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“Yeah I’m mean” Lana settled her headphones back in place and started off, feeling angry at the kids and angrier at herself for yelling at them But kids came after her wherever she was They interrupted her while she was eating They harassed her when she was sitting on her balcony reading a book They banged on her door while she was pooping

It was ally that’s what Lana was starting to think about her powers, that they were so miraculous No one had any better explanation

And miracles shouldn’t be wasted

Anyway, she had a right to have a life of her own She wasn’t everyone’s servant She belonged to herself

Come to me

Lana bit her lip She was ignoring it, the voice, the hallucination, whatever it was

Just going to ignore it

She cranked up the volume on the music

She veered away fro the back streets more Maybe she could vary her route more and make it harder for people to track her down

So long as she ended the same way: back up the hill to Clifftop Up to the FAYZ wall Not to touch it, but to get very close to it as she panted and sweated and nursed the inevitable stitch in her side

She felt she needed to see that barrier up close every day It was a devotion, somehow A touchstone A reminder that she was here, and this was now Whatever she had been before, she wasn’t that person anymore She was trapped in this place and in this life Not her choice: the wall’s choice

Come to me I have need of you

“It’s not real,” Lana shouted

But it was real She kneas real She knew the voice Where it came from

She knew she could not shut the voice out of her mind The only way to silence the voice was to silence it forever She could be its victim, or she could make it her victim