In the time she had spent curled up on her bed, her mind wandered – trying to figure out where the confident, extroverted, and courageous woman she used to be had gone. She became so anxious and quiet that she was barely recognizable in the past few years. Yes, Keith’s death exaggerated these new traits in herself, but they didn’t appear overnight. New York City had probably wore away at her, she figured, along with the troubles that the couple had experienced, but she missed who she was. Freelancing was becoming harder, seeing as she was becoming more and more self-conscious of the artwork she was producing, and without Keith there to help with bills, she was getting distraught thinking about how she was going to afford anything. Selling the apartment would probably be first; she didn’t need something of this size for just herself. Maybe try vending some of the work she had done years ago that she had kept for herself. He had also bought her some expensive jewelry that was truly too flashy for her taste that she could probably pawn. She physically shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts away from her mind.

The wave of relief Caroline felt to hear Blackgates’ gruff voice on the other side of the door was so intense that it had almost knocked her over. The wait for him had been uneventful besides the whispers she had heard, speaking in a tongue she didn’t understand. She had her bruised legs up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, and she rocked back and forth as if it would bring her some comfort. Part of her desperately craved to clean up the mess that the mysterious entity had caused, but she concluded that it’d be best to leave the it where it fell as evidence. As Thomas spoke, she popped up to a standing position, smoothing out her large t-shirt and pajama shorts she had thrown on. “Yes, yes, I’m okay. The door is still jammed.” She walked up to it and wiggled the lever again to no avail.  “Thank you for coming, Thomas,” She said quietly, the southern inflection of her voice extremely present. She felt better already knowing that she wasn’t alone in the house. “How’d you get here so quickly?”