They hobbled over to the boundary, as close as they could get without being out in the open. Monsters were there, to their surprise and detriment. Several of yellow-eyed creatures stood watch, guarding the sparkly pink surface, though their gazes were all turned in the same direction.

The cave; they're all focused on it and whatever the fuck is happening inside.

Before they got too near the suspecting monsters, Miles and Kera squeezed together in a bush, hiding. Patrek hid behind a giant tree trunk, sliding sideways every few minutes to peer over at the monsters.

"They're not moving," he said in a loud whisper. "What do we do?"

Miles winced. "I don't think we can get any closer, at this point." He scanned the area for one spot, any spot that wasn't infested with furry creatures that were waiting to devour his intestines. "If we can find a space to stand and yell to anyone on the other side—"

Kera burst out of the bush before Miles had a chance to stop her. She kneeled—not that she could remain straight anymore, with her extensive injuries—and crawled in the direction of the monsters.

"Kera!" Miles hissed, but she ignored him, moving forward. She wasn't bothering to mask her footsteps, her boots crunching over fallen leaves, and moans escaping her mouth as she wobbled side-to-side. Not only was she not stable, but the ground was still shaking beneath them, as if about to tear apart into a life-altering earthquake.

Quake or no quake, Kera didn't stop her progress towards the monsters. Something told Miles not to go after her, to wait; and sure enough, as she came within view of a cluster of monsters, Miles realized they weren't looking at Kera. They hadn't budged, hadn't deigned to give her a single glance. She was within feet of them, then inches, then crouched right in front of them—still, nothing happened.

"Holy shit," said Patrek, shooting out from behind the tree.

Miles was too far to grab his arm, to warn him that this weird tactic might have worked with Kera, but it likely wouldn't with Patrek or Miles.

To his surprise, though, Patrek's appearance in the monsters' field of vision also did nothing. Their eyes were wide open, gloomily glowing in a halo around their dark bodies, and yet it was as if they were blind.

Patrek turned around and waved Miles over. Teeth gritted, Miles took a few steps forward, redressing himself. He cracked his back, and stared at the monsters, not letting them out of his sight as he proceeded.

Soon enough, all three of them were standing in front of the barrier, encircled by freaks who'd either opted to ignore them as they were no longer fresh prey, or who were oblivious because they were under some spell caused by Jessa.

Or the aliens, themselves. Maybe they told the beasts to hold off on eating us until they arrive? Because they'd rather watch the feast, of course.

In a bold move Miles didn't quite appreciate, Patrek waved at one of the monsters, right at its face. "Wow, it's like I'm invisible," he said, not bothering to keep his voice down.

"Kera?" Ignoring Patrek's taunts—if they chopped his hand off, that was his own fault—Miles checked on her, placing a hand to her overheated forehead. "Are you okay?"

She shrugged, offering a grimace. "Okay enough."

"Can you..." Miles' face contorted. "Can you hear them growling, still? Do you know what's going on, why they don't give a shit about us? The growling stopped on my end, but you..."

"It's me," she said, watching Patrek hop from foot to foot, still taunting the monsters, who were still unresponsive. "I'm becoming one of them, and I think my scent masks your scent. That, or," she sent a fleeting glance towards the path leading to the beach, "something bigger is going on over there, and they're waiting. Yes, I hear the growls, but they're growing fainter by the minute."

"Patrek, dude," Miles yanked Patrek's wrist and tore him away from his taunting, "we have to get out of here. Let's split up, take on different areas of the barrier so we can scream for help. Hopefully, one of the teachers is nearby and can bring us Mr. Reynolds."

Miles gulped as he motioned at Patrek to go to the left, and told Kera to stay where she was. He didn't want her moving too much, and would rather be the one to scale the boundary to find another spot to yell.

He didn't go too far, ensuring he could still see both Kera and Patrek from a distance. Then he faced the barrier, cupped his hands over his mouth—and shrieked.

He'd expected to have to cry out for help for hours before he received any response, but to his luck—and shock—the weird girl inhabitant who'd been helping him popped up at the first sound of his voice beyond the limit.

"You're back?" Her skin was different, iridescent with flakes of gold, tinted slightly purple from the sky's shifting mood overhead. "You weren't supposed to come back until tomorrow."

"Yeah, well..." Miles gestured at the sky, then on cue, the ground trembled below him and he fell into a tree trunk to hold himself upright. "Looks like shit's happening now. We need to get out."

"We?" The girl slapped a hand over her forehead and turned to and fro, searching. "I know shit's happening; I saw the sky. But I'm not sure we can do anything about it. It might be too late. Or too early. I can't tell."

Miles whistled, drawing Patrek and Kera over. Patrek held Kera up, as her knees shook so violently she could no longer stand without assistance. The scabs on her legs were green, oozing, and purple veins flared up her neck, feeding into her cheeks.

"Oh, fuck," said the girl on the other side, eyes widening at the sight of Kera. "It's her, right? The one who wanted to get out? Pursued by monsters, turning into one?" Miles opened his mouth to ask questions, but she raised her hand, stopping him. "Don't ask how I know; it's too complicated. So this is her, then; the one who got Ms. Moreno killed?" There was no anger or malice in her tone, only curiosity.

"I didn't get her killed," said Kera through clenched teeth.

"Whatever." The girl addressed Miles. "She's not okay, is she?" Miles shook his head. "Fuck. Fuck." For one so tiny and youthful-looking, she sure had quite the vocabulary, and didn't seem to know how to mince her words. "Right, well, I don't have a choice now. I'll go get him... but no promises."

She took off in a dash, so quickly she disappeared from view in the space of time it took Miles to blink.

He swiveled to Patrek, who was still holding Kera up. The ground shuddered, as if shedding its earthly skin, seeking to reveal a lake of blood underneath its surface. Patrek's legs were bent, giving him balance, but Kera leaned on him, making it hard for him to stand straight.

Trees lost their leaves, revealing tall, treacherous branched fingers fleeing for the sky. Bushes went from fluffy and verdant to bare, dead. Trunks smashed all around them, as if elephants had come and knocked them over in anger. And still the sky overhead was a violent violet hue, threatening to unleash a deluge of—what would aliens pour over humans? Acid rain? Sharp jewels and gemstones? Knives? Blasts of lightning? Bursts of magic?

The humidity he'd grown used to transformed to a teeth-clattering cold, and so fast his body rigidified at the sensation of frost frolicking down his back. His jaw tightened and his arms became tense at his sides.

Patrek, likely experiencing a similar sensation, lost his footing and toppled into a tree, releasing Kera. Miles dove forward and grabbed her just in time, before she face-planted. He pulled her into his chest and breathed in her eerie warmth, desperate to not freeze to death.

I don't want her to freeze, either.

But Kera remained hot as if dipped in lava. Sweat pooled over her forehead, and she wiped it on Miles' shirt, nuzzling into his embrace. Accepting it. Her head rested against the book still nestled under his clothes, but if it bothered her, she didn't mention it.

Patrek had his leather jacket, and zipped it up to his neck, rubbing his arms for comfort. "Fuck this, man," he said, teeth clattering as he moved around to stay warm.

The monsters had vanished, and Miles had no idea when they'd taken off. Only a moment of respite from their intoxicating presence allowed Miles a second to breathe; but soon a new poisonous feeling caught up inside him.

In the place of the monster's growls came wails. Elongated and painful, they were echoes of turbulent sounds that reminded Miles of a dying animal, or a baby being born. They were terrifying, inhuman, and clearly not from this earth. Worse still—he couldn't tell where they were coming from.

What the fuck are those?

Surely there was another breed of monster that would come after them. A stronger, more petrifying kind that didn't hunt its victims, but instead haunted them. One that possessed its prey, ate it from the inside. Actual aliens that would pry into Miles' mind and turn him into a vegetable inside his own body.

"Hey," said a voice, coming from behind Miles—from behind the barrier.

He twisted to it, heart thumping in his chest as he accidentally let go of Kera in his surprise.

He let out a long sigh when he saw Mr. Reynolds. "You came."

Mr. Reynolds' features were cloaked in darkness, concealed under his hat. He'd brought a torch, and set it down. And once he removed the hat, Miles gasped at the full sight of him.

He was paler than ever, scratch marks on his cheeks, one eye bulging and turning black. A bandage wrapped around two fingers of his right hand, and he was holding himself up with the help of a crutch. His clothes were filthy, ripped, as if someone had chomped on them.

"Whoa, what the hell happened to you?"

Mr. Reynolds let go of the crutch, and it smashed to the ground. "No time," he said, extracting a notepad and a pencil from within his torn-up jacket.

He started to scribble, but Miles waved at him to stop. "Like you said, no time," he pointed at the notepad, "and no use, anyway. It's too late, they already know what we're up to, so might as well speak out in the open. They're not here yet, but they're coming. Do you have a plan? Can you have a plan?"

Mr. Reynolds replaced the notepad and pencil inside his jacket. "I don't know if it's a plan, but it's a sort of loophole." He winced. "You're lucky I got straight to work after I left you earlier. Had you come sooner I wouldn't have been ready."

Miles found Kera crumbled beside him, using his legs as a back-rest. "She's in shitty shape, and we're about to get our asses handed to us. Whatever you got, I'll take."

"From what I understand," Mr. Reynolds tugged at his collar, loosening it, peering down at Kera with widening eyes, "someone can stand in the way of the veil." He indicated the barrier with his chin. "Someone can basically step into it and absorb its energy while others hurry through. That person would be blocking the deadly properties of the veil, preventing it from chopping people in half."

"Someone?" Patrek had joined them, knees bent to retain his balance.

"Someone eligible," specified Mr. Reynolds, with a pointed look at Miles. If surprised at Patrek's presence, he said nothing likely aware there was little opportunity to discuss anything other than the escape plans, at that point.

"Who?" Miles squinted at the man, having difficulty looking into his eyes without remembering all the crap he'd put them through. All the bullshit, the cruelties, the trickery—and now he was their own means to get out?

Fuck.

"Who is eligible, Reynolds?" Miles wished he could reach through the barrier and shake Mr. Reynolds into hurrying up. "Right, this is when you tell us none of us are eligible, and it would have been Ms. Moreno, yeah? You'll tell us she's the only one who had the power, and of course now she's dead, so we're doomed?"

Mr. Reynolds remained silent at first, not moving, not giving any indication of his thoughts. After a moment, he shook his head slowly. "No," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Eligible means someone over twenty-one years of age. In the god's, ahem, the alien's eyes, anyone over twenty-one is considered a full adult. Their interest lies with young adults, under that age."

Miles froze. He glanced down at Kera; she was twenty. He stole a glimpse at Patrek, who mouthed, "I'm twenty."

Miles fixed his gaze on his shoes. "I'm... twenty-one," he said softly, unsure anyone heard him. The two small gasps coming from below and beside him told him Patrek and Kera hadn't known this until now. His neck whipped up and he connected his eyes with Mr. Reynolds'. "And obviously you're over that age, yourself."

Mr. Reynolds didn't say anything, but inclined his head in acknowledgment.

"Fuck." Miles pulled out the book he'd been keeping under his shirt and lifted it up for Mr. Reynolds to see. "She didn't know that. I didn't read about this in there."

"It was in my manual," said Mr. Reynolds, tilting his head back to stare up at the sky. "She wouldn't have known."

"So what is it... sacrifice?" Miles shuddered, and it had nothing to do with the cold or the earth trying to split apart at his feet. "Does it mean we have to die to get everyone out? Will the veil hurt us if we get in its way?"

Mr. Reynolds folded his arms. "No. It doesn't recognize us. It's programmed with those aliens' weird science, but only to keep in young adults. It has no hunger for anyone over that age limit. And will it hurt us?" He shrugged. "Perhaps, but only a little. As far as I'm aware, if you were to reach your hand through it right now... you'd only get a pinch of pain. Only if you leave it there for a while would it be ripped off."

Miles glared at the sparkly pink surface shimmering before him. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"We're immune," said Mr. Reynolds, approaching his face to the barrier. It didn't sizzle, like it had occasionally for Miles; maybe because there was no doubt Mr. Reynolds was a full-blown adult, far from his youth. "These aliens have no interest in adults."

Miles turned and kicked into a tree, hard. Possibly the same tree he'd kicked into before, when they'd first found out they were locked up forever.

"This whole time, I could have left?" He fixed his glare on Mr. Reynolds, instead. "This whole fucking time?"

Mr. Reynolds began blabbering about rules and books and what he was allowed and wasn't allowed to do, but Miles had tuned him out.

Was he lying? Tricking Miles into going through the barrier and becoming chopped meat for the monsters, to appease them? To appease the aliens and stop their slow war against the humans?

Miles interrupted Mr. Reynolds mid-speech. "Why did they want me, then? Why am I here? If I'm not in the appropriate age group, why was I even sacrificed?"

Mr. Reynolds coughed and placed a fist in front of his mouth. "I fibbed your date of birth."

More gasps, coming from the silent Patrek and Kera.

"You what?" Miles' arms ached with how tightly he held them at his sides.

"I lied, okay?" Mr. Reynolds' once sturdy frame became disheveled. As if he'd been pierced with a needle and was set to deflate. "I needed an extra person to send over, or else. So I lied, I said Kera was that extra person, that wrong time wrong place person," he grimaced as he took note of Kera again, "but it was you, Miles. It was always you."

Miles didn't know what to say. A plethora of words cramped up inside his mouth, but he couldn't open it to let them out. He didn't think they'd come out in an order that'd be perceived as a coherent sentence. And he worried he'd throw in a few punches, too, inadvertently testing the barrier's desire for him.

"You weren't qualified or eligible, and I knew that. But I'd been hunting your organization down for so long... I figured it'd help my standing if I sent you off. So I did." Mr. Reynolds didn't bow his head in shame, didn't look the slightest bit remorseful.

"You could have chosen anyone else in that school, but because of your personal vendetta against me, you punished me with this?" Miles' voice had raised to a level he didn't think it capable of. "Fuck, man. How could you do this?"

"What I wonder," said Patrek, finally speaking up, "is why the aliens accepted Miles if he wasn't what they wanted?"

Mr. Reynolds didn't acknowledge him, too busy focusing on Miles. "Once you're on the other side, they don't care. They take what they're given. They won't question a sacrifice. And seeing as you're barely above their age limit, I didn't think they'd dispute it."

As much as he wanted to rip out Mr. Reynolds' throat, he'd have to wait. Too much was at stake now; and if it was true, if he and Mr. Reynolds had the ability to block the barrier and get others out... there was no more time to waste.

"Fuck you, but fine." He dropped Milla's notebook to the ground. "Let's do this. We can get in the middle, block off the veil, and get Kera and Patrek out now. I'll go and get the others and draw them here somehow, and then do the same for them."

Mr. Reynolds shook his head. "No, not you." He removed his jacket and threw it onto the grass. "I'll do it. For once, I'll do something good. I'm older, and can hold this thing off longer. If you have to go back and get the others, then go, now. And hurry." He rolled up his sleeves, sucking in heavy breaths of the fresh, evening air.

He shot his arm out, through the barrier, and the ground rattled harder, sending everyone—including Mr. Reynolds—to their knees. Patrek and Kera ate dirt, and Mr. Reynolds scrambled to his feet.

Miles was slower to perk up, but when he did, he came close to biting his tongue and swallowing it.

There, a yard or so away, and within the forbidden side, was a mountain of a figure, breaking through trees with ginormous strides. Eight, nine, maybe ten feet tall. The figure itself was womanly, with curves in places Miles felt he knew. As it stormed closer, continuing to shake the world beneath them, it became impossible to mistake this giant thing for anything, anyone but Jessa.

Jessa, a monstrous, terrifying , ruler-possessed giant. She'd turned completely purple, from her head to her toes, the tips of her once glossy scarlet hair, too.

And at her heel was a smaller but still impressively built furry creature that barked as it sighted Miles and the others.

A furry creature with a human face—Vick's face.