The stars were shining as brightly as they could in the city with its street lamps and neon signs as I was making my way through the streets. I had no idea where I was going and didn't want to read anyone's mind to find out where I was either.

Keeping up my shields to the best of my ability, I sat down on an oversized flower box holding a palm tree to catch my breath. It was a little cooler now at night, but summer was still holding the city in its iron fist, causing people to melt like ice cubes.

I knew that I should open myself to messages from Brad or Nagi, but I refused to. I didn't want to deal with them or their questions, didn't want to tell them about what I'd seen in Farfarello's mind. It was scary even to me and I've seen my fair share of horrible things that others would probably go insane over.

I'd probably get scolded for staying out on my own, but the thought of Brad bitching at me was almost comforting in comparison to what I would have gone through had I not been able to pull back from Farf's mind in time. Chills ran over my spine at the memory and I shook my head although there was no one to see me anyway.

I took a cigarette from the box in my back pocket, lighting it quickly. Nicotine had a soothing effect on me that I was craving for most of the time – as a member of Schwarz I couldn't satisfy my needs whenever I wanted to, but for now I was free to do whatever I wanted.

That realisation got me thinking.

If I could do whatever I wanted, that meant that I could go clubbing and drink my sorrows away, my mind into oblivion. I might have forgot about Farfarello by the time I became sober again! The thought was appealing, but to my dismay the voice of reason whispered at me, telling me that it might not be so easy.

Duh.

I was lucky to have such a smart voice of reason, wasn't I?

I would have been sitting there forever probably, but fate or life or whatever you want to call it wasn't kind enough to allow me such luxury; a sudden penetration of my mind, one I hadn't experienced since my early childhood, made me double over with pain.

It does hurt physically when your mind is torn to tatters, leaving no safe place for you to hide, no retreat. The attacker was roaming my mind freely and there was nothing I could do to hold him back. He tore down the shield Brad had made for me, disconnecting him from me smoothly like a sword cutting through a silk scarf. I gave a whimper at this, feeling it tickle my throat more than I actually heard it.

I had been trained to deal with such situations, but, to be perfectly honest, there is no way to prepare yourself for being mind-raped just as there's no survival training for being physically abused.

I dropped to my knees, pressing my hands against my temples. I barely had control over my body, but it instantly identified the source of my discomfort (my head) and tried its best to soothe the pain. A tiny part of mysel that wasn't lost to the attack, to the greedy hand rummaging in my head knew that it wouldn't be long before I simply passed out from pain and terror.

I was dimly aware of a group of people forming around me, asking me if I was okay.

Then everything went dark.

When I woke up my head was pounding and I could hear my own blood rushing through the veins in my ears. Struggling to sit upright, I wiped my brow, finding that oozing with sweat. My eyes were slowly adjusting to being functional again and I registered my surroundings, not that they were unfamiliar or something. I just hadn't seen this place (or any others like it) in a long time.

"Good morning, I Sidhe /I ."

Great. Just the person I needed right now.

"What am I doing here?" I snapped at Farfarello, waving my arms in the air. "What are I you /I doing here and where are the others?"

The Irishman was sitting on a chair beside my bed, one leg elegantly draped over the other, and watched me with mild interest, like a cat would do with a mouse that couldn't escape its paws and claws.

"What are you doing here? Well, the paramedics assumed you had a dizzy spell and took you to St. Luke's to check up on you. As for me ... I'm watching you."

I'd been at St. Luke's before when Nagi had nose bleeding and it wouldn't stop. These people knew what they were doing, but I also knew that they couldn't do anything for me.

I'd never forgotten about the attack, not even while bitching at Farfarello, but sometimes ignoring a problem makes it easier for me to bear. I'm a shallow person; I work like this.

I knew I was drugged up or I would have felt the patients' voices leaking at my unprotected mind immediately. I wasn't I completely /I out of luck then; the telepath gods were looking out for me, probably saving me for a much more ridiculous ending.

"Where are the others?" I insisted, eyeing him warily.

He placed the leg he'd had draped over the other back on the floor, grinning at me. "Where do you think they are?"

"Where are they?" I repeated, feeling sweat run over the back of my neck and between my shoulder blades.

"Where do you think they are?" Farfarello's eye was sparkling with mischief, remind me of one of the sprites he was so fond of talking about.

I couldn't handle this situation, this vicious circle he was subjecting me to. Something weird happened to me as I was sitting there in the bed, something I had almost forgotten about, simply from lack of use.

I was crying.

I was tired, scared and wounded and all I wanted was for someone to make all of this stop, not make it worse. I knew that trusting Farfarello was dangerous, but after what I'd seen in his mind earlier I would have thought ...

Just when I thought I wouldn't be able to put up with it any longer the door opened and Nagi stepped him, thankfully unharmed and in one piece. "Schu! Are you ...?"

"Don't say it," I snapped, wiping my eyes furiously.

The boy nodded. "Do you need anything?"

Despite my current state I was tempted to ask him to buy my a porn magazine, but then decided against it. Sending him away meant being alone with Farfarello and that was the last thing on my mind right now.

"Where's Crawford?" I asked.

If there was one person who could make sense of this madness it was him. He could explain to me how someone who was obviously stronger than he and I combined had been able to enter Tokyo without catching my attention.

"Business. I'm supposed to take you home as soon as you wake up. We can talk later."

He quickly detached the IV needle from my arm and helped me sit up. My head was swimming, but I didn't feel sick or anything. I slowly got up and dressed in the clothes I'd been wearing before the attack, making sure to go as fast as I could since Nagi seemed like we were in a hurry.

We left the hospital five minutes later, unnoticed by anyone. Later on the records in the St. Luke's computer system would show that I had never been there.