I had done a lot of sitting in the shadows of the factory. It was peaceful for a while, but more importantly, it was an escape. Neither Martin nor Alex found me there. Shortly after getting there, I felt my anger cool. The beast was no longer worked up like it had been at Abel’s. However, I felt tired. I was walking around the crevices of the buildings when I couldn’t keep myself up anymore. I lay down in a small room that contained rusted machinery. The scents of the oxidized material filled my nose as I lay on the hard cement ground. Then, I slipped away into the dream world.

  Dreams… or memories played in my head. One minute it was Autumn, the next Vicky. I saw my brother, Mom, Dad, Caydee, all of my family and friends. I was with them all, and I was happy. It was a dream come true; everything I had ever wanted since becoming this creature.

  Days had passed, and no one came for me. I felt a fog over my mind while I stayed within the walls of the factory, and I slept… a lot. Time just kept slipping by, and I never got up from my hibernation. One evening, the moonlight gleamed over the sky, shining in through the cracks in the bricks. I don’t know what made this night different, but I felt my mind clear and awakened for the first time in days. I got up from the hardened floor, bones cracking, and made my way out of the factory. I began rubbing my eyes and stretching my muscles in the shadows of night.

  I headed out, unsure what day it was or how much time had truly passed since I faded away in the factory. Even weirder, I knew something wasn’t right, but I still didn’t feel worried about it. The glazed-over feeling I had in my mind made me numb to worries or fears. All I was thinking about was the dreams I was having. They seemed so real. I didn’t want them to end; a part of me wanted to go back to sleep. I had to get out. I knew I needed to clear my head.

  I did a lot of walking and a lot of thinking. I had a lot to go over in my head after my night out with Martin and Alex. Martin’s words played over in my head, as well as my experiences with Alex. Then there was Abel. The old man’s strange knowledge and advice kept my mind buzzing.

  He wanted me to go down into the pits and destroy everything. Anyone and anything down there needed to be wiped out. Abel didn’t inform me on how to get down there, though, nor what I would face if I did make it. That was the first step to his request, and it stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t even know how to proceed.

  The more I walked the outskirts of the city, running the possibility through my mind, the more curious I became about the “Elders,” and whatever else was down there. From all of the things I had heard about it, the pits were like a whole other world for the supernatural. It was where the evil rested and plotted against the innocent human beings just trying to survive on the surface. The pits were a haven for creatures to escape from any dangers. A hole to hide in from the scorching sun, only to rise like vermin in the night.

  There was a vampire that escaped me in the early days of my time with the Chasses. He got away that night Autumn and I were attacked, and I never saw him again. Martin had a run-in with the guy, but after that, he disappeared. He probably still hid down there… worried he might run into the dark-eyed creature that slayed his friends. Unless he believed the lie that was told to the Elders, that I had been killed by the silver-haired vampire, Charles.

  I was very close to my temporary home, hopping over a slow-moving train that blocked my path on a railroad. The screeching metal and mechanical rumble of the train slowly distanced itself from me as I began walking towards my home. I'd need to clean up and get some new clothes. I’d need a new phone, too. Once Carter and everyone else got back, I could get all their numbers programmed in again. I stepped closer to the city with each passing minute, actually coming to the Mississippi River through a thick patch of trees where no people or structures were in sight.

  “Sam…” a startling voice called behind me in the middle of the night.

  I spun on my heels quickly to see who the fuck was trying to sneak up on me. No one got the drop on me. I didn’t sense a thing…

  I met the gaze of a familiar black-eyed face; it was the form of Jon, but I knew who it really was. The terrifyingly ominous aura told me all I needed to know. This form, the one he started showing himself to me in, was only a fraction of his immense power, but equally as identifiable. From what I could tell, this guy had no equal; none that I had met so far.

  "This is new," I said slowly.

  "I needed to speak with you.”

  "What's wrong?" I asked. I could tell that something in his voice sounded concerning.

  "Something has come to my attention. The one who was agitating the beast before… I sensed his presence again. He has appeared multiple times, only when he slips out from behind whatever veil he is cloaked in. He's back, and he is here in this city… with your friends.”

  “What… my friends? No,” I replied. “They aren’t even here. They left town.”

  “They are back, and they are going up against him.”

  “What?” I shook my head. It didn’t make sense; they had just left.

  “You have been under his power again. He realized he could not kill you, so he is trying to tranquilize you… Keep you away while he works.”

  “Peter Grimwood?” I was shocked. It couldn't be right. “I killed him…"

  “You have been asleep for eight days!” Jon said. “This person has been toeing the line for years, and he just overstepped. He has found a way to stay hidden from me, only showing glimpses of himself through the acts of others. He is trying to keep you away because he knows about me.”

  "I don't understand. How is it that you can see others that you send me for, but you can't see this guy? I killed him, that’s for sure. The only way he is still here is if he came back from the dead.” I spoke carefully to the dominant figure.

  “I can only give the vision when the balance has been tilted to a certain degree.” Jon looked off into the distant city of St. Louis like he could see something within. “This person has been intertwined with many things, many others in need of the beast’s attention. You and Jon both have taken those that were linked in the same circles. Peter Grimwood is cloaking himself by hiding behind another… something more ancient than the world you know.” Jon looked back at me in a rush, “The crows led you to a boy, then you were led to a man. That man was a tool of Peter’s. Peter is trying to enhance his power without being the hand that performed the acts. Peter stole and funneled the power from the lives he had taken to fuel himself.” The dark entity explained like he were reading it all from a book. He knew exactly what was happening, but I could tell he still couldn’t do anything about it. “He has done this with many others across the world to rise in power. He is very powerful! Do not underestimate him.”

  “Trust me, I'm not, but how am I supposed to kill someone who keeps coming back from the dead?" I asked. “If he is back… then he survived what I did to him. If he’s tied into something that old and powerful… what else can I do?”

  The black-eyed entity nodded his head like he knew I was going to ask this question. “When the time comes, I will show you what to do. Do not forget that you, too, are bound to something beyond this world." John spoke like it was pure fact, and fact alone. "Until then, you may want to reach your friends. They are experiencing something right now… a death that was not meant to be…”

  My mind went into overdrive, "What! Who?” I begged for the information.

  “Peter is there, attempting to complete his ritual before you awaken. However, his focus on the task seems to have loosened his hold over you, along with the intervention by another powerful Attuned.”

  “Attuned?” I asked. “Who’s that?”

  “Your acquaintances, the Wicklows, and those like them…”

  I had never heard that word before regarding them and their power. It was weird, especially who it was coming from. I had many questions, but they had to take a backseat.

  “How can he affect me like that?” I asked, still shaken by the thought of losing so much time. What had happened while I was asleep?

  “He has many abilities, but they will soon fail against you. You continue to grow in strength; he will not be able to keep up forever. The monster grows as it feeds from the blade constantly.”

  More questions for later.

  I asked bluntly, “Can’t you see him now?”

  “No! The same veil cloaks him, but death cannot be hidden from me. Death has descended upon your friends, of that I am sure,” John told me.

  “Come with me!" I urged. “If you come with me, we can kill him tonight, for good.” I felt a hint of hope that we could end this now.

  “I cannot enter the city with you. Even in this form, if I got too close to your friends, or even inside the city boundaries… the body count would be unimaginable. You must go alone, for now," he said, his black emotionless eyes assuring me of what was to come. “I warn you, Sam. You may feel the desire to do it… But do not pull the blade,” the entity warned harshly about the weapon I was given by the real Jon. “The power of that weapon is too much for you to control around others. Its presence alone will affect those around you that is irreversible. Use the beast within you… not the blade… not yet.”

  I looked towards the city again, feeling my feet already pushing off from the ground. When I looked back to say one last thing to John, he was gone. So, I ran like the fucking wind. I used every sense I had, trying to zero in on the location of my friends.

  I found them in an alley after I heard a screeching vehicle grinding across stone and brick. The squeal peeled out into the city sky, alerting me to their presence. As soon as I heard it, I took off, but not before I heard someone scream out for Bartley. I was on top of some very tall buildings. I started feeling a literal shaking in the area. It was like a vibration in the air itself, invading everything that fell inside of its range. It was power… the Wicklows… no, the Attuned, were the only ones I could think of that could be doing it… Maybe Annabelle. It felt like it was everywhere. I didn’t understand how humans across the city couldn’t feel it; they had to.

  Once I hit the roofs closer to where the noises were coming from in the dead of night, I could see other creatures lurking above the alleyway, looking down at a possible meal. These beasts were not human, not even in the slightest. If they were at one point, it was a very, very, very long time past. These beasts were light brown at one point but had been overtaken by a pale hue that made their leathery skin look sickly and weak. Thinly growing, long white hair crept out from the spines of all of the beasts at random spots along their backs. They stood on all fours like dogs but were the size of a grown man. Their faces were stretched and elongated towards the bottom jaw, forming a massive underbite with jagged, brutal teeth. Slobber, and who knows what kind of other fluid dripped from their mouths as they sucked in the scents of the those they stalked below. There were about six of these disgusting creatures randomly spaced on both sides of the alley, waiting to strike. Vicious snarls and grunts escaped their throats as they gazed upon their prey below. They were going to kill and eat them all. I had never seen nor read of anything like this in any of the bestiaries. Nobody below saw what was waiting for them above their very heads. They looked wild, yet they seemed coordinated by something unseen. It was like they were all connected to a much smarter and more controlled being. I felt like if they were let loose on their own, they would be nothing more than rampaging killers out for blood.

  Down below, I saw her dark hair falling down one side of her chest. I could hear her heart fluttering a hundred miles an hour in the panic of what was going on, but her movements were calm and slow. Autumn was safe. She was behind concrete cover and actively tuning in her scope to fire towards a flurry of action at the far end of the alley. Carter and Wayland shot quickly towards the fighting between all of the supernatural creatures. Autumn’s shots were slower, more carefully thought out. Every seven to ten seconds, Autumn would pop off a round that would fly between Jane and Alex to hit Peter in his failing body. I did a headcount of all the people I saw hiding behind cover. All of my closest friends and family were safe behind the barricade they had made. However, I soon saw two bodies lying on the pavement. It was Zeke… and Bartley. I prayed in my mind for them to be okay… but I could sense it. The same scent that I knew all too well. They were gone. This thought sent me into a pulsing rage to move forward and protect the Chasses. My mind was in a rush as I witnessed everything before me.

  The thought of two of their lives being taken away by this fucking piece of shit made me furious. My blood was literally boiling within my veins, and I couldn’t put the full force of my emotions into words. However, in the back of my mind… I was just happy that it wasn’t any of the Chasses I was so close to now. I hated myself for the thought, but it was true, and I couldn’t help it. In a way, it made me feel more like a selfish asshole than a monster.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Martin and Alex were flaying the gypsy alive as they thrashed and fought against the Grimwood man’s surprising physical strength. He was a mystery, and he could probably do a lot more things that would surprise us all, just as much as the brute force inside of his lanky frame. Jane, however, was more calculating. She paced around the vicious tornado of slashing claws and scattering blood. Every few moments, Jane would see an opening that she’d dive into. She’d rip her claws into Peter so fast and hard that it would pull him away from the two vampires that kept him occupied. She’d dominate him with her growing physical power in a way I never expected. Jane indeed was much more potent near the full moon. From her movements and prowess alone, I could tell that she was much more a master of the wolf than that asshole Darry.

  A passing thought flew into my mind. I wondered if the werewolves that kept the beast under control actually grew in power further than those that let it run wild. Jane was the polar opposite of Darry when it came to unleashing the wolf. However, she was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, and Darry had a whole pack that fell to me. I think if I went toe to toe with Jane right now… she’d at least give me one hell of a fight before I ended her.

  Peter was thrown from Jane's grasp before he could get the upper hand during her surprise attack. His bloody and beaten body looked like it was nearing its end, but his strange grin only grew creepier. He wasn’t going to stop. He was nowhere near his end; he just couldn’t match the ferocity of the Chasse family’s inhuman friends.

  First, I’d kill these monsters on top of the roofs, then, if Peter was still standing, I would end him like Jon told me to. I just hoped Jon would show up like he said he would.

  I didn’t make a single noise as I began. I didn’t need to transform for this. Plus, when I finished with Peter’s beasts above, I wanted him to see my face when I killed him. I wanted him to know I woke up from his illusions, and I came straight for him. I sprinted like a ghost as I pulled Martin’s steel blade from behind my back. It wouldn’t weaken the creatures as I knew my silver blade would, but it was all I had at the moment. I figured that enough physical trauma would suffice instead.

  I stuck the blade into the first two creatures before any of the other nasty four-legged monsters turned their enhanced ears. Unsurprisingly, they both fell over, legs locked out straight as the long steel weapon carved away parts of their brains. For anyone else, this probably wouldn’t work, but I put enough strength behind my attacks that it was like being hit by a knife-wielding school bus.

  The third one heard the sound of the first two’s death throes after my blade carved a tunnel through their heads. So, the third jumped at me as soon as it saw my hooded form approaching. I caught it by the throat and slammed its chest cavity into a small pipe that extended out of the roof by my feet. It whimpered and growled as the pain tore its mind from the hunt. I knew this much attention would alert those below to my presence, but that was okay. I stuck my blade into the third head before jumping to the other side in a blackened streak.

  The first two fell like mosquitoes in a bug zapper. They flocked directly to the thing that was made to kill them. The last beast was more evasive, attempting to jump down into the crevice below where all of my friends fought for survival against the green-eyed maniac. The leathery-skinned creature jumped out into the middle of the gap as it descended to its prey. I threw myself at it so hard without thinking that I instantly regretted it. I immediately saw where I was headed, and it didn’t look pleasant. I collided into the fiend as it gnashed its mandible full of broken teeth at me in an attempt to defend itself. When we met, I plunged the knife into the beast’s heart with merciless precision. But our trajectories were different.

  It came down between the hunters and their monstrous allies, separating the two companies in abrupt carnage. The beast splattered across the ground with a wet and snapping thud. Its bones shattered from the sudden stop of the significant plummet, the blood spraying out in all directions like a bursting water balloon. I, however, hit the opposite building like a meteor. The impact of the fall on my hardened skull sent my brain on vacation. My vision and hearing were gone for a moment. My head felt like it was going to explode. I lay still for a moment, trying to maintain my composure after cratering the solid wall with my dense mass. I was made of much tougher stuff than the creature I splattered, and I knew I’d be fine.

  After a moment, my body regained its movement and control. I looked up from the ground of the third story, where I ended up, seeing a beaten and bloody Peter looking straight at me with a grin. He knew it was me… he was looking straight up at the building where I landed.

  The impact of the drop snapped everyone's attention to their surroundings, watching and waiting for what came next.

  A door on the side of the building on their left exploded from its frame. The metal slab ricocheted into the bricks on the other side of the alley. More of those sickly four-legged monsters poured out from the ground level of the building. They had to have come from the caves. There must have been another hole that connected this building to the dark, cavernous tunnels that stretched across the city like a massive ant colony. These beasts had to have come from below since I had never seen or heard of them. They were hidden in the darkness of the damp earth, where the most monstrous of the supernatural hid from the civilized world.

  Jane and Martin looked like they had Peter under control, basically kicking him while he was down to keep him there. At the first moment of these new creatures' arrival, Alex moved to them so fast that none of the hunters probably saw her. She moved in an instant to fight off this pack of five big-jawed devils.

  “I heard you coming!” She was ready for the monsters and seemed to be enjoying herself.

  All I could do was stay there and watch. I don’t think any of them knew I was there. They must have thought I was another creature that fell from the roof like the one they saw explode. Peter knew, but he was being handled. I… I wasn't needed at the moment. I might get in the way… or be a distraction. The moment I saw the opening where I was needed, I’d plummet down and murder his ass one more time. Or, if anyone else needed help, I could maintain a watch from above and drop in to help quickly. But they seemed to be… winning.

  The hunters never moved. They all stayed behind their cover, firing their silenced rounds into the alley between the bodies of their supernatural friends when they had the chance. I saw a glimpse of blonde hair sitting completely still behind the concrete barricade. Kayla was there in person, but her mind was somewhere else. She looked defeated. I didn’t need to think about it any longer. I knew what she was thinking. Her father was gone… and she didn’t know what to do.

  “None of them touch the hunters!” Martin ordered Alex with his blood-red eyes glowing. He was destroying Peter, taking turns with Jane as they beat him mercilessly.

  “Obviously,” Alex scoffed.

  Then, Alex ripped into the pack with no second thoughts. Alex moved faster than Martin could, appearing and disappearing between the four-legged threats as she slaughtered them all. She was quick and explosive, going for fatal blows with every attack. I was fast myself, but I had a slower acceleration than this red-haired monster did. She flung the beasts into walls, ripped their flesh open to spill the innards and blood to the pavement below.

  The hunters fired more rounds into the beasts as they left her grasp, never letting them catch a break from the pain and torture of the multifaceted assault. None of the sickly brown monsters ever had a chance.

  Peter, however, kept getting up. He looked defeated every time Jane or Martin would overshadow his power and make his face taste concrete. Yet, he always returned to smile through his teeth as he rose to his feet.

  “This is senseless,” Peter laughed through the blood and spit from his mouth. “You cannot kill me!” His laughs were maniacal and confident. “You may have me beat now, but I will come back stronger. No matter how long it takes, I will become strong enough to claim you all!”

  Feet were approaching behind Frank and Jane as they decimated the continuously healing evil in front of them. Alex had her hands on the jaws of her last beast, ripping its mouth open as wide as its anatomy allowed, then ripping past its limits. She tore its head in half as she broke through its internal structures. The sickly monstrosity fell limp with a dying squeal as its mouth and throat were torn apart like thin cloth.

  I looked back at the feet, worried a hunter was getting too far from cover. The face I saw was unexpected as much as it was filled with fury and anguish. Shelta walked straight into the alley like she was untouchable. Her short, dark hair hung at her shoulders, framing her enraged face in a portrait of anger… and revenge.

  “Why did you do that?” Shelta spoke slowly, barely able to get the words out through the rage. Her speech to Peter was hard to describe, given the situation, but I think she was in shock.

  “Come now… let’s just end this so I can come back,” Peter coughed from the ground as Jane kicked him in his ribs. “Oh, Annabelle…” Peter teased like he was looking for a hiding child playing hide and seek, “Just come out, and we can end all this. I will take you before I leave your family alone.” Peter's words were heinous and unfaltering… but they seemed true.

  “Move!” Shelta ordered Jane and Martin as she stepped up to the psycho.

  Jane and Martin let her through as Peter left himself to sit on his knees, leaving himself wide open for the oncoming attack. He wasn’t afraid. He knew she was going to kill him… but he welcomed it.

  “Can you kill me, Shelta?” Peter mocked her.

  Shelta lifted her hands in front of her, focusing solely on Peter. She closed her eyes, and I started to feel more of the intense vibrations in the air, like I had on the roofs. Her palms started shaking, not physically, but it was like the air around them was vibrating. Peter began to go into a state that looked like he was having a seizure, rolling around on the ground as he gasped to breathe.

  “That won’t kill him!” I yelled out, but no one heard me.

  She looked over to Bartley’s body for a moment, “I have to.” Her brother lay only feet behind her, motionless and cold. She had to be destroyed inside.

  I looked around, hoping I’d see Jon standing somewhere in the shadows, ready to tell me the secret of killing this unkillable threat. He wasn’t there. He wasn't anywhere that I could see, but I didn’t need to see him; I would have felt him long before I made eye contact. “What do we do?” I asked Jon out loud, hoping that wherever he was, he could hear me. “I can’t do anything… what am I supposed to do?” I begged the powerful being for help.

  I spoke out loud a couple of times, asking for Jon’s help again and again.

  “I know what to do,” Shelta expressed grimly, her face cold as stone. Could she hear me? Shelta seemed to be going through many things in her mind; that much was apparent.

  Shelta twisted her hands with an angry expression, pulling from a more profound power within. Peter sat up as Shelta’s attack changed. His evil eyes widened at the feeling that was growing inside of him. He didn’t understand it initially, no one did, but it only took a few seconds to fully develop into what it was.

  The vibration lightened in the air but was replaced by a high-pitched sound that was similar to a dog whistle. I wasn’t sure if others could hear it or not.

  Peter’s skin started smoking, pumping out fumes into the alley that could only be compared to burning hair, only stronger. His eyes were the first to go as the flames shot out of his skull, turning his organic material to ashes. His skin slowly bubbled and fell loose as the heat liquefied him from within. His skin started falling off his frame in soggy clumps with blood and meat dripping from him as the event continued. His screams were sharp and bloodcurdling, but thankfully, they ended quickly. I worried that someone too close to our alley would hear him and come check on the horrific noises that escaped the dark and isolated strip between buildings. The moment I saw bone was when his body erupted into flames, shooting heat and fire directly into the sky above the alley. It only took about a minute, but all that was left of Peter was a pile of slop and goo that was still boiling from the remnant heat. His bones looked like they were sinking into the substance but were melting away. His body was no more. If this didn’t kill him, and he somehow found a way back, I didn’t know what the fuck we would do. How would you kill someone beyond what just happened? I prayed it was enough.

  I had a quick realization about just how strong the Wicklow family could be. Shelta was their most potent in terms of raw power. What could they do when that raw power was trained and experienced from an older age? It was mind-boggling what they could accomplish. It reminded me of the thing from the storm that I encountered outside of the city; pure power.

  After a few silent moments in the alley, they all slowly made their way to each other. No one said anything; they all just stayed silent as the family gathered Zeke and Bartley's bodies. I knew they had to get them out of there. Carter had to get them home to figure out what to do.

  I wasn’t sure what the appropriate course of action was in the hunter world when a family member died through supernatural means. It wasn’t like you could just file a police report, and everything would be hunky-dory. For everything to be legitimate in the real world, the authorities would have to be notified, police would want a report, notifications would have to be made, and paperwork would have to be filled out. In the heat of the moment, I’m pretty sure I was the only one thinking of these things. Everyone else was in mourning.

  I couldn’t will myself to move. There they all were, in another crisis, and I was nowhere to be seen. I had failed them. If I had made it sooner… I could have stopped all of this. I couldn’t show myself to them… I was too ashamed that I couldn’t protect them. I was weak to Peter’s influence.

  Frank was a saint, breaking away from the pack to retrieve Patrick and his vehicle. He didn’t tell the youngest Wicklow what exactly had happened. Annabelle met them and took Patrick somewhere else. Annabelle had been like a wraith, present but untouchable during the entire event. After seeing her own son taken the way he was, she knew she had to protect her grandson from seeing the sight down in that alley. Frank returned with the Chasse's black Suburban. The family collected their dead, still as silent as humanly possible. Quiet tears streamed down most of the women’s faces, while all the men had hardened looks fixed across their eyes to keep the emotions at bay. They couldn’t break, not yet; when they found a moment alone, I knew they would.

  I looked at Autumn, who was keeping Kayla in a tight embrace. The blonde Chasse was shaking her shoulders through hard, emotional tears of pain. I couldn’t’ t see Kayla’s face, but I could see Autumn’s. She had a fog of sadness over her, with her brow furrowed into a struggle to maintain her composure. Her dark eyes screamed out in silence, but she had to be there for her family. She couldn’t break down. She looked like she wanted to say something to her cousin, but she couldn’t speak the words. She didn’t want to break the silence they all shared in the alley.

  If Autumn knew I was there… I knew what she’d ask me. I could already hear the words in her mind. Everyone would have the same question. Where were you, Sam?

  As they all retrieved their fallen family, crying silently in the darkness of the night, I just stood there, silently on the third floor under crumbled bricks. I was a monster, covered in blood and unable to be a part of what was happening to them. I felt like an outsider again. I looked over to Jane, who nodded silently to Frank with an understanding look. She, too, wanted to go into the gathering family for Frank, yet she was more bloody than I was. We weren’t like the ones we cared for… we were beasts.

  The monsters all stayed clear of the humans, and the hunters had their brief moment before they placed the bodies into the vehicles. They all faded into their cars and dispersed from the carnage-stained area.

  Alex, Martin, and Jane would be the cleanup crew. They’d get all of the bodies to where they needed to go before the civilized world discovered them. It hadn’t been this bad since Eleanor had been ripped from them. Only this time, I couldn’t do anything for them. I was too late.

  I couldn’t help them before Zeke and Bartley were taken. I would have been there for the entire event if I had known. I could have saved the family. The only thing I could do now was clean up the mess after they were gone. I didn’t do it for the entity that sent me the visions, but if it helped my friends… I’d do anything.

  I felt it again… the feeling I had before, when Eleanor died. I failed my friends because of what I was. I was gone because of what I was, even though it was someone else coming at me. Then I thought, if I kept receiving visions from the being, what would it cost me? What would I miss when it happened again? What would happen if I did something that the family could not accept? The consequences of my existence were slowly presenting themselves to me. I started to worry.

  Once I could sense all of the family members had left the area. I scraped myself out of hiding and shamefully presented myself to Martin, Jane, and Alex.