Miriam: "We knew that the school officials might have an issue...but they had so many to take care of! Everyone just assumed Phil and I were safe on our own with another group! They didn't collaborate or anything!"

Candi: "So the schools have failed us yet again?"

Miriam: "I guess. Look, I know. The whole thing was crazy. The guilt was driving me mad. But Phil and I stayed in a special room at the Lars Arola Hotel. I thought a night of indulgence would turn him around. I never imagined how he'd end it all!"



Candi: "I have had the same desires for both Don and for Donte at different times. This is like my nightmares coming back to scold me for my own thoughts. What else happened the night you fell?"

Miriam: "I think you pretty much know what happened next. I lost my self-respect. Since that night, God has always seemed a million miles away. I've not been the same girl sense. Yet, I don't know if, given a second chance, I would have had the character quality to change the outcome..."



Miriam: "I felt something in me die, especially when he started his lie. I should have known: my sacrifice would mean nothing. But I didn't want to believe that. He told me a sweet-sounding lie.

He stated that the kindness I showed him would forever change his mind. I don't know if even he realized what a lie it was even as he was telling it! I promised to him...any time he had his fears and doubts returning; any time his family was unsympathetic and the medicine wasn't enough; that he should look to me.

He promised that evening that he would look to me from now on. I'd do whatever was in my power for him...so completely was I under his spell!"



Candi: "Poor thing! You were both deluded! You should have sent him to a clinic! Instead, he messed you both up!"

Miriam: "My heart was not entirely pure. I knew that I was breaking the rules, and that there'd be a price to pay. For some reason, that night, I didn't care. Now, I don't know how to make myself right again! I'd love for that...almost as much as I wish I could have saved him!"



Erin: "You're lucky you didn't get pregnant, or have something worse happen to you!"

Miriam: "I don't think I'd mind pregnancy too much. Though, it would get in the way of my online career as the notorious Sniperbadger. It also would limit my ability to travel the world.

But, I can handle the thought of having a baby! After the scorn I got in high school over little things, what's the use of fighting this one? It's all this...death I want to get away from! We live in a city of rotting bones! Seriously, Erin, ever think that, maybe...we're sitting ducks here?"



Erin: "The world is dangerous, Miriam. Gerosha has been a safe place to live for over eleven years!"

Miriam: "Websites and mainframes are safe until somebody breaks in. I would know. I am, after all, Sniperbadger."

Erin: "Sniperbadger? Care to elaborate?"

Miriam: "Maybe later. Suffice to say, and I'll put this in terms you understand...a volcano..."

Erin: "Okay, now I get it. But I don't think you're right. This town isn't that bad!"

Candi: "Uh...are you really so certain?"



Candi: "Relax! Only Miriam knows it's me! But you wouldn't believe how bad this town is getting!"

Erin: "I'm still not going to move. I know you girls will in due time. I'm staying in this house that I built; at least until someone evicts me from it!"

Miriam: "So, Candi...who is Donte?"



After a brief pause, Candi figured out the best possible way to explain herself...

Candi: "Okay...suspend your disbelief...Donte...is Emeraldon!"

The blanks stares would have been sufficient. But Miriam had no intention of remaining silent.

Miriam: "Impossible! My sister cannot be dating the legendary hero of Dirbine! Tell me another myth!"

Candi: "About a year ago, I was practicing inside the old Stolly's storage building..."

Miriam: "The old porn warehouse? That's just down the street from us!"

Erin: "Why do you go there, Candi? That place is in ruins! I'm surprised they don't tear it down; it's an eyesore to the whole community!"

Candi: "It's where I usually go to practice for what you tell me is my destiny..."

Erin: "Fine, what happened?"



Candi: "Remember how that old lady, Linda Treville, was reported murdered in the news?"

Erin: "Yes?"

Candi: "I was out stopping the killer. Jeffery Limbacht. The Meethlites had found a way to turn him invisible! He was wearing a cowboy hat and jacket for some reason, and he decided to hide in Stolly's, of all places!

I was wearing my mask...the one you gave me on that clown parade...and I was also wearing some sunglasses. Anyway, I chased after him, and the fight soon ensued..."



Candi: "I demanded that he explain why he killed her. His only reply was that I'd be next! I managed to sting him a few times, and he started to slow down, I finally got a lucky move on him, which he didn't like at all."



Candi: "I got a little scared at that point. I realized all he had to do was take his clothes off, and I would be unable to stop him. He must have read my mind!"



Candi: "He dragged me...forcefully, up the stairs! I tried my best to use my centilegs, but he grabbed me by a choke hold! His strength had been somehow made to equal mine!

I realized I couldn't stop him unless I could get a clear shot! He seemed to be able to over-ride my danger sense and prowl sense, so I couldn't even use those to help me!"



Candi: "He punched me several times, and marveled at how I couldn't breathe. Somehow, he had fastened a guillotine into the rotting upper floor! I smelled some strange gas in the air, which was making me weaker! I knew I was done for!"



Candi: "I realized the smell was from the guillotine...he had drenched it in liquid bezeetol! Somehow, he knew about this Meethlite gas and its abilities! Why would he drench a guillotine in it? He told me...to make any intruder weak from the fumes, lest they ever get too confident.

He told me that he had also made Stolly's his hideout, and that I had clearly bitten off more than I could chew. I asked him how he wasn't made weaker: his invisibility potion made him immune to bezeetol!

With what I could muster of my strength, I grabbed the guillotine with my centilegs and threw it his direction. They both fell to the first floor. It didn't kill him, but at least he didn't kill me."



Candi: "I could hear him below, shouting something about the Gifted One. Erin, you simply MUST explain this nonsense to me! Anyway, I could still smell the bezeetol in the air!

I knew that I had to get away from that building. But how would I manage an escape if I were being chased by an invisible entity? I was doomed!"



Miriam: "You...never told me this before!"

Candi: "Of course not. Erin wouldn't let me! At any rate...that's when he showed up..."

Miriam: "Who?"

Candi: "The man of my dreams! He was in full Emeraldon gear! Somehow, he knew that he was chasing Jeffrey, because he thought to bring night vision goggles! "



Candi: "He was clear as day to Emeraldon with the goggles on, and the two of them soon fought. I know it sounds childish, but I was awestruck the moment I saw Emeraldon for the first time."



Candi: "He too seemed to have a hard time functioning in that room. The bezeetol-soaked guillotine was weakening him! He too could barely match the strength of his adversary."



Candi: "I barely knew the man in the green suit...but I knew I didn't want him to lose! I could have become a spectator at that point, but I had something come over me! Instead, I jumped. I used my centilegs to break my fall..."



Candi: "Our invisible foe didn't like being double-teamed. He seemed to be stronger than both of us, as we were now both exposed to this gas that was weakening us. I urged Emeraldon to keep fighting, and I would move the guillotine outdoors if he bought me time. He agreed."