CRAVE Read Online Free Page B

point out that humans were going to feel the same way when Exiled moved to Farsuitwail to begin integrating into their society.
    As a lucky break for both Scar and the Exiled in general, when construction got underway, the human workers quickly became addicted to the ales and ciders they drank at the Commons and wanted to buy more to take home. Since, the Exiled would no longer be subsidized by the human population for protection services, they would be needing to find ways to work within the culturally merged economy. Scar was quick to realize that it could be the first commercial venture founded by hybrids.
     
    Dandelion visited Crave every day even though it was excruciatingly difficult to see him bound in chains, with vacant eyes, roaring mindlessly until his voice was no more than air forced over vocal cords that were numb from overuse. The medicine that Flora had brought back helped, but administering it presented another problem. They finally combined it with drinking water and forced it down his throat knowing that, in his incapacitation, he viewed that treatment as more reason to be fearful. The hatred he bore for his new captors was identical to the way he felt about the Rautt. In his mind, there was no difference.
    On the fifth day after the Rautt battle, Crave’s holding cell was complete. It was housed in a building by itself, set apart from the cluster of buildings that formed the core of the colony.
    The building walls were constructed of thick mortar. On the inside, three walls of the cell were the outside walls. The fourth side was made up of iron bars. There was an area about eight feet wide between the bars and the fourth mortar wall. It had several south-facing windows. They’d reasoned that it would be good for his morale to let natural light in and also give him a view to outside, but thought that he should be facing south toward the training field that was surrounded by green forests. Rolling pastures and farmland could be seen in the distance beyond.
    They also built a fireplace large enough to heat the space. Just in case he wasn’t well by winter.
    Once Crave was situated in the cell, his medication was reduced so that he was more awake. Great care had been taken to ensure that, even with his superior strength, the bars would not give way.
    At first they provided a cot for him to sleep on, but it quickly became evident that, from his twisted perspective, furniture was undesirable. He set about destroying it thoroughly, which meant that he had to be sedated for most of a day while they cleaned up the feathers that had stuffed his mattress along with pieces of fabric and wood. They tried leaving blankets, but he tore them to shreds, snarling and growling as if the cotton wool blend was the enemy.
    Dandelion brought bedding and made a pallet on the floor in the hallway outside his cell. Except to attend to matters of personal hygiene and maintenance, she refused to leave. She ate, drank, and slept next to where Crave was kept. When she lay on her pallet, he would reach through the bars with his long arms, trying to grab on so that he could do to her what had been done to furniture, blankets, and clothing.
    He was enraged by everything in his sight, including her, and would destroy anything that could be destroyed.
    She couldn’t be dissuaded from staying, even though Dr. Reising wasn’t sure it was a good idea, because Dandelion’s presence seemed to be doing more harm than good. The patient was agitated in her presence, but because he was constantly agitated, it was impossible to draw an absolute conclusion. Since the young female was adamant about staying, Dr. Reising gave in on the point.
    Her evaluation of the patient’s mental state was not optimistic. At all. She indicated that the deep layering of traumas, one right after another, had caused his mind to attempt to shield itself. She said that, if she was pressed for a prognosis, she would have to say that Crave should be kept clean and as