Chapter 53

We all had to be quiet for a while for me to come back to my senses and stop feeling that tingling of rage in my gums, the devastating and brutal feeling that had made every hair on my body stand up. Ruminating over the words over and over again didn’t do me any good; I was beginning to see a shocking truth in what Sebastian had just said. I did have things to hide, things that hurt me and embarrassed me, that I had not even told my mother and couldn’t tell anyone of my own blood, because I knew they wouldn’t understand. In the purple semi-darkness of the falling night, I glimpsed from the corner of my eye the curious silhouettes of the students, moving close to us, observing us.

Sebastian also noticed them, because he raised his voice and, with a shout, ordered them:

“What are you doing? Keep feeling the terrain! I haven’t told you to stop yet!”

The young people broke up and ran, leaving a trail of yelps.

“Nikolai, what Seb is trying to say is that, obviousl