Xavier and Kyle unloaded all the bags onto the floor. With the help of Liam, they pushed themselves to the front of our little group and crossed their arms. Donna and Nicole pushed Ember and I behind them.

"And why should we do that?" I heard Liam speak.

"Because I will kill her, and you, and your friends if you don't." The man spoke with an edge added onto his voice. I heard a click sound, and Amanda began whispering quickly.

In the heat of the moment, I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked at Ember. He pointed up, and I looked up to see a shiny ceiling somewhat close to us. I followed the edges, and I saw that a clear box was surrounding the two of us. I couldn't hear anything from the outside of the box, and I felt the dynamic waves of nerves turning static.

"What is this?"

"This," Ember hit the wall. It rippled but didn't break. "Is a time-altering box. You can't really tell, but time has stopped for everyone outside this box."

"Well, why didn't you add them to the box?" I pointed to my friends.

Ember rolled the lollipop against his teeth and made a rattling noise. "Because I'm still a young lil' demon, I can only make spaces holding two people."

I nodded. "Why did you stop it in the first place then?"

Ember scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "As harsh as this is going to sound, I'm giving you the choice of leaving- right now." He must've seen my confused face because I continued. "Demons can go anywhere without being detected. Whether we walk amongst humans, the dead, the spirits, or the shadows- we can do it. I can take you, and we will travel amongst the shadows to a safe location."

I tapped my fingertips against each other. "And what about Liam? And Xavier? And Donna? And-" Ember held his hands up to stop me.

"Number one- I can't take them. Number two- I didn't guarantee their safety." He pointed at me with his lollipop. "I guaranteed your safety."

I opened my mouth to say something more, but I had no words. I looked to the ground as if it had the answers. I know Liam would want me to leave, but would the rest of my friends? I couldn't do that. They've helped me through so much. They even saved me from living in a cage in a dark red room for the rest of my life. And to leave them in the face of danger- what friend am I to do such a thing?

Ember put his hand on my shoulder, and I looked at him.

"If it makes you feel better, they are all just stalling. Before the chef came out, he pressed a button. I'm sure it was an emergency button- which is wired to automatically signal the authorities. If I'm thinking right, your friends heard him press it, and they're planning on stalling the shooter until the cops come."

"But what if we don't have that kind of time? What if Amanda dies? What if-" my train of scenarios stopped once something hit our rectangular cube of peace. It made the walls shake and caused them to waver a bit before strengthening again.

"What the heck was that?" Ember shouted. He looked around, but something hit again, and it made the walls shake less, but it made a gong sound.

"Well, whatever it is, it's pissing me off." Ember looked at his lollipop on the ground and huffed. I looked around to spot what was hitting our box.

My eyes became drawn to something flittering in the air.

It was a medium-sized green sphere.

And it was calling to me.

"I-it's that thing again," I whispered. Ember must've heard me because he turned around to look at what I unconsciously pointed at. My heart thundered in my ears as my memory flashed back to me, seeing similar orbs at the trial.

"It's a soul," Ember said slowly. "And it's coming for you."

"Why me? I don't want it!" I frantically said. My hands shook with fear at the sight of the orb, moving with ferocious speed outside of our space. I could just imagine the pain of the first three that entered my body- it felt like a hand was constricting my whole chest.

I couldn't go through that again.

Ember stepped in my line of vision. He put his hands on my shoulders to stop me from shaking. "It's alright, Kye. I can hold onto it for you, but I can't hold onto it forever. As a Harpy, you'll have to take before I go back to the Underworld, or it won't be put to rest. Instead, Hades will take it and do whatever he wants with it."

I was visibly shaking at his words. I was dreading it entering my body- whether it be now or later. I turned away from Ember as the soul hit the space again, and Ember gritted his teeth.

"You need to make your decision now, Kye." The soul hit again- harder this time, and the walls seemed to phase in and out as Ember struggled to keep them up. I felt like the walls were an accurate representation of my mind as the fear kept banging on the door to consume me once more.

The soul hit the walls, and Ember shouted a word out.

"Hurry!"

At that word, it felt as if someone else inside me had the answer. I felt like I was losing myself in the vast ocean of my mind again as someone swam forward and took control. The familiar feeling had me afloat in the waves of my mind as I knew all I could do was watch the upcoming events.

And in the reflection of the waves, I saw Jeremy rise to take my place.

I faintly felt my hands reaching up at the ceiling and a smaller set of walls constructed around us. Ember (who had his hands stretching upwards as well) looked at the solid walls of the new barrier and blew a whistle.

"Wow, Kye." He wasn't looking at me- but at the new walls. "I didn't know you could do this. It took me forever to learn this skill."

"That's because he can't." Ember turned around swiftly and stared at me with wide red eyes. "But I can." My hands gestured to myself as a grin spread on my face.

"Who are you, if you're not Kye?" Ember asked. The soul hit the outer layer of the space, and it shook before falling into the air with ease. The emerald orb circled around to strike the one Jeremy made- but it ricochets into another direction on impact.

"I guess you could say I am an adviser of some sort. You asked some questions that Kye could not answer, so I came to play."

"Uh, huh." Ember folded his arms and ran a tongue over his gums. "Well, if you have the answers, then I'd love to hear them."

A chuckle fell into the air. "I'm not leaving these people- to answer your first question. Second, I want you to hold onto this soul until you see the second soul."

Ember raised an eyebrow. "You plan on killing someone?"

"A Harpy can stall death, and it can speed up a lifespan of someone." My shoulders relaxed behind me.

"Weird flex, but okay." Ember unfolded his arms. "You plan on telling me what happens between now and then?"

My vision went blurry as Jeremy shook my head. "All you need to worry about is sending me that soul later and catching me when I fall." My hand raised into the air, as Ember turned to face the soul that was beginning to charge at us.

"I swear if you die on me, I'm telling Charon to beat your ass," Ember grumbled.

My hand made a flicking motion at the ceiling, and the walls came tumbling down as outside sound and tension poured onto us. My body turned and faced Ember- who turned around and appeared to be chewing something bigger than his mouth. He swallowed hard and shivered comedically. He stuck a lollipop from his pocket into his mouth and pointed to the front.

A slight nod was given. As soon as the time was fully restored, Ember and I rushed forward between everyone. We stood, side by side, in front of the gunman and Amanda.

They must've been in the middle of talking because, at the rush of movements, the gunman tightened his grip on Amanda.

"Oh?" His grip slacked at the sight of us. "What have we here?"

"Kye. Ember. Get back behind us." Xavier forced out. He left no room for negotiation. Jeremy swiveled my body around and stared back and everyone. Mixed emotions were audible, but Liam seemed to quickly notice that someone else was inhabiting the body- and it wasn't Kye.

"That's not Kye," Liam started. "That's-"

My body swiveled back to the gunman. "You want us, yes?"

He flinched at the rough voice that fell out of my petite body but eagerly nodded after recovering. "Oh, yes! I'll treat you both like the prettiest birds in the cage." He swooned, and the gun fell from the side of Amanda's face.

I felt a smile tug at my face. "We will come with you if you do one little thing."

The gunman, who was lost in some fantasy, smiled. "And what is that?"

A little hum escaped my lips. "Would you be so kind as to shoot this lady right here?" My hand was gestured to Amanda as her eyes widened, and she shook her head rapidly.

"With pleasure!" He put the gun back to her face as the room filled with screaming. Some were from Amanda, and some were from Liam and Xavier. Ember, however, stood with his eyes half-lidded and sucked away at his lollipop.

The gunman cocked the gun, and a shot rang out.