There are times when fear is not our enemy. There are times when fear is our truest, sometimes only, friend.

So often the monsters that crowd our minds are nothing more than the strange and thoroughly alien progeny of our own fearful fantasies.

I don't care what the stars say about how small we are. One, even the smallest, weakest, most insignificant one, matters.

We'd stared into the face of Death, and Death blinked first. You'd think that would make us feel brave and invincible. It didn't.

Do you know how to tell who the enemy is, Cassie?

The monstrous act by definition demands a monster.

I'm one, too," he said. "What?" He spit a wad of blood and mucus into the dirt. "A virgin." What a shock. "What makes you think I'm a virgin?" I asked. "You wouldn't have hit me if you weren't.