"When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny."

The Devil and Miss Prym, by Paulo Coelho

"So here's the plan," Hugo murmured, adjusting the knife in his fist. "Maisie and I will go first. Let's try to release and wake the hostages, this is part number one. Tanya and Aline stay here, watching. If we manage to release everyone and everything has not yet gone down the drain, we will try to make his allies unconscious. The moment Izak notices us, or you realize that things are going bad, you two come in and save the day. Are we agreed?"

Tanya let out a grunt of despair.

"I have to go with the airhead?!"

Aline frowned, indicating for the first time that she was really paying attention to what was going on.

"Just because I'm silent, that doesn't make me an airhead." Aline retorted, her temper emerging for the first time. "It just means that I prefer to understand a situation well before acting, that I am not impulsive as certain—"

"Oh, for love, let's talk about impulsivity here? Who lost her freedom to stay with Izak anyway? Oh yes—"

"Guys, if you want to invite Izak and their followers to chat, just argue a little louder," Hugo asked, looking at the two with censorship. "Maisie and I can even go over to the house, get popcorn to watch you know. Just let us know!"

"I'm sorry." Aline said, her gaze becoming harder as she realized that Tanya would not apologize as well. "Your plan looks good to me, Hugo. I will do my best to help."

"Well, then if nobody has anything else to say ..." Hugo stared at us for a long minute before smiling and nodding. "Then come on. Let's go out there and be completely reckless!"

I sincerely wish I had said something there, but of course I hadn't thought of anything useful.

One moment we were talking, the next, Hugo and I said goodbye to each other as we went in the opposite direction. If all went well, I would free Natalia and Jace and head towards the great tomb of the crying Angel, where I would meet Hugo, and everything would magically be solved.

Or at least that's what I was rooting for.

I took a deep breath and, lowering myself behind the tombs, I started to sneak. In a way, it was like playing hide-and-seek in the cemetery - a hide-and-seek in which, if I lost, I would lose something much worse than just my turn.

Playing hide and seek in a cemetery, where the heck did I get that idea? It looked like something you would see in a horror movie.

But also, right, the way my life has been going recently, I wouldn't be surprised to know that I had become the star of the new The Blair Witch.

Yeah, I was laughing to keep from crying ... but I couldn't laugh, so I was trying really hard to hold it all back.

With my knees on the floor, I crawled through the shadows, trying to pretend I was a cat and distract myself from the idea that I was crawling between tombstones. In my mind, the idea that a hand could come up at any moment to pull my foot into the earth was enough for me to want to run back and admit, loud and clear, that I was a coward.

But Harry didn't come back halfway when he went to face Voldemort to die. Alright, so he did have the moral support of Sirius and the others cheering him on, but he still didn't go back.

I wouldn't go back either.

And I wouldn't even need the support. After all, is there a greater motivation than the need to save the lives of those you love? I don't think so.

I was almost convinced of that when a bat skidded and passed right over my head.

I swallowed the cry that came in my mouth, closed my eyes, and curled up on the floor. Then, I remembered that it was graveyard land, remembered the hypothetical hand breaking through the earth to pull my poor foot into it, and I jumped back and seriously thought about going to scold the bat.

Couldn't he fly a little bit farther away?

But everyone there could see me, while Hugo just needed to hide from Izak - so I needed to be a million times more discreet than my friend.

Scolding a being who couldn't even answer me, well, that wouldn't be very discreet.

Getting to Natalia was not that difficult - she was the one closest to us. To my surprise- or not, really, Nat was just so clever- her hands were almost loose behind the grave.

Natalia was breaking free quite efficiently on her own.

But also, I thought, it wasn't even that difficult. Only a sticker with some drawings painted in black held her hands together, and however difficult to cut the paper seemed- as if it were wrapped in plastic or something- in the end, it was just paper.

As soon as I touched the paper with my fingertips, thinking about just tearing the sticker and releasing her hands, I felt an immediate burning sensation - something like when you touch your hand to the hot iron, hear that little noise of flesh burning, and you know you messed up? Yeah.

I messed up.

I tore my hands away from Natalia's, thinking about millions of things I probably shouldn't register here. It wasn't pretty.

When I managed to convince myself to open my hands and look at my palms, large transparent symbols seemed to have been burned in my hand with a hot iron. Yeah, I know how the bulls feel now.

Poor Lil' fellas.

I blew on my palms a few times, swallowing the tears and looking at the sticker in a new light.

That could be anything, LESS a simple piece of paper with some ink and glue. Your usual, notebook sticker, that wasn't.

But why I was still surprised by these things that were not what they seemed, I can't say. Since I died, nothing is what it seems.

Making a tweezer with my fingertips, I took a deep breath and tried to rip the sticker in half. Yes, it burned until a little smoke came out, the stench of burned skin something unbelievable, but I ripped it off.

Thank you Lord, I thought, letting out a sigh of relief. Natalia opened and closed her hands a few times, although she gave me no other sign that she was awake.

I tried to pry the rest of the sticker off her hands, trying not to mumble in pain as the patch burned my skin.

Believe me, Natalia's hands were in a much worse state.

Victorious, finally, I looked up and searched for Hugo in the darkness.

On my opposite side of the circle, Hugo gave me an ok sign behind Ingreth. As he signaled he would be moving on, logic told me that he would be heading towards Miss Savannah. Was Ingy awake? I couldn't tell in the distance, but if she was, she was probably faking sleep, just like Nat was.

I sneaked over to Jace and almost cried when I saw that his hands were tied tightly with rope. I should have thought better about how I was going to release Jace and Natalia, but it's not like I'm used to participating in risky rescues.

I started looking around, looking for loose stone or a broken piece of marble, something I could use to cut the rope. I thought about going back to Natalia, she was using something to rip off the sticker and break free, if I found this thing and it could cut the rope too...

Before I could finish that thought, one of Izak's allies stepped back, almost stepping on me. I rolled back to get out of his way, and kept rolling until I fell into a shallow grave, trying not to think about all the insects and mud that I now had in my hair.

Eww.

Lying on the floor, holding my breath, and trying desperately to control the feelings of disgust and dread that came to my head. I lifted my head out of the grave and watched as Joanne approached and came to talk to the follower.

Although I knew most of Joanne's friends, I had no idea who that person was. They were discussing something that seemed important and my eyes slowly fell on the flame.

The candle!

Of course, I could take one of those candles and use the flame to loosen the rope. I wouldn't risk burning the whole rope, of course - I would feel terrible if I burned Jace, but I think it was safe to burn the outside and, after it got a little cool, I could finish ripping it with my fingers.

Excited to find a solution, I started to leave the shallow grave- which was really shallow, thank God, because God knows that athletics is not my forte.

But I made a terrible mistake.

Whenever I am excited to try something, it is as if my world comes down to that one thing. Other things dissolve into nothing, become gray and unfocused in the face of the shiny thing, in front of the target of my excitement.

Then everything disappeared from my mind, except for my target: the candle with its flickering flame.

I didn't look for Hugo or Tanya, nor did I pay much attention to what Joanne or the followers were doing.

I just concentrated on moving quickly and quietly. It was so dark, I thought, no one would be able to see me anyway.

I was almost reaching the candle when a hand closed tightly on my forearm.

"Hello, Maisie." The smile on his face was almost cruel. "It's been too long, hasn't it?"

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Hello everyone!

And yup, Izak is finally here! Things are happening so fast now, I can barely wait to hear what you are thinking :)

Thank you so much for reading this. It means the world to me! If you have the time, please, do share your thoughts on what you think of the story so far. Thank you!

Stay safe!

Originally published: May, 12th 2020

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