"The Blood monster can't see, can't hear. Can't speak. In fact, it can't do anything except move around and mercilessly kill its next target, which it has the power to detect from 5 miles away."

"But how does it detect targets?"

"Baron, have you had any relationships in your life?" Michelle asked, stepping closer. "Not romantic relationships, precisely, but any types?"

Baron fidgeted in his seat, slightly squeezing the arms of his chair.

"I don't I've had any type of genuine interaction before."

"The problem word's before, Baron. You're compromised. If you don't find a way to hollow your heart again, you will be dead in 20 years," Michael said, pacing around the room with his hands firmly clasped behind his back. Baron saw a wedding ring on his finger.

"I know what you're thinking. We wanted to help by bringing you into our team, but instead doomed you to death. But think if you were still in there. Talked with some random person, who was not-so-interested in having drinks, and you'd be doomed. You'd have no information. You wouldn't know anything about the Blood Monster."

"It's a miracle you survived, really," Michelle tuned in. "How did you even succeed?"

A pause.

"Don't go off at him, woman," Michael then told her. "Baron's just 20. This's really meaningless considering the topic of the conversation."

Everyone laughed.

"But how are you planning to survive the monster, for real? You said he knows everything, so how would you do anything against it?"

"Well, Baron, here's where it gets horrifying. We pretend. And we pretend every 20 years to be the most vile, disgusting people you could ever imagine. But we can't do that forever. It's excruciating and hard. We have to end it."

"End what?"

"We have to end the Blood monster."