He recognized that voice. He was afraid to greet what was on the other side. The doorknob slowly twisted, and as the door was opened, a tiny light poured in.

As she stood in front of him in the closet, she glowed in darkness all on her own, as if she was illuminated by a light from heaven.

"It's okay, Caleb, come outside. The bad things are over now, see?"

Ivy pushed the door all the way open. They were no longer in the basement, but a grassy field; a neat plot of soil near the water's edge was where he found the familiar face he had drawn a million times in his heart. It was one he had envisioned gazing with bright green eyes, frisson with wonder, looking out into the stars. She was under the oak tree where he left her. High above was a sea of clouds, and the air whispered a balmy summer breeze. It carried him the distance across the field to her. With arms outstretched he dove for her, and she received him into her arms.

"Ivy! It is you!" he cried. "And I'm here, with you. Which means—"

"Shh, don't say it." Ivy pressed her finger to Caleb's lips. "It doesn't mean anything to call it something, so why not just enjoy whatever it is."

"I needed to avenge you. It was my only reason for living anymore."

"Why do you need to avenge me when you're here with me now? Isn't that what matters? Look at where we are."

They were sitting in the tall green grass of a hilltop with a big tree; the only tree there was to be seen for miles. There was only prairie, and it stretched on and on as far as the eye could see. Caleb saw kids running and playing. The sun was bright yellow and beaming, but the nice breeze kept them cool. He looked up at the sun and it hurt his eyes to stare. It caused a sensation within his body he had long forgotten how to feel. The brightness of the sun: high and mighty in the sky, impacted by nothing, not even clouds.

"I've dreamt about this place," Caleb finally said. "But I don't think I've ever been."

"Have you ever wondered: what good is a memory if it can be changed? How certain are we of who we are today, if we cannot even trust ourselves to remember who we were yesterday?"

"But I remember," he softly protested. "I remember everything so vividly."

"Like a movie you've seen a million times."

"Not like a movie."

"Caleb, listen," she whined. "What am I to you?"

"Ivy, how could you ask me that? You're the love of my life. I lost everything when I lost you."

Ivy shook her head.

"But what if the memories of this girl you loved weren't yours. What if they belonged to someone else and you never knew her. The two of you never met."

"Who are you, Caleb Morris?"

"I'm the boy who fell in love with you."

"Are you sure?"

There came a rustling in the grass behind Caleb.

"How about now?"

Caleb turned around to find another Ivy, an exact copy of the girl standing in front of him.

"Caleb," he heard a third voice whine.

"How could you be certain of anything inside of this world?" the first one said before disappearing into the crowd of a thousand Ivies, seemingly sprouted from the blades of grass in an instant.

They all called to him, flooding his mind with her sweet voice again, until he couldn't bear it.

Caleb.

Caleb.

I love you, Caleb.

Why did you leave me, Caleb?

I'll kick your ass.

I'm yours forever.

My darling Caleb.

He covered his ears to block out the sound. He felt the voices dwindling away until there was nothing but a whisper blowing away with the wind.

"In this world, you can always return to that grassy hill. You can have whatever you want. The world can be whatever you want it to be. In this world, you can be with me. Always."

When Caleb opened his eyes again, he was at an empty train station. There was only one Ivy now, holding his head in her hands as she caressed his hair. In her smiling eyes, he felt a warmth, gentle and familiar, but also troubled, crying out for him to come with her.

"Wouldn't that be nice, my Caleb?"

Before he could speak, he was stopped by a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw the knife she had driven into him, through his heart. As the blood began to spill out from the side of his mouth, he struggled to form words. The look in Ivy's eyes hadn't changed. She was smiling. With his last bit of strength, he attempted to reach for the knife.

"Shh, shh, baby. It's over now. You don't have to fight it."

He moved the knife an inch.

"Don't you want to be with me?"

Another inch.

"Caleb, stop it!"

"AHHHHHH!" Caleb roared as he ripped the knife from his chest and in the same motion, slashed the blade across her throat. The golden-haired phantom flung backwards underneath a shower of blood. But, Caleb couldn't stop. He took the knife and wailed as he plunged down again, and again, and again, until he was covered by her blood.

In the next instant, he was in darkness and the room was much colder. He was pounding the concrete with his bare hands, which by now, had turned purple and bloody. He moved his fingers over his chest. There was no blood and no wound.

"Okay, okay, already! You passed, alright, kid?"

The chamber was lit by the flames of torches, illuminating their dark masses and their glimmering porcelain masks with large hoods pulled over their heads. Each porcelain mask represented a different beast: an owl, a stag, a jaguar, a rabbit, a boar, and a snake. Behind them on the wall was a massive nest of wires, at the heart of which was a feminine shape that resembled a sleeping beauty with its head detached from its body and its outstretched arms connected to the torso only by wires.

The wolf stood at the center before the council of beasts that sat before him. Caleb's eyes met the jaguar's, who was directly in front of him. Its dark, vacant pupils as they swallowed the orange, flickering light like a void.

"So, now we have a wolf joining our little circus," commented the stag.

"I wonder what he looks like underneath the mask. Or is it a she?" cooed the rabbit, tilting her head in curiosity. She leaned closer to the candlelight. "Let's have a look, shall we?"

The reluctant wolf raised his hands to lift the mask.

"No!" bellowed the boar. It shocked Caleb into immediately pulling his hands back by his sides.

"You all know the rules," the boar continued. "Identities are kept secret. To protect the people closest to us."

"Oh boar, you're such a...bore," simpered the rabbit.

"Of course we know that's not true," hissed the jaguar. "The lion knows all of our identities."

"The lion was the one that brought us all here from the outside," said the snake. "If anyone else knew who we were, our operation could be compromised. The lion understood that certain secrets must be kept, even from each other."

"Little wolf, does anyone else besides the lion know who you really are?" barked the jaguar.

Caleb hesitated to speak. "Even if that was the case, why would I tell you that?"

The jaguar groaned while the boar burst out laughing.

"The boy learns fast!"

"The lion's got it all wrong if you ask me. Bringing in more people is just going to jeopardize everything," said the stag.

"You question the lion?" reprimanded the owl.

"I'm just speaking facts. And it's a fact that sometimes you don't even need to say a word to sell out the group. If this kid gets caught, we're all fucked."

"But that goes for all of us," said the snake.

"But doubly for him. Look at 'em. A wolf? He looks more like a scrawny little pup, c'mon."

"Do you wanna test me?" the wolf muttered calmly.

All eyes were on the stag now. The jaguar curled his fist beneath his chin as he perked up in his chair.

"Well now," cooed the jaguar. "We may have a fiery one."

"What're you waiting for, stag? Get the fuck up," jeered the rabbit.

"Shut your whore mouth, rabbit," grumbled the stag as he rose to his feet. He stepped with caution into the circle, glaring into the eyes of the wolf who didn't fear him. So, he chose theatrics. The stag ripped his blade from its casing and held it to the light. Its black metal glimmered like a pearl.

"Obsidian fiber," he gloated. "The sharpest edge known to man. It cuts so clean, it leaves no residue, no jagged edges. An assassin's dream. I get mad-surgical with this bitch."

He glimpsed over his shoulder to check if the wolf had flinched. Instead, he was reaching underneath his coat for waistband.

"I've got a dagger," the wolf flatly declared.

The stag laughed. "Really? You're gonna come at me with that little butterknife? I'll cut that thing to pieces!"

Caleb widened his stance, and flipped the knife so the steel part was angled down his forearm.

"Quit stallin', stag," groaned the jaguar.

"Fuck it, alright. Since you all wanna see an execution," the stag muttered with a hint of shakiness in his voice. He swung his blade through the air. It made a big whooshing sound, but it didn't get the wolf to budge. So, he did it again. Whoosh!

"Alright, then. Here I come!" The stag slashed down with everything he had. In the next moment, the wolf was inside his reach. With his right hand, he scooped the stag's collar and twisted it, and with the other hand, he forced the hilt of the dagger into his armpit. The stag yelped in agony as his arm went numb and he relinquished the blade from his grip. The wolf lifted the stag over his hip and sent him flailing back to the ground, keeping control of his sleeve and the dagger at his neck. Just like that, it was already over.

"What'll it be? I can take your mask or I can take your head. Which one?" muttered the wolf.

"Don't," the stag pleaded.

The metal doors of the factory swung open. Caleb let him go and quickly put away his dagger.

"Ah, well I see you all are getting along with our new recruit," said Victor with a smile. He was the only one who was not wearing a mask.

"We like him," said the snake.

"Well, good, because we need him. Our next job is our most important yet," the lion said as he approached his old workbench. He turned on a lamp to reveal a web of photographs taped to the wall. The photos shared similar profiles: all middle-aged men in suits with nothing much more to be intrigued about, and no one that Caleb recognized. Except one.

"Who's the employer?" asked the boar.

"Anonymous," Victor quickly declared. "For several reasons, the employer desires to keep his identity a secret. In most circumstances, I would've declined, notwithstanding the small fortune he's offering. But you see, this is a job that I felt compelled to take for personal reasons, as it relates to the core purpose of our organization, and the root of everything that made me the man I am today."