Three weeks later the plan was set in stone. After only an hour of the three of them conversing and three weeks of convincing Asaliah that there was no better option, they knew the best way to go about their plan in order to get the farthest away.

Asaliah still did not like the idea, but she had an undeniable feeling that lurked deep in the pit of her stomach and it told her she must leave Neha behind; it simply must be done. Although the woman could not help feeling that the three of them were rushing into this too soon without enough thought, she obeyed that inner voice and laid low as Neha and Leo thought out what must be done.

They had chosen to get Neha in the house before Gordon came home and dress her in Leo's clothes which would be a little large but close enough. Then they would then leave her in Leo's bedroom and immediately head south as quickly as possible so that they could get the farthest away before sunrise.

This way, Gordon would come home and not think to look for Leo. He would go to bed and then search for the child at dawn when he normally did.

Neha was supposed to get out of the house before he awoke and take the bottle of black liquor and trail it north so that the man's attention would be directed away from where Leo had truly left to. Then, Neha would head south and run to catch up in the few hours she had before Gordon found where they truly went.

The idea was risky yet simple. The only thing was... Neha knew what was going to happen. She knew what she must do in order to truly keep Gordon out of the picture. The idea had been staring them in the face this whole time, yet not one of them had dared to say it.

The truth was, she knew if she were to bring it up, Leo would surely turn the idea down, but Neha still knew it must be done. So, she just sat there on the dusty floor and kept that thought to herself.

After the plan was clear to all members, they chose not to waste another word on it but instead began taking what they did want to keep, and packing it in an empty bag.

***

As the rosy fingers of dawn crawled back behind to horizon, one ray at a time, the three each knew what must be done.

Asaliah hugged her baby close as Leo lugged their pack over his shoulder. The both of them were dressed in all black from head to foot. Even the baby was hidden silently under Asaliah's black cloak so that they could blend into the night without a soul seeing.

One witness could mean they were found so the family had to do their best to be sure that they were not seen.

"Now Neha, listen. Just go to the room up the stairs and to the left. Close the door but do not lock it. If he comes in, pretend to be asleep. And if he wakes you... do your best to not let him see your face," Leo said, his face void of expression in the dim light of night.

As the shadows closed in on the world, the night owls began to fly about, signaling it was time to depart.

Although Leo's baggy, gray clothes make Neha itchy and caused her great discomfort, she kept silent in the still of night, not wanting to add to the stress that lurked in the air.

The three of them crept through the dark to where they would leave Neha at Leo's house. As they walked over the blanket of autumn leaves, Neha could not help but notice the lack of moonlight.

Because the moon did not reflect the sun's light and glimmer in the night sky, the black night felt eerier than usual. There were no shadows left to be seen in the dark for there was no light to cause them except the dim stars but they too seemed a little darker than usual.

Asaliah and Leo did not even light a candle to see five feet in front of them for fear of attracting attention, so the three of them were forced to walk in the black of night praying that they did not stumble in the wood.

Finally reaching Leo's house, he gestured for Neha to go inside. She hugged the two of them and took a long look at the baby that would be her one day, thinking.

"Asaliah..." she whispered through the night—her voice barely above a hum, "What do you think her name will be?"

There was a pause in the night where the only thing to be made out was the chirping of crickets and the distant hoot of an owl.

"I...we..." she stuttered, looking down at the baby.

"It's all right. Think about it." Neha smiled turning to leave, never having truly expected an answer in the first place.

"Maria," Leo said back at Neha, causing her to turn around and look into both their eyes.

"Yes, I just... wasn't sure but it seems like the best fit."

"It means 'rebellion' and I think it sees fit for her circumstances." Leo continued looking out through the night with a small smile on his lips.

"That's... a pretty name." Neha smiled and turned to walk in the house, the word echoing through her ears, yet it did not come to her lips.

As she slowly opened the door to the dark house, the word still rang in her ears, begging her to speak it and go home. Closing the door behind her, she walked as silently as she could up the stairs, a gentle tap tap of her feet being the only noise to be detected in the whole house.

Entering the bedroom Leo had told her about, she closed the door behind her without locking it and laid on the bed to attempt to get some sleep before Gordon came home late in the night.

Although her body begged to drift off, her mind kept her up—turning the word over and over again in her mind Maria Maria Maria. It begged her to let the word fall from her lips, yet she held it in.

Despite the fact she would love to go home, she knew that home would not be right until she properly was given her last litterae without stealing it.

She wanted to say it. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be safe. Yet there was something much deeper holding her back. It glued her lips together and attempted to help her forget the word.

As she closed her eyes, the image of the white nothingness appeared in front of her eyes. It was a memory, the one she wanted to forget yet kept coming back to the light of her eyes.

It glistened and glimmered and begged her to relive it. Like a book collecting dust on an old shelf, did this memory appear behind her eyelids and beg her to watch it again.

Allowing her mind to drift off into the thought, she could not help but remember the words that had run through her mind at that time:

'People were going to break her down, that was life, but until she had finished what she had started, she must continue to rise. For Asaliah, for the Nostro Lumine, for Leo, for Raziel, and even for Dia and Yadiel.'

The words still seemed fresh in her mind as she reopened the feeling like running a blade down the scab of a wound. The memory brought guilt and sadness, yet it also brought back a sort of joy she could not understand.

Because of what she had told herself then, she was able to make it to where she is now. It was the thought that she was needed for someone else that kept her going then and to give up now would not only mean throwing that thought away but also her own life.

To go home and leave her post, possibly foiling Leo and Asaliah's plan, would be too much of a risk for them. That sort of selfishness was the opposite of what she, the Nostro Lumine, and the entire Kellestri breed wanted to be remembered by anyway.

Looking at the ceiling that stood above her, the child's thoughts flooded her mind. The shadows all around the room swallowed all light that might have illuminated the space, causing it to look like a black hole.

Nothing stirred, nothing moved, nothing changed. Every dark object in the room remained still as stone as the girl laid in bed, attempting to drift off to sleep.

Despite the fact that the child was going to stay put here in Nixville, that did not mean that the fear was erased from her. Her mind still ran through what was going to happen, frantically trying to convince her to leave, yet her body stayed put, knowing what truly must be done.

Listening to the gentle hum of a midnight breeze outside, Neha nearly missed the soft sound of something else in the house. As the gentle tap tap grew louder, the child nearly held her breath—listening intently to hear if he were truly there.

Her entire body stiffened as she could see the hall light flood the little room as the door cracked open with a squeak! Shutting her eyes, the child attempted to pretend asleep. But in truth, she could have sworn the man could hear the pounding of her heartbeat because it rang so loud in her ears that she could hear nothing else.

Crossing her fingers where she lay, she did her best to appear relaxed. However, the pit of her stomach was clenched so tightly that she feared she might just be sick. Allowing herself to breathe slowly, she listened to the man in the doorway as intently as her ears could muster.

He mumbled something and then closed the door behind him and headed to a bedroom a few doors down with nothing more than a few inaudible words.

Exhaling, Neha relaxed a little, still full of fear that what had happened last time might happen again, yet a little more at ease, for she knew this must be done.

As her eyelids closed that night, her mind started to settle itself in the new bed—putting the thoughts of Leo's dad away. Inside the walls of a place that seemed all too familiar, her mind was lost to her dreams.

In the black of her dreams, a familiar thing flashed in front of her eyes. It was a light that sparkled and glistened like a ripple in a still, glass-like pond.

"For Self-Control, your fourth litterae is I."