Page 3 of Abraxas

"I see you're beginning to get to know us. Have no fear. Troll will guard the dessert in exchange for a piece when we return."

"I don't believe I know him," Gloria said. She wouldn't since he'd only started coming around her and other guests recently.

"He lives downstairs. You may have seen him walking through but not met him. He's on his way, so we can go."

“How do you know that?”

“We’re wearing earpieces since we had a lot of work earlier. I forgot to take mine out.” He pulled it out to show her.

Holding out his arm to her, he waited until she took it to lead her outside. He felt like he was making progress as she took off her shoes to walk in the sand. Her smile was gorgeous as they ran after shells for his collection. They found some bright and colorful ones, too.

“Look at this one!” Gloria called out.

“That’s an Epitonium Scalare, also called a wentletrap. I didn't know they grew that big."

“You’ve been learning more about shells.”

"Yes, there are so many, and our beach gets rare ones. That one is not rare, but the size makes it rare."

“I love the twists and turns. It’s also shiny.”

"It can be made shinier. I believe Lu plans to put a huge aquarium in the new restaurant, and I'll help fill it with shells. Stef and Lu are already catching small fish for it. It will be exciting when everything gets done." Gloria smiled at him. "Am I getting too excited?"

"Goodness no. I love it when you get happy like this. It makes me feel happy, too."

Those words made his heart sing and inspired him to write a song. It wouldn't be like Lu's songs. He just didn't have that talent. Stef said their album hit number one worldwide, and the individual songs made the top ten on multiple rankings. Lu and Risa were the singers. The first song they released hit number one.

He didn't aspire to that level but hoped his song would be good enough to woo his Gloria. She would recognize herself in the song. He just knew she would. Their fast-paced life went far beyond what he'd ever expected or even, he admitted, wanted. The plan had originally been no trips at all. That had changed from none to a couple a year out of the need to recover their brothers. Now, it seemed life was playing with them.

The band they had formed out of necessity to make a living seemed to be the best cover to plan a raid around. That was the irony of it all. Now that the sun was setting, he walked Gloria to her room. It wasn’t far from his. It was disconcerting to see Cirrus standing there waiting.

"Did you need something? Gloria and I were on a date," he explained.

"I didn't realize she was taken," Cirrus said.

"Now you know."

Gloria didn't say a thing. She didn't like Cirrus and had admitted to him a few days ago that he'd tried to pick her up. Since Risa and Stef had warned her about him, she'd shied away, not even being friendly.

As they went into her room, Abe saw Cirrus watching.

"Why do they keep that man here? They know he's evil," Gloria wondered.

“Let’s turn on the radio. I love music.”

He knew she thought he was blowing off her question, but he wasn't. He had to be careful who might hear.

Once the music was on, he took her in his arms like they were dancing. "I have to be careful, so he won't hear. This is super-secret and no joke. We hope to use him to trace Origin's big shots and find more facilities. None of us like him around, but the public isn't aware of how harshly some of us were treated. They must be freed as soon as possible. They are being punished because of us."

“The ones that go to the beach, those that are missing parts?”

"Yes, their infirmities are the results of torture or experiments."

"Oh, my God." Gloria's eyes filled with tears, confirming what a warm and caring person she truly was.

"Someday, we hope to have all the survivors freed."

“They kill gods?”

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