Dark figures gather the edges of the dream, shadowed cutouts with no faces. They whisper to each other in voices like pages of rust.

Did you hear that?

...rotten girl. Such a rotten girl.

She's not doing it. Not doing it right.

Face the monsters. We're all aliens. All of us.

Hisakawa is the tallest and most terrible of them all.

Yuri spits out the ashes of burned books and wobbles to her feet. She puts a hand on Roxie's shoulder.

"Leave her alone."

Eyeless sights snap to her.

"L...Le..."