Esadora had to admit, this probably wasn’t one of her better ideas, leaving Esmeralda. She hadn't gotten two steps out of her house when she remembered that her school had a tall brick wall surrounding its property, an imposing silver gate connecting the wall.

She suddenly wished her mother hadn't decided to live on the school property.

She forcibly exhaled. Fine, this was fine. The bricks could work as footholds for her to climb over it.

She was only able to hold on to the hope of this plan until she began climbing. Footholds they may have been, the bricks couldn't keep her from confronting her lack of strength or endurance in any physical capacity. It was already difficult to keep the tips of her shoes from slipping off of the bricks, but her fingers scraped painfully against the rough stone, struggling to keep her from falling back down with the weight of her body. She eventually stepped back onto the ground, curling and uncurling her fingers to crack them.

She gazed at the mahogany wall. How was she supposed to do this? If she had to be honest, the wall wasn’t anymore than two heads above her, which had made her think that it wouldn’t be too difficult to climb over it, but if she’d barely even gotten above the ground on her first step, how could she make it over the wall? It was suddenly a lot more imposing than before.

Esadora crossed her arms, cocking a hip as she stared harder at the wall. Logically speaking, if she got her arms to the top of the wall, it would be much easier to pull herself up, right? She stretched her arms outward.

One step at a time, Esadora.

Shaking off her sleepiness, she tried again. She gripped the edge of two bricks with each hand and stepped onto two other bricks with her feet. First step, complete. And her arms were already shaking. She brought her right leg up onto a higher brick and put her right hand onto a higher one as well. Her left leg and arm trembled furiously with the weight of her backpack, and, all at once, she knew she couldn’t do this.

But she tried anyway.

She moved her left hand higher, simultaneously inching her left leg up the bricks. That was the moment her left leg decided to miss the next foothold. Panic gripped Esadora as her leg flailed around. Her left hand found the top of the wall, but by then it was too late, her right hand slipping off the wall due to her movement. She barely had time to yelp before her back hit the ground, knocking the breath out of her.

She lay there on the ground, arms wrapped around herself as she tried to catch her breath. Pulling off her cloak and backpack, she sat up and coughed at the ground. As she stared at her now dirt-streaked cloak, an idea struck her. What if she used her cloak as a sort of rope? While she may have not had anything to tie it to, she wouldn’t need to if her reasoning worked. After another minute of coughing, she threw her backpack over the wall and made as if she was throwing her cloak over the wall.

Now, as the cloak hung over the wall, she tugged on the hood. The cloak didn’t budge, securely stuck on the wall. A faint smile formed on her face. It was time to get this show on the road. She imitated everything she’d done before except now holding onto the hood of her cloak to support herself in case she fell. Despite this assistance, it took her three more falls before she got the hang of it, and by then, she was drained. She barely had the strength to get down from the wall on the other side and pull her cloak off of it. She stared at the torn and muddy thing. How, in the matter of fifteen minutes, had she wrecked it so badly?

She sighed but hooked it around herself. There was a chill growing in the air as the night went on, and the cloak was all she had to keep her warm. She considered, for a moment, going back inside her house to get something warmer but decided against it, worried that if she went inside, she might not have the willpower to come back out—and she had to get out of Esmeralda before the night was over.

Esadora stood on a sidewalk elevated along with the rest of the school, staring down the grass to the concrete. As far as she could see, the small road was barren in both directions, though her sight wasn’t worth much in the evergrowing dusk.

She shuffled down the grass, head turning in both directions to make sure nothing was coming. Then, when she got to the bottom, she dashed across the 4-lane street. When she got to the other side, panting, a thought entered her mind: How long was it going to take to get out of Esmeralda?

She grimaced, berating herself about how she didn’t think about it earlier. Her school, Stanlow Academy, was somewhere in the middle of the city, and she’d just climbed the wall behind Stanlow. In the direction she was facing, she knew exactly where she had to go to get out of the city, but the downside was that it was a lengthier path. If she rounded the wall around the school and continued from the front, she didn’t have much of an idea of where she was going, but she knew that it was definitely shorter.

She decided to continue in the direction she was going, and prayed that she would get out of the city before the end of the night.

But a decision was one thing, and carrying it out was another entirely.

Esadora dropped onto the curb of the road, hanging her head back to stare into the clear night sky. She laid against the grass and stared forward as her eyes finally began to adjust to the darkness. From where she lay, she could barely see the edge of the skyscrapers over the shorter buildings directly in front of her, the expanse of gray structures making her vision swim for a minute. Her eyes fluttered closed, muscles relaxing as sleepiness weighed her body down.

She sprang up with a jolt as the wind whistled beside her ear, then groaned as the short blast of adrenaline drained from her body. Her eyes felt heavy, limbs leaden. She blinked a few times before rubbing her hands over her eyes and patting her cheeks. And reluctantly, she went on.

After three hours of many breaks and near falls, Esadora came to the city limits. Tears formed in her eyes as she gazed at the nearly translucent, towering wall of magic that formed the barrier of Esmeralda. Her feet dragged across the concrete as she approached it, reaching out to touch it.

Just when a familiar twinge zipped up her fingertips, she pulled back, something occuring to her: what if they had some sort of alarm set for when someone left? If they did, she knew it wouldn't go blaring off, but what if it alerted them?

Then she’d have to run.

She scowled and took a few steps back, preparing herself to use energy she didn’t have.

Just a little more - then I can go to bed.

She tore past the barrier, relief coursing through her when she didn’t hear any alert. She didn't stop running, however, even as her muscles screamed in protest—she didn’t feel safe near the barrier. The air rushing past her face helped keep her wide awake as her steps grew sluggish and black spots flashed in her vision. A dull throbbing flourished in the back of her head.

Esadora only stopped when she was a good ways away from Esmeralda, pressing her palms against her knees as she caught her breath. Panting, she turned back to the city.

The glowing barrier acted as a dome around the many soaring structures in it, sheltering it, isolating it, from all who might come by. And she felt glad, because it would keep her out.

Because she didn’t belong.

She heaved in a few shaky breaths, then scanned her surroundings. Her eyes widened when she saw the buildings in various stages of decomposition surrounding her, the trash that littered the streets around her.

She was in Astrington. But why was it in ruins?

It was then that she remembered something she’d learned in her History pace—after vampires had appeared, the populations of the cities surrounding the Vampire Belt dropped immensely, and the cities fell into ruin because of lack of maintenance.

She began to walk toward one of the buildings, arms coming around herself as she glanced around. Though the city was practically abandoned, she knew there could be a few people around the city, any kind of ruffian or criminal who would live in such a place. When she trudged into one of the buildings, she couldn't help the chill that rattled her bones. Pausing in the doorway to let her eyes adjust to the darkness, she stepped forward, to which she was greeted with the sound of shattering glass. Her leg swept back so fast, it was a miracle that she didn't trip. Her heart beat faster as she saw the shadowy light reflect off of the bits of glass scattered on the floor.

When she glanced up, she saw the gleam of cracked glass in the windows, edges glinting. Her shoulders went into a slight hunch involuntarily. She brought her eyes back to the glass on the ground, eyebrows furrowing as she stepped inside the building. Though she was hesitant to enter, her body felt weighed down, legs threatening to buckle. She had to go to sleep.

She shuffled through the shards of glass around her, lifting a foot. Her boots shoved the pieces away from, before she finally came to a part of the floor where glass was sparse. In front of her was a long trail of stairs leading upward, and to the sides of the staircase were dark paths. Not eager to venture into the darkness without a single of light, she made her way up the stairs.

Her hand gripped the banister to support her weak legs, eyes struggling to stay open as they focused on each dusty step. When, at last, she came to the top, she all but collapsed on the floor, bringing her hands up to protect herself from the ground. She sat on the ground for a minute, body teetering on the edge of the stairs, then pinched her cheeks.

Get a grip! she thought. Find a place to sleep before you collapse!

She forced herself up, struggling with the weight of her backpack. Now… where to sleep? Her gaze fell on a broad desk only a few meters away from her. It was almost against the wall, but a chair prevented it from being so. A large window was stationed above it, several cracks in it worrying Esadora that it might break during the night… but the worry swept away as another wave of drowsiness came over her. Forget the glass—sleep was her main concern now.

She placed her bag against the wall and brought her hood up, laying on the floor. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that the chilled ground was her bed, the cloak her blanket. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that when she woke up, she wouldn’t be in an unfamiliar city.

If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that her world hadn’t completely flipped upside down.

Esadora was woken by the sound of cracking glass the next morning. She rose from her slumber, slowly blinking her eyes to get her bearings.

Crack!

Her head swung in the direction of the sound that seemed to be closer than before. There was a person - a girl - rummaging through her backpack. She blinked.

Seriously?

She got up as quietly as possible, narrowing her eyes when the girl pulled out her phone.

“A runic phone? Is she a witch?” the girl remarked, glancing at her. Her eyes widened when she saw Esadora standing, dropping the phone to the ground with a crash.

“Hey!” Esadora cried, swooping down to grab her phone and stepping up to the girl in one swift movement. Her head spun for a minute, but she didn’t look away from the visibly frightened girl.

“Uh-um!” was all the girl said.

Esadora rolled her eyes, the slight unease she’d felt disappearing. “Why were you searching around in my bag?”

The girl fiddled with her satchel. “I need food - really badly. I haven’t eaten in days!”

She still felt like her privacy had been invaded, but she cut the girl some slack - she probably would’ve done the same thing. She sighed. “What’s your name?”

“Holly.”

“Where are you from?”

Holly didn’t answer, dark eyes suddenly cloudy.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Esadora said, “You don’t have to answer.”

“Okay,” she said quietly.

Then they just stood there, Holly staring at the ground and Esadora wondering what had gotten her so somber.

Finally, she said, “I can… give you some food.”

Holly looked up and nodded.

“Just beware - it’s not much,” she said, kneeling down to her open backpack.

She pulled out all the food she had, which seemed like it was more than it actually was. She removed her cloak and laid it down like a blanket, spreading the food out over it. Holly soon swooped down beside her, and Esadora noticed her eyes were alight with hunger.

Esadora wondered if she should eat as the girl dug in, but, as hungry as she was, dejection was quickly spreading through her body. She didn’t have the motivation to take a single bite. She glanced toward the long window that extended over the desk. An ashen light streamed through the glass, highlighting the fragments of glass that littered the colorless floor. Her gaze soon traveled to another place the light hit - Holly.

Holly had dark skin and black hair, curls laying atop her head and the sides shaved. Her slanted eyes were grim and dark, angled off to the side as if she were deep in thought as she ate. She wore a loose shirt with long sleeves, tight pants leaving nothing to the imagination.

Esadora quickly looked away from Holly’s body as said girl turned to face her.

“Hey… thanks for the food. I have to get going though,” Holly said, standing up and dusting herself off.

“Where are you going?” Esadora blurted. She didn’t know what possessed her to say it, since it wasn’t really any of her business.

The girl froze. “I don’t… I don’t really know.”

Esadora didn’t know what to say to that, and, consequently, her throat decided to close up in that minute, so they just stood there in silence, looking anywhere but each other.

And then: “Um - can I… go with you?” It was Holly who said it, voice somehow sounding urgent.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. I just… don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Esadora suspected there was something more to it, but didn’t call her out on it, instead thinking about Holly’s request. Could she bring her along? She honestly didn’t want to. This was her burden to bear, and she didn’t want to drag anyone into it, especially if the situation took a turn for the worse.

But, looking at Holly, she couldn’t imagine herself saying no. The girl looked very upset, like she might burst into tears, or maybe even bolt from the scene.

She sighed. “I guess you can.”

Holly raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

And she really hoped she wouldn’t regret this.