Lesson 164- Safety first, then you can worry about what comes next.

**LINDY**
This is it for me. My life is officially over. My mother would be so disappointed in me. All she ever wanted was for me to keep myself safe, to be cautious but I couldn’t even follow the rules she taught me. If I had just stayed home I would have been fine, hell if I had just stayed in the bar where I know I have friends to protect me I would have been okay. Why did I let Richard get to me? Why couldn’t I just wait a few more minutes? There are so many things I could have done other than running off into the night by myself! I’m an idiot, my life is ruined and I’ve lost my freedom, probably forever. It’s all my own fault too. 
“Lindy… Lindy!” Richard is calling my name and he must have been doing it for a while now because he sounds very alarmed. I jolt and look at him. He seems relieved to see me moving. 
“Lindy, are you okay?” He asks, his voice still soft. I shake my head.
“No, not at all.” I answer, my voice weak. Am I shaking? I think I’m shaking. Richard squeezes my hands firmly and Rina moves in closer, slipping her arm around my shoulders and hugging me tightly. 
“Um, I don’t want to sound… Rude or anything. But you told me once that if someone has your pelt they can control you. Is that true?” Rina asks worriedly. I nod. 
“Yes.” I choke the word out. Rina’s arm tightens around my shoulder. 
“How does that work?” She asks awkwardly. I can tell she doesn’t want to upset me. But I suppose at this point it’s information she needs. Knowing Rina, she’s probably already trying to work out a plan to help me. She always wants to take care of people. It’s why everyone likes her so much. 
“If… If someone has my pelt, I have to do whatever they tell me to do. That’s all there is to it.” I explain. I now suspect that the only reason I wasn’t taken just now is because Richard’s magic had a hold on me, so my attackers knew that even if they ordered me to come with them, I wouldn’t be able to. Not to mention if they stayed around any longer they would have had to face Torin. 
“If that’s the case, why haven’t they just called you to them right now?” Torin asks. Apparently he doesn’t know the specifics of keeping a selkie captive either.
“I have to be able to hear the commands. Over a call or in person. I have to do as I’m told.” I explain flatly. Rina perks up. 
“Are you saying that as long as we can keep them away from you, then you don’t have to do what they tell you to?” She confirms. I shrug.
“Well yeah. But they only have to get to me one time and then I’ll be stuck forever if they phrase their commands right!” I answer, now the distress is starting to kick in. Rina seems LESS stressed out, does she not realise how serious this is? Rina looks up at Torin and some kind of wordless communication passes between the two of them. Torin gives a slight nod and she smiles at him. 
“Okay, so here’s the plan then. You stay here for a while. You should be safe out back here because no one can get to you. It’s already fairly well secured. Also we can keep you safe here. If they come back to try and get you, we can get your pelt back.” Rina explains, appearing fairly pleased with her plan. 
“I can’t stay here forever. It’s like I’m stuck in the same situation you were!” I object. Rina frowns, a little stumped. 
“You’re not wrong. But surely it won’t take long for them to try to come and get you. We can just wait and be ready for them.” She points out. She isn’t wrong. Her plan might work. But what if it doesn’t? What if they decide to wait me out? What if the men come back and my friends aren’t able to get my pelt back? Or what if one of my friends gets hurt? I was absolutely terrified when Rina got attacked. If she got hurt trying to save me from the consequences of my own stupid actions? I couldn’t stand that. I want to argue, but Torin steps in. 
“It’s the best plan. I can keep you safe here, and if they want to take you, they have to turn up here eventually, and they have to bring your pelt. It won’t be the same as it was with Rina, I doubt they’re going to take months to show up. I don’t expect it to take much longer than a couple days.” Torin tries to reassure me. He sounds awkward and uncomfortable. I suspect he’s just hoping I don’t start to cry.

Richard is… Quiet. Probably the most quiet I’ve ever seen him. Probably because we’re discussing making some detailed plans to keep me safe. My friends are all volunteering to risk their safety to protect me and to try to win back my freedom. He might hang around and he might try to flirt with me. But I seriously doubt that Richard is interested in hanging around and risking his neck for the girl who just yelled how much she hates him. He already intervened enough to stop them from snatching me off the street. He might not have been able to prevent the men from stealing my pelt, but I already owe him for his help so far. So I do my best not to be hurt at how quiet he’s being. Torin and Rina continue discussing their plan. I’ll stay out back here with Rina and Torin is going to keep an eye on the bar. He’s even going to stay here during the day as long as needed just in case they turn up. He plans to camp out in the bar or his office or something. I can’t help myself. I burst into tears. I feel so guilty that everyone is making such a big fuss over me. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. For a moment I consider just leaving and accepting my fate. But the determined expression on Rina’s face tells me that she wouldn’t accept that. If I were to go, I bet she would come chasing straight after me and would try to rescue me. That would only endanger her more. So for now, I’m going to have to go along with their plan. But if I think they’re at risk of getting hurt, I’ll hand myself over without a doubt. The way they’re so determined to protect me is reminding me of why I decided to break my mother’s rules in the first place. It’s the same reason I’ll be willing to sacrifice myself to protect them if I need to. Their friendship is worth so much more to me than my own safety. There’s no point to living my life that way and I just can’t do it. I can’t give up my friends to protect myself. 

Rina hugs me tightly and tries to reassure me while Torin fetches me a box of tissues. He doesn’t seem as alarmed as I expected. Maybe he is fairly well prepared to deal with tears after all. I see Rina gesture out of the corner of my eye for him to hand me the tissues. Okay, maybe he isn’t prepared. Maybe he’s just good at following Rina’s silent directions. Either way, I appreciate it. Throughout all of this, Richard has stayed silent. As I cry, he suddenly jumps to his feet. 
“Lindy is safe here, right? I mean, I couldn’t steal Rina from this place, and I’m fairly sure I got closer than any of the others did. So if Lindy is safe, you don’t need me here, right?” He confirms. Yeah that’s about what I expected. He wants to get out of here and I can’t say I blame him. Torin confirms that they can protect me here. Richard nods. 
“Right. Well in that case, I need to go. Take care of yourself Lindy.” Richard awkwardly pats me on the shoulder, then he turns and walks straight out of the door. Torin quickly follows after him. I don’t think he likes having Richard back here. Or maybe it was just to open the door and let him out. Either way, Richard is gone and I’m surprised to find that I’m actually a little disappointed.