"Yusei, why won't you quit?"

"Because I'll stick it out with Kiryu."

"Yusei..."

"Crow, you can leave, but I'm staying." Crow stormed out with Jack.

"Is Brianna okay?" I asked.

"Ash!" exclaimed Yusei. "Yes, she is."

"She hid me at risk to her life."

"Well, she's still in bed but you can go see her."

"Thanks," I said as I was running up the stairs. When I got up there I entered the open room.

"Brianna, you're probably the bravest girl I've met."

"Ash, you probably can't remember any of your friends."

"You're still one of the bravest then."

"Thanks, Ash," she said.

"Eric wasn't really a nice guy."

"I know. When I went to look in a mirror, my eye was still closed, and I saw that he had branded a smile face onto my not-so-smile face."

"I see," I said. The mark started at her eye shadow, traveled up to the corner of her eye, where it branched off into other lines. Also, on her eyelid there were two yellow dots.

A couple of months later, Yusei was talking to someone that I hadn't met before.

"Kiryu, I think you've gone a bit off the deep end."

"We can do it Yusei."

"Kiryu, taking on security would be almost suicidal."

"It will be easy."

"I'm not going to help you Kiryu." Yusei left the room.

"Where did Yusei go?" I asked. Kiryu looked depressed, but he perked up when I came in.

"He's gone to the city."

"What's the city?" I asked.

"A place about one hundred miles from here."

"Did he ask me to do anything?"

"Yes, he asked me to tell you to pick up a package to the west of here."

"I'll go get it," I replied.

When I came back from picking up the package, Kiryu was waiting for me.

"It goes right over here," he said. I watched Kiryu plug in some cords until I heard a loud KNOCK on the door.

"I'll get it," I called out. When I answered the door, three armed men were waiting.

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

"Ash," I replied.

"Well Ash, did you pick up a package to the west of here?"

"Yes."

"You are under arrest."

"Wha...," I began. Two of the armed men picked me up by my arms, while the third restrained my legs. They ran out of there as fast as they could, and they ran until they reached a towering building that looked like a minaret.

"Take him to the Marking Room," said one officer. Another of them shoved me into a room. There was a man in here too.

"I heard about you from my cousin Eric. We like to use the same marker style." He stuck a piece of metal in the fire.

"I hope this is painful," he sneered. He took the metal out of the fire, and I had a vision of that same girl as before. She was crying as she placed a rose on a grave. He pressed the hot metal to my face, but I felt no pain. Then there was a huge BANG! The other guy was knocked out, but I was still standing.