Juliet
With Louis on Mirach, I didn't want to go home. He was safe to sleep with. I also enjoyed being away from all the drama and on an adventure of sorts. Charlene and I had gone out hunting together for the first time. It was insane to think she was actually what she was and what she would be able to do in the next few years. All I had was "experience," I chuckled to myself. Like that was some superpower.
"Hey, that's new." My hand lifted to touch the neckless Charlene was wearing. "I've never seen you wear it... Is it something special?"
"It's the werewolf emblem."
"Really?" I played with the pink stone fixed around her neck. I tried to remember if I had seen Brylee with it that night.
"Juliet!"
I spun around, hearing the familiar voice, "Dad?!"
"There you are!" He was speaking in his urgent voice. That authoritative tone I knew all too well. "It's time to come home."
I jumped in place and saluted him. "Funny." He smiled a little. "I mean now. Right now!" He stepped past me and stretched out his hand. He gripped the stone around Charlene's neck and yanked it off as gently as possible. Her hand reached for the space it had left. "I'm sorry, Charlene. I'll get this back to you in a jiffy."
"I trust you, Mr. Furrow."
My dad pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the forehead. "You look good, Charlene. Jessy! Now."
Jessy was already following him. "I'll miss you. Bring Sammy soon, okay." Charlene didn't want us to go. My time on Mirach was over. I hugged her quickly. Kubra was already there, pulling her closer and gripping her face in both hands. "I love you. See you soon." He lingered over her lips, and she kissed him back, stretching her arms around his neck. "I think sooner than later. We have a date?" He whispered. Charlene's eyes were watery. She nodded with his lips on hers. She moved her mouth to his ear. Kubra pulled her into his arms and pressed her into his chest as tightly as humanly possible. "I hate this."
"We will come back! Go home so we know where you are, Charlie." I yelled. She lifted a hand in the air and waved at me. Kubra had grabbed my arm by then, pulling me towards the little hill over which my dad and Jessy had disappeared. Louis and my dad were talking in hushed tones, and Louis stretched out his hand to me without looking up. Imani and Yazen came over. They greeted my dad, and Romero stretched out his hand.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm sorry it has to be this way." My dad said and looked in my direction. "It's Marcus, Julie." I had to know when my father came that it was serious. A coldness settled over me. At some point, our luck would run out. Louis tightened his hold on my hand. "Caleb. Come, we need you. All of you." My father ordered.
"I don't think I can take you that far just yet," Michael said. He kissed me on my forehead with the familiar "bamf" sound of him disappearing into thin air.
We were one big group that had to travel. Carl came running toward us after he and Charlene had shared a few words. We both waved at her. "It's worth it," I yelled, hoping it would reassure her until we came back. She sent me air kisses, and we were gone.
***
I had never seen so many people in my office. Loud voices, trying to boom over the last order, still making its way to another recipient. "We should attack them now!" Chris yelled and slammed his fist on the table. His hand was shaking, and he had to sit down.
"How do you propose we do that?" The English general whirled around.
"Caleb is almost back. We will have no other opportunity!"
China [ I agree. If we take over the water supply, their hold is gone ]
America [ We can't just send in troops. We don't even know how many of them are there. This place is a logistical nightmare ] The general slumped his head into his hand. [ We've lost so many men already. We haven't even been fighting for a week ]
"Ahh, Boys. Do you need some help? This is my planet as far as I can remember." I drolled out the words. Chris jumped up and came over. He took hold of Caleb's hand and pulled him into the room. "All he needs to do is go to that Island and give us the best location. He's been there. Michael can go with him and send in as many men as we can afford."
Russia [ Absolutely not! We have to wait. It's different if the vamps die ]
France [ That's the point. Earth should show its worth now. By the time the vamps are too low in numbers. Who will be able to fight? We can not back down now! ]
Russia [ That's if the theory is true ]
The men were not paying me any mind. My uncle was sitting back in his chair. Samuel's eyes drifted over the crowd, and my dad nudged him to come with us. He tugged at my shirt. "Let's go upstairs. Where we can think like Vampires and not...."
We all followed the men out. "Dad, what is going on?"
"Chris figured out why Ahasuerus threw you that stone, and I don't know how, but Ian found out as well. He asked to meet with Marcus."
"When he got there. It was an ambush, and they grabbed the emblem. Ian left after telling him some other things." Samuel filled in the rest.
I stopped dead in my tracks. "Where is Marcus!?"
That Muslim walked through the bathroom door, rubbing a towel through his hair. Relieved, I ran over to him and threw my arms around him. He wrapped me up and held me. I wanted to let go. He kept clutching like a child. "What's going on?" He didn't want to meet my eye. "Marcus, you're scaring me." He nuzzled into my hair and kissed my neck until his one hand was on my cheek and his eyes met mine. His heart was racing as he finally met my eye. "Marcus, just tell me." He swallowed hard.
"It's Soren, Julie."
The icy cold feeling spread through my body. "Have you not got him out yet?"
Marcus shook his head. "He is going to... marry Rana. And Isla is going to marry... Ian."
"What?! He helped them?"
"I don't know what's going on! I can't think... Julie, that it's real. That he would. Soren would never betray you."
"You think he's bluffing?"
"I think Soren had no choice."
"He's sacrificing. Isla has no option? Again!"
"Yes, to stay there and...."
"To know what's going on. Soren is playing double agent." My eyes finally took in all of Marcus. "Are you okay? Why are you so beat up? Did they hurt you?"
"No! This?" Marcus lifted up a hand and fingered at his cut lip and broken eyebrow. "I fought Fahan."
The door opened. Chris and Caleb walked through. My room was suddenly an office. "Okay, so we figured out that the stones activate through some type of friction."
"With Fahan's red swords, it's a clang on any surface," Samuel said.
"With the embossing pens, the rubbing transfers the supernatural power." My dad said and held out Charlene's stone to Chris.
Chris picked it up. "I'm going to Palmyra. If we're right...." Chris had already turned. "It has to be the flowing of the water." I heard him mutter under his breath. Chris didn't even greet me. He was distant and cold. It wasn't like him. What was going on? "What activates the vamp stone? And what happens?" My eyes came back to my dad's.
"We have no idea. But they have it now. Why the commotion in your office."
"Caleb and I can go." Michael stepped closer. "We get the stone back."
I reached out my hand and touched his arm. "No," I said softly. "What if it stops abilities. What if it's...." I was quiet for a moment, thinking.
"Julie?" Marcus prompted.
I glanced up at Louis and told him about the image in my mind of the book Chris and I had a few minutes to read. The pictures of En-gannim in Brylee's book were strange. "You think that it wasn't strange at all." I nodded. "It could be... Baby!? I knew we needed you." He kissed me and ran. "And we need that book."
"Go tell the generals to fortify and recall, just in case. What's the point in us going there. If they are already...."
"Getting all their forces together." Louis finished my sentence, and the door closed behind him.
My uncle and father seemed confused. "I think the stone solidifies the pink oceans. "Maybe not all of it. Only where you need water to turn into land. Maybe how they fought wars and why the Ahmeds are undefeated."
"That's why Brylee has a teleporter," Samuel said.
"Bridges where you want them seems like a fair trade in a planet mostly made of deadly oceans." My dad and his brother shared a look. "How they ambushed us so easily in our first crusade."
"I thought it would be to control a vampire. Make them bend the knee." Caleb asked from the side.
"No, when Louis branded me, only a few men were forced down. It has nothing to do with the stone. Come, Caleb. We have to go home. Let the men work." I snorted. I wanted to get home and out of En-gannim. If they were coming. It would be the baby they came for.
"I'm coming with you. There is something else I need to talk to you about." Carl said.
"Where do you want me?" Selena asked.
"You stay with Marcus...." I regarded her for a moment. "No! You go to Chris. Make sure he has backup and that he's okay." Selena's usual friendly features changed. She knew what she needed to do. What I wanted her to do. Once and for all. Jamal, don't leave Marcus's side." He gladly complied. "Kubra, you too." He agreed. "Jessy, with me."
"You don't need to protect Marcus. He's been holding out on you." Caleb said, putting his arm around my shoulder.
"Really?"
I glanced back at the two men. Marcus and Michael seemed deep in conversation. The tension between them had vanished. Marcus clapped him on the shoulder. Before Caleb and I stepped out the door, the two men looked my way. I made a small wave with my hand.
***
"Sammy! Mommy's home." The little footsteps were fast. She came running down the corridor and jumped into my arms. "Hello. I'm sorry I've been gone so long." She clung to me. My mom walked over and hugged Caleb. "Hi, mom. How are things here?"
"The compound is alive again. Everyone moved into either their old houses or occupied empty ones."
"Having fun playing major." My mom slapped me softly on the forearm. "We should put you in charge of Earth relations." She pulled Sammy and me in and enveloped us in an embrace.
"It's good to see you, Julie. I hear you were attacked. You okay?" I shook my head. It was awful waking up like that. Naked and tied to a block. Men all around us. Charlene was passed out next to me. If it weren't for the drugs that wore off and Charlene's convulsing. We would've been raped. Right next to each other. The camp after that had gone crazy. I couldn't understand what was happening or why they would care. The men had turned her over quickly. When they saw that emblem, they stepped away like she was the holy grail. My mom slowly stroked my hair as I told her the story, and Sammy wiped the tears away. I had been holding it together for so long.
"Caleb, will you check my nightstand for the plate. Put it into Louis's hands." He watched me with concern.
"Go, Caleb." My mom said softly.
"Yes, mam." I chuckled. Caleb kissed Sammy on the cheek. She giggled and squirmed in delight. The moment was so surreal. Three generations together. Even though I wanted a peaceful life. Full of joy and happiness. Everything that had happened might not have brought me peace. Regardless, excitement and short periods of happiness I had in abundance.
Warden sat on the patio and seemed bored with his lot in life. I approached him cautiously. The man didn't like me after all. "You and Sammy not getting along? A little different watching so closely?" I put Sammy down and took her hand. "You tired of Uncle Warden," I asked her. She shook her head and leaped into his arms. He fell back on the deckchair, lifting her in the air, and held her there. "You can always go join the fight. I'm sure we can work something out if you want to transfer, Warden."
He placed her on a bent knee. Warden glanced up at Jessy. "No, we are where we need to be. Action always follows you. And being connected to her... Is a worthy life." Warden never gave me an ounce of regard. If I ever needed to hear the truth from anyone. He would be my first choice.
"Woof! Woof!"
All our heads turned to the red gates. "What the hell?"
A scruffy, thinly built dog came running into the yard. It was going crazy, running here and there. Sammy was jumping up and down and screeching, following it. Her arms moved excitedly next to her body. She probably thought it was a new furry friend. Warden followed and tried to catch up to her. It was under his feet, and he scrambled to not step on it.
Caleb had left my door open. Katty, hearing the commotion, came strutting out. She piled down on the dog. Her hair stood straight up on her back, her tail puffed up in the air, and her legs firmly planted as she hissed forward in catlike leaps of dominance. The little dog turned around and barked at my cat.
"Sammy, help Katty."
"Jessy, catch that dog."
It was a circus, as the men tried to get a hold of it. Sammy picked up Katty around the waist in her chubby arms. She got scratched in the process and shook the cat in her tight grip. Tears soon followed, but she wouldn't let go. My mom and I were laughing. My mom's hand covered her mouth. "Where did it come from?" She tried to ask.
"Canada," Carl said.
"You don't say. Is it yours?"
"No! That ugly thing!" Carl sighed. "It means Lyla is close."
"Lyla?"
"Jessy, we'll have to find her. A short brunette with lots of teeth. Her feed is in the tunnels." Carl and Jessy disappeared out the red gates. Warden had the puppy at the scruff of the neck and tossed her into the pool. "What are you doing?" Sammy yelled.
The little mutt came up for air and settled in the pool, swimming for her life to find a way out. Warden bent down and lifted the dog in the air, looking at her belly. "She needs to cool down."
"Put her in one of the rooms."
"Yes, mam."
I rolled my eyes. Sammy stretched out her arm. "Ouch!"
"Yeah. You have an ouch. Let's go make it better. You were so brave. I'm so proud of you. Katty is safe now."
I glanced back at the gate. Agatha and my mom were signing at each other. I followed the interchange. The dog had appeared in her house out of nowhere.
"Mommy, come."
"I'm coming. I'm coming."
Rodrigo, just appearing at that meeting one day, came to mind. There was an entrance to the tunnels in her house.
***
Carl
Lyla was becoming a pain in my ass. Jessy and I headed for the tunnels. All I had to do was check her feed to know where she was. Jessy stepped into the room. The men scrambled to their feet and stood away from their desks and screens. Chris was on Palmyra. I saw Selena in the feed with him. Louis, Marcus, and Michael were busy with troops all over En-gannim. I drew in a breath at the size of the army they were deploying. How I longed to be there. Not on Earth chasing some girl.
I glanced at her feed. "There is nothing. It's dark. When was the last time this was active?"
"About a day ago."
"Why haven't you fixed it? Where was her last location."
He rewound the feed until we could still see her. Jessy's hand stilled in the air. "What!? Who is that?"
"My father," Jessy said pensively.
"Your dad?" I stepped closer. "He looks ancient."
"He is."
The feed was paused before it went dark. "Where is that?"
"That's the diner at the Colosseum... They are in the tunnels."
"What? Here!? Oh, that's how the dog ended up above ground. Lyla made one mistake." Jessy nodded and stepped out, glancing down the dark path, listening with his hairy ears. "Why did her feed stop?"
"Why do you think?"
"Your father?"
"Resourceful bloke. You don't want to cross him."
Jessy glanced at me. "Are you up for a walk?"
"We have to. Lyla is my responsibility. If she got this far." I glanced back at the room filled with buckets and tubes. "I've already failed."
***
Lyla
Gigi was gone. Nevin couldn't hear her, and there wasn't time to go looking for her. I felt terrible for her. They would kill her, or she would get lost in the darkness. Nevin headed down the dark corridor. I was following slowly. It wasn't long before Nevin grabbed my flashlight and put it off. He pushed me into one of the rooms. "They know we are here. Jessy is coming."
"What do we do?"
"Stand still. Don't move or make a sound." He pushed me in behind the large steel door and opened it wide to cover me.
"Don't leave, please."
"I won't. I have weed." I wanted to protest. It wasn't the best time to light a joint. Carl's voice faded in and out. How did he find me? The two men's footsteps grew louder. "Don't stop puffing! Blow the smoke into the corridor." Nevin held up the small paper roll in front of my mouth. The lighter soon followed after I took the joint and placed it between my lips. Nevin shook the flame slightly. It flickered in the darkness when I wouldn't puff and light it. Nevin drew in a long, deep breath. I leaned forward and took the first drag. It was so dark around us I couldn't see a thing, but I supposed he could. I kept smoking and poked my head around the corner with every ball of smoke coming from my lips. Nevin creaked the door. The steps became more hurried, and when I heard them wavering outside, a "thud" followed.
"Lyla, come out." Nevin grabbed the joint. I heard the scrunching of his foot on the floor.
"I'm in here, Carl."
"You don't have a gun, do you?"
"You know I do."
"It's probably got its safety on." Carl quipped.
I had not seen Nevin move or heard him. Nevertheless, the swift blow to Carl's head and then a second thud was very audible.
Nevin's soft voice came from far down the tunnel. "You can come out." He inhaled deeply to catch his breath. "I'll have to stay here."
I giggled. "If I knew weed could knock out a vamp. Can you imagine? Earth would have one way of controlling you."
Nevin shook his head. The weed had taken effect, and the troubles ahead didn't seem so great. "It wouldn't have mattered. You would all be high and in some drugged trance." I giggle at the images flashing in my mind. You will have to pull the boys into the room and close the door." It took me a while to manage in my state. "Bolt the door on the outside."
"Jessy? Your son? You didn't tell me he was so handsome." I was shining the glare of the flashlight into his eyes.
Nevin, a little irritated, pushed the flashlight down to my feet. "He'll learn his lesson."
He prompted me forward, and we walked down the corridor, made a turn, and walked until we were outside another room. The door was open. The men inside were loud. Something was going on, and they were having fun watching some TV screen. Nevin pushed me into the office. I scanned the room. It was large and well-decorated. What were they doing there?
The men jumped to their feet when they saw Nevin, and he ordered them to take the day off. There were a few glances between the men. "Now!" He thundered. Nevin didn't look up, and the men left the room.
"Okay. So now what?" I asked stupidly.
"We don't have much time! Why didn't I think about you being in this condition before I asked you to get high."
Nevin told me to sit down and hurriedly started waving tubes in the air. He was frustrated as every image in the sky didn't produce the content he was hoping for. After a few more tries, Michael appeared in the sky. A thin, scrawny-looking resemblance to the man I saw at the farm. Almost emaciated and pale, unrecognizable. It had jolted me out of my stupor, and I grabbed a sugary drink from a small fridge in the corner.
"For now, we watch. You will have to forward a lot of the feed to find out what happened to your sister." I held out my hand and took the tube from him, holding it for a second. It was all I wanted. The truth. "Are you sure?"
The next few months of his life flashed as Michael got better and beat some poor guy in a pub to a pulp. It went on and on in a mundane matter of them bent over books. Michael and Juliet soon traveled to another planet. Caleb was there. Chris was there. I forwarded the next part relatively fast. They were back on Earth. All of them together in France. I forwarded some more. The next scene I couldn't understand... Juliet bent over a table. Marcus and Louis were holding her down. I frowned, brought the feed back to real-time, stood up, and watched the next part slowly, cranking up the volume.
Nevin wrung his hands in agitations. "Branding?" What could she and Michael be talking about? After a horrific scene of him burning her with a makeshift branding iron... Michael turned into all three aliens. All in succession and disappearing. I had to sit down. "Extraordinary! No wonder they don't want us to know." I was glad I was not alone.
"You have not seen your sister die." The words left me bereft of the tiny victory I had in my hands. "You will be safe here." He handed me a veil.
"Where are you going?"
"Will make sure the coast is clear. I... think it best you watch the next part by yourself. If you need to get out, all you have to do is take the elevator to the ground floor and walk out with the veil on. No one will care who you are. I will find you."
Nevin quickly left the room, and the elevator dinged. I kept watching with a veil clutched in one hand and a black tube in the other. I forwarded it again, forgoing all the drama in between. When I saw myself on the screen, I knew the time had come. In a minute, I would see Lucy die. Was knowing better than not knowing. Was it going to change anything?
It was as if she was there one moment, kissing Michael and him pushing away from her. A moment later, her body was lifeless. One twist of her neck in his big hands and she was dead. For all the dread I had feared, a sigh of relief escaped my lips. She had not suffered. Lucy was dead when he started bleeding her dry and biting into her in a deranged manner. The tears still rolled down my cheeks. I flung the tube through the air and spun around. "I need to get out!" Nevin was right. I needed air and space.
The sunlight was so bright it took me a moment to accustom myself to the outside world. I don't know how long I walked down the road. A sign said market. It was still quiet around the compound. Only a few vamps were up and about. I walked until I recognized the shop. The one Juliet and Marcus used to go into to get to the bookstore in the back. I lifted the tarp and stepped through. It was barren, and the couches were gone. The door in the back closed and bolted. No books. Nothing.
"I take it you found what you were looking for?"
Nevin's steady voice was a balm to my nerves. Would I expose all their secrets? "How do I get the feed on something human?"
"You drag and drop." He chuckled. "I'll show you. If you are certain."
"Where did you go?"
"Same as you. I went to the farm. I watched Willa's feed."
I checked my watch. It hadn't been that long since he had left me. I glanced at my bag. He must have taken the key at some point. It didn't bother me because his face was as white as mine. The shared pain and anguish were written in our eyes. "May I ask?"
He nodded.
"Do you regret it?"
He nodded. "Jessy was right... She was brutally beaten to death. Kicked, and her face slammed into the floor like she meant nothing."
"Why? Why did they do that?" I asked.
Nevin's hand started shaking, and his body trembled. "They asked her if she wanted her tongue cut out and go back to Lucius. Or get beaten to death."
"She chose the latter." He tried to steady himself. It was in vain. Nevin's knees gave way, and he fell back.
"Nevin! Are you okay? Should I get Jessy?"
He clasped my wrist. "Why did she not kill herself? Get a message to me? On En-gannim, the women had so many suicides... Willa had so many opportunities. Choices she could rather have taken."
"Hope..." I said. Nevin looked me dead in the eye. "She was your child. If I had a father like you. I would've been different as well. Willa was just different." Nevin broke down in ragged sobs. I pulled out my phone. I pressed on Carl's number.
Carl [ When I find you. I'm going to kill you ]
Me [ Please send someone to the bookstore ]
It was quiet, and the line went dead. I wrapped Nevin up in my arms and held him. "You have to get out, child."
"I'm not going anywhere."
After some time, the stomping of feet came through the store. The tarp lifted. I glanced up. Jessy took in the scene. Juliet pushed past him.
"Jessy. What's going on?"
"It's my father."
"Your dad?" Juliet spat out harshly.
She stepped closer and touched Nevin's shoulder. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"
"He saw how his daughter died." Juliet's head turned to Jessy. "Your sister? When? What happened?"
Juliet rested her hand on his back. "I'm sorry for your loss, sir. We will find who did this."
The sheer audacity this little woman possessed. It rankled and made me blurt out, "You already killed the guy!" Juliet looked at me.
"Lucius," Jessy said softly behind her.
Juliet glanced up at him. "You should have told us."
I snorted and knew what I had to do. It couldn't go on like that. Juliet deciding who lived or died. Them fumbling their way around. The literal universe in the balance. "What makes you think you can play god like you do." Juliet looked back at me.
"What? God?" She scoffed. "I have one simple task in my life. Protect those who I love. Just because you couldn't protect your sister is not my problem. We all have to face death. And... the rest is just a bunch of choices." Juliet got up and stared me down. She was taller than me. Much taller. "You have made yours, Lyla. Now, do what you have to. Leak it all. Let every human try branding and see them eat the people around you. If they do not die when they start hopping from galaxy to galaxy. And you think humans will rally with you?" She sneered in disgust at my naivete. "Jessy. Carl. Pick him up and take him away."
Jessy couldn't move.
"Take him to his wife," I said.
"Your mother is still alive?" Juliet asked Jessy.
Jessy bobbed his head once. "She's on one of the islands."
Juliet was fuming. "She better be on one of ours!" She poked him in his chest with an outstretched finger. "Or you might as well leave. What is the point of you protecting me but do not take me into your confidence." She spat. "I didn't even know you had a family. You lied to me." Carl stepped past and helped Nevin up. Nevin's ragged human steps were back. His back hunched, and his limbs shaking.
"Jessy, snap out of it." Jessy glanced from his father to her. "Now." He suddenly moved. "Carl, make sure all our feed gets published!" Juliet said but paused. "Only the parts Lyla allows." She glared at me. "I'll await my death sentence with peace. Let's see them crucify her when Ian invades."
"We will fight back. You die just as easily as us." I retorted.
The blow came swiftly and painfully. Juliet had struck me with a flat hand as hard as she could. I stumbled and fell to the floor, looking up at her manifested face. Her eyes were as white as snow. Louis grabbed her around the waist and dragged her out. "Let me go. Louis, so help me." He kissed her on her hair. She went ballistic. I clutched my cheek and tried to rub the pain away. Carl held out his hand to me. "Is she all there?"
Carl laughed. "No..." the smile stayed on his mouth. "You ready for the s- storm you so wished for."
"Well, no. Now I'm doubting."
Louis stepped back through the tarp. "Carl take her to En-gannim."
Carl's smile fell. "Louis, no." He protested.
"Juliet can't make this decision. Lyla was your responsibility. Do you want a bullet to the head? She is human. They will decide."
Carl's glance went from Louis to me, and he shrugged. "I'm sorry. You're going to be judged by the men in charge. If you think Juliet makes any decisions. She doesn't."
Another familiar face stepped through the tarp. I shrunk back and moved in behind Carl. "Please. No! Don't take me." I yanked on Carl's shirt. "Help me, Carl. Please."
The stern face hovered over me and picked me up by the shirt. Kubra's eyes glared at me. Black as night with those unthinkable beautiful spirals of white galaxies in his eyes. "You have no idea what you've done." Kubra tossed me over his shoulder.
"We told you. Your parents are going to lose another child. Why did you call me? You could've done what you wanted and hidden somewhere." Carl said, trailing behind Kubra.
"Nevin! Please help me." There was an audience outside of onlookers. Marcus stood to the side, perched on a steel table, gliding his tongue over his teeth. Louis's relaxed demeanor with a cigarette hanging from his lips. Michael appeared out of nowhere. "Juliet is... contained." He laughed. Marcus bobbed his head.
Kubra tossed me at Michael. The massive beast caught me in one hand and held me above his head. My feet dangling like Juliet's had that night with Qadir. Out of nowhere, the warning Sita had left me made sense. A few simple lines on a Post-it. "Do not underestimate the wall around her. Take your time. Be careful. Do not let your goals become your downfall."