Now, reader, before we go to Yulia's adventures in Octo Canyon, we must go back to the forest. After Pearl had left them, Lynn and Marina were in turmoil.

"It wouldn't have been like this if you'd have just let me go…" Lynn said, fiddling with her hair. "Our plan! What happened to our plan?!"

"Having you sacrifice yourself wasn't part of our plan!"

"She's going to die down there, Sis…"

"Why… Why didn't I just go? It's probably my family that took Callie…"

"Sis, not after what you've been through… After all of the stories you've told me, I never want you going back there."

"What are we going to do, Lynn?!"

"Don't worry, Sis… We'll figure it out. We've been waiting two long years to put our plan in action, and today's finally the day. Meet me at the metro tonight and we'll talk more."

"Got it."

With that, Lynn stomped off. Marina didn't know what to expect. They had been plotting for so long...would their plan really become a reality?

After Yulia had fallen into Octo Canyon from the hustling, bustling Inkopolis above, the first thing she did was enter one of the kettles, which served as a path to the underground dome where the Octarians established their society. They were forced to do this; while there was land above ground, it was barren, dry, and hardly supported any kind of life. Now, underground, Yulia knew that she was a stranger in a strange land; no one even knew of her existence. She came from Inkopolis, a land where the government once pushed on people that the Octarians were the enemy; now, she was the enemy. Her stomach already dropped as she rewatched Pearl and Marina's news broadcast in her head, but tried to stay positive. After all, her job was to make the world a better place. Right….right? She would save Callie…right?

Yulia didn't know if positivity would help her. Octo Canyon was drastically different from Inkopolis, and it frightened her. Sure, Octo Canyon did have some nice beaches-not as nice as those in Inkopolis- and the scenery was much different, but there was something dreadful about it. The distant buildings Yulia could see were large and industrial, but she also saw shadows of small, shanty houses that didn't look like they could support a family. Going against her conscience, she decided to walk toward the buildings to see if there was any sign of life.

Yulia had heard the warnings, but she didn't expect Octo Canyon to be like this...at all. She expected it to be rich, like Inkopolis. After all, the officials pretty much preached that the sudden move from Octo Valley to Octo Canyon would generously benefit the Octarians, but Yulia realized that this was just an effort to shut up anyone wanting to help them. The Inklings thought that the Octarians were down here having the time of their lives, but what Yulia saw was a desolate wasteland. This wasn't good. She had just entered Octo Canyon and she was already scared out of her wits….she hadn't even met any Octolings yet.

As little Yulia was practically going into survival mode, her mind kept forcing her to rewatch flashbacks of an encounter with a particularly strange old man back when she was doing some Salmon Runs. Was her body trying to give her a sign? She didn't know.

"Excuse me, sir… You're in the Salmonid Smokeyard, y'know," Yulia said politely to the strange, hooded man. This was about a week before she entered Octo Canyon. She was most certainly surprised to find this old man sitting on the beach, cane in hand. How on earth did he get here? There were only two boats that made this route: the boat that carried food service workers who smoked meat and Grizzco's private boat. Was this man perhaps left behind? But...he looked too old to be working… Even then, why were the Salmonids not attacking him?

Telling her teammates to go back to the boat and prepare a spot for him, Yulia repeated the sentence. The old man was hiding his face from her in his black, hooded cloak that covered his entire body. He was trembling.

In the present, as Yulia thought about this old man, she didn't hear the whispers. She didn't realize that she was now being watched.

"Sir! Are you all right?" Yulia asked the old man, whose back was turned to her.

"I come not from here, dear girl… My people are suffering and I have done nothing for them. They turned on me. What am I to do?" The old man asked, simply walking toward the boat without being asked.

"Don't mind him. He probably just forgot his meds," one of her teammates reassured her whenever they were all safely on the boat, heading back home. The entire way back to Inkopolis, the man was silent, kneeling in a position almost like he was lost in prayer or meditation. Mr. Grizz made all of the kids promise to never tell anyone about the man. Yulia remembered that the next day, she tried to find him, but she heard from Judd that overnight the man was spotted walking toward the forest, whistling an old Octarian tune that had been composed during the Great Turf War.

Yulia had went back to the Salmonid Smokeyard several times, but never spotted him there again. She had continuously asked herself if that man was even real or if he was just a figment of her imagination. One part of her even claimed that it was the ghost of Old Pappy Tentatek, Yulia's grandfather and a Great Turf War veteran who had passed away when the girl was only a few months old.

As she stood in Octo Canyon, the old man's miniature monologue echoed in her head. What did he mean by 'I come not from here?' His people… Turned against him? Did they banish him here? But...why would they banish him to Inkopolis of all places? After all, it was gorgeous!

Whenever Yulia came to her senses and stopped thinking about this odd man, she looked around her and realized that several Octarians were staring at her. They looked incredibly shocked to see an Inkling, but they weren't armed.

"I-Is that….? Call Octavio! Call Octavio!" One of the Octarians shouted, the rest of them backing away from her. One grabbed a nearby stick and pointed it at Yulia in self were all wearing clothes that looked like they were either handmade or hand-me-downs, and to be honest, they looked clueless.

"No, no! Please don't call Octavio! I mean no harm! I just want to talk to you!" Yulia said, putting her Slosher down and putting her hands up in surrender. However, after seeing that one of the Octarians had sounded an alarm, her survival instincts kicked in, she grabbed her weapon, and she took off as fast as she could. She made her way to one of the beaches and hid behind a huge rock that had fallen from the canyon above. It was completely secluded.

Wandering around, Yulia eyed up the ocean, wondering if there was some kind of pipeline that connected Inkopolis to Octo Canyon. If there was...she could try to build some kind of raft to temporarily go home and let the Octarians calm down… but then she realized that this body of water was more of a giant swimming pool than an ocean.

First off, whenever Yulia tried to wash her face to calm down, she realized that the water was fresh water, not salt water. Secondly, there were no waves whatsoever. Finally, upon reaching her hand in the water, she was easily able to feel the bottom; it turns out that it was a large, metal barrier that was painted to look like the ocean floor. This was simply an effect used to make the Octarians feel like they were on the surface. It had certainly made Yulia forget that she was in a dome.

For a while, Yulia stayed cooped up behind this rock, wondering about this Octavio person. Who was he? Was he some kind of protector? Was he the leader? From what she had seen in the brief moments before she ran away, no one was armed, which really stuck out to her. In Inkopolis, pretty much everyone owned some kind of weapon. Even her meek, mild father owned his own weapon. However, Inkopolis was a very safe place. The Octarians seemed like the ones who needed weapons the most, but didn't have any.

Her mind went back to stories that Marina would tell her about the Octarians. According to Marina, their leader was so afraid of people revolting against him that he prohibited any kind of weaponry among the common folk. The only citizens that were legally allowed to be armed were members of his small defense squad. Marina had told Yulia that she was a mechanic in the squad and her brother was a soldier, but she gave up defending the leader when she realized that her calling was in the music industry.

This squad that Marina mentioned was what Yulia's real threat would be. Yulia was very quick on her feet and had her Slosher, but she was a natural sniper and could be very clumsy with Sloshers sometimes. She didn't want to fight, and if she had to, she was used to doing so from very far away. Being outnumbered didn't help, either.

However, Yulia also knew that in situations like this, she was her own worst enemy. During the early stages of Inkling development, the Firefly Inklings were commonly wiped out by predators because of their glowing. Even though Octo Canyon was nowhere near the savage societies of the ancient past, her glowing gave her a disadvantage if she didn't want to be seen.

After a while, Yulia assumed that the coast was clear and slowly emerged out of the rocks, still keeping low. As terrible as a thought this was, Yulia hoped and prayed that this was just the slums and that conditions would improve as she went on. She ducked even lower as she saw an Octoling run up to a small house, knocking on the door. A man answered, holding a toddler in his arms.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Wells. I-I'm afraid that Chyna's injured herself again. As you know, she took a job cleaning windows…" The visitor went on.

The Octoling paused as a woman shrieked in horror, starting to cry at the thought of this girl hurting herself. The man quickly went into the house, trying to calm the woman down. After a while, he emerged once more, the toddler now gone.

"Please, Doctor… go on."

"She was busily cleaning the windows of one of the old office buildings so our team could go ahead with the repurposing project… Because of the rocky ground, the ladder she was on collapsed. Upon hearing news of the predator, she tried to move down the ladder as fast as she could. She fell, and the ladder fell on top of her."

"Oh, my baby! My poor baby!" The woman inside the house hysterically sobbed.

"There may be a head injury from the falling ladder. We've assigned Marlene Briney as her nurse, and Mrs. Briney has reported that her worst injury by far is a laceration on her leg. She's currently unable to walk. Several other minor injuries were located on her face, arms, and torso. She's losing a lot of blood. She's conscious and requesting that you come to the tent and see her," the doctor finished. The...tent? She wasn't in some kind of hospital?

The man, presumably Chyna's father, rushed into the house. Within moments, he was bringing out the woman, who was in a wheelchair, who had the toddler in her lap. The poor woman looked absolutely sickly. Her legs were covered in a thick dress, but whenever the toddler lifted it up slightly, what Yulia saw of her calves were completely shriveled. She didn't dare look at it anymore; she felt as if she was going to cry and get sick at the same time. She realized that she was this predator. Had she almost killed an Octarian on her first day of being in Octo Canyon? Yup. Did it make her feel awful? Absolutely.

'I've only been here a short while, but I'm already a predator to the people. What on earth did the Inklings do to them?' Yulia thought to herself as she continued to keep low. Everything was silent, and it was almost unbearable to her. The slums seemed lifeless, and the void sense of emptiness made her sick. She needed to go to someone who would listen to her and not be afraid. Did she have to go to a richer place with more privileged people? She knew that Octo Canyon's economy was horrible, but she hoped that the people she saw weren't considered the higher-ups.

However, there was one problem with her plan: her glowing! She either needed to stop a natural body process or escape unseen…she decided that the latter would be easier for her to do. After all, she was the predator. They would probably be willing to do anything to exterminate her. Because of how strong her emotions were, no matter how hard she tried, she'd still end up glowing. She needed to get out.

'I'm one of the fastest runners at Grizzco...surely I can do this without getting caught,' Yulia thought to herself. She immediately braced herself, getting ready for the sprint. She had just gotten over running for the first time, but this… she had to do it. She felt like she was genuinely in danger, and that wasn't a nice feeling.

Counting down in her head, Yulia immediately started running as fast as she could, feeling the cold Octarian breeze blow through her hair. The land in the area was rather slippery, but Yulia was handling it like a pro. This was her survival mode.

Yulia still thought of the old man as she ran off. Those words were like knives stabbing her brain. She was starting to believe that this man was more than a simple old man whose mind had deteriorated from the Great War. She was starting to believe that he was some kind of prophet who knew of her intentions and was willing to guide her through her voyage with his cryptic speech. Could it have been Pappy Tentatek coming back from heaven to guide her through the Octarian devil's den? Probably not. She was probably just overthinking.

It just felt like she had been running for so long. The scenery had appeared to be the same...was she just running in circles? Whilst she was running, Yulia had taken a closer look at her surroundings and realized that nearly everything was artificial. The sky… those bubbly clouds that she had observed weren't clouds at all! They were TV screens slapped together to look like a sky! Somehow, they were able to operate without power. This brought her down to earth and made her remember once more that she was in an underground dome.

Seeing the ceiling of the dome had made Yulia dizzy. She felt as if she were in a computer simulation. Everything around her had started to become distorted. The weight of her weapon on her shoulders felt as if she was trying to carry an elephant rather than a Slosher. Eventually, she was unable to hold herself up and fell to the ground, estimating that she had ran about eight to ten miles. Fortunately, the spot that she had collapsed in seemed to be abandoned.

Was...Marina right? Was Yulia just naïve? Was Marina just trying to help her? She felt so stupid!

"It's your funeral."

Three words. Three words that came out of one person. Marina said that, not caring if it broke Yulia's heart. As the Inkling sat and tried to catch her breath, she nearly cried as she remembered Marina scolding her.

'What did you expect?! Did you expect them to treat you like a queen?! You're a predator. You're evil to them. They're going to tear you limb from limb when they find you,' Yulia's mind screamed at her. She wanted to get up and run again, but her feet were killing her and her lungs were burning. How long had she been here?

Yulia wanted to try to call out to Callie, call out to her mother and father, call out to anyone. She was afraid that the Octarians would find her. They'd definitely tear her apart if they found her. Here she sat, breathless and all alone.

Yulia constantly drifted in and out of consciousness from fatigue. She had hardly noticed that the screens in the sky were changing from daytime to nighttime. The Octarian nighttime was especially dangerous, as with no electricity or natural light, it was pitch black. It seemed as if all of the canyon was barren, its little inhabitants running into their little homes, protecting themselves from the night; something Yulia couldn't do. Eventually, she fell unconscious.

Late into the night, Marina left her home, walking through the mostly barren Inkopolis. As it was very late, most of the kids had decided to go home for the night, though there were still a few stragglers hanging around. They didn't have time to scream over her presence, as she quickly vanished from sight by jumping a fence leading to an old, abandoned subway station.

The station, known to the locals as Deepsea Metro, hadn't been used after the Great Turf War. These tracks were the key to getting to Octo Canyon from Inkopolis, but unfortunately the Inklings had blocked off the entrance with heavy rocks. Though, the lighting ran off of the city's power, so it was still conveniently lit up. This was the place that Lynn and Marina met to discuss their secret plan.

"Lynn? Where are you?" Marina called out. Her voice echoed through the abandoned station, but she heard no reply.

"Lynn?!" She tried again. Whenever Marina really started to worry, Lynn dashed in, out of breath.

"I'm sorry, Rina… I was in the forest…" Lynn panted.

"Lynn, it's 3 in the morning! What were you doing in the forest?!"

"I was out searching for the old man! I've heard that he's most active at night! I wanted to find out who this old man is once and for all… but I lost track of time."

"Oh, Lynn… A-Anyway, how do you think Yulia's doing down there...if she's still even alive…?"

"All we can do is hope that she's doing okay. But...at least she brought our plan back to life."

"You know," Marina said, "I remember when I was fourteen… whenever my dad sent me to Inkopolis to collect weapons… Whenever we met on the beach and thought of this crazy scheme…"

Marina saw herself, back whenever she was very, very young. She was sent to Inkopolis to find more weapons for Octavio's defense force. She could hardly get a proper grasp of her humanoid form, and she was already on her first big mission! The surface was completely unknown to her, and she wandered aimlessly on the beach, completely lost.

"Ey… You all right?" Marina suddenly heard from the pier. Looking in that direction, she saw a strange girl, about her age, standing with her hands on her hips.

"I...I…I'm not from here…"

"Yeah, I could kinda tell. You don't look like any Inkling I've ever seen."

"Well, that's… B-because I'm not an Inkling at all. I-I'm an Octoling," Marina whispered the last part, but this girl was able to read her lips rather well.

"What? Don't tell me that you came from that wasteland down below!"

Marina walked toward this strange girl, who introduced herself as Lynn. As Marina explained her story, Lynn became invested almost immediately. There was just something about this girl's voice that had captivated her.

"S-So… do you have any weapons that I could use?"

"Unfortunately not. We Salmonlings don't do turf wars. But a very prominent family friend of mine, the Tentatek family, have a ton. I'm sure that they could help you."

"Oh, great!"

"But… before I give you directions to their place...answer me, Octoling. Do you wish that you were able to live here instead of Octo Valley? Have you ever wondered what life is like on the other side of the tracks?"

"N-Not really… But I think we'd be a lot happier if we lived up here. We'd have a lot more uses for our technology."

"Say what… Two years from now. We'll be stronger. Smarter. Come back here in two years and we could just make that happen."

Marina, out of the blue, embraced Lynn. They weren't exactly friends, but it was undeniable that there were some kind of feelings of appreciation.

"Two years exactly. Today is truly righteous," Lynn said before diving off of the pier into the water. Marina, having the Octarian instinct of water being bad, was shocked, but she quickly ran off toward the Tentatek household using the directions that Lynn had given her.

Ever since Marina had gotten home from that trip to Inkopolis, she had never been the same. Octavio had noticed that the girl seemed to focus less on assembling weapons of war and more on little trinkets and gadgets that had no practical use. She would often walk away from Octavio's anti-Inkling rage. She started to realize that Octo Valley was worse than she thought. Even after being scolded by Octavio, her passion started to grow. Lo and behold, whenever two years had passed, Marina left Octo Valley for good.

"Yeah, I remember that, too. Honestly, I didn't expect you to actually come back…I was just really lonely, y'know..." Lynn gushed as the two entered one of the abandoned trains, sitting down. During their last meeting they had completely cleaned the train's interior, turning it into their meeting place.

"So… how are we going to start this?" Lynn asked. Their secret plan, of course, was to free the Octarians from Octo Canyon and let them live in freedom in Inkopolis.

"Well, first, I say we get rid of the rocks blocking the path. We want to show the council that we want change!" Marina said optimistically.

"Marina… Don't you realize how much work that'll be?"

"Exactly, Lynn! They'll see our passion! What were you thinking of?"

"I was just thinking of getting the people on our side. Y'know, through petitions and council meetings. I guess I wasn't thinking that far ahead...but you're right, Sis… Maybe if they see our passion for the project, they'll feel more sympathy.."

The two young ladies then plotted out their plans for demolishing the rock wall that had separated two species for decades. They weren't going to be discreet about it, either. They were going to let everyone in Inkopolis know what they were planning.

Upon waking up the next morning, the first thing that Yulia did was instinctively check her phone, which she had decided to bring with her. It was indeed the next day, about seven in the morning. She had hoped to see concern texts or calls from her friends, but then realized that Octo Canyon obviously had no cell service. Even if they did try to call or text her, there would be no way to know. The lock screen wallpaper on her phone seemed to mock her. It was a picture of herself with all of her friends, giving friendly gestures.

"Hey, Yulia! It's dad! Your mother and I are going to be at work a little longer tonight...I know I was supposed to come and watch the Squaps game with you, but work comes first, and I know that you understand that. If you get lonely, I'm sure Lynn or Pearl would come visit you. Love you! Buh-bye."

The voice of Shaquarius Tentatek had then faded into oblivion as the brief voicemail ended. This voicemail was from about a year ago, but after her parents had left, Yulia refused to delete it. After all, it was the only remnant she had left of her father's voice. Even then, she didn't have her phone charger with her, so if she let the battery die, she'd never be able to hear it again. Why did Lottie have to hit while her parents were traveling?! Out of all the times for there to be a hurricane!

As Yulia sulked, she scrolled through her pictures and voicemails, wincing and hiding at any kind of Octarian presence. Being a predator had really hurt the girl's ego. As much as she liked to think that she was humble, she took a lot of pride in her job and her nearly legendary status at Grizzco. She enjoyed being praised by Mr. Grizz for her hard work. She enjoyed the company of friends. Being called a predator made her tremble inside. She wanted to try to make peace with these people, but she was considered an outcast. She was alone, and nothing could change that. She wasn't in her cozy Inkopolis cabin, reading about Salmonids or watching hockey. She wasn't watching Lynn collect money from water fountains or working for Mr. Grizz. Now she was here, in Octo Canyon, where people hated her and wanted her gone. She wasn't completely defenseless, as she had her Tri-Slosher, but could she really fend off Octavio's entire defense force? Could she fend off Octavio himself? Sure, her Tri-Slosher was a beast, but, as mentioned, she was a sniper. Plus, the Octarians would fight back. They wouldn't just stand there and let her beat them to a pulp. Even if they weren't armed, they would fight back. They were naturally better than Inklings at fighting, as evident by their amazing success in the Great Turf War… well, the first part of it.

'This should be me down here and them up there. I've never read those books about the war, but the Octarians were supposed to win. We won by cheap luck. I don't understand why these people have to struggle. Is their leader not doing anything about this?' Yulia thought to herself. Some Octolings lived in Inkopolis and were loved! For example, Mareanie Cuttlefish, the daughter of the legendary war veteran Cap'n Cuttlefish, married an Octoling to allow him to stay in Inkopolis during the war. They were still happily married and had raised two daughters, Callie being one of them.

'If the Inklings will accept certain Octolings, if they'll accept crossbreeds like me… Why won't they accept these people? I'm literally a light bulb. Is a lack of limbs really a reason to hate someone?' Yulia asked as she tried to hold in the deep feelings of sympathy that she felt for these people.

Oh, here she was, condemning herself already! She wasn't thinking about herself as being the change or being the hero that the people needed. She was thinking of herself as an unloved outcast; she considered herself a hated, friendless wretch right now. But this wasn't about her! It wasn't about the Octarians, either! It was about Callie! Callie's missing! But still…

This is what everyone had warned Yulia about. Her friends knew that she wanted to make changes in the world, and they knew that she wanted to help Callie, but they all knew deep in their hearts that she'd get attached to these people. They knew that she'd be hurt whenever she saw the Octarians living under oppression. They knew that the moment she stepped into Octo Canyon, it wouldn't be about saving Callie anymore. This was personal to the girl now.

Yulia sat in thought, but jumped whenever she heard a conversation going on in the distance.

"Dennis! Dennis! We need you for something!" A female voice cried. Yulia didn't see who the voice belonged to, as she immediately went back into hiding.

"Yes, Mama?" A male voice replied.

"Surely you've heard of that Inkling wandering around here. This is what your father has been training you to do! I want you to go and catch that vile creature! We can't have it going around and disturbing the peace in this canyon!"

"But Mama, you're-"

"No 'but's about it, Dennis! You need to go and slaughter that thing!"

"O-Of course. Yes, Mama."

"That's my boy. Now...GO FIGHT!" The female voice cried, and the sound of boots flooded Yulia's eardrums. She was in trouble, and she knew it. Whoever this Dennis was, she guessed that he was strong.

Yulia felt as if she had to start running again, but her feet were still killing her. She felt as if she would seriously hurt herself if she started running again.

'Calm down, Yulia. If he doesn't see you, he won't get you. Don't run. Just keep it slow,' Yulia tried to calm herself...promptly before she ignored her better judgement and took off as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was going at all. The weight of the Tri-Slosher on her back became barely noticeable as she ran. What did become noticeable, however, was the fact that she just ran into a populated city. There were people staring at her.

"There it is!"

"What is that thing?! Is it going to kill us?!"

"Yes, it's that Inkling! It's going to exterminate all of us! Somebody get Dennis! He'll surely save us from it!"

"Dennis! DENNIS!"

Multiple voices had screamed for the previously mentioned Octoling, and Yulia knew that she was in a pit. For her, it seemed like a life or death situation once more. She had to run again. She meant to put her weapon back on her back, as she had instinctively pulled it out, but instead, she dropped it, accidentally sloshing ink on the street. It had nearly hit a young woman. Most retreated, and the woman screamed in terror whilst others grabbed items such as pots and pans to defend themselves. It was a Salmon Run all over again…

"Please, citizens! I do not mean any harm! I-I just want to…" Yulia started, but trailed off. Knowing that she had to escape, she wondered if she was even in the same dome that she had entered, as all of them were connected via a tunnel system. All Yulia could comprehend was that she was terrified of Dennis and that the Octarians were terrified of her.

Taking off, Yulia went on her final run. She wasn't able to go as far as she did on either of her previous trekking sessions, but was still able to run a decent amount. There were no Octarians, just a barren field with its plasticky grass. The only noise was a faint static sound, presumably from the TV screens.

As Yulia sat there, she once again realized how tired and hungry she was. The first thing that came to her mind was to eat the grass, but whenever she got a good feel of it, she immediately decided that it would probably kill her if she tried to eat it. She thought of trying to fish, but then she realized that the ocean was artificial. Why on earth would there be fish in an artificial ocean? Besides, she had no way to cook it. She even thought of stealing from the Octarians, but they looked like they didn't even have enough to feed themselves. Yulia, having a philosophy of all-work-and-no-anything-else, only ate one meal a day due to money...but still, she was ravenous.

Whilst wandering around aimlessly, Yulia's mind was so caught up in finding food and reminding herself of her friends that she barely realized that there was a building that appeared to be abandoned up ahead. The windows were broken and a 2x4 covering the door had been snapped in half, letting the heavy metal door hang open. Deciding to take the risk, Yulia entered. The building was large, and it kind of reminded her of an indoor storage facility. Lining the halls were storage garages, all of which looked like they had been broken into, as broken locks scattered the floor. Other than the locks, the garages were completely barren.

If the underground domes were cold, the storage facility was colder. Yulia was having trouble keeping herself warm in the building, but she had assumed that it was the safest place for her to be at the moment. Though, a creeping suspicion always snuck up on her. She always felt as if she wasn't alone, but tried to shrug it off as much as she could. After all, the building was about to fall apart, why would anyone come in willingly? There were holes in the floor, the ceiling was caving in, it was freezing, it was nearly pitch black, and it smelled like mold.

As Yulia walked deeper into this seemingly massive building, her brain was screaming at her to get away, but she kept refusing to think that anyone was with her. She hadn't seen anyone around whenever she saw the building! Th-This was her safe haven! Right? Right?!

Within moments of the suspicion hitting her again, Yulia heard footsteps that were coming right toward her. Before she even had time to turn around and react, cold metal hit the back of her head, and she fell unconscious.