William's death came as expected. Although he did devise an excellent defensive strategy-for someone of his menial caliber-slipping in and out infinite tunnels where he had been contained for numerous days, I caught him nonetheless. After the kill, I scuttled up the side of a building and displayed him under the moonlight on a fancy hotel's rooftop where celebrities sipped chardonnay below us. From there, I made my way to a church and offered respectable prayers and gratitude to my Lady. Following this, my mental storm began to augment in fierce intensity and I had to crouch to the ground until my body stopped shaking from the whipping wind. Despite the storm, however, I was pleased with what I had accomplished.

            Stepping back from my concentration on William, I realized I had been in New York City far too long. Lydecker, Zack or anyone else who was continuously hunting had an opportune chance to find me. Besides, I knew that staying in a city where such painful memories lingered would only further destroy my mentality. So, I searched through all that I had stolen from William and found enough cash to fly on an expensive jet to Denver, Colorado.

            There, among massive mountains and a thin layer of snow, I made myself comfortable in a rustic ski lodge where I could concoct up my next strategy. Under the alias of "Joshua Baker", I dyed my hair blond, wore silver-framed glasses and told those who asked that I was an Ivy League college student on vacation. No one questioned my identity and everyone adored the wonderful person of Joshua.

As the third day in Denver passed, I had not met a single person who came even remotely close to the personality I desired for my Lady. Yet, William's recent sacrifice satisfied enough to keep me sane. After all I had suffered in New York, She couldn't destroy me so swiftly and unexpectedly.

Late one night, I was curled up on the couch in the main downstairs room, allowing myself to drift off in my own thoughts. The fire crackled and flickered against the strong beams in the lodge's wall, creating shadow creatures similar to those I performed for my siblings back in Manticore. Briefly, not restraining my mental wanderings, I wondered if Max still remembered the birds I had created for her; the birds that had soared to a world better than we had known.

 In a separate bar area, couples danced and women laughed in drunken tongues. Normally, I would have made an acrid comment under my breath about how only alcohol could bring such a blissful state, but I could not bring myself to insult them. Their dancing reminded me of a child who had touched me in such a way that even remembering her name hurt. I had just pulled myself out of the depressing memory when someone sat down on the couch next to me.

I glanced over to see a tanned woman, dressed comfortably in jeans and a red sweater, who, upon realizing my attention was on her, said, "Hope I'm not interrupting...I was just getting cold and thought maybe if I sat by the fire, I'd get warmer."

"You want my seat?" I asked, as I was on the end of the couch, closer to the fire than she was.

"Oh no, that's perfectly all right." She paused and glanced off out the window, where tiny flecks of snow floated silently to the ground. "I'm not bothering you-am I? I can leave if you want me to..."

"No, no, you're fine. I was just thinking...daydreaming, one could say." I smiled, trying to pretend to be an innocent and friendly college kid.

"Thinking, hmm? About anything good?"

I thought about the little girl again, how William's blood had drenched my clothes, and the mental storm nearly paralyzing me after leaving William's teeth in the nearest church. But, I couldn't tell this normal girl such things, lest she run off, screaming and alerting the entire lodge that Josh wasn't really who he said he was.

"Well," I replied, "not really...just, you know, thinking about everything...nothing too specific."

"Hopefully you're thinking about some warmer weather for us here."

"Warmer? Why? What's wrong with a little bit of snow?"

"You're not from around here-are you?" she chuckled.

"No," I answered suspiciously, reminded of Diane asking me the same thing. "Why do you ask?"

"If you don't mind the snow, then this must be vacation for you...or something like that. There aren't too many natives who revel in all the snow all the time. I mean, we like it, but warmth once in awhile is most welcomed."

"Ah. Well, my school's in Connecticut, so yeah, this would be my vacation. Ever been there?"


            "Can't say that I have. Is it nice?"

I shrugged. "I'm not complaining too much. Even if I didn't like it, I guess I couldn't leave, seeing as how I'm on a full ride scholarship…so…"

"So, unless you drop out or fail, you're pretty much stuck," she stated, brushing back a piece of her honey brown hair.

"You got it. And, I don't think my parents would approve of either plan."

"Make sense, but hey, my name's Rose," the woman said. "What's yours?"

"Joshua…but just call me Josh."

"Josh…" She smiled again, and unfortunately, I had to admit that she had a nice smile, one which vaguely resembled the Blue Lady's. "I can do that."

We continued talking, and I found myself actually enjoying her company. She was energetic and confident, but realistic and intelligent. Even though my words to her were complete lies, two hours together passed easily and comfortably. Through her laugher and her words, Rose reminded me of what Jada could have been if she hadn't been broken at such an early age, although I knew I would never care for this woman as I had cared for Jada. Finally, as the conversation paused and the managers were closing the bar, she asked if I would like to go to her room to continue talking. Surprising myself, I agreed.

I entered her room first and when she came in behind me, I was almost positive I heard her lock the door. Wary, I put my guards up, but decided that this locking might lead to something further between us. I wasn't especially interested in sex, but if it happened, then I'd deal with it at the appropriate time.

She approached me slowly, walking with the grace of a cat and holding her hands outstretched, as if showing me she had nothing to hide. "Now, I don't want to scare you any, but I want to talk to you…on a serious level. No more lies to one another. The truth." Her voice, once higher pitched and melodious, was low and dangerous, and her eyes focused and intense.

"Rose? What's going on here?"

"I'm not Rose, and you're not Josh. You and I both know that. Stop lying." She gauged my reaction as every muscle in my body instinctively tensed. "Sit down, Ben, and let's talk."

Instantly, I launched myself at this imposter, prepared to kill. She ducked as I approached and slid easily underneath me so that we stood in opposite places. "Ben, stop this-" she began, but I flew at her and threw her to the ground. Beneath me, her feet sprang up and kicked me in the stomach forcefully enough to send me toppling to the ground, gasping for air. While I was down, she grabbed me by the wrist and began to drag me to my feet, intent on getting me to willingly listen. However, with my free hand, I whipped around and grabbed her by the throat, shaking her violently. This motion caused her brunette wig to tumble off and reveal a bright head of blue hair.

"The Blue Girl…" I vehemently hissed.

"No…" she gasped. "You don't understand…"

I ignored her, remembering our past encounters together and forced her down on the bed where I pressed my thumbs harder against her windpipe. "You working for Lydecker?" I snarled though grit teeth. "For Zack?" Frantically, more out of pure frustration than rage, I shook her by the neck. "Who the hell are you working for?! Tell me!" I bellowed.

With this, she brought one of her fists up and punched me directly in the face with more strength than I thought possible, causing an explosion of blood from my nose and a swirl of massive pain. I staggered back as she twisted around and began crawling off the bed. Right then, I toppled onto her, my mouth pressed against her shoulder blade. "I'll kill you right now if you don't tell me who you're working for-" then I stopped, mid-sentence as I noticed something about her.

In the tumble, her blue hair had fallen away, revealing the back of her neck. And, there, causing me to freeze, was a set of black lines, thick and thin.

A barcode.

Blue Girl had a barcode.

Carefully, terrified and fuming, I read the numbers out loud to myself, "33…270…113…9…798…" There was a long pause before I finally choked out, "Jace?"