Chronicle I - [Where am I?]
It was her first thought upon awakening, staring at the concave ceiling above her. Smooth and solid walls with an unreal, stannic sheen touched with bright blue lanterns. The effect was much less daunting than one would believe. She was the brightest spot in the room, her pale skin wrapped a light blue bolero over a white and blue flower-printed dress. Present was a bed, the most rudimentary kind made of metal, with crisp white sheets and a plain pillow. No windows, comfortable temperature, but otherwise nothing else present. Her cornflower blue eyes flickered around the room in confusion - how had she come in this room? The last thing she could remember was summoning enough energy to step out the confines of her dorm. She sent Amber a brief note of absence via the Aeon and off she went. Her Aeon teleports her to Harrison Cove, specifically a section of beach that was remote, barely touched by visitors. They preferred the more sandy places, neglecting the rockier shoreline. For one in touch with pain, it was one of many places to be alone.
The waves crash and recede in comforting cycles. The wind permeated with a mix of autumn and beach, the salt in the air tangible on her tongue. Her fingers play with the star pendant while her mind dwelled on her beloved. Lucas had been spending so much time with that girl Zxaine that it bothered her just to think that he was around that girl No, she had to trust that he would remain faithful. Lucas was unlike the other, very unlike Drewe, he had said so himself one happier night when they were together. Then the vice principal Lance Kuwamara dropped the bombshell who, without an ounce of mercy toward the couple, tells them they were to be physically separated for a year. So sudden was the news and the transfer from the room they shared that it was as if they had been swept into a maelstrom. She remembers the last long gaze she gave to Lucas before walking to her new room. It all felt like an eternity and yet an eye’s blink simultaneously. Even Amber’s words of comfort, as kind as they were, drowned into her despair. Seeing him again in her classes, not able to sit near him was too much for the poor girl to bear, so much that she had decided to skip a few of her classes. She returned to her room to gather what was left of her shattered composure.
A whole year...without him. It's so cruel.
Despite her dislike for Zxaine, she had tried to have them meet twice only to have the occasion interrupted. The faculty was watchful, resilient on their efforts to keep them apart. Still, why? Asking bore no answers, only that it was what they had to do. Even with the combined efforts of Amber and Zxaine trying to have them meet, too close only to have the near happy moment shattered again. The painful memory of the past weeks felt heavy on her eyes. Stella’s pale gray eyes shut and fluttered open, hearing the waves crash, the wind singing its mournful autumn song...
Then...she was here. It could not have been more than a blink, or at least it felt like it. Nervousness bubbled in her stomach as she rose to her feet and searched the room, her delicate hands running along the cool walls. Where was the door? There not even an outline, a semblance of a door - how was she even brought into this room? The entire wall was solid and upon further inspection, did not even have a window from which she could peer out. Imbedded above, half a blue orb gave the room a little extra light, a distorted reflection of the star girl mirrored her movements. The panic ascends as her hands brush, press, curling into fists.
“Help!” She screamed, her fists beating the walls with all of her might. Her voice bounces, rises up and vanish into the concaved ceiling. “SOMEONE HELP!”
Twice she cries, then falls silent as an idea dawns upon her - the Aeon! She could call, message someone that someone trapped her in a strange room! She spins around to her bed to find the small purse that carried her personal messenger only to realize that it was nowhere in sight. Her mind began to spin with possibilities - was she robbed and dumped into a strange place somewhere in Buffalo? Was she in some sort of spaceship, abducted again? Nothing in the room reminded her of that horrible night where the alien beings had abducted her for procreative purposes. She sits on the simple metal bed, sliding back until her back touched the wall and hugged her knees. The reality was settling in - wherever she was, she was trapped without any way to call for help. Her pale, delicate fingers curl around the star pendant around her neck. Her saving grace, the anchor for her in this bizarre and sudden turn of events.
“No.” She says to herself, finding a small pocket of determination inside. “No, Lucas will come for me. Just like before.”
Hours pass, at least that was how it felt.
The hollow silence of the room and the pendant were her only companions. Her thoughts mashed together into a singular mental noise - her stomach growled, she should have eaten, her throat was dry, no Aeon, how will she get out, Lucas -- was that a voice? Occasionally, the girl would perk up from her closed position on the bed certain that she heard a voice from behind the wall.
“Hello?” She calls out. Not an answer, the room quickly swallowed the echo of her question. Crestfallen, the girl rests her forehead on her knees and delves back into her mass of thoughts. It had to be a nightmare, maybe she had slipped on the rocks and hit her head - yes, this all had to be a dream! A vivid dream brought on by the loneliness she undoubtedly felt. How she wished that she would lift her head and find herself back at the cove, with Lucas waiting for her. Better yet, wake up in their room, in his arms - there had been no separation, it was all a terrible nightmare.
A hiss of air pulls her out of her thoughts again. To her left, the smooth wall percolates with an arched outline. The wall comes alive, the arch outline sinks in a few centimeters then slides upwards. Her eyes, once dulled gray with long despair, lit up into an azure blue filled with hope. A door! Escape!
Hope would be brief. A long shadow spilled into the room. Her eyes followed the shadow to its owner; a well-built body, an attractive angular face with sharp features and a mole under his left eye, and long saffron hair tied back by a dark ribbon. A young man in his early twenties and dressed the way royalty would; a fine white collared shirt layered with a long and embroidered black leather coat, dark pants and boots shined to perfection. The young man appeared daunting at first glance, his lips tight in a scowl of indifference, his royal blue eye cold as the steel in the room. His gaze falls upon her and he steps toward her, the scowl melts into a courteous smile.
“I do apologize for you imprisonment, miss.” He says upon reaching her, managing to take a hold of her hand. Stella found herself unable to budge from fear, but her arm was limp in his long and tapered hand. He was handsome, brutally and handsome in surreal degrees. His nails were long and the dark nail polish gleamed in the room’s light. The young man kissed the back of her hand.
“We required your presence, Stella Midnight.”
With the mention of her name, Stella snapped from her daze, finding the strength to think, to speak. We? Who was this man? How did he know her name? What did he want from her? Her eyes drop, noticing the proximity between herself and the gorgeous man. One knee and one hand rested on the bed to steady himself when he kissed her hand. It was too close, far too close for the star girl’s comfort, the images of Drewe advancing upon her returned in flashes. Stella withdrew, her back pressed to the wall to make herself as small as possible and her arms crossed over her chest. No, not again!
“Stay away!” The girl exhales, shivering. “I don’t know who you are or what you want. Please stay away!”
The heavy silence between them drew a curious sidelong glance from Stella. The young man’s face was impassive, locked in a strange stare as if he was unsure of what to make of her reaction. It stirred some frustration from Stella - how else was she supposed to feel about being trapped in a strange room with a stranger? The mattress creaks softly as young man rose to his feet and took one step away from the bed.
“You do.” He says with formal simplicity, the way a prince would speak to a commoner. “That will made clear in due time. Until then, you will have to stay in here a little longer.”
Stella searched her mind for a moment. She only had a spare glance at the door, yet she was certain it was open. Her captor had taken a step back, leaving her more than enough space to make for an escape. There was still a chance that she could find trouble beyond the room, but the thought of escape was too close to pass up. She inhaled sharply, her hand clenched tight and ready.
“Please...I want to go home.” Stella says with a choke, forcing herself to remain as scared as she had been and downplaying the newfound determination.
“That cannot be done.” The gorgeous man says. “I am sorry, but I assure you of your worth. I cannot free you, even if I had clearance.”
“Then I’ll free myself!” Stella shouts, firing a trio of stars into the direction of the young man’s face. Her captor shouts in surprise, staggering back a few steps more and widening the window of opportunity. Stella moves, scrambling off the bed and past the open door as fast as her legs could carry her. Beyond the door was a wide hallway with strange geometric decor. Bizarre rhombuses and angled shapes imposed into the blue metallic wall gave the hall a dizzying atmosphere.
Sorry, but I cannot stay here any longer!
Either way would be a long run, but a glance to either direction and there appeared to be no one in sight! She runs to the right, her low heels clacking against the marbled floor. Faster, faster! She was certain she could hear the man calling out to her -
“Stella, stop!”
-but nothing would deter her, she would not dare look back to see if her captor was running after her. As she runs midway down the long hallway, searching desperately for open doors, the star girl spares a passing glance by a long window. Her eyes widen but she is unable to stop and gape at what she witnesses.
A wide view of an exquisite city bathed in twilight. The tall buildings were numerous, but the one she happened to be in may have been among the tallest in this city. Thousands of lights, a sea of grand and oddly shaped structures as far as the eye could see. The lights even hovered over more lights, flying machines the size of normal cars! In the distance? Prismatic, irregular mountains shadowing the city like guardian titans. The sky, the city scape, the view itself, none of it was familiar! Unable to dwell on it further, the girl stared straight ahead. The alarms, the shouts behind her only continued to propel her. Ahead was a door, sunk in just as the door to her room had been just before it slid open.
Please open for me!
The door slides up without her even having to slow. Through the door was a circular room of beautiful marble, glossed to an impossible sheen. A circular, ebony insignia etched onto the floor became its contrast, but glimmered like thousands of distant stars. Stella’s eyes flickered; three doors were open in ornate arches but there may be a space for one other door. It would be a wonder to look at had she not been escaping for her life.
I wonder...if there are other people trapped behind the walls?
The thought made her shudder and pushed it deep into the back of her mind. She chose the middle path on a whim and dashed through an open archway.
“Where is a cute little thing like you runnin’ off to?” Says a husky voice, riddled with age and arrogance. Its owner was even less to look at, a man of his late forties but the muscular girth of a gym lunkhead. His tanned skin, bald head, a shirt with a popped collar and cargo shorts with boots. His girth was absolutely frightening, like a human tank! One grab by him and it would be over. Stella’s shoes squeaks with the sudden stop and spun around, dashing back into the circular room. She nearly stumbles as she runs through the next open archway. Behind her, she could hear the thunderous stomps of the large man after her. Shouting but the echoes and her breaths made it impossible to care. Elevator, stairs, she had to find some way to escape of this horrid place! Where exactly she would go, what to do would have to wait.
The hallway she was in now was plain, metallic like the walls in her cell. So smooth were the walls that she never sees a break of a hall before her. An object flies at the star girl the second she passes the break, the sudden force smacking her hard against the wall. Dizzy, bewildered and then she focuses on the heaviness of the object that had appeared: a large metallic boomerang, the crook resting heavily in her lap. She could barely move her legs, how was it even possible to throw such a thing? As she lifted her head, the boomerang floats off her legs floated toward its owner. It was a young and thin boy no more than twelve years or age. He had limp dark hair and hooded brown eyes, but the most bizarre feature was a mask attached to the right side of his face. He wore a blinding white coat that looked like an unhooked strait jacket over a black tee shirt, skinny black pants and black boots. Something was definitely amiss about this boy. His stare is impassive and in fact, he glances over to acknowledge the bulky meathead that joined them.
“Darlin’ you’re quick, but not quick enough.” The man grabs Stella by the foot, dragging her toward him and pinning her shoulders to the floor. He looked over his captive with hungry eyes, undeterred from her modest dress. Stella’s mind flashes back to that room, to the overwhelming sense of danger she felt the way HE looked at her, grabbed her shoulder. Hope that he was merely scaring her waned as the muscular man’s visage near hers, she could smell the trace of alcohol on his breath. “And you’re cute too, I wonder if you taste as sweet as you look.”
One of his huge hands moves to her legs, wasting no time in pushing Stella’s dress to her waist. The single movement opens the flood of horrific memories. His cold stare, that grin touched with anger from denial, that raw and unfeeling force behind a kiss - it was happening all again. This man was just like Drewe, and he was going to harm her!
“NO!” The pristine-haired girl screams, her eyes wide and brimming with tears, the echo traveling down the hallway. Sparks as cluster of stars fire from her hands, the bark of surprise as the man stumbles back, releasing her. Stella scrambles to her knees, escape the only thought on her mind until she felt the weight of the man full on her back. Sweat, anger, that rising anger from denial.
“You little bitch! You aren’t going anywhere!” He growls in her ear as he violently thrusts his hand under her dress, his sweaty thumb hooking to her panties. She could barely move, the man was simply too strong and heavy! Helpless, Stella looks up at the boy with pleading eyes.
“He-Help me!” She cries as she hears the sudden ripping of delicate material. The boy stares down at her, lacking expression. He would not be of any help. How was it possible that this boy would simply stand there while her captor intended to harm her? People were not good. People were not as kind as Lucas, as Amber, as Jun-bo. The man’s move under her skirt, everything seemed hazy and unclear, the eager huffing of her captor in her ear. She squeezed her eyes shut, wanting nothing more than to disappear from this nightmare. At least, last time, a few kind souls had been around to save her. At least the handsome man earlier was kind, had given her space realizing that he was too close, spoke warmly to her. Stella could already see Lucas’s face sad, helpless to stop what was happening to her.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Lucas.
But here? Now?
Hope was far, far away from her.
Someone...help me...
[To Be Continued]
The waves crash and recede in comforting cycles. The wind permeated with a mix of autumn and beach, the salt in the air tangible on her tongue. Her fingers play with the star pendant while her mind dwelled on her beloved. Lucas had been spending so much time with that girl Zxaine that it bothered her just to think that he was around that girl No, she had to trust that he would remain faithful. Lucas was unlike the other, very unlike Drewe, he had said so himself one happier night when they were together. Then the vice principal Lance Kuwamara dropped the bombshell who, without an ounce of mercy toward the couple, tells them they were to be physically separated for a year. So sudden was the news and the transfer from the room they shared that it was as if they had been swept into a maelstrom. She remembers the last long gaze she gave to Lucas before walking to her new room. It all felt like an eternity and yet an eye’s blink simultaneously. Even Amber’s words of comfort, as kind as they were, drowned into her despair. Seeing him again in her classes, not able to sit near him was too much for the poor girl to bear, so much that she had decided to skip a few of her classes. She returned to her room to gather what was left of her shattered composure.
A whole year...without him. It's so cruel.
Despite her dislike for Zxaine, she had tried to have them meet twice only to have the occasion interrupted. The faculty was watchful, resilient on their efforts to keep them apart. Still, why? Asking bore no answers, only that it was what they had to do. Even with the combined efforts of Amber and Zxaine trying to have them meet, too close only to have the near happy moment shattered again. The painful memory of the past weeks felt heavy on her eyes. Stella’s pale gray eyes shut and fluttered open, hearing the waves crash, the wind singing its mournful autumn song...
Then...she was here. It could not have been more than a blink, or at least it felt like it. Nervousness bubbled in her stomach as she rose to her feet and searched the room, her delicate hands running along the cool walls. Where was the door? There not even an outline, a semblance of a door - how was she even brought into this room? The entire wall was solid and upon further inspection, did not even have a window from which she could peer out. Imbedded above, half a blue orb gave the room a little extra light, a distorted reflection of the star girl mirrored her movements. The panic ascends as her hands brush, press, curling into fists.
“Help!” She screamed, her fists beating the walls with all of her might. Her voice bounces, rises up and vanish into the concaved ceiling. “SOMEONE HELP!”
Twice she cries, then falls silent as an idea dawns upon her - the Aeon! She could call, message someone that someone trapped her in a strange room! She spins around to her bed to find the small purse that carried her personal messenger only to realize that it was nowhere in sight. Her mind began to spin with possibilities - was she robbed and dumped into a strange place somewhere in Buffalo? Was she in some sort of spaceship, abducted again? Nothing in the room reminded her of that horrible night where the alien beings had abducted her for procreative purposes. She sits on the simple metal bed, sliding back until her back touched the wall and hugged her knees. The reality was settling in - wherever she was, she was trapped without any way to call for help. Her pale, delicate fingers curl around the star pendant around her neck. Her saving grace, the anchor for her in this bizarre and sudden turn of events.
“No.” She says to herself, finding a small pocket of determination inside. “No, Lucas will come for me. Just like before.”
Hours pass, at least that was how it felt.
The hollow silence of the room and the pendant were her only companions. Her thoughts mashed together into a singular mental noise - her stomach growled, she should have eaten, her throat was dry, no Aeon, how will she get out, Lucas -- was that a voice? Occasionally, the girl would perk up from her closed position on the bed certain that she heard a voice from behind the wall.
“Hello?” She calls out. Not an answer, the room quickly swallowed the echo of her question. Crestfallen, the girl rests her forehead on her knees and delves back into her mass of thoughts. It had to be a nightmare, maybe she had slipped on the rocks and hit her head - yes, this all had to be a dream! A vivid dream brought on by the loneliness she undoubtedly felt. How she wished that she would lift her head and find herself back at the cove, with Lucas waiting for her. Better yet, wake up in their room, in his arms - there had been no separation, it was all a terrible nightmare.
A hiss of air pulls her out of her thoughts again. To her left, the smooth wall percolates with an arched outline. The wall comes alive, the arch outline sinks in a few centimeters then slides upwards. Her eyes, once dulled gray with long despair, lit up into an azure blue filled with hope. A door! Escape!
Hope would be brief. A long shadow spilled into the room. Her eyes followed the shadow to its owner; a well-built body, an attractive angular face with sharp features and a mole under his left eye, and long saffron hair tied back by a dark ribbon. A young man in his early twenties and dressed the way royalty would; a fine white collared shirt layered with a long and embroidered black leather coat, dark pants and boots shined to perfection. The young man appeared daunting at first glance, his lips tight in a scowl of indifference, his royal blue eye cold as the steel in the room. His gaze falls upon her and he steps toward her, the scowl melts into a courteous smile.
“I do apologize for you imprisonment, miss.” He says upon reaching her, managing to take a hold of her hand. Stella found herself unable to budge from fear, but her arm was limp in his long and tapered hand. He was handsome, brutally and handsome in surreal degrees. His nails were long and the dark nail polish gleamed in the room’s light. The young man kissed the back of her hand.
“We required your presence, Stella Midnight.”
With the mention of her name, Stella snapped from her daze, finding the strength to think, to speak. We? Who was this man? How did he know her name? What did he want from her? Her eyes drop, noticing the proximity between herself and the gorgeous man. One knee and one hand rested on the bed to steady himself when he kissed her hand. It was too close, far too close for the star girl’s comfort, the images of Drewe advancing upon her returned in flashes. Stella withdrew, her back pressed to the wall to make herself as small as possible and her arms crossed over her chest. No, not again!
“Stay away!” The girl exhales, shivering. “I don’t know who you are or what you want. Please stay away!”
The heavy silence between them drew a curious sidelong glance from Stella. The young man’s face was impassive, locked in a strange stare as if he was unsure of what to make of her reaction. It stirred some frustration from Stella - how else was she supposed to feel about being trapped in a strange room with a stranger? The mattress creaks softly as young man rose to his feet and took one step away from the bed.
“You do.” He says with formal simplicity, the way a prince would speak to a commoner. “That will made clear in due time. Until then, you will have to stay in here a little longer.”
Stella searched her mind for a moment. She only had a spare glance at the door, yet she was certain it was open. Her captor had taken a step back, leaving her more than enough space to make for an escape. There was still a chance that she could find trouble beyond the room, but the thought of escape was too close to pass up. She inhaled sharply, her hand clenched tight and ready.
“Please...I want to go home.” Stella says with a choke, forcing herself to remain as scared as she had been and downplaying the newfound determination.
“That cannot be done.” The gorgeous man says. “I am sorry, but I assure you of your worth. I cannot free you, even if I had clearance.”
“Then I’ll free myself!” Stella shouts, firing a trio of stars into the direction of the young man’s face. Her captor shouts in surprise, staggering back a few steps more and widening the window of opportunity. Stella moves, scrambling off the bed and past the open door as fast as her legs could carry her. Beyond the door was a wide hallway with strange geometric decor. Bizarre rhombuses and angled shapes imposed into the blue metallic wall gave the hall a dizzying atmosphere.
Sorry, but I cannot stay here any longer!
Either way would be a long run, but a glance to either direction and there appeared to be no one in sight! She runs to the right, her low heels clacking against the marbled floor. Faster, faster! She was certain she could hear the man calling out to her -
“Stella, stop!”
-but nothing would deter her, she would not dare look back to see if her captor was running after her. As she runs midway down the long hallway, searching desperately for open doors, the star girl spares a passing glance by a long window. Her eyes widen but she is unable to stop and gape at what she witnesses.
A wide view of an exquisite city bathed in twilight. The tall buildings were numerous, but the one she happened to be in may have been among the tallest in this city. Thousands of lights, a sea of grand and oddly shaped structures as far as the eye could see. The lights even hovered over more lights, flying machines the size of normal cars! In the distance? Prismatic, irregular mountains shadowing the city like guardian titans. The sky, the city scape, the view itself, none of it was familiar! Unable to dwell on it further, the girl stared straight ahead. The alarms, the shouts behind her only continued to propel her. Ahead was a door, sunk in just as the door to her room had been just before it slid open.
Please open for me!
The door slides up without her even having to slow. Through the door was a circular room of beautiful marble, glossed to an impossible sheen. A circular, ebony insignia etched onto the floor became its contrast, but glimmered like thousands of distant stars. Stella’s eyes flickered; three doors were open in ornate arches but there may be a space for one other door. It would be a wonder to look at had she not been escaping for her life.
I wonder...if there are other people trapped behind the walls?
The thought made her shudder and pushed it deep into the back of her mind. She chose the middle path on a whim and dashed through an open archway.
“Where is a cute little thing like you runnin’ off to?” Says a husky voice, riddled with age and arrogance. Its owner was even less to look at, a man of his late forties but the muscular girth of a gym lunkhead. His tanned skin, bald head, a shirt with a popped collar and cargo shorts with boots. His girth was absolutely frightening, like a human tank! One grab by him and it would be over. Stella’s shoes squeaks with the sudden stop and spun around, dashing back into the circular room. She nearly stumbles as she runs through the next open archway. Behind her, she could hear the thunderous stomps of the large man after her. Shouting but the echoes and her breaths made it impossible to care. Elevator, stairs, she had to find some way to escape of this horrid place! Where exactly she would go, what to do would have to wait.
The hallway she was in now was plain, metallic like the walls in her cell. So smooth were the walls that she never sees a break of a hall before her. An object flies at the star girl the second she passes the break, the sudden force smacking her hard against the wall. Dizzy, bewildered and then she focuses on the heaviness of the object that had appeared: a large metallic boomerang, the crook resting heavily in her lap. She could barely move her legs, how was it even possible to throw such a thing? As she lifted her head, the boomerang floats off her legs floated toward its owner. It was a young and thin boy no more than twelve years or age. He had limp dark hair and hooded brown eyes, but the most bizarre feature was a mask attached to the right side of his face. He wore a blinding white coat that looked like an unhooked strait jacket over a black tee shirt, skinny black pants and black boots. Something was definitely amiss about this boy. His stare is impassive and in fact, he glances over to acknowledge the bulky meathead that joined them.
“Darlin’ you’re quick, but not quick enough.” The man grabs Stella by the foot, dragging her toward him and pinning her shoulders to the floor. He looked over his captive with hungry eyes, undeterred from her modest dress. Stella’s mind flashes back to that room, to the overwhelming sense of danger she felt the way HE looked at her, grabbed her shoulder. Hope that he was merely scaring her waned as the muscular man’s visage near hers, she could smell the trace of alcohol on his breath. “And you’re cute too, I wonder if you taste as sweet as you look.”
One of his huge hands moves to her legs, wasting no time in pushing Stella’s dress to her waist. The single movement opens the flood of horrific memories. His cold stare, that grin touched with anger from denial, that raw and unfeeling force behind a kiss - it was happening all again. This man was just like Drewe, and he was going to harm her!
“NO!” The pristine-haired girl screams, her eyes wide and brimming with tears, the echo traveling down the hallway. Sparks as cluster of stars fire from her hands, the bark of surprise as the man stumbles back, releasing her. Stella scrambles to her knees, escape the only thought on her mind until she felt the weight of the man full on her back. Sweat, anger, that rising anger from denial.
“You little bitch! You aren’t going anywhere!” He growls in her ear as he violently thrusts his hand under her dress, his sweaty thumb hooking to her panties. She could barely move, the man was simply too strong and heavy! Helpless, Stella looks up at the boy with pleading eyes.
“He-Help me!” She cries as she hears the sudden ripping of delicate material. The boy stares down at her, lacking expression. He would not be of any help. How was it possible that this boy would simply stand there while her captor intended to harm her? People were not good. People were not as kind as Lucas, as Amber, as Jun-bo. The man’s move under her skirt, everything seemed hazy and unclear, the eager huffing of her captor in her ear. She squeezed her eyes shut, wanting nothing more than to disappear from this nightmare. At least, last time, a few kind souls had been around to save her. At least the handsome man earlier was kind, had given her space realizing that he was too close, spoke warmly to her. Stella could already see Lucas’s face sad, helpless to stop what was happening to her.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Lucas.
But here? Now?
Hope was far, far away from her.
Someone...help me...
[To Be Continued]