Roxanne, who'd been trying with all her might to start breathing normally, suddenly couldn't do so, tensing in his arms, looking up. She was scared to find the acceptance looming in his face, like smoke or halo, engulfing him, almost blurring every shade and feature of his face, his wrinkles.

His eyes were always squinting, just a tiny bit. As he smiled and frowned and looked down, there was always that tiny crease below his eyes. Bags, caused by age and experience.

"What?"

Roxanne didn't know the man standing in front of her. For the life of her, Roxanne couldn't pull out a single strand of reason from that spacy mind of hers for him not endangering her.

"I've... This city, this country... This isn't- it's not home, Beti-"

"But it is!" How could Aditya even suggest otherwise?! This place was home!

But Aditya shook his head and heaved a long sigh. "Not to Katrina. And not to me." He rubbed his hands together, the action slow, methodical. "We've enjoyed our time here, but... It's time for us to leave."

"It's not, though! You can't leave! You can't!"

"The past month has opened my eyes. I'm no longer fit to run this company, or any company. I'd like to rest-"

"No! Don't you dare say that!"

"Mister Price can give you and everyone else double the wage. You can finally stop living in that dump you call a home-"

"It. Doesn't. Matter!"

"... This-" he gestured towards his office, his stack of papers, his old laptop "-has been great. But everything has an end. Mister Price will be good. I've seen his records-"

"Then you should know about him assaulting his classmates and getting into fights!"

"That doesn't mean anything-"

Was he even hearing himself?! "Of course it means something! It means everything! It means he's dangerous!"

"The whole world is dangerous, Beti," he seethed, and he looked angry, so angry. Was he going to hurt her? She was unsure. Her feet dragged her further away from him. He noticed her little twitch, and he looked pained. Roxanne tried to make herself remember that he wouldn't hurt her, but it was hard.

Aditya reached out to her. But her only response was to stare at his hands as though they held an invisible weapon - a weapon he'd use to end her. It wouldn't even be that much of a stretch. With people like Angel existing, who knew what other mythical bullshit stuff existed?

"Beti, I have something for you."

"What is it?" Roxanne asked, despite not really giving a shit.

Adit pulled out the drawer on his desk, and gestured her to come closer with one index finger.

If Roxanne were in a less angrier state of mind, she would've noticed the droplets of sweat, small but many, coating his skin, like rivulets of rain.

She took one step, and another, and that was when she noticed how tense he was. Her legs stopped working. Or, rather, they could work, but they were unwilling to.

"What is it?"

Adit looked surprised, as if he didn't expect her to question him. To be fair, she never had question him. Not once. Not even when she'd suspected he might be wrong. Not until now. "Just come here."

Roxanne sensed her lips tugging up. Despite it, she had no real desire to smile. She wasn't happy. Nothing about this made her happy. "No."

Adit's brows furrowed down. "Just do it, Beti."

Her teeth were pearly white as she smiled toothily. It was the kind of smile she'd usually give him whenever she had a wonderful idea to write that she was sure he'd like. "Sorry. You're just gonna have to show me."

Adit gulped, staring at her as though she was being ridiculous. She stared back because God knows she wasn't, and this was necessary, and she wasn't overreacting. Not at all. It was he who was being ridiculous, making light of things, expecting her to follow him blindly after dropping a bomb like that.

Adit's eyebrows twitched. To her fury, his face contorted into one of sadness, of grief, of loss, as though he'd lost her when she was still standing here, in his office, in one piece, her brain in-tact. She was okay. She was here. Why couldn't he see that? What made him believe otherwise? Katrina? But- no. She wouldn't. If anything, he'd be the one feeding her lies about Roxanne.

He released the handle of the drawer as though it was made out of ironclad and molten lava. He rested both hands on the edges of the table, his untamed nails digging into fine wood.

His eyes, a shade of brown matching the wooden furniture below him, reflecting the dim light of the fluorescent lamp above him, were trained on the ticking cat, whose eyes kept darting left and right, back and forth.

Roxanne wanted to crush that fucking cat. It used to amuse her, now it did nothing but annoy her. Just kept ticking, never ending. What a brat.

"Beti, you need to understand that- that this is inevitable. And this is better." Oh, how she'd love to point out the countless reasons otherwise. "He'll pay you double. And he'll protect you better. But that doesn't mean you're in no danger."

"Oh? I didn't realize."

He nodded, ignoring or not noticing her sarcasm.

"Have you ever wondered why I chose to stay here, in this city, of all places?"

That got Roxanne to frown in thought, her shoulders lowering alongside her defenses.

"Not even the US citizens themselves know of Crystal city's existence," Adit continued, rattling her. "I came to this country expecting too much kindness, too much acceptance." His body stiffened, like a martial artist faced with a threat. "They threw rocks at me. And tried to do the same to Katrina. And whenever they weren't throwing rocks, they were throwing stares."

He finally pushed aside his fears to lock eyes with her. His eyes were the deepest, richest shade of brown.

Roxanne found herself enthralled by them, lost in memories of the innocence, the clueless, and the best of days.

So much so that she didn't really register him opening the drawer and pulling something from it until he held it between his eyes for her to see.

"I want you to have this."

It was a warning sign.

It was a suggestion of something sinister.

"God forbid you have to use this."

Her chest contorted back, pushing her away, as though she'd been shot. Her ears rang, rushing with blood, unable to hear anything but her roaring heart.

"But I can't always be there for you."

She swayed as the world spun and shrank and grew around her, like a nice trip to a mix of the wonderful herbs known as the kind of drugs that kills you.

"But the world is a horrible place. It is the most cruel to the best of us."

It was shiny. Polished. It looked heavy, and didn't fit his hands. Not at all. It didn't - and would never - fit the hands of a man loyal to his wife and his integrity, a man showing kindness through a frown and a grunt, a man too soft for his own good, a man who'd risked his life simply because he was too good, a man with a kindness so generous it had almost gotten him killed multiple times.

Roxanne didn't want to look at it, yet her eyes scanned it and stored every single detail through the circuits and into her brain.

"It's why Katrina and I never planned to bear any children."

The ticking cat met its demise into a flat, hard surface with a crash that crippled each edge, crackling and wheezing and producing a small bit of white dust that floated for but a moment before it disappeared. It, a ghost that hummed its last seconds.

And so Roxanne ran. Because she couldn't bear it anymore. Because all she wanted was a sense of normality, and Adit had to take it away from her. What little 'normalness' she had. The paper thin that was her life. Her life, that could so, so easily be taken from her. Like ripping a paper away. No, not ripping. Just crumbling it.

Roxanne escaped. Because she couldn't picture herself, at any point in her life, to ever be near a gun. Much less for Aditya to ask her to hold it. Aditya, of all people.

Why couldn't he see how much she regretted everything? The path she'd taken. It was too much.

All she had wanted was to expose the truth to everyone. But that was before she had found that the 'truth' involved feathery creatures and guns and shadowy people blending in with normal ones that were able to take you away with a snap, make you disappear from Crystal city.

And Roxanne retreated. Into the building with old paints and semi-cracked walls she and Claire had claimed to be their homes, all those months ago, with their graduation caps still on their heads and their diplomas proudly attached to their hands.

They hung near the TV, now. Their diplomas. Claire's was framed incredulously, and over-the-top, with spiky patterns and glitters. Roxanne's was simpler, more timid, and had a seashell propped on one of the corners. A white seashell with dots of pink-ish hue to it.

They'd decorated each others' frames.

Roxanne had gasped in awe at how majestic hers looked, and Claire giggled and hugged her diploma close to her chest and muttered a small, but strong "thank you".

Back when Claire had healed.

Back when Claire had been happy. When they both had been happy.

Back before Claire had started to disappear, more and more, with no real answers and sometimes bruises and cuts. Oh, she'd tried to hide it, but Roxanne saw. Roxanne had always known.

Back before Claire's short bursts of disappearance prompted Roxanne to really dig deep into the mysteries of this town, and why things were the way they were.

Because really, who was she kidding? 'To release the truth for everyone to see'. 'To uncover the mysteries of this strange town.' That had been the big reason, yeah, but... that hadn't been the only reason...

It had been Claire. It had always been Claire.

Claire, who was supposed to have a movie night tonight with her.

Claire, who was supposed to be her solace in this dark world.

Claire, who stood dangerously near the doorway, looking at her with a pale face and red-rimmed eyes.

Claire, who looked as though she was about to leave.