Shi and I step further into the new world we've just discovered, our shoes meeting asphalt. If I squint into the distance, I can see a blur of mingling bodies, and buildings more tightly wound. If I'm correct, we're approaching some sort of main center; down where we are now, the buildings are few and it seems awfully deserted, and much quieter than I'm used to. Chills run down my spine; I shiver.

"You have no idea where he is, do you?" asks Shi, beside me. When I glance at him, I see only his profile, his eyes trained on the path ahead of him. Part of me is amused we can walk in the middle of the road without the threat of vehicles; back in Maris, that would be impossible. This place really is different. "Like, he didn't reminisce, not even once?"

"He reminisced," I answer, "just very vaguely reminisced."

"Next time you want to find someone and end their life—just a tip—ask them to reminisce specifically. You know, so you can get the job done with more efficiency—"

"Shi!" I yelp, grabbing his arm and pulling him from the street, as a car rolls by. We hobble onto the street, and I watch as the car goes by, a slight hope in me that it's Gael, somehow. I'm afraid, and I admit it; now I know how Gael felt—entirely out of place, and threatened because of it. So, a large part of me just wants to get this done and get out.

The car, an old and rather broken down army green sedan, passes, and I peer into the window—only to find an overweight man in a wife beater. Not Gael. I sigh, and Shi sighs with me, giving me a reassuring pat on the back as he continues walking. "We'll find him, Gemma."

"We'd better," I mumble. We continue walking until we reach the main street, where the sidewalks thicken with people and I find myself on the verge of suffocation. So many others—humans—in the same space as me, breathing the same air as me, is beginning to stress me out. I feel overheated, and the sun suddenly seems brutal. The main street hums with the noise of obscure dialogue, the patter of footsteps, and the distant barking of dogs on leashes. Around me, humans purchase fruits from street vendors, duck into clothing boutiques, or lounge at the benches near the fountain in the center of the traffic circle—two dolphins with water spurting in elegant tendrils from their mouths. It's not the city I'm used to, and I would probably enjoy the variety of the experience, if I wasn't too busy worrying these humans were on to me, or Shi.

I feel Shi's fingers interlock in mine, and look up at him. He nods curtly in my direction, eyebrows pulled low over his eyes as he mouths, Calm down. I got you. I exhale, relaxing. I don't know what I'd do if he hadn't helped me all this way; having someone else to hold my hand makes me feel safer than I ever have, especially in a sea of the unknown.

"I don't see him anywhere," I say, my shoulders sagging. "What if he's already dead? There's no telling if he even made it back in the first place..."

"We made it here," Shi encourages. "He's here, he just might not be here, on this main street. Don't sound so hopeless."

I huff, crossing my arms over my chest as we pass a vendor selling various blocks of scented soap. "I can sound however I want to sound."

"In that case," says Shi with a chuckle, "if you wanted to sound like a five-year-old just then, you accomplished it."

This earns him a hit in the shoulder from me.

Shi just laughs, lifting his eyes to survey the main street along with me. To my dismay, we're coming to the end of it, where the road splits off to many directions, the sidewalks following it. We could walk along those sidewalks, but who knows how long it would take to trek all of that? I'm beginning to do more than just sound hopeless, my heart thudding away in my chest. All this way, and for nothing.

Shi pulls me sharply to the side, and before I know it we've entered some sort of bar and grill place, the lights turned low save for the fixtures hanging above the bar in the back. It's mostly empty, but a few afternoon day drinkers wander around the place, eating colossal hamburgers and drowning themselves in booze. I barely have to stand in the entrance for a few moments before I'm positive this isn't my type of place.

I turn to Shi. "The hell have you got me in here for?"

"You were stressing. I say we give it a break, considering we just came from five days of hiking in a ridiculously dense forest. I say...we just chill for a bit."

I start to open my mouth to contradict, but a smug smile slides across my face instead. Tapping my foot against the dark floors of the restaurant, I raise an eyebrow at Shi. "Is this your way of asking if you can buy me a drink?"

Shi shrugs, then grabs hold of my hand, lifting it to his lips. I giggle, feeling childish as he pecks me on the back of my hand. "Indeed it is, m'lady. Come hither," he says to me, and I let him drag me up to the bar, wanting to tell him I don't drink but not wanting to disappoint him. He grabs a seat beside my bar stool, tapping his fingers across the wood. The bartender has his back to us as he cleans a wine glass with a rag, and while Shi waits for him, he frowns in the direction of the bar nuts, proceeding to pick one up and study it before consuming it.

I reach over, swatting at him. "I don't even go out much, and I know never to eat bar nuts. Are you crazy, Shi?"

"In the best way, sweetie," he says with a wink. The bartender turns, and Shi lifts his hand. "Hey there. Can I get—Gemma, is something wrong?"

I've fallen into silence. I recognize those wide, child-like green eyes, the ink-black curls falling into them, the sharp jawline and distinct Cupid's bow. I recognize the slim shoulders, the honey-colored skin gleaming underneath the light fixtures. My lips curl in anger. It's Gael, the whole reason I've come here. "No," I say, gnawing at my bottom lip. "Nothing's wrong."

Gael's eyes grow steadily wider. "Gem? Oh God—"

I reach forward, seizing his arm and dragging him along the bar until I can shove him into the back room. Shi, startled, stumbles after us.

The room, filled with herbs, spices, and who knows what other kinds of ingredients, is empty. I throw Gael down, his head bumping into a shelf and causing it to rattle. He pushes himself on his elbows, looking up at me in horror. "Gem! Wait—"

I draw my blade from my boot, straddling him and holding it to his neck. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't murder you right now."

He swallows, looking pained. A vein strains against the skin of his forehead, and I almost want to slap him, for acting as if he deserves my sympathy. I hate looking down at his doe eyes, the terror so prominent. As if he doesn't know what he's done to deserve this. "Gem...please..."

I tighten my grip on the knife. "Don't call me Gem, like nothing's changed, Gael! You ruined me, and you're going to die for it!" I begin to dig the knife into his skin, hearing it split—

"Gemma! I left to protect you, okay? I said those things because I do love you, and I needed to—"

I pause. "Wait," I say, glancing back up at Shi, who just shrugs innocently. "What did you say?"

"I was going to have to leave anyway," pleads Gael, exhaling, his hands lifted as if to somehow shield himself. His eyes search my face, begging for mercy. "They were going to kill me if I didn't, and I knew how much that would hurt you. I just thought it'd be easier if you hated me."

My grip on my knife still hasn't loosened, but I sit back. "You said all of that just to make me hate you?"

"It was the only way," Gael says, shutting his eyes with a shake of his head. He swallows. "I thought if you...if you didn't care anymore, I could leave without it tearing you apart and without you following me...which I guess backfired, because you're here."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I love you, Gemma, and I would never want to hurt you, I wouldn't. Trust me. What happened in that hallway was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life," Gael explains. "I hated the look on your face, but I had to."

I stare down at him, biting at my lip with a new urgency. My heart is going at it, my eyebrows drawing in as the grip on my knife slowly tightens like a vice. He shattered me, shattered everything I had ever trusted and ever known, but now I'm looking at him, and seeing nothing of that guy. I see the old Gael, the one I fell in love with.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

I drop the knife at my side, scooting away from him. "Just because I didn't kill you doesn't mean I trust you again," I say. "It's going to take a lot more than that to fix this."

"I know...but...for now, why don't you just, I don't know, come home with me?"

Shi, leaning against the doorframe, chuckles into his hand. "Go to a bar, find a man to go home with. I do believe I've just walked into every drunk party girl's cliché."

Gael's eyes meet Shi's with a new interest; as he draws himself up to a seating position, he gestures in his direction. "Who's the golden boy?"

"That's Shi," I say. "He's helped me out quite a bit."

"You might recall me," adds Shi with a leisurely wave towards Gael. He plasters a fake smile on his face. "I tried to eat you once."

It takes a second for Gael to get it, and when he does, he just looks at the ground. "Oh. That's...nice."

"The little I did get of you, however," says Shi, "was delicious, and I'd gladly try harder next time—"

"Okay! That's it for introductions," I say, scowling at Shi. Yes, I don't trust Gael yet, but that doesn't mean I hate him, so it makes things easier if Shi doesn't either. That might be hard to accomplish, but it doesn't mean I can't try. I turn to Gael, standing up and dusting my leggings off. "Meanwhile, I think we'll take you up on your offer, Gael."

Gael directs a grin on me, one that tugs at my heartstrings, because I remember it melting them before. "Well, good. This way."