The rest of the week was pretty much the same routine, with the exception of my mother’s funeral. Her body had been buried earlier but there hadn’t been adequate time for a proper ceremony. I expected to cry a lot, but my tear ducts were dry. The pain in my heart was never dull though. I said a few words and promised out loud to take down her killer. Felix stood by me the entire time and comforted me afterwards. Even though the ceremony was far from peaceful, I felt more at peace that she had a proper burial and there were actually people to attend. Nearly every Lovac and a good portion of the Nesmyr at the facility were there. The next day, the training continued like nothing had ever happened. I preferred it that way, too. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life grieving and I didn’t want to hear the sympathy from others. I focused all my sorrow into the training. We stuck with running and weight training in the morning, with yoga stretches in between, mental training in the afternoon with Rema and then took tours after dinner. Felix showed me a few important rooms on the main floor, like the hospital wing and the feeding room. I was disgusted by both of them. The hospital was sectioned into two parts; a section like any other hospital, with beds for minor cases and a room for critical care, and another section for Lovac that were starting to lose their mind, that was basically a toned down insane asylum. Felix didn't want me to see the section specifically for crazy Lovac, but I insisted. He introduced me to Daryn, who sat in the corner to his barred off room, scratching on the white walls the entire time we were there. The other Lovac that was in this section was Ashli. She seemed almost normal when I was introduced to her but as we were leaving, I heard her screaming and thrashing around her room. The feeding room was just as traumatizing. There were humans set up in booths, with dazed looks on their faces and multiple bite marks in their necks. Felix explained that most of them were volunteers and were addicted to the hormones released by a Nesmyr bite but no explanation would ever make it okay in my mind. There were some things about this new world I was dragged in to that I would never accept. Felix even offered to let me try the blood but I refused. I know it would make me stronger but the thought of actually tasting blood my stomach churn. He didn’t pressure me and said most Lovac preferred to stay away from blood, though there were a few who enjoyed it. We continued with the rest of our tours throughout the week. I was easily able to locate places where people were using their power and Felix always found it fascinating. We even discovered that I could locate Nesmyr even when they weren’t using their power. They apparently always gave off a small radiance of power that I could sense if I concentrated hard enough. My body started to adjust to the training and I could feel it getting leaner and stronger every day. My training with Rema always got more intense but I was able to handle it. Somehow, word of my abilities traveled around the facility and many of the Lovac and even some Nesmyr went out of their ways to meet me. I felt like a local celebrity. I stayed in Riley’s room every night and our friendship increased every night. The sadness in her eyes never disappeared but it seemed to lessen when I was around. I would never fill the spot of her sister, but at least I could be there as a friend for her. My feelings for Felix seemed to grow every day and Felix seemed to distance himself from me more but I knew he was having just as hard of a time getting his feelings closed off. There were moments when he would look at me with hungry eyes and times where he would reach for me, but he always stopped himself short. My longing for him to touch me increased and on more than one occasion, I contemplated taking action. Nine