The next morning, we were ready to leave. We had prepared the boat last night—or, at least, tried to. Mrs. Simone made us rest and set some other kids on the job.

We were on a different boat this time. Larger than the Puck, but smaller than the Queen Titania, the Lady Beatrice was about the size of two RV's. Large enough so we wouldn't be cramped, but comfortable.

Ravi came up beside me and chuckled softly. "More Shakespeare. Go figure."

I smiled. I wished I knew more about Shakespeare. I had done some Ophelia monologues before, but Ravi's passion made me want to do more.

"Which play?" I asked.

"Much Ado About Nothing. One of my favorites. Beatrice is really sassy and empowering."

I nodded. "Nice.

Just then, Mrs. Simone, Dr. Smith, Juan, and Giselle walked up. Giselle trailed slightly behind Juan, her head down as usual.

Mrs. Simone looked at us sadly. As it was still early morning, the mist drifted around her and gave the scene a mystic air. The moisture settled onto my clothes, cold and damp. I pulled my cargo jacket tighter around me.

Just then, Tess came running up, Lee behind her in fairy form. They stopped next to Dr. Smith.

An idle part of my brain remarked that they were always together, but I dismissed the thought.

Silently, Mrs. Simone stepped forwards and embraced me. I closed my eyes.

It occurred to me that this was the only time we had left the island in a planned, orderly fashion. Both times before, there had been no time to think, only move. No time for mourning. No time for fear.

I decided then that I preferred that. This was too heartbreaking. Unhappy thoughts rose in my stomach, quiet fears that whispered I would never see these people again.

When we had finally finished hugging everyone (with the exception of Giselle, who hung back), we boarded the Lady Beatrice. I ran my hand over the smooth wooden railing.

"Interesting inscription," Ravi remarked.

I turned to see a single phrase carved into the mast.

"Oh that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the marketplace."

"I like it," Audrey declared.

Dr. Smith and Mrs. Simone shared a look.

"It's, ah, a gift for you, Audrey," Dr. Smith said, adjusting his glasses. "We started building the Lady Beatrice when you first came into our lives for good. I was going to fill the entire mast with different quotes from empowering Shakespearean women, but..." he gave a guilty shrug, "I haven't gotten very far yet."

Audrey's mouth fell open, stunned. A smile slowly spread across her face. Then she leapt out of the boat and embraced her parents tightly.

I felt warmth blossom in my chest. It was a touching moment.

Mr. Marquez approached the vessel and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small rock, about the size of his palm. He beckoned Amarie forwards and placed it in her hands.

"This is Ore, the golem you met earlier," he explained. "I changed his magic encoding a bit so he's not restricted to moving around at night. Just double tap him, and he'll wake up."

She smiled slightly. "Thank you."

"I figured you could use a little someone to lighten the mood," he said with a wink. "And besides, he wanted to come."

He turned to Ravi. "How's Tinder?"

Ravi patted his pocket. "Still sassy as ever."

Mr. Marquez grinned. "Excellent. Well, if he ever gets too difficult, just threaten to stop talking to him. I had the sneaking suspicion he doesn't want to be alone."

Ravi chuckled.

Then he turned to Isaac. "Paciencia y fe, my friend."

Isaac's calm smiled broadened. "Tu has visto 'In the Heights'?

"No, pero yo lo he oído," Mr. Marquez responded. "La música es genial como el hombre quien lo escribió."

"Si, estoy en acuerdo!" Isaac replied, excitement in his voice. "Yo lo vi con mi familia en un teatro cerca de nosotros hace unos años."

"Yo quisiera," Mr. Marquez said, laughing. "Debe ser mejor que yo puedo imaginar en mi cabeza."

Isaac laughed. "Se como te sientes."

"Isaac, you speak Spanish?" Deynan asked, incredulous.

Isaac gave him a weird look. "I was adopted by parents who were born in Cuba."

"Oh yeah," Deynan replied, understanding dawning.

I hadn't known Isaac was adopted. It was a reminder that I didn't know the boys as well as it seemed sometimes.

Just then, Giselle stepped forward. Everyone fell silent. She was looking down. She was holding something small. She glanced up at me.

"Sierra...this is for you. If you want it, I mean. I'll understand if you don't."

Then she held out a very small glass bead.

I cautiously took it from her outstretched hand. It didn't have the smooth, clean surface of glass, but was scratched up and marred. For a moment, it looked somewhat...ugly. Then I turned it slightly and realized with a gasp: the scratches formed a rose.

"Thank you," I said quietly. Giselle half smiled and stepped back. I took off my necklace, now getting a little cramped from all the charms, and strung on the bead.

Lee waved at us happily, then leaned her head on Tess's shoulder. Tess looked down, clearly annoyed, but didn't do anything. Then she gave us a quick half wave.

Audrey finally broke away and hopped back on the deck.

"We all set to go?" Ravi asked.

Everyone nodded.

Mr. Marquez untied the rope from the dock. Then Dr. Smith patted the side of the boat. "To Lilituana," he declared, though perhaps not with the same amount of gusto as he usually would.

The boat began to drift away, then picked up speed as the sails caught the wind.

And just like that, we were off.

~~~~~~~~~

The first half hour of the boat ride was a little awkward. No one spoke. There seemed to be a sort of blanket of somberness over the group. I laid back on a bench, feeling my spine stretch. I was exhausted. I hadn't gotten much sleep.

I felt someone lie down on the bench behind me, their head touching mine.

"Hey," Ravi's soft voice said.

I snorted. "It feels like you're trying to communicate with me using telepathy because our brains are touching."

Ravi laughed. "Guess what I'm thinking," he said teasingly.

"Hm. You're thinking...I'm awesome?"

He laughed again, a little louder this time. Then his voice grew soft. "Well, you're not wrong."

My cheeks grew pink. I hadn't expected that.

"Okay, enough moping around," Audrey declared, standing up suddenly. "Let's learn something."

"I honestly never thought I'd hear you say that," Deynan said.

She glared and aimed a kick at his shin, but he scooted away.

"The point is," she continued, "I want to hear more about Monsters and transformations and stuff." She sat in front of Amarie. "Teach me."

Amarie looked slightly alarmed. "Um..."

"Don't feel pressured to tell us anything you don't feel comfortable sharing," I said quickly, sitting up.

Amarie shrugged lightly and gave a weak smile. "It's okay. You guys deserve to know. So...every Monster has five different forms. It's different for everyone. They're based on your five most prevalent insecurities. For example, when you're scared you'll never be strong enough, if that's a normal thing for you, you'd become a giant."

"Yikes," Ravi whispered.

"That's terrible," Isaac said quietly, concern laced into his voice.

Amarie shrugged. "It's the way I was raised. We were also told that we could never be what we feared we would never be except in Monster form."

"Come again?" Audrey asked.

"Um, so, one of my forms is wolf. Which...you guys have already seen." Amarie looked down, embarrassed. "The insecurity for that is that you'll never be accepted." She pulled her braids from the nape of her neck over her shoulder. "So I was told I would never be accepted when I wasn't a wolf."

There was silence.

Finally, Audrey spoke. "So what does that evil, despicable Damius have to do with this?"

"No one is evil, Audrey," I said, almost instinctively.

She turned to me, annoyance clearly written on her face. "Would you calm down? I know you think that everyone is good at heart and stuff, but seriously? Damius? He's our enemy right now. It's better for us to consider him evil."

"But he's not," I insisted, slight irritation settling in my chest. "I'm not saying he's our friend, but no one—not even Damius—is inherently evil. Maybe we can save him."

"Save him?!" Audrey exclaimed incredulously. "Are you hearing yourself? He's tortured and enslaved people, Sierra."

I was about to respond, but just then, Isaac cut me off. "Hey, hey, guys, guys. That's not important right now. Besides, Amarie was about to answer a question." He looked at us both sternly. "So why don't we let her answer?"

I nodded quickly, a rising feeling of shame in my stomach. I hadn't meant to argue with Audrey, even if it was just for a second. I was usually so non-confrontational. Why was this so important to me?

"Um..." Amarie said tentatively, "to answer your question...he controls the Whisperers."

"That sounds mildly terrifying," Deynan said.

"What are they?" Ravi asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"They're like Tormentors and Tempters. They get inside your head and whisper everything you're afraid to hear. Then you transform." She smiled weakly. I could see her hands trembling slightly.

"Hey, Amarie," Sophie said quickly, "what do Whisperers look like?"

Amarie blinked in confusion. "Sort of like a living shadow, or a vaguely humanoid shape in a cloak. They don't really have clearly defined boundaries. Why?"

Sophie pointed out into the ocean. "Because I think one is coming this way."

~~~~~~~

What's that? Another update?! Already?!

The reason is that I was really stressed yesterday and wrote a whole chapter. #huzzah

Also, if you don't speak Spanish, don't worry about that conversation. It's not important to the plot. It's just a cool little Easter egg for my Spanish speaking pals. :-) big big thanks to ReadingobsessedSteph for being my lovely translator. <3

~Margot