"Who are they?" Keya asked frantically as several severe-looking men and women flooded into her apartment, some grabbing the few bags Stella had thrown together despite her protests. Others swept the apartment, snatching anything that seemed remotely personal, remotely her. Yet others came in and cleaned out her studio space, huddling the statues together as if the young men were communing to talk about their non-existent future. No thanks to her.

No one answered her many questions. No one paid attention to her other than delicately move her out of their way so they could remove all traces of Keya Sapkota having ever lived in that space.

"Scrub the HausMaid data too," or "And the building cameras," and "Bleach every surface. We don't want any traces of DNA," Stella deftly barked orders, an authority figure Keya had never known her for in the two years since she came down to call the Grounds home. Two years of friendship. Now she wondered if their meeting was a meeting at all.

"Was any of it real? My life here?" Keya asked as Stella snapped at another suit.

"How far is the medivac?"

"Two minutes out, Agent Francois."

"Were we real?" Keya asked amidst the chaos. "Was it real?"

"Yes." Stella finally turned to face her, her expression softer than it had been for the past half hour. "I meant it when I said I'm a friend, Kay."

In the hubbub of people moving about, Stella stepped forth, gently caressing her cheeks. "Don't worry. We'll fix this. I'll fix this. And not just because it's my job, but because I'm a friend and I meant it when I said I'll do everything I can to protect you. I failed once. I will not again."

"Can we really fix this?" Keya blinked back tears and eyed the figure still under the clay-stained cloth. "Fix what I've done?"

Stella leaned close enough to whisper, should others hear her, "I don't know why or how it's possible, but I'm sure they deserved what was coming, just like that alley guy."

"I don't know." Keya felt her stomach turn. The figure under the cover did not seem like he deserved any of this. Did anyone deserve to die this way? Turned to stone.

Desperately, Keya grabbed Stella's lapel. "Promise me I won't hurt anyone else. Promise me. Lock me up in a room. Lock me up... you have to promise, Agent Francois, you'll lock me up."

"Stella. And I will do what I can." Stella peeled her hands away.

"No. You will do what I tell you." Keya jerked away from her friend, if she could even call her that anymore and resolutely eyed the woman. "Or I will. And even the powers of The Havens or Dad can't stop me."

"You don't mean that."

A resolved chuckle escaped Keya then. "Don't I? Look at what I've done!" She flicked her chin at the huddle of men who had once been warm bodies and beating hearts. "Look what I'm doing?" She then moved to the couch and removed the cloth from the boy.

"His name is Anghad. He loves going hiking, and it was his birthday last night. You know how I know this, even though I don't remember meeting him or bringing him home?" Keya's voice cracked on the brink of losing it all. "It's because his mum's a cop and she loves him so much she was out looking for him last night. She even knocked on the door in the middle of the night, asking if I had seen him. She wants him home safe. Instead, he's on my couch slowly dying from something I can't explain."

"It will be all right, Kay." Stella cradled her hand. "Calm down. All will be okay."

"No. You don't get it. He didn't deserve this. I don't deserve this..." Keya stepped back, walking into her workbench, with its clumps of clay and buckets of murky water, and her tools yet to be packed away. "She's here to stay, Stella"—her eyes locked on poor Anghad's face, frozen in wonder. Had he thought she was beautiful once? Maybe. Did he possibly think her a monster now? Surely. "I can't let her come out again. I can't."

"Who?"

"Medusa?" Keya looked at her friend.

"Medusa? As in, the Medusa?" As Stella said the name, Keya saw skepticism on her so-called friend's face. She didn't believe her. Not about the blackouts or somehow being involved in the disappearance of young men, but about the one thing Keya knew made her sound insane to any authorities. She wished she could show them, but that meant letting go of the reins, letting her out. And what if once awakened, Medusa turned anyone who got in their way to stone?

No. She couldn't have that. Not again. Not ever.

"You don't believe me." Keya felt around for a tool, any tool, for she kept most of them sharp. "It's okay. You don't have to believe me..." A bubble of laughter tickled her throat then at the irony. Her mother's last gift—she would use them to escape life, just like Ma once did.

Maybe this was the only way.

Her hand tightened around a wooden handle she was all too familiar with. "Maybe you don't have to..."

WC: 30, 225

A/N: I felt something was missing when I started the next Reina chapter. So, instead, I started a Keya chapter to see where it goes, and there you have it. A look inside her apartment and mind. 

Next up: Reina.

What do you think will happen? Will Reina get her man? Will she get her son back safe and sound?