[Y/N] - Your Name
[M/N] - Middle Name
[L/N] - Last Name
I
["Talking"]
["SCREAMING"]
["Wispering"]
["Thinking"]
* - Translated directly from Italian. 

[==========================]

-> [ARTISTS / SERIES USED]
- lilredbeany.

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

Y/N: ['HMPHHM!"]

A loud thud, a groan of pain, it was almost like his day had begun — In pain. The difference being that it was because of his soreness and lack of sleep, not before a Phantom had tossed him back so hard that he flew and smashed back-first into the steel floor of the bus. And even if he was fast enough to raise his head enough so that the back of it would not hit the ground, it was little compared to what also happened.

Understandably, he let go off the window with a nasty, pained scream. Tears already beginning to form on his eyes as he was forced onto the bench, a visible gash on the side of his entire body. With its hand now free, the Phantom began to put more pressure on both Ashlyn and Aiden, who kept the creature with its head locked against the window — But all of their efforts were starting to slip away, slowly.

Taylor and Tyler were holding the creature's legs off of the floor, meaning it could not put enough strength to completely free itself, and now that Y/N was no longer in the way, Ben had no problems in holding his garden shears over his head, and bringing it down against the Phantom's back. The creature was so thin and seemingly-frail that the blade went right through it so fast, that it also scratched a bit of Aiden.

At the stab, the Phantom trembled, starting to shake around and spasm even more than before, which just prompted everyone to hold on together. The creature also seemed to gargle, its mouth opening and throwing up a blood-like black liquid from its jaws. It suddenly stopped completely, going limp like a mannequin which had been tossed to the ground — Everyone, too, right after, relaxed their muscles and minds.

Breathing out rather heavily thanks to all the sudden adrenaline and exercise, everyone took a second to breathe in before turning to face Logan. He clutched his wound, curled up in the corner of the seat he was on top of. Seeing as how the creature had been stabbed and taken care of, Y/N was already inspecting the wound. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, having to rest a hand on top of Logan's shoulder.

Y/N: ["Logan, Logan, can you hear me?"] The boy nodded with a sob at Y/N's words ["Alright, good. Your sweater is on the way, I will need to cut it off to clean, and patch the wound, alright?"] Again, Logan nodded, still holding back as many tears as he could ["Alright, I need you to stay as still as possible. Ashlyn, hold him too just for us to be sure"]

It was unusual to see Y/N being the one to take charge like this, but the girl did not question it. She just went ahead and calmly held onto Logan, reassuring him every step of the way as Y/N pulled out his switchblade, and through the gaps left behind by the Phantom's claw, cut away at Logan's clothing. He made sure to be gentle, to take it slow, dragging the knife just enough to break away the wool, but not touch him.

As he removed away the rest of the sweater with some help from Ashlyn on the back, who also kept Logan's arm still, Y/N turned and breathed in to speak — Which was unnecessary, as Ben was already holding the medkit in front of him. Y/N just nodded as a hurried, quick little thanks, making a mental note that he'd likely forget, to thank Ben when Logan was patched, as there was no telling how bad the damage was.

Logan: ["How-... How bad is it...?"]

His voice was, understandably, low and shaky. He laid without his shirt on top of the now rather-stained bench, too scared to face the wounds himself, with tears still dwelling the sides of his cheek. Everyone was gathered around with concern, though Aiden kept his bright, always-present smile — Even with his face soaked by that black good the Phantom had thrown up — while Y/N shared a glance with Ashlyn.

Ashlyn: ["It's hard to tell with all this blood. We need to clean it..."]

Logan: ["Why aren't you guys saying anything?"] The poor little thing began to sob, finding enough will — Or horror — through the pain to speak up ["It's bad, isn't it?!"]

Ashlyn: ["It's ok, it's ok, calm down Logan, it's nothing deadly. Here..."] She reached for the medkit, rummaging through it while patting Logan's head ["Take some of the meds for pain. We'll need to clean it to inspect it closer, but it's nothing too serious, I promise"]

Y/N took some of the alcohol in the kit, and used it to clean his hands, with Ben soon doing the same. The two shared a knowing glance, with Ben calmly walking around the seat where Logan was, quickly removing his shirt and wrapping it around his own arm, hand, and particularly, around his thumb. He gently put an arm around Logan, who looked up at him rather confused at what the two where going to do now.

Y/N: ["Logan. This is going to sting — A lot"] Y/N's serious tone caught Logan's attention rather quickly ["Bite onto Ben's thumb. Squeeze his arm, whatever you need to, because this is going to hurt ,and there is just no way around it"] Y/N took some gauze pads from the kit, now kneeling by Logan's side ["The good thing is, you're not screaming or crying your eyes out, so it missed any vitals, but it's still to early to determine if it's that's bad, or not. So, I'll start to clean it now, alright?"] Reluctantly, Logan nodded.

Y/N's words did little to reassure Logan, who looked up at Ben and earned a little nod as a silent form of "Go ahead". His bite was soft at first, but suddenly gained pressure when Y/N pressed the wound for a few moments in order to stop the bleeding. Everyone just watched on with some very clear discomfort at poor Logan's pain, who was thrashing around rather harshly to try and cope in any way to the stinging.

Ashlyn also held him in place, making sure to not hold him too tight, but with a firm-enough grip as to where he would not stop Y/N's work. Y/N gently dabbed and wiped around the wound with a new pad, leaving the other one that he pressed with gently resting in there. That is also where he noticed that part of Logan's arm, just underneath his left shoulder, was also affected — Still, just a minor flesh wound.

Everyone els sat down around the scene, watching closely and in silence while they worked — More often than not, aside from Y/N telling Logan what he was going to do next, and Logan sobbing, there were no other noises around the place. As everything was cleaned up, and Y/N stared at the wounds on Logan's chest, his eyes narrowed as he thought with himself, and turned to reach into the large, red-colored metal box.

Y/N: ["It's quite deep. We're gonna have to stitch it-"] He stopped when Ben reached his other arm around, and put it against his shoulder, shaking his head ["What? ... You sure?"] Ben nodded ["Completely sure?"]

Aiden: ["Yeah, it seems like, since it was a swipe, it only broke the skin. It was larger than it was deeper, you know?"] Aiden, resting his cheek on his arms on top of the bench's back, continued smiling ["Had it thrusted the hand and not swiped? I think Logan would've been turned into shirt stamps with a "Forever miss you" label on then at this point, hahaha!"]

Logan: ["Don't say that while laughing!"]

Y/N: ["... I guess he's right. It was a half-moon motion, not vertical, or horizontal. Guess that only served to diminish the area where Logan was cut"] Y/N thought with himself while staring at Logan's wound, nodding along ["Alright. I guess some bandaging should be good enough, then. After that, we'll be done... Just need to keep an eye out for him"]

Y/N kept the gauze covering the wounds, and just like he did with Ashlyn, he got right to bandaging them. First the arm as it was a smaller and quick area, he had no troubles on it. Though Logan did squeal a bit in pain when Y/N tightened the wrapping, nothing else came from it. Y/N stared at Logan's chest for a bit, silently recalling him to properly dress a chest wound before he got to working again.

Aiden: ["A little bit tighter"]

He guided Y/N along as he tended to the wound, with some more inputs here and there, it was all finalized, so Y/N stepped back, and breathed out a sigh of relief and exhaustion, feeling the adrenaline of everything starting to wear off. Logan sat calmly, no longer crying as Ben retracted his hand, and gave him a pat on the head as congratulations for behaving so good — Y/N did not see as he walked to the front.

Using one of the water containers they had in place, Y/N poured himself a cup, then two, then three, and fell ass, and then back-first on the first seat of the place. Feeling his muscles relax, and his body starting to give in to the feeling of relaxation. On the back, the others just sat around one another, chatting here and there for a couple more minutes — Ashlyn had remained quiet, until a small glow caught her attention.

Turning to face where the light had shined, her emerald eyes landed on Y/N's jacket on the ground, where he had tossed it to blind the Phantom. Some small cuts were present on it, but nothing too much, especially considering how old it already was. She picked it up, standing up from her seat and making her way towards the front. Along each step, the girl also tapped and flapped away the dust on the clothing.

There, she found Y/N laying down with a lit cigarette in his mouth, both eyes open as he stared at the ceiling, but soon, his irises locked with hers. The girl, kneeling on the seat behind his, presented the jacket with no words, as Y/N reached ahead and picked it up. He gave her a silent nod as appreciation, which Ashlyn replied with one of her own — And the two fell in silence for a few seconds before the girl spoke up.

Ashlyn: ["Nice going back there. Didn't expect you to take the lead"]

Y/N: ["I just worked on instincts, I guess. Same with the Phantom"]

Ashlyn: ["Yeah... Didn't think you could really fight. No offense"]

Y/N: ["None taken. I just did Karate for a few years to keep active, but that last move was something I learned yesterday with Elio"] Y/N laid down again, prompting Ashlyn, still keeling, to lean forward and peek over the backrest of the seat he was on ["My side and back kinda hurt from it... I probably messed up the pose somewhere along the line"]

Ashlyn: ["Still, it was cool. We should train together sometime. Keep active and improve in case we need to face another Phantom on like that again"] The girl's tone was a bit somber, low and quiet, peeking over her shoulder to watch the others talking ["You're coming to the back again anytime soon? We should discuss Savannah when Logan rests.."]

Y/N; ["Yeah... Let me just finish this one"]

Y/N blew the smoke away from Ashlyn, and down at the ground of the bus, closing his eyes and resting easy again as his jacket laid on top of him. The girl watched for a few instants longer, reaching ahead with her hand open — She caught herself mid-act. Silently wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her, or if she was really going to run her fingers through Y/N's hair like how, for a moment, she thought about doing.

Instead of saying, or doing anything, she gave him a tap on the shoulder as a little comfort, and moved back to where the group was, pushing the other thoughts aside. Having just barely reached it, she turned to face Logan, who rested easy, and now no longer on the bloodied seat he had been resting on — He was so at peace, he even fell. Both asleep, and almost literally, as his body tumbled towards the metal ground.

Thankfully, Taylor managed to catch him in time.

Taylor: ["Poor thing fell asleep..."] She said with a sweet, but also worried, worried smile, gently laying down Logan's head ["We should probably let him rest for a bit"]

Ashlyn: ["Yeah, Y/N is also taking a moment to chill out"] The girl shot a quick glance over her shoulder ["Guess that put the Savannah conversation on hold for the time being"]

Tyler: ["Tsc... Let's decide what to do with that thing, then"]

Having sat back a bit further away from the creature, still laying with garden shears stabbed on its back, and with the head out the broken window, unmoving, everyone now found themselves approaching it again. They looked at it for a while, tilting their heads and wondering what they could do to it. Curiously, Tyler used his bat to poke at him. Thankfully, the Phantom did not react, and just laid there — Motionless, dead.

Tyler: ["So, uh... What now?"]

Ashlyn: ["Good question. This is the first time we've actually killed one..."]

Taylor: ["Maybe we could experiment with it for a bit?"] The girl tilted her head, appearing a bit nervous ["See what of weapon is the most effective at damaging its body and all?"]

Aiden reached for his phone, fishing it out of his back pocket with that everlasting grin. A single tap latter, he turned on the cellphone's flashlight — And the corpse reacted. The skin of the Phantom ruptured, a loud SHHHHK noise erupting with a bubbling underneath where the muscles would be. Said bubbling popped, rupturing hte skin of the creature, melting it like a blowtorch directly aimed at a block of butter.

Tyler: ["TURN IT OFF!"]

Aiden: ["Alright, alright!!"]

He hurried to do as Tyler suggested — Or rather, screamed — and tapped away at his cellphone to shut its light off. At this point, having approached the group again out of curiosity to what was going on, Y/N no longer had the cigarette in his mouth. His old jacket also wasn't being worn, and just hung, tied, to his waist. He glanced at the Phantom, his usual cold expression now returned to his face, as he mused the view.

Further back on the bus, Logan's eyes fluttered for a moment. They began to open, and closed, open, and closed. It took him some strength, and a pained groan, to sit up. He looked around, but saw no one, just the bloodied seat where Y/N and Ben tended to him. With another strained murmur of the ache on the side of his body which he held, Logan managed to put himself up, picking his glasses from nearby.

Taylor: ["That's... Peculiar"]

Tyler: ["Disgusting is more like it"]

It didn't take long for Logan to see the others, and decide to approach them. He still held his side, and had some difficulty walking — His glasses did little to improve his sight at the moment. Still, he managed to find enough strength to make his way to the rest of the group. His steps and rather-strained breathing gave his presence away, and everyone turned, or spared a glance, towards his aching, damaged, thin figure.

Taylor: ["Oh, you're up! Are you feeling any better?"]

Logan: ["... ... Not really, if I am being honest with-"]

Logan: ["WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?!"] He recoiled a bit in pain ["Ow..."]

Aiden: ["Turns out that, if these things are exposed to a bright light for too long, they start to wig out and turn to goop, haha!"] He laughed as per usual, facing the remains of the dripping Phantom ["Like, their body start to twist, and bubble, and spaz, and then they-"]

Tyler: ["Ok, stop, I think he gets the picture — Now quit before you make him even more sick"] Tyler interjects, turning to face the pale Logan who stepped back a bit from the eyes ["Since he's awake now, let's talk about Savannah... We can't keep hoping that things will go back to normal on their own"] Tyler took a seat nearby, as did everyone else.

Ashlyn: ["But we also can't risk getting stuck here permanently!"]

The two shared quite the glare. Everyone else had gathered around to listen on, but it was all just nonsensical, mad rambling at each other again. Y/N sighed and rolled his eyes, rummaging through some of their pile of supplies and picking up a brown leather jacket, which he wrapped around Logan — Poor boy trembled a bit under the weight thanks to how thin he was, not helped by his rather-serious wounds either.

Taylor: ["Um... Going back doesn't mean we have to go to the house again, or interact with the Phantom, right?"] The girl chirped up, trying to break the tension between Ashlyn and Tyler ["Maybe we can just search around for someone who might know something? THe locals are bound to be aware of at least a little bit about all this stuff, right...?"]

Tyler: ["We've been reading myths, lore, and have watch who-knows-how-many investigations about Savannah for the past two weeks, and still — Nothing useful"] He crossed his arms and leaned back with a huff, visibly still on edge about the whole thing ["I'll agree to avoiding that place, and only searching for local information on it"]

Logan: ["I-If we don't go back to the house, then I'm not... I'm not against it..."]

Ashlyn: ["So... That leaves you two out"] She turned to face Aiden and Ben, the latter of which tapped away at his cellphone ["What about you, Ben? What do you think?"]

Ben (showing the Cellphone's notes): ["I'll go with whatever Aiden decides"]

Aiden: ["Hm? Ah, I don't care either way. Both options seem fun!"]

Y/N: ["So, that only leaves me to break the tie... What a shame"]

Everyone turned around to face him. Arms and legs crossed, leaning against one of the seats, Y/N turned his attention down to the pack of cigarettes in his hand. Pressing one side caused the butt of the cigarette to go up in the other. And gently wrapping his lips around it, and bringing it up, Y/N lit it and hummed, taking a long, relaxed drag and puffing out the smoke, turning to face away from everyone else.

Y/N: ["... I think we should go. But-"] He raised a hand, cutting off anyone before they talked ["We're not ready, far from it. A few months- No. A year. We'll go back in a year"]

Tyler: ["A year?! We can't be stuck here for an entire year!"] To the surprise of no one, he spoke up against Y/N ["Who can guarantee that all of us are going to be alive by then?"]

Y/N: ["The same person who can guarantee that we'll find a way to fix this if we do go back — No one. A year will give us time to prepare, to experiment, and observe. If things will be better, or just get worse from here"] Y/N laid back again, raising his hand to cut off Tyler the moment he drew breath to speak. All the while. Y/N took another drag of his cigarette ["I can get someone to drive us there. This same person can train us. Ashlyn and I are the only ones who know how to properly fight, and even then it was a stretch. Seven of us, one Phantom... And look at how that turned out"] Y/N just spared a glance towards Logan, who's shoulders sank a bit ["We should train, research, prepare ourselves. Plan in advance at night, and follow our regular lives during the day. This way, we keep a balance"] Again leaning back, his head resting on one of the seats, Y/N just mused to himself ["And to wrap it all off so I can finally go back to being quiet — We need to take this seriously. Our lives are on the line, and I don't think this has sunk into us just yet"]

Everyone went quiet for a moment, letting his words linger for a second as the only thing people heard were his drags and puffs of smoking, as well as Logan's pained groans from his injury. A little while later is when Ben stood up, catching everyone's attention as he walked to the front, and then out the bus — Y/N just shrugged as Ashlyn glanced towards him, same results when she turned to look at Aiden.

A few moments later he came back, carrying in his hands an old, beaten whiteboard to the surprise of everyone, and confusion of a few. Setting it in the front of the bus, he tapped his hands free of any dust and dirt, and turned to the rest of the ground, tossing a black marker to Ashlyn, who caught it mid-air by clapping her hands around it. The girl stood up and walked right to it, a serious, but small, smile on her face.

Ashlyn: ["Alright. This... Is our first objective"]

Y/N: ["Really not wasting a single second, huh? Are my speeches that good"]

Ashlyn: ["We need some better weaponry"]

She tapped the tip of her marker to the whiteboard, showing her writing — "Gunshop". Y/N hummed, tapping his chin with his index finger for a moment as he recalled the shop he and Elio had checked out to buy their basic handguns on the first day they had arrived. It was something, but a rather far-away drive, especially into the city. The word also brought back memories, most which he held disdain for.

◁━━━━━━━━◈━━━━━━━━▷

["Now, now. No need to be afraid..."]*

Y/N's hands trembled, his breathing was shaky and his entire vision was nothing but a blur of black and red. The weight of the gun in his hand was massive, like trying to hold onto the world itself Though, comforting to many, the words of the man walking around the scene served of little ease to his mind. The leather glove resting on his shoulder, the smirk over his head, all made the 10-year-old's hands tremble more.

["Shoot him, Y/N"]*
... Y ...

He wanted to run. To scream. To cry his eyes out. But he didn't. His expression remained trembling, shaking, at the point of collapse, some could say. Staring in front of him at the pitiful scene — The bloodied man could barely breathe. His jaw dislocated, his body mutilated, burnt, shocked, broken. Minutes ago he was screaming for mercy, and now, he could barely mutter more than a few sobs.

["... Y/N. Shoot. Him"]*
... Y/N ...

The voice was stern. Serious, demanding. Even if barely half-a-decade older than him, the authority was enough to make Y/N, reluctantly, raise his trembling arms. His finger rubbed the trigger, caressing it with a trembling rub, and an unstable grip. His heart was pounding on his ears, so violently it was shaking his entire chest — The older teenager, towering over him, merely let out a gentle, polite, and almost warm smile.

["Such is the fate of those who go against family, little brother"]*
Y/N...

His palm resting on Y/N's shoulder for the second time brought no respite. In fact, it only made Y/N's muscles tense even more. His eyes shut as he continued to aim ahead, and with patience, his brother watched. His beautiful oceanic eyes staring with enough coldness to freeze even the sun. His expensive white suit now had more red than anything — And the baseball bat in his hands, too, was soaked in crimson.

["For the family. Kill him-"]*

◁━━━━━━━━◈━━━━━━━━▷

Ashlyn: ["Y/N!"]

His eyes opened calmly. Looking down at the girl who looked at him with a certain tone of concern and confusion. He just spared a glance at everyone, who all looked at him expectantly — He didn't know what, but he assumed he had to say something. So, gently pushing Ashlyn back, he puffed some of his cigarette's smoke down at the ground, letting what remained off it fall before he stomped on it. Crouching to pick it up, and tossing it into the nearby trash can, he looked up at Ashlyn, and hummed.

Ashlyn: ["We were discussing ideas to not let the Phantoms in anymore. Aiden suggested we use light fixtures on the wall, but the generator we have is small, and would not be able to handle them 24/7"] Y/N listened on, picking himself up from the ground and crossing his arms again, nodding his head as Ashlyn spoke ["And since if we can't be sure we are protected, it is too risky to just assume we are, and let our guard down. Aiden offered to buy the fixtures, as well as the solar panels Logan suggested. Your family is rich, right?"]

Y/N: ["... Yeah? You want me to get my hands on a large-enough generator, is that right?"] The girl nodded, to which Y/N just replied with a nod of his own, also uncrossing his arms ["Sure, I can do that. I could also get us some guns — Even if basic ones. I could get the ones Elio has at home since he's the one with the firearm license. It's not like I could just ask him to buy guns for me out of the blue"] Y/N remained calm as he lit himself another cigarette ["Even though I could, and that is exactly what I am going to do"]

Tyler: ["... Who's Elio?"]

Y/N: ["My butler"]

Taylor: ["You got a butler? Damn, your family really must be rich!"]

Y/N: ["Yeah... Something like that, I guess"]

Ashlyn: ["With him and Aiden, that makes the two rich kids of the group the psychos"] Ashlyn pondered to herself, sparing a glance up at Y/N, who's eyes remained distant ["I'm so used to them being cold. Now it's like he's not even there — Probably just daydreaming, I guess. Hard not to, I'd, too, rather be anywhere than this place right now"]

Aiden: ["I got a card, so we can order them and have them shipped here. Since my parents are out for a couple of months, we're golden!"] He remained with his arms crossed as well, tilting his head and, unsurprising, smiling ["I could order them tomorrow during lunch in school"]

Ashlyn: ["Sounds good. So, we'll discuss our training time tomorrow, too. For now, let's just rest up"] The girl glanced at the ground, also humming for a moment, before her words made Y/N glance down at her ["By the way, Y/N. May I borrow your switchblade?"] Wordlessly, Y/N handed it to the girl, who gave him an appreciative nod ["Thank you. It's just that, since the Phantoms move around so much, it's better to not give any openings for them to grab us, right?"] The girl opened the blade ["And if that's the case..."]

Y/N: ["What are you-"]

◁━━━━━━━━◈━━━━━━━━▷

Ashlyn leaned to one side, and then the other — She just could not wrap her head around it. The confusion made her more confused than sleepy, even at 6:30 AM as it was now. Eyes narrowed, expression confused, and lost, the girl picked up her braids, lifting and moving them around while staring at her shadow. Even if she herself had braids, and she could touch them, even move them around, her shadow did not.

Ashlyn: ["That's... Weird..."]

She just dropped her hair and stared at it against the wall for a few moments longer before shrugging her shoulders and moving away to get her day started. She checked her group for messages, where everyone was just confirming that they were alright. Sitting in her bed for a few moments longer, the girl yawned, stretched her arms up, and fought the urge to fall in the bed again and sleep for "just five more minutes".

Ashlyn; ["So we'll train with my parents, and Y/N's butler. At night we'll come and take the jeep to the graveyard..."] The girl went over what her and the others had discussed, standing up to go get herself dressed for the day ["With it, we'll drive to the gunshop when we're able to — Y/N should get us some proper weaponry after school, too"]

She nodded with herself, slipping into another set of clothing for the school. After the usual routine was done — Breakfast, brushing, etc — The girl left to the sight of Aiden and Ben already waiting outside. Together, they had entered the bus, and not too long later, out in the school, where, turning to the side, they saw Y/N stepping out from the black SUV as per usual, same with him giving a slight, small nod to his butler inside.

He greeted them just as wordlessly, just a gentle shake of his head. As everyone waited for a few more minutes — Y/N and Ben silently hanging out in the back — with Aiden doing most of the talking, Taylor and Tyler came in not too long afterwards. Both wore a matching set of clothing, down to their shirts which merely said "Yes" and "No" as the stamp, their shorts, and even shoes. It was certainly a sight to see.

Ashlyn: ["So, you'll be ordering the lights during lunch, right?"]

Aiden: ["I should be, yeah"]

Y/N: ["Elio is on his way to get the generator now. I just told him we needed it for our project to make a little place in the graveyard"] Y/N muttered while staring at his phone, and soon raising his indigo eyes to meet Ashlyn's emeralds ["Which, now that I think about it, isn't exactly a lie either — Just not the whole truth. Hm. I'm getting good at this stuff"]

Tyler: ["... Ah..."]

His dark, almost angry, voice caught the attention of the group. Everyone stopped walking and faced ahead, meeting the scene with the same gaze and tone that Tyler had. His eyes just continued narrowed, watching Logan back into the school's red locker while another, taller boy with the same jacket of the baseball team towered over him. Tyler just clicked his tongue, shaking his head while keeping the same glare.

Tyler: ["I was wondering where the nerd was..."]

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

[Published in - 03/27/24]
[Word Count - 5.320]

Coming out a little bit later than I expected, but still good enough!

A decently-sized chapter with a single-day-delay isn't nothing to fret about, so I'm good. Especially since I took yesterday to rest up and fix my sleep schedule — Something I'm still working on, but should be able to do rather easily. It is not 4 PM (16:00) that I am putting out this chapter, so I should be able to write some more late at night. Perhaps even halfway across the next one, and publish it tomorrow morning.

Regardless, thank you for reading!