckers want their perfect hound to be completely under their control!” Douwell said and paced back and forth from wall to wall.

Vessa just watched her for a moment.

“That’s not how I see it.” She said and Douwell turned back violently.

“No, because you’re a blind idiot, but you can’t just push forward this time!” Douwell said, her arms gesturing wildly. Vessa gritted her teeth and then asked.

“Why not?”

“Because you cannot kill a child, Vessa!” Douwell said, almost screaming. Vessa said nothing for a moment before finally saying.

“I’ll complete this assignment as I have done with every other.”

“No, you won’t, and when you don’t, you’ll run. We both know what happens next.” Douwell said and went to the windowsill, pressing her head against the glass. Vessa heard the screams of the Learning Center in her mind.

“That won’t be me.” Vessa said, and Douwell turned to face Vessa when there was a knock at the door.

Vessa went and opened it. To see a woman dressed in a transportation uniform, another Caster like Maggie who preferred the Wishing Constellation to the Casting Constellations.

“Castillo sent me to bring you to your destination.” She said, and Vessa nodded.

“Vessa won’t you let me have your room?” Douwell asked in her flippant tones. Vessa turned back to look at her. Knickknacks and books with light shining through the window and Douwell standing in the middle of the room. All Vessa had to do was say yes, but what would Vessa do for each similar assignment?

“No, you have your own,” Vessa said as she walked out with the transit worker. Everything would be fine. Vessa was well trained.