The group manager had been speaking on the phone for several minutes, her gaze was worried, and her hand was taking notes. It was a morning like many others and she didn't expect to receive such a call. She closed the conversation, sitting in her chair looking at the ceiling in terror. She recovered and quickly walked out of the office, her footsteps echoing her anxiety. "I knew there was something wrong!"

A short while later she waited nervously outside of the studios. Two vehicles pulled into the parking lot, from which men with white uniforms came out; they exchanged a few words with her and immediately began to follow her inside. On their way they met Jess and Joanna; the manager intimated that they return to their rooms without providing the slightest explanation.

The two of course didn't listen to her and kept staring at the four people who stormed in like trained war troops. Soon after, Ted joined them, looking at his companions. They all stood in shock watching the surreal scene.

The manager took the microphone from the counter at the entrance, took a deep breath and pushed the activation button "Fade is desired in the lobby, I repeat, Fade is desired by Nef in the lobby!"

Fade was searching for inspiration in writing something in her diary and was struck by that singular novelty. Since she lived there, the microphone was never used for calls; and it seemed strange that Nef sought for her using the manager's voice. She laid the diary on the bed, stretched out, and walked out of the room to reach the elevator down the hall.

Sushi quickly sent a message to Nef: "Something strange is happening."

The bass player, already alerted by the announcement, rushed to the elevator but it was busy.

He ran down the stairs and, upon reaching the hall, he saw the strange situation. "What the hell is going on here? Who are these people?" He yelled. The manager ran to him, begging him not to intervene, but as soon as she did, he roared like a fury.

Meanwhile Fade was going up in the elevator.

Approaching the ground floor, she heard Nef's shouts growing louder, she didn't understand what was happening, but she began to feel nervous.

"What do you want to do to her?" She heard the bass player shouting and she moved to the bottom of the cabin and put her hand to the knife, that she had taken the habit of wearing.
When the doors opened, she saw a scenario in slow motion. Two people with white lab coats were standing behind the doors; one quickly locked the door open with tape, while the other jumped on her.

Fade recognized the uniforms and pulled out the knife, crazy with fear. "Stand back! Don't touch me or I'll kill you!" She shouted, threatening them with the knife. The two pulled back, still blocking the exit, trying to decide what to do. The girl crushed the elevator buttons convulsively and began to shake, but the doors didn't close. The band watched that scene in shock, while the manager explained that she had received a call from a mental health centre, warning her that the girl had run away years earlier from their clinic, losing her tracks and and that they had found her thanks to a recent entry of her personal information on their database. "They told me she killed two people and is mentally unstable," the woman concluded, worried.

"Get out of my way!" She yelled, her face deformed by despair. In fact, she moved as though she wouldn't have the slightest hesitation in opening her aggressors' bellies in half. The two in the lab coats were trying to calm her down with their words.

"Put down the weapon, we won't hurt you! You can't run away now, you can't escape."

It was true, Fade looked around and had no escape, the walls of the elevator were like a cage, and the only way out was to give in to one of her worst nightmares: room no. 7.

With a shudder she took the knife with two hands and raised it in front of herself, trembling with dismay. Everyone was appalled by that gesture, but one of the two men was quick to seize the moment and stopped her, the knife fell and she let out an excruciating scream while the other intervened and dragged her out of the elevator. She kicked and screamed like a fox caught in a trap as they put a straightjacket on her.

"No, damn it!" Nef protested, not believing it was necessary, but a third man stopped him. Fade, exhausted, dropped to her knees, leaning over herself; she only had the strength to cry and beg for someone to kill her immediately.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" The bass player finally spoke, once the confusion faded.

"This girl is dangerous; we have to take her away immediately. You're lucky she didn't kill anyone."

"You must know that the girl is under my protection."

"Protection revoked, Mr Shaw," the other replied, showing him some written documents "We have all the permissions to collect her and bring her back to her city. I'm sorry that she has caused you problems."

"Where are you bringing her?" The bass player insisted while they were dragging her out. "We aren't allowed to tell you, sorry," and the conversation ended with the closing of the van door that took her away from the studios.

The bass player continued to look at the corner behind which the vehicle had disappeared, without being able to react. The others got close to him. "Fuck, what a horrible story..." was the only comment that came out of Ted's mouth.

In the shadows inside the van, the young girl sat on the floor with her hair over her face and her gaze fixed at the floor. Her straightjacket was fixed to hooks on the wall to prevent her from moving and the two doctors who had caught her were seated in front of her chatting over their accomplishment.

Watching the texture of the dark linoleum, her thoughts mixed with memories.

Fade was lying on the bed of a white room; the furniture was limited to a bedside table, a little table, a chair and a closet. From the single window there was a beam of light projecting a bright square on the ground, broken by the shadow of the iron bars.

The girl was wearing a light pyjama and a pair of worn-out roller-skates; she was watching the ceiling, contemplating the slow running of her life. She was about fourteen years old.

Suddenly she stopped breathing.

The key turned in the latch and a young woman went in. Fade couldn't see her face, she had removed everything, and the faces of the past had dissolved in her memory. She only saw a curly-haired head and a thin body wearing a nurse's uniform.

The woman spoke to her in a confidential tone, "Good morning Jane, how are you?" But the girl didn't answer; she lay motionless with her eyes staring at the ceiling.

"Dear God, Jane! Do you hear me?" She asked, alarmed.

"Boo!" Was the girl's response, which frightened her to death.

"Oh Lord, Jane! You must stop it with these jokes!"

"Ha ha! And you stop falling for them every time, Sherry! Did you bring me some food?" She asked, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"No, here are your medicines, take them without complaining."

"Aw, I thought we were friends," she said, dismayed.

The young woman sat next to her.

"The Doctor ordered me to do it and I can't disobey him. Come on, these will alleviate your headaches," she said, handing her a little box which contained some pills, and a glass of water.

"Medicines are for losers" she refused them.

"That's not so: they help you when your body can't heal on its own. Come on, take them."

"Okay, I'll take them... But I want to go outside! Skating here isn't fun! When can I go out?"

The nurse sighed "Lass, what you did wasn't right and if you're here it's because we want to help understand your mistakes."

"I just saved myself from hell! Why do they all blame me for this?"

"What you call 'hell', for the rest of people is normal 'life' and there are other ways to deal with it!" The nurse concluded firmly. "Now I have to go, be sure to take your medicines." The lock closed behind her with a dry noise.

Fade watched the box she left on the cabinet next to the bed. She reached out, took a pill, and began to speak in falsetto: "Uhhh! Take me Jane, I'm the pill that will save your mental health! Uhhh!"

"No! You want to cheat me, I recognize you: you're Dr Pill! Once I take you you'll tear me up from the inside! Who? Who will save me?" She continued amused.

She took a stuffed animal in the shape of an anthropomorphic cat from a corner of the bed. "Ta-Daa!"

The girl began to force the pill into a small tear in the cat's ear. "Come on Mr Garfy! Don't be stubborn! Take the medicine; it will heal your sick brain! There! And now a little water!" She took her glass and took a big gulp, made some gargles and drank the liquid, concluding with a loud laughter. She was safe again.

One morning Sherry entered the room, happier than usual "Surprise! Guess what day is it today?"

"Therapy day?" She responded with sarcasm.

"No silly! Today you are fifteen years old, so here's a gift from me!" She said, showing a large box wrapped with colourful paper.

Fade was excited. She hadn't had many surprises since she was locked up in that place.

She weighed the parcel; it must have been something big. She quickly unwrapped the package and pulled out an appreciated surprise. "Roller blades! And purple, my favourite colour!"

"And that's not all," the woman added. "I talked the doctors into letting you go out into the yard to try them and since it's your birthday they've accepted. We can go."

The girl couldn't believe her ears, she was excited and yearned to go out; she took off her old skates and slipped the new ones on. It took a while to get used to the new shoes, but she did so almost immediately. She spent an hour skating up and down the courtyard of the clinic under the attentive eye of the nurse, who occasionally advised her not to break something. It was one of the most beautiful sensations she had experienced in a long time, it was like flying after spending her life in a cage. She focused on every single minute she spent on that little piece of asphalt, which in her eyes was as big as the sky.

"Jane, it's time to go back in."

The girl returned to the hospital with her hair wet from sweat and out of breath. Her nurse covered her shoulders with a blanket and escorted her to her room.

The following days passed serenely. With the promise of going out again, the girl behaved well and took her medicines. Every time the door opened she stood up like a dog waiting for his master to return, but the answer to her request to go outside was always negative.

One morning, when Sherry entered the room, the girl immediately noticed that there was something wrong. "I'm sorry," she explained, "The doctors have arranged for your transfer..."

and in the meantime two men walked in and approached her. Fade didn't remember their faces, but the white uniforms and white caps with a red stripe were impressed in her mind, for they were typical of the clinic where they were taking her to.

She was frightened. "What? I want to stay here! Go away!" But the two men had already grasped her and were dragging her out. The thin girl's struggles to free herself were useless and she sought help from the only person she trusted "Sherry! Do something!" But the nurse had no voice in the matter and moved out of the way, while looking at her compassionately. Fade clenched the door jamb with all the strength she had "Why don't you do something? Why? I hate you! Did you hear me? I hate you!" And she was dragged away from her last support. The woman covered her face with her hands and cried, aware of her complete helplessness in the face of higher orders. The ambulance in which they had locked the girl started off quickly.

Inside, the redhead watched her new skates, the only bond she had with her past. "People betray you," she said.

After a long time the vehicle stopped and the back doors opened. The girl was invested by a strong light which illuminated the new structure that would have hosted her. She stepped down and looked at the tall building made up of reflective windows. She only read the red text on a white background "A.S.E.".