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_____“I have contacts now — one glass eye. That can never be repaired. I suppose I am the one to blame for that....”
_____Jimmy led the group over to a balcony on the facility, overlooking the field just beyond the reclamation facility, filled with large oak trees and the deep croaking of the ravens. Rufus straddled the vertical bar of the fence of the balcony, scratching his back against the rough part of the wall. Ian leaned on the long banister, breathing in deeply while Sasha clung to her empty basket, regarding Jimmy with a smile.
_____“But you’re wearing glasses now,” Sasha said, leaning forward and tilting her head at his face. “Why not take them off?”
_____“I wear glasses because I’m used to them,” he said, taking them off and placing them back on. Ian leaned on the fence bar and looked at the wide expanse of the field.
_____“It wasn’t your fault, what happened back then. We were all kids....”
_____“I didn’t have to go, Ian.” Jimmy shook his head. “Neither of us should.”
_____“Wait, where did you go? Why?” Sasha said before she screamed at her cat, balancing on the balcony's banister. She picked it up and held it close to her while Jimmy looked out over the spaces in the trees and the quiet call of the mockingbird.
_____“Some neighborhood kids were convinced the sewers were haunted,” he explained. “With what, I don’t know, but we all gathered together and ...”
_____“They forced us deeper in,” Ian said, forcing himself to see what happened, to judge it. “There was water everywhere, and Todd made us go in, made sure we knew it was empty. It was me, Jim, Todd and his friends and another girl ... that shouldn’t have been there.”
_____Jimmy looked down and nodded.
_____“I should have stood up to them.... Even if I were bullied, I should have done something, anything, to help her. I thought I could redeem myself. I thought — well, it doesn’t matter. The situation remains the same.” Jimmy pointed out to the statue the lay just beyond their vision. “The statue is for her. And just below the statue are the sewers of Gaia. It’s where she remains buried and where she will always continue to be.”
_____“Ian — Jimmy, I’m —” Sasha started, placing Snowy in her silky basket, frowning.
_____“Don’t worry about it,” Jimmy said, smiling at her. “I know that he had more problems than I ever had. He’s locked up, you know — Todd — in the nut house way out in Durem. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. After that event his parents admitted him. And I thought my life was screwed up. Now we have a statue of the girl that was lost. A memento to her memory.”
_____Ian peered at Jimmy with his lips glued together, but Jimmy’s emotions seemed private, and Ian turned his head to watch the sun dip lower to the edge of the trees. Sasha stayed quietly behind them, watching as Rufus slunk through his master’s legs, meowing.
_____“It’s late ... we should leave,” Rufus said, his big cat eyes studying his owner. Ian nodded.
_____“Right,” he said, extending his hand to Jimmy. “I’ll see you around, Jim.”
_____“Likewise,” Jimmy said, clasping it. “Hope to see you again, Ian ... Sasha....”





With the afternoon wasted, Ian said goodbye to Sasha, but she hadn’t forgotten about meeting his parents. Ian sighed and turned up the street, leading Sasha a little ways up through a gated entrance, with thick black bars barring intruders, and a sign partially obscured by the overgrowth of the wisteria tree and honeysuckle bushes: E M E T— Y
_____Ian opened the gate and they all entered, feeling slightly unsettled by Sasha’s whistling. The enclosure folded around a large park with looming maple trees and singing cicadas through the cold afternoon air. With every step Sasha took, her arms swung a little less, her whistle was gone, and Snowy’s bell was their only sound, indistinct from the crushing leaves under their feet and the slow mire through the watery grass. Sasha held her hand over her brow, gazing at the small hillside dotted with towering angelic figures surrounding a thick ornate cross, partially obscuring the sun’s rays. Sasha doubled back to find Ian staring at a faded tombstone etched in two last names. She stood still, watching him.
_____“Oh,” Sasha said, cold and distant, “I didn’t know your parents were dead.”
_____Ian smiled dryly.
_____“Yeah, can you believe it? It doesn’t seem that long ago either since they’ve been gone. I remember my mom turning on my night light at night to keep away the monsters. Pretty stupid — oops! Don’t tell anyone I said that!”
_____Sasha shook her head. “No worries. Your secret is safe with me.”
_____There was a long silence as a wind moved the fresh leaves on the ground. Snowy jumped into Sasha’s arms and she curled it on its back, petting its soft belly while Snowy pawed at her fingertips. Sasha grew uncomfortable with the silence.
_____“So, um, do you come here often —?”
_____“My dad was a hunter,” Ian continued, scraping off the moss growing over his dad’s first name. “He helped out the village way back when Gaia used to be more of a town — like living in the boondocks. My mom was ... well, we lived simple lives. Even now, there’s nothing special about me — anymore, I mean. Just a normal shop owner, with a cat. Same thing with my parents....”
_____“Ian, I ... I think you’re ...” Sasha began, nervously stroking her bangs. Ian interrupted her.
_____“‘Course, the town thought the world of my dad — he got rid of the monsters in the sewers. I was too little to appreciate him.... Anyway.” He stood up and turned to her with a smile plastered on. “You should get a look at these gravestones! Seriously old school.”
_____Ian led the way with a reluctant Sasha following. Rufus climbed over an angel statue’s wings while Ian poked around the cemetery, kicking away the dirt and sticks from a marble tombstone, with the image of a man wearing a mask over his mouth. Ian put his hands on his knees.
_____“Lab tech 062? Wow, this is really old now. Remember the whole zombie G-Corp virus? The one that broke out at the party? Wasn’t that crazy? There’s probably more of the lab techs here if we really look around here. I wonder why the girl in the sewers wasn’t buried here? Think we can find it, Sasha? ... Sasha?”
_____Silence. Ian whipped around but Sasha was gone — he couldn’t remember if she had followed him over here or not. Only the wind whistling through the trees and the soft fall glow of the sun were present, making the leaves dance like flakes of gold across the cemetery field.







_____Blood was everywhere, soaking through Ian’s shoes, splattering his socks.... Jimmy had bitten Todd, with his ankles soaked in blood. Ian squeaked. Todd began kicking him off in vain.
_____“AAAAAAARG! GET OFF ME — YOU FAT PIG!”
_____The girl was shaking, clinging to one of Todd’s friends, looking at his feet with the shadow of fear in her eyes. And by this time, Ian covered his eyes with his hands, peering at the thin line through his fingers: the shadow of people jostling each other — fighting — until the girl was in someone’s arms, with a knife in his hands.... His thick piggy hands....
_____“You will die here! All with my family! My true family….”
_____And then went that strange laugh again and the girl falling, falling ... with a great splash.

_____“Well, I’m glad that is over.”
_____Rufus yawned in the dresser drawer, with the sun peaking through the morning air. He and Ian found themselves stuck in the familiarity of their house — unclean clothes in the hamper, dishes in the sink, garbage gathering flies. Instead of doing chores, Ian took a shower, washing away the guilt of yesterday, figuring out what the dream meant and whether it was true. Ian left the door open hearing the idleness of the news drifting from his room, into the bathroom.

_____“— And in other news a young woman in her mid-twenties has gone missing from the Isle de Gambino. Authorities say Sasha, whom many know from Gambino Outfitters, has gone missing from her cottage house on the island. Her last known whereabouts was at her own shop, but hadn’t shown up after her lunch hour break —”

_____“WHAT?!” Ian yelled, slipping out of the shower. Rufus covered his eyes.
_____“Jeez, dude, clothes!” He said, slipping his nose under his underwear and flicking it at him.
_____Ian put his unwashed clothes on, turning off the television and stumbled out of his dirty room. Rufus blinked up at him.
_____“We have to look for her, Rufus. Now.”





Ian didn’t know where to start off first: it seemed like everyone around town was helping out, looking in houses and in between alleys. Some checking trash cans. Rufus checked the tops of roofs and scaled the top of the arena walls to gaze over the island, but he shook his head at Ian. After the entire morning of looking, the afternoon sun was already starting to hang low in the clouds.
_____“Should we check the island next? Or the cemetery? No — forget I said that.” Rufus inclined his head forward, staring at the pavement. In a way, Ian knew exactly the answer — the answer no one was looking for, but he didn’t want to go back there, not for any reason.
_____“Ian?”
_____Ian whipped around and plugged his nose, stepping back as he met a homeless man in a scruffy and patched coat with holey shorts. The stench coming off of him was enormous, like he hadn’t showered in days, or maybe weeks. Rufus tilted his head.
_____“Another one of your friends, Ian?” he asked, shoving his nose into his paws. The homeless man made no motion toward him, but waved at some people somewhere past the fountain.
_____“Hey! HEY, you women! Look who!”
_____“We have names, you imbecile!” A girl in short blonde hair and purple bangs appeared in a long overcoat, rubbing herself from the cold October air, looking at Ian. Vanessa paused as she surveyed him while Moira bumped into her.
_____“Hey, why did you — oh, Ian?” Moira said, blinking at him with her short black jacket and skirt. “Oh, Ian, how are you? We’re looking for Sasha too when we found this idiot skulking around — Liam!”
_____Moira scuffed her boots at Liam, slightly missing and hitting his big toe. Liam yelped and jumped up and down.
_____“Lost his job,” she said, unconcerned. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person....”
_____“Seriously, girls, this is the pits!” Liam said, sitting on the ground, caressing his toe. “I don’t expect sympathy, but a little friendship wouldn’t hurt!”
_____“‘The pits’? Seriously, Liam?” Vanessa said, her nose growing redder as she sneezed.
_____“Because I have another word for it….” Moira said, crossing her arms and looking away. Liam glared at her.
_____“Well, you won’t let me say the other word....” Liam muttered, cantering over to the fountain to cool his toe.
_____“I just said you deserve what you got.”
_____“I said I was sorry!”
_____“What happened?” Ian said, looking from the girls to Liam and back again. Liam rounded his shoulders.
_____“Don’t ask,” he said, scratching his head and sitting at the edge of the fountain. Vanessa flicked water off the fountain and onto Liam’s shorts, laughing at his frown. Moira spoke up.
_____“All I know is he got thrown out of his shop!” Moira continued, snickering at him while Liam threw her a withering look. “I hope the store manager can take care of it a whole lot better than you can, Liam.”
_____“Hey, I may be a lot of things, but I’m a great business man, ladies,” Liam said, his eyes twinkling. “How was I suppose to know if that model had not dropped her wallet into the cash register? She could have! She could —”
_____“Whatever, Liam. We’re going to go look for Sasha now on Gambino Isle. Ciao!”
_____“WAIT!” Liam jumped up, and fell over Moira’s boots. “Take me with you! I want ... I want to help!”
_____“To find your next meal ticket.” Vanessa rolled her eyes. Moira shook his hold on her.
_____“Get OFF!”
_____“I’ll pay for your monorail ticket, Liam.”
_____Both girls blinked as they stared at Ian, confused. Vanessa rolled her eyes.
_____“Ian, we can get a lot better help than this guy. Don’t let him trick you with the getup. He’s only been homeless for two day.”
_____“Weeks! Weeks! She lies!” Liam said, scaling up Moira’s body to a standing position. Moira pushed him off of her.
_____“Yeah, I’m sure Sasha isn’t too far away. She probably got lost in the woods, or in towns, and forgot her —”
_____“No,” Ian said, shaking his head. “No, it’s much worse than that. I know where she is ... and we need all the help we can get.”