Thana had wanted to knock on the door, break it down, smash the window to pieces, but she didn't choose any of those options. It would dispel the illusion that she was trying to remember who she was, drawing the attention she was just trying to avoid. Nonetheless, Thana decided to walk over to the window and look down. It felt like this day had been much longer than it would have been at home, although they had told her something about time passing differently than in the real world. Thana didn't know and walked over to the window. She began studying it, even though she knew nothing about escapes. She realized that in movies it always looked so simple; the heroine just had to tear some sheets and help herself down. For her, the likelihood was greater that she would crash and break her leg. Then she could forget about the rest of her escape. Davion had healed her hand, but it would be hard for her to ask questions without being able to answer.

Still, Thana decided she should do something better than nothing, as long as she didn't break her neck. To her great surprise, her window wasn't even locked, which made her feel rather stupid. Had it been unlocked the entire time? She hadn't even thought to check it, she realized only now. On the other hand, it was her first time getting into a similar situation, and in the movies, it all seemed so logical. Thana took a deep breath while carefully opening the window. It had already cooled outside by now, so she looked at the dirty dress she was wearing. Deep inside, Thana knew she didn't want to part with the beautiful design, but it was simply not practical. It was also an excuse to dive into the large closet and see what was available. Thana smiled softly; she knew Izara would have loved it.

To her great surprise, Thana noticed that the closet seemed much larger inside than it had seemed from the outside. Numerous dresses and other clothes hung neatly on hangers, so the girl quickly grabbed the simplest tracksuit from the shelves. She briefly regretted that she couldn't try out all the other clothes, but she had a goal in mind. First, she needed to get out of the red dress, Thana realized, quickly pulling it off over her head. This almost caused her to take off the necklace she wore around her neck. She looked down, and to her surprise, it was not crystal clear or soft pink as it had seemed before. Deep pink was visible as if something was in the bottle. Thana took it in her hand to examine it better, as if the gem had appeared again. A lock was unlocked, and she turned startled to the door. "I'm not dressed!" she called quickly to whoever entered.

It was a poor excuse she had learned during gymnastics, but now it was the truth. Thana quickly picked up the dress she had just dropped from the ground to cover her body as the door opened. Davion wouldn't return now, would he? However, it wasn't Davion standing at the door, but Delilah. Thana let out a sigh of relief until she realized that Delilah wasn't looking away at all but shaking her head. "Is this really the moment for you to change, milady?" sneered Delilah, and Thana felt a shiver at the word "milady." She noticed the blush creeping to her cheeks and had no retort against the strange girl.

Delilah looked over her shoulder and then entered the room. She gave Thana a challenging look. "Well, are you going to change or just stand there awkwardly? Hurry up, we don't have much time." Where Thana had previously disliked following orders, something in Delilah's tone made it clear she didn't want to be contradicted. Thana turned away from Delilah and began to put on her newfound clothes. "I want you to listen and not ask questions, okay? We don't have much time," Delilah continued speaking as Thana pulled a shirt over her head. "I see you still have your necklace on, so that's good. Tell me where you hid the book, and I'll look for it in the meantime."

Thana was balancing on one leg to put on her pants when she paused in the middle of that action. "Book? What book?" she asked, surprised. She hadn't read anything while waiting, and she was certain she hadn't hidden anything. Delilah seemed to look at her in shock for a moment, prompting Thana to try to remember what Delilah was talking about. It took a moment, but the penny finally dropped. "Oh! The book with my necklace?" she pondered aloud and quickly continued before Delilah had time for a sarcastic remark: "The monster has it, he started reading it at home." Now that she was saying it aloud, it sounded implausible, and Thana knew she wouldn't believe it herself unless she saw it with her own eyes.

"You gave the book to Klaida?" Delilah repeated incredulously. There was the name again, Thana realized, the name Davion and Saskia had also called the monster. She didn't immediately respond and heard Delilah muttering softly. Thana couldn't understand what the girl was saying, but the sounds were reminiscent of the language Saskia had spoken earlier. "Are you completely insane?" Delilah finally hissed, making Thana feel like she was being cornered.

She shook her head. "I didn't give anyone a book! I threw it at that monster as a defense! And I'm not insane; I was just taken out of my bed in the middle of the night. I just want to go home, do you hear me? And if you can't help me, then I'll escape on my own!" Thana knew she probably couldn't get out of here alone, but she couldn't stand Delilah anymore. If she wasn't going to help her, she'd rather not confront the girl. "Does Saskia know you're here?" she decided to throw in: "Are you family or something?"

Her words seemed to hurt Delilah, but Thana wasn't in the mood to apologize. "No, we're not," was the girl's short answer. Thana saw Delilah take a deep breath and guessed the girl was just as irritated as she was. "Look, if I could have left you alone, I would have, but believe me when I say you won't get out of here on your own. And you don't want to be here when Davion realizes you're not his beloved Mara," the girl warned. "You don't know him like I do." Thana did know how he had threatened to do something to the person who had taken her. If Delilah was right, she didn't want to get to know him better either.

"Why are you protecting me? If you want to get rid of me?" Thana asked cautiously, now that Delilah seemed to want to reveal something. "If you want to tell me that, of course," she quickly added. "And is that book so important? Surely they have multiple copies?" Thana didn't know why she said it, but she hated that apparently she had done something wrong. Didn't she just want to defend herself? That was her right!

"No, there's only one type of that book," Delilah responded. "And I'm not doing this for you but for Mara and because I promised her, okay?" Thana nodded and swallowed her next questions. If she had learned anything, it was that it was best not to ask more questions when someone finally said something and she'd better stay quiet in the hope that more would come. "This isn't how Adrienne planned it," Delilah seemed to say to herself before turning back to Thana. "Don't ask who that is," she warned, and Thana quickly pretended to lock her lips. Delilah nodded and opened the door again. "I'll take you to her, she'll decide how to proceed. Come with me."

Suddenly, it all happened too fast and too easily, Thana realized. She had found her way out, yet she felt something inside her doubting, but she didn't understand why. Delilah was here to help her, for the Mara that others thought she was. Thana pushed aside the thoughts and walked towards the door as well. "Can you help me get home then?" she asked, hoping to quell all doubts. Even if it was just a sarcastic answer, Thana realized, it would make Delilah believe it.

But instead of sarcasm, Delilah looked at her with pity, squeezing Thana's heart as if it were in a vise. "You still don't get it, do you?" was the girl's response, leaving Thana rooted to the spot. She still had no idea what was going on or where she was, but Delilah was too serious to be joking with her. Softly shaking her head, Thana confirmed her confusion, but Delilah checked once more if anyone was approaching. "Time runs differently here," Delilah repeated, echoing what everyone else had told her. So far, though, no one had been willing to explain to her what they meant by time running differently.

"What do you mean by that?" Thana asked cautiously, as if her heart already knew what the answer would be and her body was preparing for the bad news Delilah would bring. Somewhere deep down, she hoped Delilah was teasing her, that she would just take her home. That there was nothing she had forgotten or lost sight of. That there was no secret that made Delilah look at her like that. The girl seemed to search for words, and Thana already missed her teasing remarks from earlier.

"It's different from how we experience time in the world you come from," Delilah corrected herself. "You use days, hours, and weeks, right? Well, none of that exists here; we count in an 'ethe'." Thana nodded silently as Delilah paused. "For Davion, Mara disappeared a few days ago, but for you, it must have been hundreds of years ago," Delilah continued. "By leaving, Mara knew she could never return due to the time difference she would undergo." Delilah's voice seemed full of pain, but Thana wasn't focused on the unfamiliar woman.

She could do the math herself and knew that if a few days in reality equaled hundreds of years here, it would have consequences for her too. "To you, it seems like you haven't been here for even a day," Delilah explained, "but for your family, you must have disappeared decades ago. They might not even be alive anymore."

And with those words, Thana burst into tears.