“He was talking about the place he was in, not about death. He was stuck in a wood. He was right there, Shane!”, I insist, pointing at the garden.

She swallows and bites her bottom lip, remaining silent for a long moment.

“Alright”, she nods, eventually.

I turn to my friends and they’re all staring at us, puzzled.

“Guys, we must not go there. It’s dangerous. We must climb over the gate. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about”.

Dante furrows and clenches his jaw.

“Okay”, he finally exclaims with a sigh, “Okay, Carmen, as you wish. But let’s get out of here”.

”We sail through endless skies
Stars shine like eyes
The black night sighs…”

The first one is Cassandra. We help her climbing up the gate, and then over it. She looks fatigued, her movements are slow and well-measured, controlled. She must be so tuckered out.

The second one is Alice. Tasha pushes her up the railings with all of her strength, because Al is not exactly an athletic person. She climbs over and jumps off with a little yell, her blondish hair floating in the humid air of the night.

The third one is me. All in all, I am in good physical conditions and I don’t have any problems in climbing and jumping like a little monkey. I used to climb up all the trees I could find, when I was a little child.

Then there’s Tasha, and obviously she’s having major problems. Her fractured wrist doesn’t help her at all and she grits her teeth, trying hard to climb up the smooth metal bars just with one single hand.

“It’s not working…”, she pants, frustrated, holding to the bars tightly.

Dante climbs up the inlaid bars. He moves his right leg over the top of the railings and props his weight on both of his feet, like he’s standing on a stepladder. He grabs Tasha’s leather jacket with his left hand and pulls her up, growling in strain.

I throw a glance at Shane and she’s biting her nails furiously, her eyes wide open.

Tasha grits her teeth, again, her forehead sweating. After a couple of minutes of exhausting manoeuvres and tricks, she can finally jump off the gate and on the street.