It was night. Esmerald finished bathing and eating dinner. She ate in her room since eating with her kidnapper was difficult. Julio didn't argue with her since he didn't want to make her too uncomfortable. The house lights were off, and before heading to his room, he ensured that the door was locked, but he also put a chair on the door knob. Julio also ensured that all the windows were closed and locked. 

He knew that she shouldn't be too worried about her trying to escape. Esmerald wouldn't be able to get out of the island. What worried him more, however, was that if she left the house, unintended, unmarried males would try to get the opportunity to get her for themselves. It has happened in the past, which is one of the many problems in Sardinia. The higher-ups on the island have been trying to make laws that would make it punishable if another man took a woman. 

If the laws were broken, the perpetrator would be sent to prison for five years, and if the perpetrator acted again, it would be the death penalty. Yet, some men would risk five years in prison to try to take a woman. If they failed and were caught, then they would stop. Julio went to take a quick shower and then readied himself to go to bed. 

It was difficult for him to fall asleep sometimes, and he would usually read a book or write in his journal. He got his journal out with his pen and went to the middle of it, where there was a picture inside. Julio held and looked at it. It was a picture of him and his group arriving in Afghanistan. In the photo, the group consisted of eight of them, and in Julio's unit, some were from the United States, Germany, and Italy. They have viewed each other as brothers. Then memories flashed back to the moments they were in Afghanistan and put the picture in another part of his journal, and he began to write about what occurred during the tradition and about Esmerald.

It was the first time he had written something positive; he had found a partner. His goal was to make her fall in love with him. Julio also noted that he had a goal for them to get married in a traditional wedding. He also wrote that he wanted them to have children and live happy lives. Once done, he put the journal away, laid on his bed, and slowly went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Esmerald was still awake and surrounded by darkness. Everything happened so quickly that her brain was still trying to understand what was happening. The more she thought about her situation, the more the thought of her mother came up. She slowly sat up and put the pillow on her back. She remembered asking her mother about her homeland, but the questions would always be ignored. "Oh, Mom, is this why you didn't want to talk about Sardinia?" she whispered. The young woman felt tears forming but then realized something. "W-Wait, Mom, was from here. If the tradition lasted this long, she could escape this place!"

Esmerald felt help once again. It would make sense why Julio told her that there was no escape from the island, but she thought it was to deter her from any hope. She remembered telling Julio about her mother being from the island. It made her feel disappointed that she told him. "It's best not to remind him about it too much. I don't want him to think I will try to escape here."

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Julio snoring from another room that didn't sound too far off. Esmerald looked at the door and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Great, I don't think I will get too much sleep from his snoring. As Esmerald was going to lie down on the bed, Julio's snoring stopped, and he began mumbling. The young woman lay down and was about to sleep, but she heard him talking. "Is he talking in his sleep? Great."

"No, no. It's-It's a trap. D-Don't go there..."

This confused Esmerald as she slowly sat up and got off the bed. She tried turning the doorknob, but it was locked from the other end. Esmerald put her right ear on the door to see what Julio said. From the other end, she heard him as if he was grasping for air. "A-Antonio, don't go in there. No...it's a bomb. N-N-No!" He began breathing hard. Suddenly, he screamed, which made Esmerald yelp, but she immediately covered her lips and quietly got back to bed, turning her back toward the door.

She could hear him taking deep breaths as if trying to calm himself down. Esmerald waited to see if Julio was going to see if she was awake or not. He didn't, and what seemed about twenty minutes later, she heard his soft snores. It made her curious if Julio was having a nightmare or if there was more to him than he was not letting her see.

Esmerald fell asleep.