I watched her for a while. Her sharp nails dug their crescent moons. “Do you know that you are my block?” I said.

She didn’t answer.

“You make me weak,” I accused.

She rocked and mewled silently.

“You stop me from fighting—from wielding my sword.”

The grate opened above us. “Do you need more?” dream Jones asked.

She didn’t answer and neither did I. Shame filled me.

Dream Jones shut the grate with a loud click. I jumped and hunched my shoulders. The sound had been loud and it lingered. Resounding around the hall—click, click, click. It bounced up and down and boomed inside my chest—CLICK.

Silence fell.

My heartbeat tripled and my breath pumped in and out, in and out.

Slowly, I lowered my shoulders and raised my head. I looked up at the dark bars of the grate. I looked down at the girl. Up and down again. I saw her, as if seeing for the first time. She was just a child.

“I was just a little girl,” I said. Something hot filled my throat and deepened my voice. I swallowed but it washed back up. “Just a little girl,” I said, again.

Suddenly, I began to shake. My legs trembled. My bowels quivered. I jerked and weaved. My knees bent and I fell to the ground as something inside of me was unleashed. A black, hot rage such as I’d never known. Lithe and fanged, it whipped through my body. I clamped my head, trying to control it, but it was no use. My mind looped around a single thought. A little girl is nothing to be ashamed of. The evil, the true monster, is watching from the grate above. My neck snapped back and I glared up into the darkness.

“Jones!” My gut cramped. “Jones!” Wrath fired my belly and boiled my tongue. “Jones! Jones, Jones!” She was the vile one. She, the monster—not me. If I’d a dozen heavy bombs, I would launch them all at her—the Earth be damned. The thought shifted across my mind like a shadow.

I crouched on the cold stone ground, breathing heavily, my arm wrapped around my middle. I glanced back at the little girl. We had been divided too long. Now, finally, I understood—she was my ally. Fiercely protective, I scooted over and settled myself beside her. I sat for a moment then said what was on my mind. “You know, we have a sword now. We have power. We don’t have to be afraid.”

I jumped when she moved. She lifted her head, as if she’d heard me.

“Can you hear me?” I said, excitedly.

She stared into the darkness, right at me. Sensing my presence, but unable to see.

“We don’t have to be afraid,” I said, again. “Never, ever afraid.”