[ The vial wasn't really a vial. Not for Noelle. It was a little paper cup, with flowers on it. Small, easy to hold, just large enough to use it to swallow a pill or two. Krouse had to help her drink. It hurt too much to hold. Noelle still remembers. He laid his fingers over hers, tipped the cup up, and nobody else had touched her that gently since.

If it happens, he'd said, blame me. ]

Wasn't just you.

[ Noelle murmurs into his hair. It would hurt him too much to agree, hurt him too much to disagree, so there's the truth instead. ]

The rest of them didn't let me tell them, either. Didn't even want to look at me. Too busy remembering somebody else.

[ Noelle's tears slow. Her voice drops, and a little bit of that old hollowness starts to creep in. She lets her forehead rest against the top of Krouse's head, and she closes her eyes, like that even matters anymore. ]

There was a portal. I think Tattletale made it. I don't know. They had to kill me before she was going to let them use it. I hope they made it home, and then - then they'll never have to see me again.