"I KNOW AND SAVE ME!"

"Calm down, we're trying to help!"

With her entire body propelled into her latest thrust, the girl managed to free herself from the grasps around her torso and ankles. She promptly smashed into the concrete and seemed oblivious to the fact that her nose began to bleed, as she again began screaming to the ground and struggling away. Making sure to be cautious, Anthony grabbed her from behind so that she couldn't pry herself from his hold. She wasn't able to bite him or kick him off.

"STOP!" Halle yelled at the girl, horrified.

The girl suddenly started knawing on her own arm, drawing blood within no time. Despite the chaos within her person, her associates managed to get her into the building and into the elevator. She only yelled more, begging for mercy.

"We can't just do this, we have to get her to a hospital! She had to have been drugged!" Stephen reasoned.

"Boss told us what we had to do. Let's just hope she calms down soon," Anthony countered.

The girl was utterly baffled. There she stood, alongside three older adults, all of whom were gifted with striking intelligence and various skills. And with all of that considered, the girl could not comprehend that they remained completely still as the elevator shook with violent force. The lights flashed a crimson potent enough to be detrimental the girl's sight. The walls proved to be rather unsteady, for they started bending and disconnecting at the top and bottom corners, making the floor and foundation shake.

It stopped moving and stayed as still as the silent trio. The girl looked up from where she sat, holding her knees to her chest.

"Guys?"

In lieu of a response from them, the floor from under them cracked and ultimately fell. The girl descended alone, as her associates simply stood where they were as if there had been a secondary foundation that she could not access. She screamed in the darkness, it being her only company.

"No!" Nate yelled as he saw the doors open.

The three older adults stood around the girl as she crawled on her back in circles, rambling about falling. Nate could immediately tell she was suffering from hallucinations. He didn't need to speak and his employees lifted her and followed Nate to his room.

"Halle, I need you to grab me some water, a bucket, and a towel. Please."

The woman nodded as she left to do as she was asked. The other two men raced behind their superior, hoping that the girl wouldn't escape their collective grasp. They were finally in the center of the card fortress. The girl was laid down on the floor gently and initially was calm. She shook against the floor while whimpering, but she was relatively quiet.

"Would you both please grab all of the blankets and pillows from the living room?"

They left in an instant, leaving Nate alone with the girl. He walked the few short feet until he was beside her. The young man sat down with his usual style, being sure to leave a minute distance between himself and her. At this point, she was reduced to shallow sobs and subtle shaking. The sound of silence provided no insight for him as to what his next move would be. He raised his hand and laid a ginger hand upon her shoulder.

She shot up to her feet after the contact, and it nearly sent Nate down, but he put his weight on his arm and was able to watch her knock into a wall of cards. The structure was sturdier than its predecessor, so the damage was contained. The thousands of cards from the section she bothered fluttered around her.

They picked up speed and began to flow in a cyclical fashion. It wasn't long before they lacerated her, piercing her skin and sliding up on her body. She was overwhelmed and fell backward, still under the siege of Nate's toys. Her screams were a bit of company at this point, and she tried to stop, but a painful burst in her abdomen would birth another banshee cry.

And then, there were none. She was reduced to heavy breathing. However, she was now submerged into inexplicable darkness, but it was warm.

"Thank you, all," Nate said, offering his associates a quick glance.

"Sir, we really should take her to the hospital," Stephen stated.

"I agree. It doesn't take a detective to figure that she has been drugged. Call an ambulance."

After a nod, Stephen pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed for the authorities. He left, along with Anthony, to allow the girl space. Halle lingered for only moments more, questioning aloud why Nate requested that she come up to the highest floor when she needed medical attention.

"This wasn't an easy call. But, even I know, she needs me. She needs comfort."

The young woman peered at the shaking mass. Anthony had laid the blanket over her initially, and all four of the lucid adults were shocked when her convulsions and screams ceased. Offering a curt nod, the blonde left for the first floor, knowing that paramedics would soon arrive.

Nate inched closer to the girl. He went slowly as he pulled the blanket from her, but she snatched it and covered herself again. It was a large comforter, and very roomy, so he took the initiative to lift it and crawl underneath.

"Who's there?" She whispered.

"It's me."

"How'd you get in?"

"I'm actually lost. Could you tell me where we are?"

"You're silly," she giggled, "We're in here. It's warm."

"It is," he agreed, "I see that you're calm now. Is this a safe place?"

"Yes."

At least, he now had something to work with. He figured that lights were not in her favor, so he left momentarily, dimmed his monitor and returned. The young detective was then grabbed.

"I thought you were lost!" She sounded genuine.

"I actually discovered something."

"What?" She asked, like that of a child.

"Did you know that we can go outside? It's alright now. Nothing will hurt you."

He threw the blanket to the side. The girl opened one eye at a time, peering at their surroundings. She took her time, but little by little her muscles relaxed and she sat at ease. Wanting to ask Nate how he knew it'd be fine, she looked at him but was soon too enamored with his image.

"Oh... I get it now."

He had no response. Mostly it was because he was insecure. Even after she came down, he would never be able to admit to her that he cried after their 'fight'. He was certain that she would stick to her plan of unemployment. What especially hurt was that he knew it was his own fault for driving her away and nearly mad. In hindsight, he was sure it was completely his fault for her actually going mad.

She broke him from his self-pitiful fog by shaking on her side and sobbing again. The girl didn't seem to be afraid at this point, but she was clearly hurting. He had to be instrumental, but he couldn't do it uninspired. He called back to the first time, possibly three months into knowing one another, that she pressed him about going to sleep. At that time, he stated that none of her tricks would lull him.

The girl gasped, froze, then relaxed with a sigh. Nate employed the blanket again by using it as a surface to lay on as he held her from behind. The intimacy was so poignant that he was hovering over the crook of her neck. She melted into him, taking his arms and holding them as they held her. The girl felt a light tickling sensation upon her cheek; it traveled to her nose. Its wings expanded to show itself to be a beautiful blue butterfly.

And, for the record, her remedy worked on the both of them, in the past and at the moment.

She raised herself from their spot and stood, staring at the ceiling. After nodding, she sat in a new spot within one of the room's corners. Nate glanced at the monitor, and he watched Halle meet the paramedics until they were inside.

"The roof... The roof... The roof is on fire."

It was a slow burn, one that seemed to spiral in fat waves with no flares reaching out, and successively rolling about the ceiling without turning it into cinders. It was a bit adorable how it never reduced anything to ash yet consumed it whole. Nate noticed that she had stopped the excessive blinking, and her body language was very relaxed as she crossed her legs and leaned against the wall.

"Should we leave then?" He asked, playing along.

"We don't need to. Let the motherfucker burn." The butterfly flew and landed upon Nate's nose, but it was as if he hadn't noticed it at all.

"Why should we stay if we'll certainly die?"

"I don't fear the Reaper. I don't need to."

Nate stood briefly, then sat down again, this time directly beside her so that their hips connected. How one could be so utterly content with death, so much that even when they were certain it was near, they did nothing to easily escape it? The girl was losing her mind and he understood that. Her declaration, though, sounded lucid and genuine. Even he could not fully state that he was ready for death at any given moment.

She giggled lightly, looking at him, "Seasons don't fear you, nor do I."

He didn't reply, but all she needed was his looking attention, which she received. Nate's face had birthed its truth by exposing his jaw, hollowed eye socket, and cranium to the left side. The strip of exposed flesh acted as the bridge from skeleton to skin, festering into itself and going nowhere. Cadmium centered violet pansies rested within his present ear. She took one and held it to her heart, with his boned hand holding her face. Serenity settled and she was disencumbered.

The butterfly flew away.