That brief contact, which had her surging to unsteady feet, seemed to snap an invisible thread. She couldn't remember the last time any human or otherwise, had made contact.  She did know that the action was as unfamiliar as the ground beneath her feet.<br/><br/>Instantaneous reaction became blurred motion as  Deandra’s dirt encrusted nail’s arced toward, latching onto the stranger’s red dress.  Feeling a compelling need to protect, her fingers curled into the thin material.<br/>Why was this human-like girl just standing there?  Didn’t she know about them ? .<em>Go to the circle, you'll be safe there.</em>Although the top of her forehead barely crested that of the stranger’s midsection, she gave the imprisoned material a shake or two for emphasis.<br/><br/>Blinking rapidly,  she waited a moment …letting her warning sink in before dropping both arms against her sides . It seemed as if time stood still. Seconds bled into minutes which turned into an agony of eternity before she stepped nimbly around and sped towards the West, leaving the stranger to follow or make her own way.