The Freshman
Copyright 2005 by EC

Chapter 36 - A summer of Public Penance

Jason and Cecilia spent their first summer in Upper Danubia with 
their days divided between learning the Danubian language, their 
household duties, and relaxing. The first priority, of course, 
was learning how to communicate in a city where very few people 
spoke English. The daily routine included six hours of intensive 
language instruction that started at 9:00 and ended at 4:00 with 
an hour for lunch. As the summer progressed, the couple realized 
that Prime Minister Dukov had enlisted the best language 
instructors in the country to pursue a single goal: to try to 
have them ready to attend university classes in the fall. They 
wrote endless exercises, memorized lists of words, were put 
through conversation drills, and studied grammar. They read 
everything ranging from children's stories to simple newspaper 
articles, in addition to their prepared exercises and simple 
readings.

By the end of August they had a working knowledge of Danubian, 
although they knew that taking regular classes at the university 
level still would be a struggle. Cecilia actually found herself 
at a slight advantage over Jason because she was bilingual. Her 
mind, already accustomed to the differences between Spanish and 
English, was able to grasp some of the grammatical concepts of 
Danubian faster than Jason. As for reading and writing, they 
seemed to progress about the same, but by the middle of the 
summer, Cecilia was slightly better at conversing in Danubian 
than was Jason.

During that first summer there was much more to their lives than 
language classes during the day and the Socrates Club during the 
evenings. Their activities included traveling and getting into 
better physical shape. 

Sightseeing in the provinces surrounding Danube City became an 
important part of the adjustment to life in Upper Danubia and 
vital for relieving the intense stress from all the couple's 
other responsibilities. They began traveling around Upper Danubia 
on the weekends with Cynthia Lee and her boyfriend. They made it 
as far east as Rika Chorna and spent two very pleasant weekends 
at the famous reservoir. They even went hiking in the mountains 
overlooking the lake, exploring the thick forests that had been 
the object of so many corporate ambitions over the past several 
years. 

All of their explorations over that summer were in the nude. 
While traveling they obtained a permit from the Temple to wear 
orange courier shoes at railroad stations and wear hiking boots 
when in the forests. However, shoes, shampoo, toothbrushes, small 
towels, and cameras were the only items they took with them on 
their trips. As long as they wore collars, Jason and Cecilia had 
to comply with their vow not to cover their bodies, so they 
traveled completely naked. Very quickly their inhibitions 
vanished, and to them it felt like the most natural thing in the 
world to jump on a train wearing nothing but a pair of shoes and 
jump off an hour or so later to explore a new town.

Exercising became a regular part of their routine, because they 
were officially enrolled as students in the university and 
subject to participating in the institution's fitness program. 
Each morning before seeing their language instructors they had to 
perform rigorous calisthenics and run 5 kilometers in groups that 
were segregated by sex. 

The exercise program was the one time each day that Jason and 
Cecilia's nudity did not set them apart from anyone else, because 
at the university, gymnastics classes meant just that, exercising 
in the nude. Along with swimsuits, most athletic clothing was 
prohibited, the only exception being clothing specifically 
designed to prevent injury. The only items the students wore 
during their fitness sessions were track shoes during the runs. A 
few of the larger-breasted women were permitted to wear sports 
bras while running, but to do so they had to obtain a doctor's 
waiver. As soon as the daily run ended the bras had to be taken 
off immediately.

Rigorous exercising was nothing new to Jason, who was used to 
keeping fit. He loved the runs, because running nude on a regular 
basis had been a lifelong dream for him and finally he was living 
that dream. His ability on the track caught the attention of his 
fitness instructor, and soon he found himself committed to 
joining the North Danube City track team and practicing to run 
for inter-provincial marathons to be held in the fall. Towards 
the end of the summer he began practicing with the track team 
instead of the regular fitness group, which opened up new 
friendships with Danubians who were athletes instead of people 
who either were criminals or associated with the Lee sisters. The 
old self-confidence Jason enjoyed when competing in high school 
came back to him after a two-year absence. As he prepared to 
compete in long distance running, his thoughts began to move past 
the trial, his parents' deaths, and the tumultuous events that 
brought him to the country.

In contrast, for Cecilia running five kilometers was a struggle 
at first. For several weeks she always trailed the other naked, 
sweaty, college-age women of her group. When she started out she 
despaired over ever improving, but slowly she did get better over 
time. She was fortunate that Tiffany and Cynthia were part of her 
group and gave her encouragement. Cynthia began the summer 
somewhat overweight, so in the beginning she ran at the rear of 
the group with Cecilia. However, within a couple of weeks 
constant physical activity put Kim's sister in much better shape, 
which in turn allowed her to improve on the runs.

Once Cynthia improved with her running and could stay with the 
main group, Tiffany's encouragement became even more important to 
Cecilia. If Tiffany noticed Cecilia falling behind the others, 
she dropped back to run alongside her fellow American. Once that 
happened, Cecilia knew she had to catch up to the others very 
quickly. If she didn't, Tiffany started landing hard slaps on her 
bare bottom to make her pick up her pace. As strange as it 
seemed, Tiffany was actually doing Cecilia a favor by spanking 
her if she ran too slowly. It was customary at the university 
that during a group run, the slowest member of the class was 
subject to discipline from the instructor. By running with her, 
Tiffany spared Cecilia the indignity of having her bottom smacked 
by the fitness teacher. However, by the end of August Cecilia was 
running as well as the other women in the group and no longer 
faced the threat of in-class discipline.

Another improvement in Cecilia's life was that, at age 20, she 
finally began to enjoy swimming. It was in the pool at the 
National University where Cecilia finally learned how to swim 
properly. With Jason still watching over her, Cecilia began 
swimming more and more on her own and learning various strokes. 
By the end of August she no longer needed Jason's help and could 
even go under water for short distances. Cecilia's ability to 
swim meant she and her partner could go to the river with their 
friends and swim at the beach just like anyone else.

----------

There was a big surprise waiting for Cynthia Lee at the end of 
August. Just two days before classes were due to start, Cynthia 
and Kim went to the Temple with Tiffany and several members of 
Kim's band. Upon seeing her, the Priest who had collared Cindy 
immediately approached her and took her outside. He prayed and 
then talked to her at length about her Path in Life. When the 
interview ended he told her that she needed to conclude her 
public penance. He unlocked her collar and handed her a prayer 
robe. Her face still reflecting surprise and bewilderment, she 
quietly got dressed and returned to the main chamber of the 
Temple as a normal citizen.

When she returned to her sister's house that evening, she found 
out why her penance had ended. There was a letter from the 
National University offering Cynthia a position of Academic 
Apprentice, which was the Danubian equivalent of a non-tenured 
instructor. She had not finished her doctorate, but her knowledge 
of the United States and its political system far surpassed that 
of anyone else in Danube City. While she finished researching the 
relationship between the Danubian government and Mega-Town 
Associates for her dissertation, the university wanted her to 
teach undergraduates about U.S. political history and social 
development. It was an opportunity for Danubian students to find 
out about the United States from an American who had proven 
herself intellectually and was well-respected by everyone in the 
capitol. She knew more about the U.S. than anyone else in Danube 
City, so it made sense for the university to put her knowledge to 
good use in the classroom.

It had been the rector of the university who contacted Cynthia's 
Priest and asked him to end her penance so she could accept her 
new position. The job offer was the sign from the Ancients that 
both she and the Priest had been waiting for. The path of her 
life had been determined by the Ancients and they had spoken to 
her. She was destined to be an instructor at the National 
University in Danube City and was on her way to becoming a 
Professor in full standing. 

The following week Cynthia Lee's life changed dramatically. Like 
her sister, she started braiding her hair to better fit in, one 
detail out of several that reflected the change in her appearance 
and her outlook on life. She assumed the formal title of 
"Apprentice" when sworn in at the university. To her students she 
had become a Danubian Public Official. They had to address her as 
Apprentice Lee in class, and any collared criminals among them 
had to kneel when speaking to her.

Like her younger sister, Cynthia Lee's Path in Life was to become 
a full member of Danubian society. That path was confirmed by 
another event towards the end of September. Her boyfriend 
concluded his public penance the day after the Day of the Dead 
Ceremonies and left the Temple wearing a prayer robe. The 
following evening he proposed to her. From that point forward 
Cynthia Lee wore her engagement jewelry whenever she appeared in 
public.

----------

September started without any sign that Jason and Cecilia should 
end their public penance. As a result when classes began, they 
remained collared and restricted from wearing any clothing. The 
fall semester started and the two Americans, along with fellow 
American Tiffany Walker, went to the university completely 
uncovered. It became apparent that the earliest the couple might 
take off their collars would be towards the end of September, 
after the Fall Equinox and the Day of the Dead ceremony. It was 
obvious that they would have to participate in the march along 
with Tiffany.

At first their situation made them feel very uneasy, but there 
were some big advantages to living without any clothing. They 
discovered that their lives were simplified in many ways, because 
in the mornings there was nothing they needed to do to get ready 
to go out apart from brushing their teeth. There was no getting 
dressed, and for Cecilia, no putting on any makeup. The only 
permitted concession to vanity was their hair. During the 
weekends the only item they had to wash was their bed sheets, so 
their nude lifestyle eliminated one time consuming task in life, 
having to keep a bunch of clothing clean.

When classes started in the fall Cecilia decided to take a 
semester of first-year economics classes. She calculated that she 
already had learned most of the course material from Ruth 
Burnside. However, she reasoned that by studying concepts she 
already had learned in English, she could much more quickly 
become proficient in the Danubian language and learn the 
vocabulary of her field. After the first semester she could by-
pass the second year courses and go straight to third-year 
classes, but she needed to know how to speak and conduct research 
in Danubian before making such a leap.

Jason, on the other hand, simply enrolled in a mixture of classes 
that came closest to what he would have had to take during his 
sophomore year had he stayed in Chicago. His strategy differed 
from Cecilia's. While she would drop her language tutoring and 
concentrate on learning vocabulary in class, he would keep 
language tutoring and get outside help on a daily basis. On top 
of the formal tutoring, he could rely on help from Tiffany Walker 
because he shared two classes with her.

----------

The first weeks of September passed uneventfully as Cecilia and 
Jason struggled with a full load of classes in a difficult 
foreign language. Both were drawn into informal study groups of 
Danubian students and both faced the harsh pressure of being held 
accountable to their peers. 

During the first month of classes the reality of Danubian social 
values dominated the lives of Jason and Cecilia. The country may 
have been grateful over what they had done to save the 
government, but the way that gratitude was expressed was for 
their peers to accept them as equals, no better and no worse than 
anyone else. Their classmates and professors did not grant them 
any special treatment apart from trying to make sure that they 
understood what was needed from them. The Danubians were 
convinced they would be rewarded for what they had done, but 
whatever reward they were due would come from the Creator in the 
Afterlife. In the meantime, life had to be lived day-to-day and 
it was the obligation of the two Americans to work hard and make 
themselves useful within the society. It was for that reason 
that, in spite of her notoriety, Cecilia's fitness instructor had 
shown her no sympathy as she struggled to keep up with the other 
women in her running group.

For Jason the pressure was nothing new, because it was very 
similar to what Cecilia had put him through the previous year. He 
actually was quite happy, enjoying his study group and his new 
friendships with the fellow runners in the North Danube City 
Track Team. He worked hard during the day and treasured the hour 
or so he could spend with Cecilia each night.

As the semester began Cecilia struggled to come to terms with her 
situation. She had to humble herself somewhat, because she no 
longer was an RA in charge of a floor full of freshmen and no 
longer in charge of Jason's studies. He still struggled in his 
classes, but now it was up to his Danubian classmates, not her, 
to push him to succeed. Cecilia found herself drawn into study 
groups of her own and pressured by Danubian women to perform 
well. Tiffany Walker was a member of one of Cecilia's groups, and 
put pressure onto her to do well in her studies. Cecilia actually 
found herself taking directions from Tiffany, because her lack of 
experience and limited language ability made her dependent on her 
housemate.

----------

During the days leading up to the autumn equinox and the Day of 
the Dead, the country began its preparations for the most 
important holiday of the year. The 36-hour vigil was celebrated 
with special foods and recipes, all of which were red to 
represent blood, or black to represent death. Nearly every stove 
in every kitchen was occupied by pots of boiling blackberries, 
which would be used to make the special blood-red punch and other 
unique foods that were mandatory for the ceremonies. Other 
recipes included a type of fruitcake that was dark red on the 
inside and covered with blackberry frosting, dark-red tomato 
stew, and plates of black noodles in red sauce.

Before the cooking began, any cooking utensils to be used in food 
preparation had to be blessed. Two days before the ceremonies, 
Cecilia and Tiffany lugged several pots to a nearby Temple along 
with hundreds of their neighbors for the official permission to 
use the utensils as part of the preparation. Once the pots were 
blessed (something Cecilia thought was rather stupid), they 
returned to Victor Dukov's house to help with cooking. Cecilia's 
stomach turned upon seeing the black noodles, especially after 
they were covered with blood-red sauce.

In the middle of the afternoon before the first night, Tiffany 
led Jason and Cecilia to the Plaza of the Ancients. Because all 
three were wearing collars, they would be participating in a two-
day march around the capitol. Waiting for them in the Plaza was a 
fourth member of their group, Vladik Dukov. Vladik was standing 
out in the open as naked as anyone else in the Plaza, wearing a 
Temple collar so he could march alongside his fiancé. 

Cecilia already was familiar with the importance of the march, 
having read about it when she was helping Kim with her band's 
website. How strange…she had read so much about this ceremony, 
and now here she was, right in the middle of it, standing naked 
in the open air and about to be covered in body paint just like 
2,400 others. Just like any Danubian criminal, she and Jason 
would spend two nights walking along silent country roads as part 
of the yearly national quest for atonement.

The group went through a Temple assembly line set up in the 
Plaza, first getting covered in white body paint, then getting 
painted with black highlights. They received their torches and 
shoulder slings, and finally were given instructions how to carry 
the torches safely and minimize the strain on their arms. As the 
sun went down there was a rather lengthy worship service in the 
Plaza. When the service was over it was dark. Completely dark. 
There was not a single light illuminating Danube City, because 
all electrical power had been shut off. Nothing, with the sole 
exception of the Emergency Services at the National Hospital, was 
operating. The silence of Death had descended over the entire 
country.

The marchers slowly moved out of the Plaza, in single file 
towards the river. Vladik moved in front of Tiffany, who was 
followed by Jason and finally Cecilia. For the next two nights 
the only thing any of them would see would be the painted 
backside of the person in front, and the long line of flames 
extending out in either direction as far as the eye could see. 
Everything else was pitch black. 

As they moved inland away from the water, the only reality in the 
lives of the marchers was what they could see: the line of fiery 
dots stretching off into the distance and the illuminated back of 
the marcher in front. As they moved through the darkness, 
everything else from the world seemed to disappear for existence. 
They moved in a trance, through a world of dreams and spirits, 
through the darkness of an Underworld that suddenly seemed all 
too real. The throngs of kneeling worshipers along the sides of 
the roads, reduced to shapeless black figures by their prayer 
robes and barely visible in the darkness, seemed only to add to 
the feeling that the marchers had left Earth and now were moving 
through the Underworld of the Dead.

Every two hours there were breaks, as the marchers stopped to 
drink blackberry punch, go to the bathroom, and exchange their 
spent torches for new ones. Vladik dribbled some of the punch 
down his painted chest to make it look like it was covered in 
blood. He then dribbled some more punch on his three companions, 
adding to their already ghoulish appearance. The breaks were very 
short, just enough to recharge for the next portion of the march. 
It was as though the marchers were surfacing from the Underworld, 
only very briefly, before plunging down even deeper.

They couldn't have explained why, but after each break Cecilia 
and Jason were becoming ever more apprehensive as they plunged 
back into the darkness. Soon they forgot even about their 
physical sensations as their only reality became the line of 
lights they had to follow. They had the feeling that if they got 
separated from the trail, they would be forever lost in darkness 
and despair.

Both of them breathed a huge sigh of relief when they noticed the 
sky lightening in the east. They approached the campground where 
they would get a meal and sleep during the day as the torches 
from the second group of marchers became visible in the distance. 
The marchers had resurfaced from the darkness, hugely relieved to 
be back on Earth and blessed by the sun. They ate some black 
noodles and hot stew, went to the latrine, and collapsed on cots 
set up under several large Army tents. The marchers were 
exhausted and most of them went to sleep immediately. 

Jason briefly slept, but woke up after just a couple of hours. He 
got up quietly to not disturb his companions and worked his way 
through the rows of cots to get to the exit. He stepped outside. 
The day was dreary and overcast, but there was a hint the sky 
might clear up before sunset. Jason wandered around the silent 
tents for a few minutes. Then he noticed the Priestess who had 
collared Cecilia, the one member of the Danubian Clergy who spoke 
some English.

He approached her. She looked hard at him, for a moment not 
recognizing him because of his body paint. Then she realized that 
standing in front of her was Jason Schmidt, the unlikely hero of 
the coup and the boyfriend of the young woman she had collared at 
the beginning of the summer. Jason was not sure what to do. He 
needed to talk…talk to someone about the weird feeling he had 
experienced during the first night's march. The Priestess, astute 
at reading other people's emotions, picked up on the needs of the 
young man standing in front of her.

"You want say me?"

"Uh…yes…I kinda want to talk…"

"We talk, yes. You kneel, I salute, and we talk."

Jason went to his knees and touched his head to the ground. The 
Priestess told him to get up and she saluted him. He saluted 
back, in the ancient exchange between a member of the Danubian 
Clergy and an average citizen. Slowly, very haltingly, he talked 
about what had happened during the march and his strange feeling 
of anxiety. He began to ramble, but the Priestess cut him off.

"So, you afraid. No?"

"I guess…kinda…"

"You no guess, Jason Schmidt. You say me if you afraid."

"Yes. I got scared last night. And Cecilia did too."

"So you scared. Why you scared?"

"I don't know. Maybe 'cause…you know, it kinda felt like we 
weren't here..like we were somewhere else. It just didn't feel 
right…"

The Priestess thought about Jason's statement for a moment.

"Maybe you say me truth, Jason Schmidt. Maybe you no here. Maybe 
you some other place."

The Priestess told him to stick out his hands. When he complied, 
she grabbed them, held them very tightly, and closed her eyes. 
Not knowing what else to do, Jason closed his eyes as well. Jason 
felt the Priestess's hands shake as they continued to hold his in 
a painful vice-like grip. Then she said "Doc-doc" and released 
him. Jason opened and closed his hands to restore the 
circulation, surprised that a woman could have squeezed them so 
hard. The Priestess then looked him hard in the eye.

"You say me truth. Last night you afraid."

"Yes, Priestess. I just told you that. I wasn't lying."

"Tonight you more afraid. Tonight you see truth. You see truth, 
and you find me in Temple tomorrow."

"But…"

"No 'but', Jason Schmidt. Tonight you scared. Tomorrow you see 
me."

The Priestess abruptly turned away; making it very clear she had 
nothing more to say to him. He was not reassured in the least. If 
what she was saying was true, a very unpleasant night awaited 
him. He returned to his cot, glanced at Cecilia's sleeping body, 
and lay down. For a while his eyes watched the tent's canvas as 
it slowly moved with the wind, but finally managed to fall 
asleep.

----------

A few hours later a Priest woke everyone up with a shrill 
whistle. The sun was low in the horizon and there was a lot for 
the marchers to take care of in the next two hours. They had to 
drink, go to the bathroom, get their body paint touched up, and 
finally attend a worship service before collecting their torches 
and setting out. Jason reluctantly took his torch, glancing with 
increasing anxiety at the ever-darkening sky and the black ribbon 
of road that led back into Danube City. Tonight you more scared, 
Jason Schmidt. Tonight you more scared.

The darkness descended on him as ominous feelings surged through 
his body. Perhaps he was just imagining things, but he thought 
could actually feel the dead entering and leaving his body. It 
was at that point that he began having visions. The first he had 
was not frightening at all. It simply was an image of Cecilia, 
standing in an American-style kitchen, cooking a pot of rice and 
beans. She was somewhat older, her face thin and lines beginning 
around her eyes and mouth. The beginnings of gray already were 
forming in her jet-black hair, which was cut much shorter. The 
vision ended when Cecilia turned around, smiled at him, and 
handed him a plate. There was a final detail he noticed before 
the vision faded to blackness, that she was wearing a Danubian 
engagement necklace. Jason realized he had seen a moment from his 
own future, a future he was destined to share with her.

The marchers stopped for their first break, two hours after 
walking through the throngs of silent worshipers. With a new 
torch and his stomach full of blackberry punch, Jason descended 
into the darkness again. His mental wanderings took him through 
the lives of his parents and the slow deterioration of their 
marriage over the years. His thoughts jumped back and forth 
through time as he saw his parents' house, first for sale and 
unoccupied when they first bought it, then for sale and 
unoccupied as it sat following his parents' deaths. He saw his 
father as he worked in his office and his mother at the country 
club. He saw Amanda Galloway's face morph into the face of 
Heather Jones, and then the face of Heather Jones morph into a 
crushed skull. He relived the accident that killed her, seeing it 
in intimate detail from the perspective of someone watching from 
the outside. Then he saw himself, scrubbing toilets in the state 
hospital while several mental patients stared at him.

The visions continued as Jason saw the world from the perspective 
of Cassie's boyfriend. The world swirled around in a pot and 
ecstasy-induced stupor. He listened to his father's insults and 
experienced the breakdown that led to the final drug-induced rage 
in May. He watched his mother blow-drying her hair in the 
bathroom and the horrified expression on her face just before her 
head blew apart. Then he exchanged places with his father, lying 
helpless but still defiant in the last moment of his life.

His mind then shifted to the world from Cassie's point of view. 
He saw in vivid detail her boyfriend's body tumbling down the 
stairs and the horror of his mangled face. He relived her flight 
to the neighbor's house, and watched her crouch in terror in her 
neighbors' bedroom as the shotgun went off downstairs. He watched 
as the street filled with police cars, ambulances, and reporters. 
He watched as his sister came completely undone, as horror and 
panic took over and she began screaming incoherently. Finally, he 
saw her in the state hospital, in a catatonic state curled up 
under a table, with the psychiatrists and his grandmother trying 
to coax her out. His grandmother was holding an old stuffed 
rabbit, Cassie's favorite toy when she was little.

"I brought Bee-Bop, Cassie. I brought him, just for you. Don't 
you want to come out and hold Bee-Bop? You can come out, Cassie, 
no one's gonna hurt you…"

There was a final vision, of Cassie sitting curled up in an 
armchair in the guestroom of his grandmother's condominium. The 
curtains were closed and the room was dark. In the darkness 
Cassie was holding Bee-Bop the rabbit

----------

That night Cecilia experienced three visions. The first was of 
Jason. She was cooking dinner in her kitchen, an old Dominican 
recipe of rice and beans. She had endured several years of life 
in college without rice and beans, but now that she had her own 
kitchen, she would cook rice and beans, whether Jason and the 
kids liked it or not. Fortunately Jason was flexible when it came 
to food, so he gladly took the plate she had given him. He was 
somewhat older, but very wiry because he had not given up 
running. Even now he was still running marathons so he always had 
a healthy appetite. As for the kids, well…maybe they wanted junk 
food, but that wasn't going to happen. Jason was even more of a 
heath nut than Cecilia, so the kids had to eat healthy as well. 
That's just the way it was, rice and beans and lots of exercise 
to work it off. She had a comment for Jason Junior, or J.J. as he 
was called in the house. Don't you argue with your father about 
the beans, J.J., 'cause you know that isn't gettin' you anywhere.

Cecilia took her first break very relieved, thinking, if that's 
the future; that's what I want. She smiled at Jason as she picked 
up her replacement torch. The next part of her journey was not 
nearly as pleasant.

Her mind traveled to the penitentiary in Camden, where Raul 
Sanchez was exiting the facility with a bunch of other released 
prisoners. Raul had been let out on parole, but he had no 
intention of complying with the conditions of his release. He had 
some scores to settle and then he'd pick up where he had left 
off. Vicente Torres and Cecilia's younger brother were there to 
pick him up, along with Raul's girlfriend. Vicente passed Raul a 
cell phone and Raul immediately started making calls to let 
everyone know he was back on the street and ready to roll. He 
called his supplier and then stopped off at the bank to get some 
cash that the girlfriend had been keeping for him in her safety 
deposit box. He counted $ 20,000 and the group headed across the 
river to pick up two kilos. The $ 20,000 was a down payment; but 
the supplier knew Raul was good for the rest and fronted him the 
kilos. Hey, no problem… 

As they went down the stairs, Vicente suddenly had a feeling 
something was not right. He had this feeling; something wasn't 
right. He told his companions to get in the car right away and 
passed Raul his pistol.

As they opened the doors to get in the vehicle, the young woman 
dropped her purse. She bent down to pick it up, but suddenly 
dropped to the ground. A burst of automatic gunfire shattered the 
car's windows and sprayed glass around the car. The young woman 
lay flat on the ground until the glass stopped flying. The 
Sanchez brothers and Vicente Torres were slumped in their seats, 
still alive, but not for long. They were bleeding heavily and 
gasping for breath. The young woman pulled her own gun from her 
purse and quickly pumped a finishing round into each of their 
heads. She reached under the seat and grabbed the two kilos. Then 
she jumped into another car and the driver sped off. 

Raul's gang had dominated the project for several years, but now 
it was time for another group to come in and take over. Raul's 
girlfriend had been smart enough to see it coming and had teamed 
up with the winning side. Over the next month there would be a 
total of 14 additional shootings in the project. By the end of 
the year control of the area would change hands and a new set of 
faces would be passing out bags of crack on the sidewalks.

Cecilia was shaking badly when the marchers got to their next 
break station. She was stunned, unable to think or react. Was it 
possible? Were her brothers and her ex-boyfriend really dead?

She wanted to talk, to find out the truth, but at that moment 
there was no one to turn to. Jason had a completely stunned, 
vacant look in his face. Obviously he was dealing with his own 
terror, and was in no condition to help Cecilia with hers. As for 
Vladik and Tiffany, she was in his arms, shaking violently and 
crying. Suddenly she heard the voice of that Priestess echoing in 
her head.

"Now you see truth. Now you see real truth."

The marchers set off again, for the final stretch of walking 
through the streets of Danube City. There was only one vision 
remaining for Cecilia that night. She saw a four-year old boy, 
wandering among the needles strewn about a bunch of dumpsters in 
her housing project. She called out to him, and recognized him as 
her cousin's son. The boy lifted up his arms and the vision faded 
to black.

Slowly Cecilia's conscience returned to the real world, the long 
line of fires extending as far as the eye could see in either 
direction. The throngs of kneeling worshipers began chanting out 
loud, after having prayed in silence for two full nights. 
Suddenly every church bell started ringing and the crowds began 
singing the ancient hymn that marked the end of the Day of the 
Dead. Cecilia noticed the sky was getting light and realized that 
she already had passed into the Plaza of the Ancients. As she and 
her companions walked around the Temple she could see the glare 
of the huge bonfire near the river that was consuming the 
torches, all 2,400 of them, that had been carried by the marchers 
during the final leg of their journey. A Priest directed the 
marchers to move up-wind from the fire so they could get close 
enough to throw their torches onto the massive pile of burning 
wood. With a grunt Cecilia threw hers as hard as she could and it 
landed about halfway up the side of the pile. Jason and Vladik 
managed to get theirs clear to the top. The marchers now had just 
two more obligations, to wash off Death in the River and to 
gather for a final hymn in the Plaza. Cecilia forced herself into 
the cold river, trying as best she could to get the paint off the 
lower part of her body and her face. She was about to step out 
when Tiffany admonished her.

"You gotta do your back too. They want you to get all the paint 
off before you go to the Plaza."

Cecilia sighed and forced herself to drop into the water. Jason 
helped her wipe off what was left on her back. Shivering in the 
pre-dawn cold, Cecilia and the others stepped out of the water 
and made their way back to the Plaza. The criminals gathered, 
pressing their bodies together for warmth as they sang the final 
hymn of the ceremony. Afterwards they quickly dispersed to get 
cleaned up and then go to the Central Police Station to pick up 
their winter capes and boots.

Vladik led the others into the Temple. He had to go back on duty 
shortly and needed to get his collar off so he could go to the 
police station, shower, and put on his uniform. A Priest quickly 
unlocked his collar and the naked couple departed the Temple. 

Cecilia was dead silent, too stunned by what she had just seen to 
speak or react. She stood in the main chamber of the Temple, 
shivering from cold and fright. She did not have a clue what she 
should do about her visions. Had she seen something that already 
had happened? Had she seen the unavoidable future? Had she seen 
something she could prevent?

Jason was every bit as badly shaken as Cecilia. However, he did 
know what they needed to do: find that Priestess and talk to her. 
Without saying a word, he grabbed Cecilia's hand and led her 
around the Temple. The Priestess was waiting for them, standing 
elegantly in her severe black dress and wearing an equally severe 
expression. Jason immediately knelt and touched his head to the 
floor, with Cecilia following his lead.

"Now you stand up."

Jason stood up and saluted, with Cecilia once again following his 
lead. The Priestess saluted back.

"Now you say me what you saw. You say me truth, and I ask Creator 
what you do."

Jason went first. He briefly mentioned the visions of his 
parents, suspecting that the visions that really mattered were 
the ones of Cassie. He took it for granted that if the Priestess 
thought the stuff about his parents was important, she'd 
interrupt him, which she didn't. When he finished, all she said 
was.

"Your father dead. Your sister not dead. You remember, that your 
path in life. Your sister not dead."

Jason was bewildered by that statement, but stayed silent as 
Cecilia talked about her own vision. The Priestess made her 
concentrate on her first vision, the one with Jason, and her 
final vision, the one about her cousin's child. She seemed not at 
all interested in the middle vision, the one of her brothers 
getting double-crossed and killed. Cecilia wanted to return to 
that middle vision, but the Priestess kept cutting her off. 
Finally Cecilia became exasperated:

"Priestess, how come you aren't worried about what happened to my 
brothers? I just saw them fuckin' get killed and you…"

The Priestess drew her fist across her chest, the impolite 
Danubian way of saying "shut up!"

"You say me, what you do about brothers? How you help dead 
brothers? That not your path in life!"

"But are they dead?"

"Yes. They dead, and they dead with broken soul, no?"

"I 'spose. I 'spose you could put it that way. I 'spose all of 
their souls are broken. All of 'em. The whole fuckin' project."

"No. No all soul broken, Cecilia. Your brothers dead. But little 
boy no dead. He no broken. That your path in life."

The Priestess gave that thought a chance to sink in. It was true 
that when Cecilia left her family, the one thing that filled her 
with guilt was having left her cousin's son in that dysfunctional 
environment. She was the only one in the household who had given 
him any care at all, and fortunately he was off the bottle just 
before she left. She was the one who had gotten him to the point 
where he could walk and feed himself, because her cousin was 
never around to take care of him. She had to abandon him to save 
herself. Now, with her family decimated by the local gang war, 
perhaps it was her destiny to go back and extract him from the 
dying neighborhood. As badly as she wanted to ask the Priestess 
that question, Cecilia realized she already knew the answer. 

The Priestess grabbed a hand from each of them and clamped down 
in a painful vice-like grip. She closed her eyes and her arms 
started to shake. Cecilia and Jason gave each other frightened 
looks, but then the Priestess opened her eyes and quickly 
released them. She pulled out a key from a pocket in her dress 
and unlocked both of their collars.

"Now you go on path. Your sister and your little boy. Creator 
give you power fix soul. You go and you come. When you go, you 
say me and I say professor. You go and you come."

Jason interjected:

"Priestess, are you saying we're supposed to bring them here? To 
Danube City?"

"You go and you come. That your path in life."

The Priestess handed them two prayer robes to wear home, a clear 
sign their penance had ended. Their days of wearing the Temple 
collar had passed, and now it was time for them to fulfill an 
obligation they had towards two other people. Two trips, to 
journeys into the past, and two lives to save. They quickly went 
to their homes, got cleaned up, and for the first time in nearly 
four months, got dressed. 

