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“Fennec,” I called out, walking fast to be closer to him and to not get lost.

With everything white around us, it would be even harder to find my way back to camp.

“Let’s not talk about that, all right? We’re home soon, and while Papa goes hunting, we’ll have some time to ourselves. Sound good?”

I smiled at him and nodded, and since Papa was staring ahead without any intention of looking back at us, I reached for Fen’s hand to be as close to him as possible.

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “He’ll be back to normal sooner or later. Don’t worry.”

*

Papa brought back a squirrel and rabbit that night, and after we had dinner, Fennec and I decided to go to bed.

I was brushing my teeth as Fennec climbed up to the treehouse, and once I was done, I went over to Papa’s cabin to see how he was doing.

No matter how mad he was, I didn’t want him to think I was angry at him for shouting at Fen.

“Papa?” I asked as I pushed the door open.

He was sitting on his mattress and folding the clothes he wore today, and when he looked up at me, he smiled.

“Hey, sweetheart. You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, you? You seemed a little frustrated today.”

He let out a sigh, then he patted the spot next to him to tell me to sit down.

I walked over and sat next to him, letting him pull me into his arms.

“It’s all better. Fennec and I had a few arguments some time ago. Guess there were some things we never cleared between us,” he explained.

“I understand. I don’t like seeing you like this. This is supposed to be your happy place. Fennec’s and mine too.”

He caressed my back and kissed the top of my head. “It is my happy place, Vespyr. Don’t you worry about that. But before he came to live with me, things were different, you know? I was alone and didn’t have to listen to what others thought about the things I did all day long. I had no one judging me, but Fennec’s good with words. He’s smart, and sometimes he uses those words to his advantage.”

“What do you mean?”

I turned to look up at him, and after a while of him eyeing me, he cleared his throat as if he was preparing to say something he wasn’t too sure about.

“Have you ever noticed how well he deals with others? Not just us, but when he was in school with all the people around him. He’s never had trouble making friends, or being liked by teachers or even cops around town.”

“Fennec’s just a very likable person. Like Mama,” I explained.

“Ever thought about them just being very good at manipulating others to think that way? They’re very similar, but Fennec is different.”

I was trying to understand the deeper meaning of Papa’s words, but there wasn’t much conclusion being made in my head.

“Be honest with me, okay? Has he ever made you do something you didn’t want to?”

Not things I didn’t wanna do, but things I was unsure about in the beginning, like him using that knife on my skin, or me peeing in his mouth.

“No,” I replied. “Not that I remember.”

“What about eating that raw piece of liver? You didn’t seem as if you enjoyed eating it when you told us at the diner. Did you tell him no at first?” he asked.

I thought back to that evening, and quickly remembered how it went down.

I had told him no at first, even a second time, but then I gave in. “He told me it would be good for me because I was losing blood.”

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