Four days, that is how long Eydis had been gone for. Every night I went out and looked for her, hoping someone had seen her. But I had not been successful. She vanished, just like Constance.

By now my cheek had yellowed from the impact of Odetts fist. Only Ari asked about it. No one else seemed to care. Maybe that was a sign, most people here didn't care about one another, all too busy with their own studies.

I hadn't seen Ezra since he gave me the box either. Although not seeing him seemed less heartbreaking. He filled my mind less and less as Eydis slowly consumed my thoughts like a raging flame.

"Telvi, did you even hear what I said to you?" Ari asked as we ran around the rink for a cool down.

The ice was too soft to practice on and Irena thought it best to do some off ice practicing.

I heard whispers of a fear that the summer would be too hot to operate the ice rink, but I didn't linger on that. I was used to taking months off. It wouldn't be too different.

I shook my head as I took a deep breath. "Eydis has been gone for days and no one seems to care," I stated. "That's been on my mind."

He placed his long delicate hand on my shoulder and gave a sympathetic look. "Welcome to the training program. I hate to break it to you, but if she hasn't come back, she won't. I would stop looking if I was you."

It felt like the breath had been knocked out of me. How could I just give up so easily?

"This is what happens here. People just vanish. One day you see them, the next...." He opened his hands then placed them by his side.

"Where do they go?"

He shrugged. "Haven't thought about it much. Probably to help the Motherwealth be more great."

"But what about the end of our contract? Don't we go home after that?"

"Ari, Telvi! Speed it up! You're going too slow," Irena shouted at us.

"I would like her to run with us, then she would be quiet," Ari muttered under his breath.

A giggle escaped my lips as I sped up, hoping that would please her.

"Anyhow..." Ari huffed as he kept pace beside me. "I guess we can go home. They always say we can after the contract ends. I don't know how many people actually do that though."

"Have you not thought about any of this?" I asked, as a pang of frustration hit me. These were serious questions that kept me up at night and he didn't seem to be bothered by any of it.

"Not really. I'm more interested in living in the now. Besides, I still have another year on my contract. I don't need to think about any of this."

"Do you want to go home?"

He chuckled. "Walter, and return to that slag place? No. I rather live in the Motherwealth til the day I die. Don't you?"

I shook my head.

He gasped. "You really like Hell that much?"

"It's home. It's where my family is."

"Family samily... if I talked to them, they would want me to stay. It's better for my future."

"They don't write you?"

He shook his head causing sweat to fall from it. "I didn't fit the mold back where I was from. I'm pretty sure they were itching for me to leave."

"Alright, practice is over. You can have your social hour now," Irena sighed in defeat.

Both Ari and I instantly stopped running as we tried to catch our breath.

Ari looked at the holographic watch as it flickered the time in front of us. He shook his hand as if it would stop it from flashing, but it didn't work. "Looks like she gave up on training today."

I nodded as the time vanished again. "At least we have the afternoon back."

"That's perfect for me. I love breaks and breaks are great for eating. Speaking of which, I'm starving. Want to get some early lunch with me?"

My stomach growled loud enough that Ari heard it. That was enough of an answer for him as he took me by the hand and pulled me towards the rink's exit.

"Alright, we need food."

<><><><><><><><><>

"You're telling me you don't care about your siblings?" I asked Ari as we walked back to the dorms after eating

Ari shook his head as he looked up at the sky as a plane passed over us. "It's hard to miss someone when they don't write to you."

"Before you came here, where you close?"

"Close enough. I think they were always jealous of my skating skills. Once I knew I had talent, my only goal was to come here. I think they wished they had the same talent."

"I never had a goal of coming here," I stated.

He gasped. "Walter, are you serious?"

I nodded.

"Girl, you're crazy. I think everyone here had the goal to come here."

Well I didn't.

"Then why did you train? For kicks and giggles?"

"My mom got me into it."

"And what does she think now that your hobby got you here?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. She's dead."

He mouthed an 'oh' then for a moment we were silent.

"Then why are you here if this was never your goal?"

"Because of the money. My brother needs it so I agreed to go."

"They don't often give money out to talent. You must be special."

I shrugged. I wasn't sure about that.

The rest of the walk was quiet until we slip ways for him to go to the men dorms and I to return to the woman dorms.

"Enjoy your day off tomorrow," Ari waved before walking toward his room.

I waved back to him then turned toward the brick dorm structure.

As I approached, I heard a faint sound of singing. I looked up towards the sound, recognizing it as Eydis' voice and saw her standing on the edge of the roof of our building.

My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at her walking on the edge, singing a song I've heard her sing before.

"Eydis, what are you doing? I've been looking for you all over!" I shouted up to her.

She looked down and smiled. "I should be asking you the same question. What are you doing?"

I shook my head. There were more important things I needed to say to her and yelling up at her wasn't the way to do it. "Get down, before you get yourself hurt."

She stopped and sat down, leaning over the edge to stare at me. "Who are you?" she asked.

I forced a laugh to hide my nerves. Her tone sounded serious. "I'm Telvi, your roommate."

She shook her head. "I don't have any roommates."

"Telvi, there you are! Went to the rink and found you weren't there," Ezra said as he ran up to me with a letter in his hand.

My eyes stared at the letter for a brief second before looking back at Eydis. "Please get down, I want to talk to you," I begged her.

"Why do we need to talk when I don't know you?"

My heart raced as I looked at Ezra. "There's something is wrong with Eydis."

He looked up at her then to me. "How long has she been there?"

"Long enough."

"Let's get her down. You stay here, talk to her. I'll go to the roof," he said starting towards the building.

"Why are you up there?" I asked, trying to buy time.

She giggled. "To look at the sky, obviously."

"You like to do that?"

"I love it."

I paced around as I tried to think of something else to say. "What do you like about it?"

She let out an exasperated sigh then sat down. "The birds."

My breath was stuck in my throat as I watched her legs dangle over the edge. "And what bird is your favorite?"

She smiled down at me, resting her head in her hands. "The blue jays."

Ezra head popped up right beside her. He placed his arms around her and guided her off the edge. "Got her. I'm coming down."

I breathed a sigh of relief then wiped the sweat from my brow. "Thank you."

Within a minute Ezra was back on the ground with Eydis beside him.

She looked thinner then when I last saw her. Her brown curly hair was cut nearly to her scalp. Bags hung under her eyes as she stared at me. The Eydis in front of me was incredibly different.

She looked at me then Ezra then around herself. Her bright wide eyes were taking everything in as if she had never seen any of this before. "And your who again?" She asked.

"Telvi," I replied as I glanced at Ezra for help.

He frowned in silence. 

"And this is Ezra." I pointed towards him.

"Ah, that's an odd name. You both have odd names." She met my eyes and smirked. "But you're cute." 

"Telvi, we should get her to your room," Ezra warned.

I nodded. With the sun setting, going inside was the best bet. "Are you tired? I can get a bed for you," I said to Eydis. 

She nodded with a yawn. "I would love one."

I wrapped my hand around hers and guided her towards our dorm room, hoping that she would recognize something about it. 

________

"Telvi.... it's late...." Ezra sighed as we watched Eydis sleep on her bed. 

She curled up like a cat the moment she laid her head on the pillow. I had seen her do this countless times before, even though something within her had changed, there was still parts of her that remained the same.

She didn't say much after we got into the dorm room. She looked around the place as if she had never seen it before then crawled into bed. With a yawn, she fell quickly asleep. 

"I know..." My eyes drifted towards his. 

The sun was coming up but I didn't dare close my eyes. I couldn't. What if Eydis ran off again? I had to keep an eye on her. 

"You should sleep. Training will start in a few hours." 

I already decided I would skip training today. This was more important. "I'm not going." 

"You can't just do that." 

I shrugged my shoulders. "And what are they going to do?" 

Ezra's face twisted up as if he knew better. "As a Commonwealth member, I don't think you have that flexibility." 

I wasn't sure if he meant it as negative as it sounded. I flinched. 

He stood up and stretched. "I have to go. And please go to training." With that, he left. 

My eyes fell on Eydis again. 

There was something in his tone that made me wonder if he knew better. But whatever he knew, wasn't as important as this. I didn't care if they let me go. I couldn't leave Eydis alone like this.